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Introduction: Household water fetching elevates physical and emotional harms, and these are generally assumed to accrue to women due to gendered labor assignments. But even in cases like India where fetching remains a highly feminized task, there are households where the primary responsibility is assumed by men. Methods: We test the proposition that men's responsibility for water fetching is predicted by greater gender equity, reflected in measures of wives' empowerment. We used an extremely large, nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey dataset from India (2019–2020), narrowed to only households in which spouses co‐reside with off‐plot water sources (N = 10 616), and applying a multinomial regression approach. Results: In >20% of households, men are the primary fetchers. They are more likely to have primary responsibility when water is more distant, privately purchased, or transported by vehicle. Contrary to predictions, men assume greater responsibility for household water fetching as their wives' empowerment measures decrease and when they want to control their movement. Conclusion: Married men in India sometimes assume responsibility for water fetching, but this is not explained by greater household gender equity. The findings also suggest that when men are responsible for fetching they have heightened risk of some forms of physical trauma but less relative psychological harm. Detailing why men fetch water matters for identifying and mitigating the physical and emotion harms of bearing responsibility for water labor, with implications for how gender should be conceptualized in water interventions intending to improve health and well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to assess couple concordance in attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) and its association with physical IPV against women. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1,201 nonsterilized women aged 18–29 years and their husbands. It was found that husbands were significantly more likely (69.9%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 67.3%, 72.5%) to justify IPV than wives (56.5%, 95% CI: 53.7%, 59.3%). Couples who both hold attitudes justifying IPV against women (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 3.5; 95% CI: 1.57%–8.00%) and couples where women hold these attitudes, but men do not (AOR: 2.93; 95% CI: 1.18–7.28), were more likely to report male-perpetrated IPV against women in the prior 12 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a large number of studies assumed gendered socialisation leads to partner abuse, little evidence exists for India. We bridge this crucial gap by exploring the pathways between childhood socialisation and intimate partner violence, using data from 'Youth in India: Situation and Need Study (2006–2007)' for 5573 young married men (15–29 years). Nearly 17 per cent of men inflicted physical IPV in the past 12 months. Seventy-seven per cent recognized the experience of gender discrimination in their family and reported exposure to violence in two ways—one-third witnessed fathers abusing their mothers and 48 per cent were beaten by their parents. Adverse childhood experiences were associated with IPV perpetration. The structural equation model indicated significant pathways between IPV and childhood socialisation in the forms of experienced violence and gender discrimination. Findings underscore the importance of a violence-free, gender-neutral family environment for young generations and call for a comprehensive policy to ameliorate the impacts of IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against married women is widely prevalent in India. Using recent data from NFHS-5, we analyzed the association between husbands' characteristics and IPV. Separate logistic regression models were developed for three distinct "husband characteristic groups" namely demographic, social and economic groups, and one final model including only statistically significant variables. IPV has been found to be significantly associated with men's age, age gap between husband and wife, men's educational level, religion, caste, region, number of daughters, wife's decision-making autonomy, men's IPV justifying attitude, alcoholism and substance abuse among men, type of work and wealth. We suggest shifting the policy gaze from women and prioritizing men's education, control on substance abuse and alcoholism among men as well as employment opportunities to tackle the violence against women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Lack of reliable and valid scales of Indian origin prompt researchers to borrow the marital satisfaction scale developed in different settings. The lack of a reliable scale to understand marital satisfaction in India prompted us to examine the marital satisfaction among young married men using ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) Scale developed in the Western context. Assessing the reliability of the EMS scale on the rural population of Lalitpur and Shrawasti, Uttar Pradesh, India; this study examines the determinants of marital satisfaction among young married men. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.936 confirms the high reliability of the EMS scale for the surveyed population in two districts of India. Men belonging to households with higher monthly income (OR- 3.33; 95% C.I. − 1.71–6.50) were more likely to be satisfied in their marriage than their counterparts. Similarly, fathers', mothers', and married men's educational status were other important determinants of marital satisfaction. The study emphasizes the importance of family education as a strong predictor of marital satisfaction, and therefore policymakers may look into this aspect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of Self-Help Group (SHG) participation on the frequency of domestic violence in rural India. The study hypothesizes that SHG participation can raise tensions between married men and women because husbands may perceive some aspects of women's empowerment as a challenge to patriarchal cultural norms. Using household panel data collected in rural Andhra Pradesh in 2004, 2006, and 2007, this article employs double difference methodology with an instrumental variables approach for impact evaluation. The estimation results show that, while SHG participation reduced domestic violence in the short-term, medium-term participation increased the frequency of domestic violence, particularly after women's credit access through SHG participation had improved. This article furthermore reveals that the impact of SHG participation on domestic violence was more pronounced among couples who married with dowry. Spouses who practiced dowry appear to be more susceptible to financial inflow through the wife. HIGHLIGHTS Self-Help Group (SHG) participation impacts the frequency of domestic violence in conflicting ways. Women's SHG participation initially reduces tensions with their husbands. In the medium term, women's access to credit creates conflicts with their husbands. SHG participation alone is not enough to overcome patriarchal practices and structures. Effective gender-advocacy programs should include training to change both women's and men's attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistent problem of low and stagnant labour force participation rate of women in urban India over the past two and a half decades has been well recognised by scholars. The rates stagnated within the low range of 22–23%, during the period extending between 1999–2000 and 2011–2012. The paper attempts to contribute to the current understanding of this puzzling phenomenon through a sequential analysis of long-term trends in female labour force participation rate by disaggregating urban women in terms of their age, marital status, and education levels. The cross-sectional analysis is supplemented by the nonparametric technique of classification and regression tree (CART). Focussing on the sample of non-student urban women, the paper finds that the problem relates primarily to the relatively better educated married women in the age-cohorts of 30–59 years. Moreover, 2011–2012 was marked by a further weakening in the labour market outcomes of these women, both with respect to the lesser educated married women and married men in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction : Every year, it was found that burns caused by fire were responsible for about 265,000 deaths globally. More than 90% of fatal fire-related burns occur in developing or lower and middle income countries (LMICs). Out of this, South- East Asia alone accounts for more than half of these fire-related deaths. In South East Asian region, death due to Burns in girl / women is more than that of Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. In India, burn injury is found to be one of the major causes of death, especially in females. The problem of death due to burns in developing countries like India is primarily due to various socio-cultural factors prevalent in the country. Some of these factors include poor housing conditions, poor maintenance of electrical appliances, and customs of wearing dresses like sarees or dupatta, practice of dowry, illiteracy level and poverty. Material and Method: Materials for the present study were collected from the medico legal autopsies of 296 burn cases, performed at the mortuary of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi, during the period from January 2018 to December 2018. A detailed performa was designed with a definite set of questionnaire which formed the basis of this study. Results: In our study, out of the 296 cases, the most common age group involved was 21-30 years with a female sex predilection (female to male ratio of 1.5:1). As far as the marital status is concerned, most cases were of married men and women (66.22%) involving mostly Housewives (43.25%). The most common time period involved was between 4 PM to 10 PM (35.47%). Most of the cases took place at home (75.34%). Conclusion:- Our study primarily focuses on the epidemiological profile of data involving burn cases in this part of India which is relatively a backward area comprising of a majority of tribal population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to understand the motivations behind married men preferring sons and to quantify the association between a couple's stated son preferences. Son preference is an endemic problem in India. With half a million female foetuses aborted each year, the root causes of son preference in India have been widely studied. Little is known, however, on how couples mutually decide on their desired child sex-ratio. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from the third National Family and Health Survey, the authors apply three-stage least square and optimal general method of moment methods to demonstrate association. Robustness checks are performed on plausibly exogenous instrumental variables and selection issues in the marriage market. Findings: The authors show that their spouse's son preference is by far the most significant factor associated with a person's own stated son preference. The association between spouse's stated son preference is observed only for couples being married for three to five years. It is postulated that this is the critical period when sex-selective abortion decisions are being made. Originality/value: The focus of existing empirical studies is nearly always on the mother's son preference only. The hypothesis is that spouses mutually influence each other's preferences and models estimating determinants of son preference should include preferences of both spouses. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to understand the motivations of married men towards preferring sons and quantify the association between spouse's stated son preference and respondent's stated son preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Husbands’ alcohol use has been associated with family-level stress and intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in India. Joint family systems are common in India and IPV often co-occurs with non-violent family maltreatment of wives (e.g., nutritional deprivation, deprivation of sleep, blocking access to health care). Alcohol use increases for some parents following the birth of a child. This study examined 1,038 postpartum women’s reports of their husbands’ alcohol use and their own experiences of IPV (by husband) and non-violent maltreatment from husbands and/or in-laws. We analyzed cross-sectional, quantitative data collected in 2008, from women (ages 15-35) seeking immunizations for their infants <6 months at three large urban health centers in Mumbai, India. Crude and adjusted logistic regression models estimated associations between the independent variable (husbands’ past month use of alcohol) and two dependent variables (postpartum IPV and maltreatment). Overall, 15% of husbands used alcohol, ranging from daily drinkers (10%) to those who drank one to two times per week (54%). Prevalence of postpartum IPV and family maltreatment was 18% and 42%, respectively. Prevalence of IPV among women married to alcohol users was 27%. Most abused women’s husbands always (27%) or sometimes (37%) drank during violent episodes. Risk for IPV increased with a man’s increasing frequency of consumption. Women who lived with a husband who drank alcohol, relative to non-drinkers, were more likely to report postpartum IPV, aOR = 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [1.3, 3.1]. Husbands’ drinking was marginally associated with increased risk for family maltreatment, aOR = 1.4, 95% CI = [1.0, 2.1]. Our findings suggest that men’s alcohol use is an important risk factor for postpartum IPV and maltreatment. Targeted services for Indian women contending with these issues are implicated. Postpartum care offers an ideal opportunity to screen for IPV, household maltreatment, and other health risks, such as husband’s use of alcohol. There is need to scale up proven successful interventions for reducing men’s alcohol use and design strategies that provide at-risk women protection from alcohol-related IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major proportion of unnatural deaths resulting from asphyxia is due to fatal neck compression. Pressure on the neck may arise from hanging, manual strangulation, ligature strangulation and other means of strangulation such as direct blows, arm locks.1 A prospective observational study of post mortem conducted between 1st October 2012 to 31th March 2014 at mortuary of Dept. of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College & Hospital, Aurangabad, Maharashtra. During this period total number of 3200 autopsies were conducted. Out of them, 198 (6.18%) cases were of asphyxial death and 110 cases (3.43%) of solely due to compression of neck. 1Of these 110 cases a total 103 cases were of hanging, 6 cases of ligature strangulation and 01 cases of accidental strangulation. Maximum cases i.e. 46 (41.81 %) were observed in age group 21 to 30 years. Male preponderance was observed in all age groups. Married males were 60 (54.54%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burns have tremendous medicolegal importance as they may be considered to be the commonest cause of unnatural death in India1. In this study total 43 cases of burns deaths were explored in one year. Most commonly affected age group was of young aged of 20-40 yrs (69.77%) followed by 40-60 yrs (16.28%). Most of the victims were illiterate (34.88%) & (79.07%) cases were of married. Females were leading to male; amongst them most of were housewives of Hindu families of lower middle socio-economic class. The most of victims (51.16%) sustained 76-100% burns followed by 51-75% burns (34.88%). Most common manner of death was accidental burns (95.35%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kerala is one of the most progressive states in India in terms of women's opportunities for higher education and employment. Despite these advancements in gender equality, intimate partner violence (IPV) against women remains high, with some studies finding increased rates of IPV in Kerala relative to other states. This study examines contributing factors to male-to-female IPV in Kerala. One hundred and thirty-four men were surveyed on perceived marital power, early exposure to violence, drinking habits, depression, and marital satisfaction in relation to current IPV. Forty percent of participants reported incidents of IPV in the past year. Batterers scored significantly higher on childhood abuse, drinking, depression, and marital dissatisfaction. These four predictor variables were all significantly correlated with male-to-female IPV, but perceived marital power was only partially correlated with IPV. Abuse in childhood emerged as the strongest predictor of current IPV. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some research suggests that the risk of physical aggression by an intimate partner is related to marital status, but this relationship may vary across cultures and by gender. In the present study, we systematically examine the relationship between marital status and physical partner aggression by gender across 19 countries. Logistic and multilevel regression confirmed previous findings of lower rates of physical aggression for legally married versus cohabiting and separated/divorced women and men across most, but notably, not all countries. Single status was associated with higher risk in some countries and lower in others reflecting possible cultural differences in risk for different marital statuses. For example, single women had significantly lower rates of victimization than did married women in India where violence against wives is often accepted. The variation in the cross-cultural findings highlights the importance of examining both men and women and considering the cultural context when interpreting the relationship between partner aggression and marital status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterosexual transmission of HIV in India is driven by the male use of female sex workers (FSW), but few studies have examined the factors associated with using FSW. This nationally representative study examined the prevalence and correlates of FSW use among 31,040 men aged 15-49 years in India in 2006. Nationally, about 4% of men used FSW in the previous year, representing about 8.5 million FSW clients. Unmarried men were far more likely than married men to use FSW overall (PR = 8.0), but less likely than married men to use FSW among those reporting at least one non-regular partner (PR = 0.8). More than half of all FSW clients were married. FSW use was higher among men in the high-HIV states than in the low-HIV states (PR = 2.7), and half of all FSW clients lived in the high-HIV states. The risk of FSW use rose sharply with increasing number of non-regular partners in the past year. Given the large number of men using FSW, interventions for the much smaller number of FSW remains the most efficient strategy for curbing heterosexual HIV transmission in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background HIV/AIDS in India disproportionately affects women, not by their own risks, but by those of their partners, generally their spouses. We address two marginalized populations at elevated risk of acquiring HIV: women who are married to men who also have sex with men (MSM) and wives of injection drug users (IDUs). Methods We used a combination of focus groups (qualitative) and structured surveys (quantitative) to identify the risks that high-risk men pose to their low-risk wives and/or sexual partners. Married MSM were identified using respondent-driven recruitment in Tamil Nadu, India, and were interviewed by trainer assessors. A sample of wives of injection drug users in Chennai were recruited from men enrolled in a cohort study of the epidemiology of drug use among IDUs in Chennai, and completed a face-to-face survey. Focus groups were held with all groups of study participants, and the outcomes transcribed and analyzed for major themes on family, HIV and issues related to stigma, discrimination and disclosure. Results Using mixed-methods research, married MSM are shown to not disclose their sexual practices to their wives, whether due to internalized homophobia, fear of stigma and discrimination, personal embarrassment or changing sexual mores. Married MSM in India largely follow the prevailing norm of marriage to the opposite sex and having a child to satisfy social pressures. Male IDUs cannot hide their drug use as easily as married MSM, but they also avoid disclosure. The majority of their wives learn of their drug-using behaviour only after they are married, making them generally helpless to protect themselves. Fear of poverty and negative influences on children were the major impacts associated with continuing drug use. Conclusions We propose a research and prevention agenda to address the HIV risks encountered by families of high-risk men in the Indian and other low- and middle-income country contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wide prevalence of socio-religious, cultural, and tribal practices in India often leads to a multitude of skin conditions, which can misled the dermatologists in arriving at a diagnosis. With increasing globalization and migration, the practice of indigenous customs and traditions are crossing boundaries, making it imperative for the dermatologists to be acquainted with the cutaneous side effects of these practices. Here, we report a unique case of thermal burn in a circumferential pattern over the umbilical region, a result of the placement of burning lamp over umbilicus to alleviate abdominal discomfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CONTEXT: Use of modern contraceptive methods has increased fourfold in India since the 1970s, characterized by a predominance of female sterilization. There has been considerable investigation about women's choice of female sterilization, but little from the male perspective. METHODS: Seven focus group discussions were conducted among 58 men currently married to women aged 15-45, followed by a cross-sectional survey among 793 men currently married to same-aged women. Bivariate analysis was used for the survey data, and content analysis was used for the qualitative data. RESULTS: Men's primary source of reproductive health information was mass media, although they expressed interest in getting information through discussion with knowledgeable sources. Men understood family planning and contraception to be two separate issues: Men viewed "family planning" as synonymous with female sterilization, whereas they saw "contraception"as referring to spacing methods, knowledge of which was limited. Thirty-four percent of men reported that their wives had been sterilized; 79% of men who did not rely on any permanent method said they wanted their wives to be sterilized. In focus group discussions, most men reported themselves as their family's sole decision maker about reproductive health; however, only one-third of survey respondents did so. CONCLUSION: Men are interested in acquiring family planning information, but lack knowledge about available information sources, which hampers their ability to make informed family planning choices. Family planning service providers and program planners need to be aware of males' knowledge and perceptions pertaining to family planning, and make appropriate modifications to communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Follicular mucinosis occurring along with angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophils (ALHE) has been described in a 49-year-old male. The patient presented with pruritic hyperpigmented papules and nodules on the vertex and right parietal scalp. There was no any other complaint. Histopathological examination from one of the papule showed prominent blood vessels in the dermis lined by plump histiocytoid endothelial cells that were surrounded by a dense lymphoid infiltrate with numerous eosinophils; these findings are typical of angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia. Features of follicular mucinosis were observed in the same section with 3 hyperplastic follicular infundibula containing pools of mucin in the infundibular epithelium. The concurrent occurrence of these 2 distinct histopathological patterns in the same biopsy specimen has been reported rarely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social inequities in early child bearing persist among young married people, especially among tribal populations in India. Rural women belonging to tribal groups and those coming from poor households are more likely to give birth before age 18. This paper explores the connection between ethnicity, gender and early fertility intention among young married people in rural India. Methods: The data is drawn from a cross sectional baseline evaluation of an intervention programme in rural India. A sample of 273 married young people was taken. Respondents were selected using systematic random sampling. Logistic Regression was used to assess the effect of being a tribal on early fertility intention and also to determine if covariates associated with early fertility intention differed by tribal status. Qualitative data was analysed using deductive content analysis approach. Results: Bivariate and logistic regression results indicated that young married people from tribal communities had higher odds of planning a child within one year of marriage than non-tribals (OR = 1.47, p-value-0.079). Findings further suggest that early fertility intention among tribals is driven by gender factors and higher education and among non-tribals, higher education and awareness on contraception are key predictors. Among tribals, the odds of planning a child within one year of marriage was strongly associated with inequitable gender norms (OR = 1.94, p-value-0.002). Higher education showed significant positive association with non-tribals (OR = 0.19, p-value-0.014) and positive association with tribals (OR = 0.56, p-value-0.416). Qualitative investigation confirms that fertility desires of young married people are strongly influenced by gender norms especially among tribal populations. Conclusion: Early child bearing was underpinned by complex ethnic factors and gender norms. Preference for early child bearing was seen most among tribal communities. Gender attitudes were a cause of concern especially among tribal groups. These results suggest that efforts to improve early child birth will require changing gender norms related to fertility among tribals as well as social equity issues including higher education among non-tribals and tribals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]