NEW DELHI: The fertility rate in the country has dipped even as domestic violence against women is on the rise.
According to the latest survey of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), released on Friday, the fertility rate has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 while around 79% of women, covered in the survey between 2019-2020, revealed they were victims of domestic violence.
Another startling finding of the report is that more than 79.4% of women admitted that they did not raise their voices against the cruelty committed by their husbands. They silently tolerated, cursing their fates.
"The percentage of women, who did not complain against the atrocities perpetrated by their husbands, shows that women still in India are more compromising than complaining in matrimonial lives because of traditional marriage perception and for the sake of concerned family repute. They think-“jo bhagy me hai wohi ho raha’ (What is in the store of fate is happening) instead of raising their voice", says Dr Archana Kumari, a woman educationist-cum-social researcher
The NFHC-5 report has also stated that the 99.5% of women in the country don’t report the cases of sexual assault on them and keep silent in such matters fearing loss of social dignity in society. As far as the matter of domestic violence is concerned; domestic violence has become more common in villages than in cities.
Another interesting finding that has come to the fore is that the desire for having a son amongst the women with one or two daughters has decreased in the country. It shows a growing sense of gender equality and changing traditional perception amongst women towards the importance of a son or daughter. The survey report estimated that nearly 65% of women with two daughters don’t feel the need to have a son.
Sarita Kumari, a woman social activist said that the girls are proving more caring for their parents than boys in the modern society which is rapidly becoming dependent on digital devices for support.
“One daughter is equal to ten sons-not tension, now”, she remarked. The report also says that fertility has decreased but around 59% of women are still not allowed to go to markets, and hospitals alone in villages, at a time when a mass awareness on women empowerment is being created.
"The fertility rate has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 giving a boost to the population control measurers but the rate of domestic violence against women has increased, It warrants urgent attention to check the domestic violence”, says Dr Jyoti Anand- a social activist.
Surprising is the fact that knowledge of the use of contraceptives among women has increased but the level of confidence for speaking or raising a voice against the atrocities has not increased to the level it should have increased.
In the survey, about 6.37 lakhs samples were taken from 707 districts of 28 states and 8 union territories of the country.