Weathering Violence in India: Climate Shocks, Spousal Abuse and Potential Mediating Factors

Kajari Saha

No 360945, 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: This study investigates the causal relationship between climate shocks and women’s experiences of physical intimate partner violence (P-IPV) in rural India. Using geo-coded weather data linked to domestic violence reports from the two recent rounds of the Indian National Family Health Survey (NFHS 2015–16 and 2019–21), I find that droughts, wet shocks, and extreme heat during the most recent kharif growing season significantly increase the likelihood of women experiencing P-IPV. Specifically, exposure to a drought during the growing season increases the prevalence of less-severe P-IPV by 11.6%, while wet shocks increase severe P-IPV by 30.6%. Heat stress, measured as cumulative degree days above 30°C, is also associated with higher rates of both less-severe and severe IPV. Further analysis suggests that increased economic insecurity, husband’s alcohol use and marital controlling behaviors, and a decline in women’s empowerment are central pathways underlying these effects. Additional heterogeneity analyses reveal that household characteristics — such as land ownership and bank account access play a protective role by offering formal or informal insurance that helps buffer the harmful effects of drought on P-IPV.

Keywords: Farm; Management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea25:360945

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.360945

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