Department of Mathematical Demography & Statistics, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Research and Data Analysis, Population Council India Office, New Delhi, India.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 24;19(10):e0312341. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312341. eCollection 2024.
Violence against women is considered a fundamental violation of their human rights. According to the world health organization (WHO), one-third of women worldwide experience some form of intimate partner violence (IPV). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dowry demand, perception of wife-beating, decision-making on work and household purchases and physical, sexual, and emotional violence against married adolescent girls in India by using a large dataset.
Data from the Understanding the lives of adolescents and young adults (UDAYA) project survey were used in this study. The final sample size included 4893 married adolescent girls. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were performed to examine preliminary results. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the associations between dowry demand, perception of wife-beating, decision-making and types of IPV.
The prevalence of emotional, physical, and sexual violence among married adolescent girls were 28.6%, 22.9%, and 26.1%, respectively. Approximately 44% of married adolescent girls have experienced some form of violence (emotional, physical, or sexual). The likelihood of experiencing violence was 3.64 times more likely among adolescent girls who reported that dowry was demanded by their in-laws than their counterparts [aOR: 3.64; CI: 3.05-4.35]. Moreover, married girls who justified wife-beating were more likely to face any violence than their counterparts [aOR: 1.56; CI: 1.28-1.90]. Similarly, adolescent girls whose work decisions were made by others had higher odds of experiencing any violence than those who decided their work themselves/jointly with others [aOR: 1.34; CI: 1.07-1.68]. The odds of any violence were higher among adolescent girls whose decisions on household purchases were made by others compared to those who decided to make purchases themselves or jointly with others [aOR: 1.37; CI: 1.09-1.71].
The findings revealed significant associations between dowry-demand, justification of wife-beating, decision making power and IPV among married adolescent girls, and suggest policies that help reduce violence related to the predominantly practiced dowry system in the country, and programs aimed at educating adolescent married girls about their rights against violence and empowering them to retain equal decision-making power within their families and reduce their vulnerability to domestic violence.
暴力侵害妇女被视为对其人权的严重侵犯。据世界卫生组织（WHO）称，全球三分之一的妇女遭受某种形式的亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）。本研究旨在利用大型数据集调查印度嫁妆要求、殴打妻子观念、工作和家庭购买决策与已婚少女身体、性和情感暴力之间的关系。
本研究使用了“了解青少年和年轻人生活（UDAYA）”项目调查的数据。最终样本量包括 4893 名已婚少女。采用描述性统计和双变量分析方法对初步结果进行了检验。采用多变量逻辑回归分析方法分析了嫁妆要求、殴打妻子观念、决策与各种形式的 IPV 之间的关联。
已婚少女中情感、身体和性暴力的流行率分别为 28.6%、22.9%和 26.1%。约有 44%的已婚少女经历过某种形式的暴力（情感、身体或性）。与没有被公婆索要嫁妆的少女相比，报告被公婆索要嫁妆的少女遭受暴力的可能性高出 3.64 倍[aOR：3.64；95%CI：3.05-4.35]。此外，为殴打妻子行为辩护的已婚少女比其他少女更有可能面临任何暴力[aOR：1.56；95%CI：1.28-1.90]。同样，工作决策由他人做出的少女比自己或与他人共同做出工作决策的少女遭受任何暴力的可能性更高[aOR：1.34；95%CI：1.07-1.68]。与自己或与他人共同做出购买决策的少女相比，由他人做出家庭购买决策的少女遭受任何暴力的可能性更高[aOR：1.37；95%CI：1.09-1.71]。
研究结果表明，嫁妆要求、殴打妻子观念、决策权与已婚少女的 IPV 之间存在显著关联，并提出了一些政策建议，以帮助减少与该国普遍实行的嫁妆制度相关的暴力行为，并开展方案，教育已婚少女有关其免受暴力侵害的权利，并增强其在家庭中保留平等决策权的能力，减少其遭受家庭暴力的脆弱性。
