Why Do Working Women Experience More Violence Than Non-Working Women in India? A Decomposition Analysis Using Nationally Representative Survey Data

In India, multiple studies highlight that the prevalence and odds of intimate partner violence (IPV) is higher among working women than non-working women. Such evidence, though counterintutive, dismantles the notion that women's employment substantially reduces IPV or acts as a protective factor. To explore this anomaly, our study utilizes data from the National Family Health Survey (2019-21) and quantitatively examines the factors of IPV in relation with women's employment status in the Indian context. In the first step, a logistic regression model has been deployed to analyse the factors of IPV among women in India. This analysis is followed by Fairlie Decomposition to investigate the factors that contribute to higher IPV prevalence among working women in India. The decomposition model explained 49% of the gap in IPV across working status of women. Men's controlling behavior (-32.3%) and alcohol consumption (-32.3%), which are significant risk factors of IPV, collectively contributed about 65% in this explained gap in IPV, reducing the IPV gap between working and non-working women. Other significant contributors were women's justification of IPV (-14.17%), women's education (-11.08%), household wealth (-8.05%), religion (-17.92%), region (-3.52%), number of children (-3.89%), and internet use (-2.39%) reducing the gap whereas residence (3.57%) and caste category (2.62%) contributed to widening the gap. The current study finds an explanation for the uncharacteristic role of employment in relation to IPV, exposing men's characteristics such as controlling behavior and alcoholism as the main drivers of IPV across working and non-working women overriding the preventive effects of employment. Policies related to violence against women are recommended to shift and gear their focus on targeted interventions with men to address the perpetration behavior alongside women's education, social categories, residence, etc., to prevent IPV among women in India.