(WITHDRAWN) I (Wife) Earn More Than You (Husband): Will That Invite Violence from You

Background and Purpose: Violence against women in India is deeply rooted in the cultural norms of patriarchy, hierarchy, and multigenerational families, where female obedience and modesty is controlled through abusive behaviour. Explaining the reasons behind violence against women is an incredibly complex attempt because it receives social sanctity as well as justification from women themselves. We have examined two economic hypotheses: the Household Bargaining Model (HBM) and Male Backlash Model (MBM). The HBM postulates that when women have more resource and income-generating activities, they can bargain for better outcomes in the household, and they experience less violence. In contrast, MBM argues that men use violence when they feel disempowered as a result of less income than their wives.

Methods: National Family Health Survey-IV (NFHS-IV, 2015-16) data have been used for this study. The probability sample of women of reproductive age is selected from 104377 households. In women questionnaire, there is a section on Household relation section which covers questions related to violence against women. From 79729 women selected for the household relation module, 62716 currently married women were chosen. The analysis focuses on three independent variables: Women’s economic characteristics; Women’s Socio-demographic characteristics, and Partner’s characteristics. Dependent variables are physical, emotional and sexual violence. Multivariate regression is used to understand the predictor of all reasons for violence.

Results: The results show that women’s economic characteristics better explain the violence against women. The relative income of women with their husband paved the way for testing the hypothesis of MBM and HBM. The study found that women’s relative income decides the violence against them. If a woman is earning, but less than their husband, then they are in a situation of the bargain and face less violence as compared to those women who do not earn. This phenomenon is the hypothesis of Household Bargaining Model (HBM). The result found that women are at higher risk of experiencing violence when they are earning relatively higher than their husbands than the women who earn less than their husband. This phenomenon is hypothesis of Male backlash Model (MBM).

Conclusions and Implications: Sadistic wife battering is the result of superiority complex a man harbours upon himself in relation to his wife. In the study, it is reiterated that when women challenge the set pattern of power relation in the household by earning more income than their partners, they become subject to violence. When we think about the violence that takes place within the family, it becomes hard to intervene because these family matters are seen as private areas where the government cannot directly invade because of the culture of silence over the issue. The government should focus on areas which will bring the women empowerment and autonomy, which in turn will undoubtedly lower down the violence against women. Education will lead to a social awakening that will help women in making themselves protect from exploitations. There is also a need for reorientation of social norms and values, not only in social codes but also in legal codes.