The NFHS-5 report provides data on gender-based violence. While the overall proportion of women who experienced different forms of violence has decreased, the data clearly establishes the under-reporting of crime against women in some states like Bihar. Violence against women and girls is a grave violation of human rights which is prevalent even today across the world. Women and girls are subjected to different forms of abuse, be it emotional, physical, or sexual, because of their gender. This affects their sense of security, health, dignity, and autonomy. Gender-based violence has lifelong repercussions for the victims. According to the UN, about one in three women across the world has experienced sexual or physical violence in their lifetime. Among the many forms of violence that women face, spousal violence is widely prevalent in India. Spousal violence or domestic violence is when the perpetrator is the spouse or in a domestic setting. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many countries & states to impose lockdowns leading to a global surge in domestic violence directed towards women and girls. Such instances of increase in domestic violence have also increased in India. Multiple factors such as alcohol & drug abuse, sense of entitlement, etc. contribute to domestic violence. NFHS-5 provides data on Gender based violence Data about domestic violence is captured in National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) and registered crimes of domestic violence are reported in the annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The Health Ministry recently released the key findings of the first phase of NFHS-5 conducted in 2019-20. This is the fifth edition of the survey covering 6.1 Lakh sample households. 17 states and 5 UTs have been covered in the first phase of the survey. The second phase of the survey covering the remaining 12 states and 2 UTs was paused because of COVID-19 and has resumed in November 2020. The second phase report will be released soon. The sample size for the survey varies from state to state because of the differences in population & age composition. The latest NFHS survey has a separate section on Gender-Based Violence under which data on women aged between 18 to 49 years and who have experienced spousal violence, and physical violence during pregnancy has been provided. There is also data on young women who experienced sexual violence. Both physical and/or sexual violence have been included in spousal violence. More than 40% ever married women in Karnataka and Bihar have faced spousal violence The findings from the survey indicate that there has been a decrease in the proportion of women who reported experience of spousal violence in most parts of the country compared to NFHS-4 carried out in 2015-16. Of the 22 states/UTs covered in the first phase of NFHS-5, it is observed that except in Karnataka, Assam, Maharashtra, Ladakh, Sikkim, and Himachal Pradesh, the proportion of women who ever experienced spousal violence (those of ages 18 to 49) has decreased compared to the previous editions of the NFHS. About 44.4% of the women in Karnataka, where this percentage has more than doubled in the past decade, were victims of spousal violence. Bihar is the other state with over 40% of women having reported spousal violence. However, unlike in Karnataka, the incidence of spousal violence had dropped in Bihar as compared to the previous NFHS surveys. During NFHS-3, 59% of the ever-married women were victims of spousal violence in Bihar which has now decreased to 40%. More than 30% of women reported that they have experienced spousal violence in each of the states of Manipur, Telangana, Assam, and Andhra Pradesh. In Maharashtra and West Bengal, this number was more than 25% but less than 30%. In each of the states of Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Lakshadweep, less than 10% of women reported an experience of spousal violence. Greater proportion of Rural women experienced Spousal Violence than their Urban counterparts Bihar, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Sikkim were the only states where this percentage was more in urban areas than in rural areas. The difference was the highest in Telangana where the cases of spousal violence among rural women were 42.3% whereas that among urban women was 27.3%. In general, it is observed that a greater proportion of rural women experienced spousal violence than their urban counterparts. Proportion of Women who faced physical violence when pregnant is highest in Karnataka Physical violence during pregnancy can be harmful both for the mother and the unborn baby. This could even result in perinatal death or preterm delivery.