Climate and gender: association between droughts and intimate partner violence in India.

Extreme climate events are related to women's exposure to different forms of violence. We examined the relationship between droughts and physical, sexual, and emotional intimate partner violence (IPV) in India by using two different definitions of drought: precipitation-based drought and socio-economic drought. We analyzed data from two rounds of a nationally representative survey, the National Family Health Survey, where married women were asked about their experiences of IPV in the past year (2015-16 and 2019-21; N=122,696). Precipitation-based drought was estimated using remote sensing data and GIS mapping, while socio-economic drought status was collected from government records. Logistic regression models showed precipitation-based drought to increase the risk of experiencing physical IPV and emotional IPV. Similar findings were observed for socio-economic drought; women residing in areas classified as drought-impacted by the government were more likely to report physical IPV, sexual IPV, and emotional IPV. These findings support the growing body of evidence regarding the relationship between climate change and women's vulnerability, and highlight the need for gender responsive strategies for disaster management and preparedness.