Only 11% of Indian women who have been beaten by their husbands have sought help

A third of women have been physically or sexually assaulted by their partners. Intimate Partner Violence is the worldwide leading cause of female homicides. A woman is more likely to be murdered by her partner than anyone else.

Education and household wealth are strongly, negatively associated with acceptance and experience of intimate partner violence. This holds worldwide.

In India, we might expect less violence in the South, since it has higher literacy. In fact, violence is much more widely accepted. Help-seeking remains extremely low.

Only 11% of Indian women who have been beaten by their husband have sought help. Most stay silent. Even if a woman is educated and affluent, she tends to remain silent.

The map below shows the state-level percentage of women (age 18-49) who have experienced sexual or physical violence by whether they ever sought help.

Why are victims so reluctant to seek help?

And what can governments do to reduce violence?

Have recent interventions of women help-desks and women stations encouraged reporting?