Homes of Harm: Spousal Violence and Child Malnutrition in India

This study investigates the causal impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by mothers on the nutritional status of children under age five in India. To address endogeneity, IPV is instrumented using the district-level presence of an All-Women Police Station, serving as a proxy for institutional responsiveness to gender-based violence. Using repeated cross-sections from the National Family Health Survey, we estimate substantial effects of maternal IPV on child nutritional outcomes. IPV increases the probability of stunting by 34.5 percentage points and underweight by 26.9 percentage points, and it raises the likelihood of anaemia by a similar magnitude. Children of mothers exposed to IPV are also less likely to receive core micronutrient supplements. We do not find evidence of effects on short-term morbidities such as diarrhoea or fever.

Mechanism analysis suggests these effects are partly driven by reduced breast feeding, likely linked to declining maternal health and autonomy. The results point to sizeable intergenerational consequences of domestic violence and imply that insti tutional efforts to improve women’s safety may have meaningful returns for early-life