Violence against women is a growing concern for any modern society. Particularly, the status of women in India and especially the incidence rate of domestic violence, including events such as spousal abuse or wife beating, rape, kidnapping and molestation are some of the issues endangering the safety of women in the country. Suppression of women, infliction of violence by the male partner, and acceptance of violence by the female partner finds its roots in the traditional and patriarchal attitudes of men in India.Behavioral statistics tell only half the story. To understand the meaning of behavior, knowing the attitudes behind it is far more important. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine the acceptance of normative gender roles among Indian men and women. The normative gender roles will be studied by examining two sets of attitudes: first, whether it is justified that a husband hit or beat his wife in certain situations, and second, whether it is justified if a wife refuses to have sex with her husband in certain situations. The degree to which a woman is able to exercise her right of having sex with her partner as per her wishes affects multiple aspects of a woman's rights, including her right to dignity and privacy, as well as her reproductive rights and general autonomy. These in turn affect women's overall empowerment and realization of potential.Apart from the various factors that contribute to our understanding of justification or acceptance of wife beating and attitudes toward women's sexual autonomy, the goal is also to examine gender differentials in educational attainment, marital age, age at first marriage, use of substances, etc., and to determine how certain variables account for the variance in the attitudes toward a specific behavior. Another goal is to explore the nature of women's empowerment in India, such as participation in household decision-making and control over household finances, and to examine the differential attitudes of men and women toward gender empowerment. Justifying abuse (acceptance) of a wife by a husband reflects an endorsement of women's lower status compared to men, and it is critical to examine the attributes that permit for such endorsements. Using secondary data collected on behalf of Measure DHS (Demographics and Health Surveys), this study is based on a nationally representative sample representing as many as 29 states in India, which contain more than 99 percent of India's population.
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