CHANDIGARH: Domestic violence is so commonplace that every third woman in the country has confessed to have faced it in their lifetime. The survey also points out that spousal violence is as prevalent in the cities as in rural India.
 

The 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) showed that 37 per cent of married women said they faced spousal violence. One in every three women residing in urban areas and as many as 40 per cent in rural India said they had experience violence at home.
 
The survey, the third in the series, provides information on population, health and nutrition and women's empowerment in India and each State. The survey is based on a representative sample of households. The NFHS-3 fieldwork was conducted by 18 research organisations between December 2005 and August 2006.
 
Among the States, Bihar has the worst record on women's empowerment. As many as two-third women from the State said they had experienced violence at home. Other States where over 40 per cent of women are vulnerable in their own homes are Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
 
The silver lining is the low prevalence northeastern and a few southern States. Women residing in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland felt relatively safer with one in five women saying they have experienced violence in the confines of homes. Prevalence here is lower than the national average.
 
Predictably, education played a major role in keeping women's lives free from violence. More educated the woman, lesser the chances of her putting up with violence. The survey found that half of uneducated women have suffered domestic violence compared to 16 per cent of women who have studied till matriculation.
 
Last year, the Government enacted the Domestic Violence law that gave women a tool to fight violence at home. A civil law, it gives the women right to stay in her matrimonial home and temporary custody of children. Women often suffer abuse because of the threat of being thrown out of her home and being separated from her children. Far from seeking help, women are often too embarrassed to speak about the issue.
 
The law also asks the Government to appoint an officer, police or local activist, to oversee that she stays in her home without any fear. Violence has also been defined to include mental torture, demand for dowry, and insistence on male heir besides physical and sexual harassment.