Analysis of Deaths Due to Gender-Based Violence: An Autopsy-based Cross-sectional Study from Mumbai

March 2023

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a dire and pervasive issue globally with 1 in 3 women affected in their lifetime. While it is widespread nationally across India, Mumbai remains a hotspot for crimes against women. In 2021, Mumbai recorded 5,543 cases of crimes against women, marking a stark 21% rise from the previous year. In its most extreme form, the form of GBV that results in deaths of women and girls is femicide. In India, the forms of violence against women and girls that fit within the definition of femicide include domestic violence, honor killings, dowry deaths, and infanticide. However, no comprehensive data is available regarding estimates of femicide rates.

A new report “Analysis of deaths due to Gender-based violence: An autopsy-based cross-sectional study from Mumbai”, from Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital, in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Data for Health Initiative, summarizes key findings from a study that analyzed data for five years from an autopsy center in Mumbai for over 1,460 cases of female deaths showed that 12.3% of those cases had a history indicative of GBV.

Key findings included that most of the victims were found to have died by suicide or accidents, followed by homicide; and two-thirds of the women who died were married and six out of ten deaths were perpetrated by husbands or intimate partners.

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