A Study of Spousal Domestic Violence in an Urban Slum of Mumbai

Background: gender?based violence is recognized as a majorissue on international human rights agenda. domestic violenceand abuse can happen to anyone, yet the problem is oftenoverlooked, excused, or denied. this is especially true when abuseis psychological, rather than physical.methods: a community?based cross?sectional study of 6 monthsduration was undertaken with the objective of studying theproportion and different forms of domestic violence, factorsinfluencing it, and to study treatment?seeking behavior of thesewomen. the study participants were married women in the agegroup 18–45 years residing in an urban slum area of malwani,mumbai. using stratified random sampling, 274 subjects wereselected. house to house visits were paid and they were interviewedface to face using a pretested semi?structured questionnaire afterobtaining their informed consent. rapport was established withthe help of a medical social worker. the questionnaire includedinformation pertaining to the sociodemographic parametersand experience of domestic violence in the last 1 year and theirtreatment?seeking behavior for the same. utmost care was takento maintain privacy and confidentiality. analysis was done usingspss version 17.results: the proportion of domestic violence was 36.9%. themost common form of violence was verbal in 87 (86.1%) followedby physical in 64 (63.4%).conclusion: a significant association was found between domesticviolence and age, education, spousal alcoholism, and duration ofmarriage.