DNA
New Delhi, Sep 20: Women have for long complained of being abused by men, which the law takes very seriously. Now it’s the men who claim to be at the receiving end.
A new survey has found that no less than 98% of Indian urban husbands say they have faced domestic violence in one form or the other during married life.
The study, conducted by two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) - Save Indian Family Foundation and My Nation - looked at four aspects of domestic violence - economical, emotional, physical and sexual. In a sample survey of 1,650 urban men, almost 98% of the respondents said they had suffered violence under one or the other of these heads more than once.
Economical abuse was found to be the most common complaint with 32.8% saying they had faced it at least once in their married life, followed by emotional (22.2%), physical (25.2%) and sexual violence (19.8%).
Nagging, grumbling, taunting, name calling, refusing food, denying sexual intercourse, abusing parents and family members, snatching salary, throwing objects, scratching with nails and biting, threats of suicide and even eviction from the house were some of the common forms of abuse mentioned. But perhaps the most serious was framing of false charges under the Indian Penal Code.
“It is true that men account for most of the violence outside the home, but women instigate most domestic violence and they injure men more frequently and more severely,” says Swaroop Sarkar of Save Indian Family.
“When a man tries to tell his problems of torture and harassment in marriage, no one really listens or believes it. Many men are ashamed to admit they are beaten at home by their wives and her family members because everyone believes a woman can never be a tormentor. But the reality is often different,” said Sarkar.