Domestic violence describes a situation where the perpetrator of violence is a current or former intimate partner, parent, child, other close relative or friend of the victim. Violence against women is a blanket term for all gender-based violent acts that cause or may cause physical, sexual, psychological or financial harm or suffering, including threats of such acts, forcing the victim or arbitrarily depriving the victim of liberty, whether in public or in private. Violence against women is a significant human rights issue affecting the equality and health of women worldwide. Violence against women and domestic violence are found in all cultures, in all social classes and in all age groups.
Domestic violence often has extremely serious physical and psychological consequences. Domestic violence may cause physical or mental damage, developmental disorders, denial of basic needs or even death. Domestic violence also often affects social relationships. Family members, particularly children, suffer from domestic violence even if the violence is not aimed specifically at them. For a child, being exposed to violence between family members is just as damaging as being a victim of violence.
Domestic violence is rarely a one-off occurrence. Without an intervention, domestic violence tends to recur and become more frequent and more severe. As long as the violence remains a secret at home or in the relationship, it can live a life of its own and escalate into something really serious without anyone being able to stop it. The first step in breaking the cycle of violence is to talk to someone and to get help. By opening the curtain of violence and talking about your seemingly hopeless situation, you will have a chance of breaking free.
Statistics show that women make up 41% of the agricultural labour force, with more than 60% based in South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the high numbers of women in agriculture, they earn 25% less than their male counterparts and often work for longer hours. On the other hand, in urban areas, there has been a significant decline of female representation in the labour force, from 51% in 1990 to 46.9% in 2020. Similar to the trends in agricultural sector, women in formal employment earn 79% of what men earn globally. With the income numbers against women, this is a breeding ground for skewed power dynamics in marital relationships.
PROTECTION AGAINST SUCH MENACE OR THREAT:-
In order to reduce the exposure of women and girls to perpetual and unreported domestic violence, we must create economic opportunities and empower them to speak up. Domestic violence goes unreported for years due to power imbalances that can be attributed to many things including economic dependency on the perpetrator. Therefore, it is imperative to promote women’s economic empowerment by creating sustainable livelihoods opportunities as a gateway to reduce the incidences of unreported and normalised domestic violence.
There is also one provision enshrined which enables women to take actions against such brutal scenarios:-
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005:
To minimize the cumbersome position of law, be it procedural or substantive, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 was enacted to protect the women from acts of domestic violence. The legislative intent was further emphasized by the Supreme Court of India in the case of Indra Sarma v. V.K.V Sarma, (2013) 15 SCC 755 wherein it was stated that the DV Act is enacted to provide a remedy in civil law for the protection of women, from being victims of such relationship, and to prevent the occurrence of domestic violence in the society. Other legislations like CrPC, IPC, etc., where reliefs have been provided to women who are placed in vulnerable situations were also discussed.
CONCLUSION:-
Although the major objective of this law, being to protect the women against domestic violence has been secured, certain portions of the law still remains to be developed. This law provides civil remedies to the victims of domestic violence. Before enactment of this law, in order to seek any civil remedies such as divorce, custody of children, injunctions in any form or maintenance, a woman only had the option of taking recourse to the civil courts. Therefore, the DV Act has certainly brought about the required and necessary change in the system.
Author’s Name – Ansh Tripathi [Christ (Deemed to be University) Lavasa Pune Campus]
