Adhikary and Dutta
Husband’s Education Level (HUSEDU): In most of the cases husbands are
accused for violence against women. So, husband’s socio-economic background
is important for determining the incidence of domestic violence. We have
considered husband’s education and occupation as determinant of domestic
violence. Generally educated husbands are liberal in attitude and thinking. They
are expected to come out for solution of the problems of their wives and cooperate
with them. It is expected that domestic violence varies inversely with the level of
husband’s education. It has been counted by number of years attending the formal
educational institution.
Husband’s Occupation (HUSOCU): Husband’s occupation may be a factor for
domestic violence against women. Majority of our sample women have reported
that their husbands are engaged in the farm activities, either as farmer in their
own land or as wage labour in other’s land. A section is self employed in cottage
industries or in pretty business. We like to examine whether domestic violence
is higher when husbands are engaged in farm activities or in off-farm activities.
Husband’s occupation has been taken as dummy. It takes value ‘1’ if the husband’s
occupation is farming and ‘0’ otherwise.
Per Capita Annual Income (PCIN): To understand the impact of economic
condition of the family on domestic violence we have considered per capita annual
income as determinant of DVIO. We usually assume low per capita income as
one of the major causes of domestic violence. So our hypothesis is that higher
the volume of PCIN lower will be the probability of the incidence of domestic
violence. PCIN is a quantitative variable measured in terms of Indian rupee.
Caste of Women (CASTE): It is a common matter that the general caste people are
more advanced in various aspects of life relative to non-general people. The non-
general family suffers more than the general family in terms of poverty, ignorance,
superstitions etc. The general caste women are more conscious about their right
and about position in society. Thus the caste of women has an active impact on
their sufferings. It is expected that the non-general caste women suffer more
from domestic violence relative to general caste women. In the area under study
majority of the households belongs to Scheduled Castes. We scale the caste in
such a manner that the women who belong to scheduled caste takes value ‘1’ and
‘0’ otherwise. Thus, caste has been considered as a dummy variable for studying
the impact of caste on the incidence of domestic violence.
Data and Methodology
This empirical investigation is based on a set of primary data collected at household
level. The data have been collected through both purposive and random sampling
method combined together. In order to conduct the household level survey first
we have purposively selected Kotulpur block which is economically better off in
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