21% of Indian women face violence

Twenty-one per cent of Indian women from the age of 15 have experienced some form of violence, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The report, 'Violence Against Women: Health Sector Perspective', quoting the National Family Health Survey, 1998-99, says that 19 per cent of women have been "beaten or physically mistreated" by their husbands.

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The data implies that among women who report physical abuse, nine out of 10 have been beaten by their husbands, one out of seven by other persons and one out of 12 by their in-laws, says the report based on a workshop conducted this October.

It says that women facing violence experience not only psychological and emotional trauma, but also serious reproductive and sexual health complications.

Violence has severe physical and mental health implications, including fatal and non-fatal consequences such as unwanted pregnancies, miscarriages, psychological trauma and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, it says.

It poses an obstacle in ensuring women's dignity and human rights as well as overall health and well being, the report says adding addressing this issue requires a multi-sectoral approach in which health care system has a key role to play.