Spousal Violence in Karnataka, India: An Analysis of NHFS-5 Data

Spousal violence is a severe public health concern. Despite the expanding scholarship, many concerns remain unresolved about the prevalence of this violence, the risk factors, the repercussions, and how to address the problem. This paper sets out a simple study recognizing the sharp increase of spousal violence in the state of Karnataka, with an overall decrease in the rest of South India. Using India's National Family Health Survey data, we isolate the effect of spousal violence on female autonomy. The findings have substantial policy implications suggesting that it will take more than an improvement in women's empowerment options to address the problem of spousal violence.