The nature of domestic violence, its causes, and its prevalence must be fully understood in order to plan effective prevention and intervention strategies. Research should examine not only the determinants and consequences of violence but also relevant economic, social, and cultural factors.
Women in India have been facing violence in all spheres of life for thousands of years. They face domestic, political and social violence also, making it a multifaceted and complicated issue.
THE United Nations Commission on the Status of Women defines violence against women to include "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women..." [Economic and Social Council 1992].
This report examines the linkages between wife-beating and one health-related consequence for women, their experience of fetal and infant mortality.
STRONG preference for sons over daughters exists in the Indian subcontinent, east Asia, north Africa and west Asia unlike in the western countries [Muthurayappa et al 1997, Lancet 1990, Okun 1996].
Infanticide has been practiced in all continents, but little dependable primary data exist on this subject. Presented here are the findings on female infanticide for a rural, south Indian population.