The Unsafe Home:  An Analysis of Reported Domestic Violence in India

Violence against women has been acknowledged both nationally and internationally as a violation of women's basic human rights, an issue which weakens the overall development of women globally. India enacted the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act in 2005 in order to address the issue of domestic violence. This work examines the impact of the law and women's education and economic status on reported cases of dowry deaths and cruelty by husband and his relatives in 28 states of India between the years 2001 to 2016. My study hypothesizes that the states' female literacy rate and female workforce participation are negatively associated with the rate of reported cases of dowry deaths and cruelty by husband and his relatives. This study supports the ameliorative hypothesis that higher literacy rates and advanced economic and political status help reduce the victimization of women. Also, variations are seen among the 28 states for the cases of reported dowry death rates and cruelty by husband and his relatives' rates, suggesting that rates of dowry death are significantly higher in the eastern region and rates of cruelty by husband and his relatives are significantly higher in the south and the west (compared to the north).