Survey shows women accept wife-beating

A large survey in India has found that more than half of Indian women believe that wife-beating can be justified under certain circumstances.

The survey of ninety-thousand women across the country -- conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences for the Health Ministry -- found that a third or more of the women felt that beatings were justified for neglecting the house or children, for going out without informing the husband, for showing disrespect to in-laws or for being suspected of infidelity. The survey did not show a marked difference in opinions between women of different ages; views differed more where women were educated and whether they lived in towns and cities rather than the countryside.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service