Fact sheet on domestic violence against men in India

Domestic Violence Data:

Save Family Foundation and My Nation Foundation conducted an online survey between April 2005 and March 2006 and found that out of 100,000 men surveyed during that one year, 98% of men faced severe domestic violence at the hands of their wives and in-laws in the form verbal, physical, emotional, mental and financial abuse.

1. Economic violence was the commonest, faced by 32.8% of participants.
2. Physical Violence was the closest second at 25.2%.
3. Emotional Violence followed suit at 22.2%.
4. While sexual violence contended fourth with 17.7%.
5. Verbal abuse was a problem faced by all men in the above categories

The organizations that conducted the survey were also confronted with the gruesome reality that most abused men suffer in silence for fear of being discredited or ridiculed by the society. This resulted in a lot of psychological, sometimes irreparable, trauma to the abused male.

Further investigation into the problem revealed that many such men who are unable to withstand domestic abuse, withdraw from the society, fell prey to addictions or in extreme cases end their own lives.

Suicide Data of men:

The total number of suicides by married men compared to married women:

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of suicides in the country has increased by 40% during the decade 1996 – 2006. While 26.1 % of the total number of suicides is attributed to domestic violence, 16.6% of the suicides are due to causes unknown.
Taking these percentages into account, an estimated

• 11,882 married men committed suicide in 1996 due to domestic violence;
• 16,635 married men committed suicide in 2006 due to domestic violence;
• 14258 married men (on average) commit suicide due to domestic violence every year, and
• 156, 843 married men have ended their lives due to domestic violence between the years 1996 – 2007.

In the category comprising of individuals with a living spouse (married and/or separated), the number of suicides is always higher for males.

In other categories, the number of suicides is either equal to that of women or even slightly lesser for males (see figure below), indicating that intimate partner violence a major reason for Indian men committing suicide.

Lack of social support or legal protection for men:

Domestic violence against men, albeit a universal problem, is completely ignored by the society and the Government.

There are no laws to protect men from any form of domestic abuse.

On the other hand, legal protections given to women have been designed to serve as weapons for legal harassment of men.

The reason for the growing apathy and hatred against men in the society is the spread of radical feminist thinking in every sphere of public life, including the drafting of policies and laws.