ABSTRACT
Gender-based violence (GBV) within tribal communities has caught less attention among social researchers. The National Family Health Survey 2019 showed that violence is much higher against women from the scheduled tribes than women outside these categories. Over the last few decades, the passage of the Joint Forest Management Act (1996), interventions of developmental projects, and other socio-cultural influences have led to significant socioeconomic changes and urban migration that changed the egalitarian concept of gender relations. Such changes fabricated gender relations which resulted in GBV. Regardless of conventional understanding, gender equality in tribal communities was poorly understood, especially in the context of changes. It created disempowerment and economic instability among tribal women and men leading to GBV. Hence, this article provides an overview of how gender relations changed over time with the experiences of tribal women who faced multiple and intersecting kinds of violence due to gender and distinct socio-economic characteristics.
