33% feel women must consult men before voting: Survey

BENGALURU: Poor representation of women is not the only indicator of gender imbalance in Karnataka's politics. Women's autonomy in making electoral choices in the state appears to be fettered, if the findings of a survey are any indication. A third of the respondents (both men and women) in the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) baseline survey, 2023, commissioned by the state's chief electoral office (CEO), said "women should consult male members or elders before voting".
"Across divisions, over a quarter of the population (26.2%) 'agrees', and 7.3% of them 'strongly agree', with this statement. This reiterates the belief that women are considered secondary citizens," the report said, advocating targeted interventions by specifically imparting the importance of impartial and independent voting through education. In the 2018 edition of the survey, too, 33.5% respondents had echoed the same views.

At the disaggregate level, Bengaluru division had the highest percentage (29.2%) of respondents who "agreed" with the idea of women consulting males/elders before voting, followed by Belagavi (26.5%). Kalaburagi (23.6%) and Mysuru (23.1%) had nearly identical proportions of respondents who supported this. The responses only serve as a sample, as only 4,452 households and 45 focussed groups across the four divisions were surveyed.