Every third women, since the age of 15, has faced domestic violence of various forms in the country, reported the National Family Health Survey (NHFS-4).Recently Supreme Court held that even the brother-in-law has a liability to pay maintenance to a victim under the Domestic Violence Act if they had lived together under the same roof in a shared household as part of a joint family at any point of time.

About Domestic Violence :

• Every third women, since the age of 15, has faced domestic violence of various forms in the country, reported the National Family Health Survey (NHFS-4).
• According to WHO, worldwide as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by a male intimate partner.
• In India intimate partner violence is the highest at 37.7% in the WHO South-East Asia region.
• Domestic violence can negatively affect a woman’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health.

Reasons/Issues Involved:

• Changing socio- economic relations particularly in urban areas such as more income of a working woman than her partner, abusing and neglecting in-laws, dowry demands etc.
• Violence against young widows especially in rural areas: most often they are cursed for their husband’s death and are deprived of proper food and clothing without often being given the opportunity for remarriage in most of the homes. Also, there are cases of molestation and rape attempts by other family members in joint families.
• Orthodox & Patriarchal mindset- male domination and control over women, male privilege and women’s subordinate status, infertility or desire for male child.
• Women are also more likely to experience intimate partner violence if they have low education, exposure to mothers being abused by a partner, abuse during childhood, and attitudes accepting violence, male privilege and women’s subordinate status.

Government Steps taken to prevent domestic violence:

There are mainly three laws in India that deal directly with domestic violence:

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005:

• The Act expanded the definition of domestic violence to include not just physical, but also verbal, emotional, sexual and economic violence.
• The law is broad in its definition— “domestic relationship" includes married women, mothers, daughters and sisters.
• This law not only protects women who are married but also protects women in live-in relationships, as well as family members including mothers, grandmothers, etc.
• Under this law, women can seek protection against domestic violence, financial compensation and they can get maintenance from their abuser in case they are living apart.
• It provides the Right to Secure Housing i.e. right to reside in the matrimonial or shared household, whether or not she has any title or rights in the household. This right is secured by a residence order, which is passed by a court.
• A magistrate can pass a protection order under the Act to ensure the abuser doesn't contact or get close to the survivor.
• It provides for breach of protection order or interim protection order by the respondent as a cognizable and non-bailable offence punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to Rs. 20,000 or with both.
• It provides for appointment of protection officers and NGOs to provide assistance to the woman for medical examination, legal aid and safe Shelter.
• Punishment of one-year maximum imprisonment and Rs. 20,000 each or both to the offenders is mentioned.
• PWDVA enshrines principles of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which India ratified in 1993.

The Dowry Prohibition Act:

• This is a criminal law that punishes the taking and giving of dowry. Under this law, if someone takes, gives or even demands dowry, they can be imprisoned for six months or they can be fined up to Rs 5,000.

Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code:

• This is a criminal law, which applies to husbands or relatives of husbands who are cruel to women. Recently, the Supreme Court restored an immediate arrest provision in the dreaded Section 498A, IPC.

Issues with Domestic violence Act :

• Gender biased and not gender neutral: There have been increasing number of false cases. Also, the domestic violence against men in India is not recognised by the law.
• Excludes abuses pertaining to martial rape.
• Lack of awareness especially in rural areas where there is more need of such Acts.
• Judicial system resorting to mediation and counselling even in cases of extreme abuse. Also, Insensitivity by male police officers, judicial magistrates during hearings, etc.
• Absence of economic, psychological and support system for victim women.
• Insufficient budgetary allocation to States- the States could not assign ‘Protection Officers’ because of the already overburdened department.
• Though most of these cases are reported from urban areas, innumerable cases of violence against women go unreported in India's distant villages.

Other Important judgments on Domestic Violence (DV) Act, 2005 :

• The Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that the Domestic Violence Act, intended to safeguard women against marital abuse, will apply even after divorce.
• The Supreme Court has also struck down the words “adult male” from the pertinent provision in the DV Act to lay down that a woman can also file a complaint against another woman, accusing her of domestic violence.

Way forward :

• Government can create a fund available with magistrates and judges passing maintenance orders. In the event that orders cannot be executed it must be the responsibility of the government to pay the amount to the distressed wife and then recover the amount from the husband.
• There is need for bringing in judicial reforms and increasing the strength of magistrate’s courts in the country so that courts are not overworked and have time to dedicate to cases under the DV Act.
• At a broader level successive rounds of NFHS surveys create space for deeper understanding of various aspects of domestic violence and for evidence-based policy recommendations. The factors behind the reduction of spousal violence need to be scrutinized further.
• NGOs relating to women empowerment should be encouraged to protect women from domestic violence.
• Women should be financially empowered through various government schemes and programmes.
• More sensitivity training to be given to officers concerned at every stage.