Droughts, cyclones, and intimate partner violence: A disastrous mix for Indian women

India has reported a high prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women over the years. Previous Western research has found an increased IPV risk among women in the aftermath of natural disasters, underscoring the need for such studies in India. We could not locate any study focusing on the impact of slow-onset versus rapid-onset disasters, which might have differing impacts on the vulnerable, especially on the incidence of IPV in India. Using data on ever-married women from the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16), we investigated the association of residing in districts exposed to a drought (N = 31,045), and separately, to two cyclones (N = 8469), with three forms of self-reported IPV against women (emotional, physical, and sexual). Survey-adjusted logistic regression models showed that exposure to cyclone was positively associated with emotional IPV (AOR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.20, 2.10) after adjusting for sociodemographic covariates. Although not statistically significant, exposure to cyclone was also positively associated with physical and sexual IPV, and drought with physical IPV. However, we did not find an association of drought with emotional and sexual violence. We corroborated previous findings that women from wealthier households, with greater education, and whose husbands had no history of alcohol consumption, were less likely to experience any form of IPV independent of the influence of other factors. These results highlight the potential increased risk of IPV following natural disasters. In patriarchal societies such as India vulnerable to climate-change, these sobering results highlight the need to prepare for the social disasters that might accompany natural disasters.

Automated summary

The study investigated the impact of drought and two cyclones exposure on three forms of self-reported IPV against women in India. Results showed a positive association between cyclone exposure and emotional IPV, and between drought exposure and physical IPV. Women from wealthier households, with higher education, and whose husbands had no history of alcohol consumption were less likely to experience any form of IPV.