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By N. Prabha Unnithan

Criminology and criminal justice is in its infancy in India. This book attempts to examine India's crime problem in detail and document if and how its criminal justice system has responded to emerging challenges and opportunities. The objective is to move beyond mere observations and thoughtful opinions, and make contributions that are the next steps in the development of an empirical (or evidence-based) criminology and criminal justice on this vast and diverse country-by focusing on research that is both balanced and precise. This book brings together a diverse set of 32 academics from India, the US, and the UK who have authored 19 chapters on many aspects of crime and justice in India. The organizational components or sectors of the criminal justice system are the police, the courts, and corrections. The studies collected here provide balanced coverage of the entire criminal justice system and not just one component of it. The first section of this book consists of overviews of several major issues that affect the entire criminal justice system. Section Two considers topics related to the gateway of the criminal justice system, policing. Section Three takes up the operational problems of criminal law and courts and Section Four deals with the difficult question of punishment and correction, the last part of the criminal justice system.

SAGE, 2013, 476 pages

By Shirin Zia, Jannatul Ferdous Antu, Mahfuz Al Mamun, Kausar Parvin, and Ruchira Tabassum Naved

Despite the abundance of literature, longitudinal studies evaluating the factors associated with domestic violence (DV) at different stages and over longer periods of women’s lives are rare. We evaluated factors associated with physical and sexual DV during pregnancy, at 10-year, and 18-year follow-ups after pregnancy and within a 19-year period of life using a cohort of women (n= 1,126) who participated in the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions, Matlab trial in rural Bangladesh. Data on women’s experience of DV, social and economic characteristics, empowerment, and family condition were recorded in a similar manner during pregnancy and at 10- and 18-year follow-ups, using standard questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression models and generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate factors associated with women’s experience of physical and sexual violence at each discrete time point and over a period of 19 years, respectively. During pregnancy, women were more likely to experience violence if they were members of microcredit programs/non-governmental organizations (NGOs), living in an extended family and had lower wealth status. At the 10- and 18-year follow-ups, higher levels of decision-making and higher wealth status were protective against the experience of violence. At the 18-year follow-up, women with larger age differences from their husbands were less likely to experience violence, while membership in microcredit programs/NGOs was associated with higher odds of experiencing violence among women. Within a period of 19 years, a higher level of education, living in an extended family, higher decision-making level and higher wealth index were protective against the experience of violence, while membership in microcredit programs/NGOs was a risk factor. In conclusion, this study showed that correlates of violence might change at different time points in women’s life. Thus, policies and programs should consider the stage of women’s lives while planning interventions for addressing violence against women.

Stockholm, Sweden: Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2023. 22p.