Schooling and intimate partner violence: retrospective analysis of India's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan using quasi-experimental techniques.

Background: Almost one-third of ever-married women in India experience physical, psychological or sexual violence by their husbands or partners. In this study, we examined the associations of universal primary education with long-term intimate partner violence (IPV) rates and attitudes condoning IPV among women in India. Methods: We used data from the National Family Health Survey 2019-2021 and compared women who were eligible for Results: Intervention group women who were originally eligible for SSA in 2001 (4 years below the primary to secondary transition age of 14 years) were 16%-31% less likely to justify IPV or experience emotional violence than control group women who were not eligible for the programme (4 years above the age cut-off). There were no statistically significant associations between SSA eligibility and the rates of physical IPV experienced by women. The results were robust to a series of sensitivity analyses and alternate model specifications. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that universal access to primary schooling may play an important role in reducing IPV and improving gender equality in India and similar low-income and middle-income countries.