Over the past decade, women in India have seen a rise in the number and types of opportunities afforded to them. Women are able to obtain different jobs they never could have in the past. Women can marry and have children later. Social structures are also changing. For example, couples often live on their own rather than moving in with the husband’s parents. However, domestic violence is on the rise. According to the Home Ministry's National Crime Records Bureau, the rate of crimes against women rose from 14.1 percent in 2005 to 14.7 percent in 2006. Their 2006 report also found that crimes against women under the India Penal Code (IPC) constituted 8.2 percent of all IPC crimes in 2006, a 0.8 percent increase since 2002. In addition, more and more women are attending self-defense classes in their neighborhoods to learn how to protect themselves from violence in the streets.
Compiled from: Wax, Emily, In India, New Opportunities for Women Draw Anger and Abuse From Men, Washington Post Foreign Service, Page A11, 25 August 2008; Crime in India, National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, 2006.