Findings showed an extremely high prevalence of all forms of domestic violence in urban poor communities in South India. The 99.4 percent lifetime prevalence of physical abuse in this study was higher than in prior reports from South India. The rate of physical abuse experienced by women in the 3 months prior to the survey was higher than in other studies, as was the lifetime prevalence of women who had been forced to have sex against their will by their partners. The near universal response that a man's drunkenness was a major precipitating factor for violence was consistent with other studies, as well as two other precipitating factors rated by a large proportion of women as likely to make a man violent - childlessness and arguments over dowry. These factors are also prominent in other studies from India, reflecting the role of specific cultural norms in instigating violence. Several interrelated findings in this survey highlight the vulnerability of women in these communities to HIV and other STIs: the high prevalence of forced sex, the view of many women that refusal of sex and attempts to initiate condom use are likely to instigate violence, and the high rate of women indulging their husbands in sex to avoid physical assault. Because the data suggest a connection between socioeconomic factors and domestic violence, structural interventions aimed at uplifting the overall socioeconomic situation of slum communities, and the economic situation of women in particular may help mitigate violence in these communities. Data were collected from 1,974 married women from low-income communities in Chennai, India using structured interview. Tables, figure, and references