An Introductory to Domestic Violence
Domestic violence in India is rampant prevalent in almost all households in any form. It could be against women, men and children as well. The term used to describe this exploding problem of violence within our homes is Domestic Violence. This violence is towards someone who we are in a relationship with, be it a wife, husband, son, daughter, mother, father, grandparent or any other family member. It can be a male’s or a female’s atrocities towards another male or a female. Anyone can be a victim and a victimizer. This violence has a tendency to explode in various forms such as physical, sexual or emotional. According to section 3 of Protection of Women from Domestic violence, any act or omission of respondent which endanger the life, health whether mentally or physically, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so, and it includes causing sexual, physical, emotional, verbal and economical abuse1. Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, family violence, or intimate partner violence can be broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, friends or cohabitation. Domestic violence has many forms including physical aggression, or threats thereof; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; controlling or domineering; intimidation; stalking; passive/covert abuse; and economic deprivation. Alcohol consumption and mental illness can be co-morbid with abuse and present additional challenges when present alongside patterns of abuse. Domestic violence in India includes any form of violence suffered by a person from a biological relative, but typically is the violence suffered by a woman by male members of her family or relatives. It occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate another. Domestic violence often refers to violence between spouses, or spousal abuse but can also include cohabitants and non-married intimate partners. Domestic violence occurs in all cultures; people of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexes and classes can be perpetrators of domestic violence. Domestic violence is perpetrated by both men and women.
Domestic Violence a Criminal Offence2:-
In 1983, domestic violence was recognized as a specific criminal offence by the introduction of section 498-A into the Indian Penal Code. This section deals with cruelty by a husband or his family towards a married woman. The main legislative measures at the national level for the children who become a victim of child labor include The Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act -1986 and The Factories Act -1948. The first act was categorical in prohibiting the employment of children below fourteen years of age, and identified 57 processes and 13 occupations which were considered dangerous to the health and lives of children. The factories act again prohibits the employment of children less than fourteen years of age. An act called Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 [DVA, 2005] also has been passed. This Act ensures the reporting of cases of domestic violence against women to a ‘Protection Officer’ who then prepares a Domestic Incident Report to the Magistrate “and forward copies thereof to the police officer in charge of the police station within the local limits of jurisdiction. Domestic Violence Act, 2005, in section 3 of the act Physical Abuse is explained as any act or conduct which is of such nature as to cause bodily pain, harm or danger to life, limb, or health or impair the health or development of the aggrieved person and include assault criminal intimidation and criminal force.
FORMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE3:
All the possible forms that will constitute the offence for a better understanding:
PHYSICAL ABUSE
Physical abuse is the most pervasive and ancient method of subordinating of women in a family, it is the most common control mechanism applied against a woman within the domestic sphere. While defining Domestic Violence under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, in section 3 of the act Physical Abuse is explained as any act or conduct which is of such nature as to cause bodily pain, harm or danger to life, limb, or health or impair the health or development of the aggrieved person and include assault, criminal intimidation and criminal force.
PSYCHOLOGICAL/ EMOTIONAL VIOLENCE
Causing of abuse to a woman in the domestic sphere is multidimensional. Under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 emotional or psychological abuse which has been categorized as verbal, is explained as to include – insults, ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults especially with regard to not having a child or a male child and repeated there as to cause physical pain to any person in whom the aggrieved person is interested. Psychological abuses are one of the major forms of abuses faced by women.
SEXUAL ABUSE
This form of abuse is specific to the interpersonal relation between a man and a woman most often in a marital relationship. Of the many duties that a wife has towards her husband, performance of sexual duties is one of them. A wife is never expected to neglect her duties failure to carry out sexual duties or unfaith fullness appears to have been widely accepted and understandable explanation for men’s violence. In present times men use sexual violence to assert and maintain their superior masculinity. This form of abuse is more common in households where men are literate and affluent. In a survey it was found that 79% of men used sexual violence to control their wives’ fidelity and 57% of them had more than 6 years of formal education.
INTELLECTUAL ABUSE
Of all the abuses in Domestic Violence previously discussed, intellectual abuse has been missing from all the definitions of Domestic Violence. This is perhaps because in India a marital relationship or any other man-woman relationship is about the acceptance of inequality, where men dominate and injure and women get dominated and endure. The entire socialization process has an inherent isolation for both men and women, which inhibits effective communication between the two. Even where domestic harmony exists, there is a sense of isolation in thought whereby both men and women experience alienation from each other and at a certain level they come out to be strangers. Different educational levels add to the isolation as the mental levels are different and both find difficulties in relating to each other at the intellect level. In most of instances it is seen that Indian marriages are clouded with words such as adjustments and compromises.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF DOMESTIC VOILENCE4
AGAINST WOMEN
Domestic violence against in the women is most prevalent and common in India of all. Idiotic and male chauvinistic mindset of the society that the women are the weak among the sex is the main reason for this. Even women, who equally proved themselves in almost every field of life affirming that they are no less than the men, domestic violence against women is more in all places. According to the UN population fund report, two of three women are the victims of the domestic violence. It also stated that seventy percent of Indian women between the ages of 15 to 45 are the rape and forced sex. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and some others states, where the domestic violence cases are more filed than the other states. The most common reason for domestic violence are dissatisfaction with dowry and exploiting the women for more of it, arguing with the spouse, refusing to have sex and other reason. In some cases, infertility of the women will be main reason for it. In rural areas, the greed for the dowry, desire for a male child and alcohol & drugs are reasons behind the offence of domestic violence. There have been horrible police reports that a young bride being burnt alive after subjected to continuous harassment for not bringing the demanded amount of dowry and jewels. Also, because of male chauvinistic culture, wives who have a doubtful suspicion about the sexual involvement of their husband with other women or prostitutes have filed cases that they brutally abused and beaten by their husbands. Many other factors lead to emotional differences between the spouses and lead to the shape of domestic violence later. Such factors are more income of wife than husband, wife job duration and etc. Violence against the young widows is also being increased in India. They are mostly cursed by her in-laws for her husband’s death and deprived of poor clothing and food. Other forms of physical abuse against women include slapping, punching, grabbing, burdening them with drudgery, public humiliation and the neglect of their health problems. Some of the other forms of psychological torment against them could be curtailment of their rights to self-expression and curbing the freedom to associate with the natal family and friends.
AGAINST MEN
Though domestic violence of men is less than the domestic violence of women in India, it already a full form in other western countries by now. The supremacy of male nowadays makes us believe that they are not suspected to the domestic violence. Recently, hundreds of husbands gathered in Chandigarh and Shimla to express their opinion on men’s right and protection against domestic violence by their wives and family members. It initiates the need for special law for curbing domestic violence by their wives and other family members.
AGAINST CHILDREN
Children and teenagers are also the victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence against children took the second place in terms of number of cases filed. Nowadays, both the parents to take care of their family economic condition goes to work, which leads to different form of domestic violence against their children, because of their work stress. Also, nowadays children and parents don’t share their problems due to the lack of communication, which to the misbehavior of the children and leads to arguments between the parents and finally beating of children. This leads to domestic violence. Parents to reduce their stress and anger on their higher officers and company bosses, shows their anger on their children even for small mistakes they did which leads to the domestic violence. In rural areas the reasons could be harassment for child labor, physical abuse or harm for not following family traditions, forcing them to stay at home and not allowing them to go to school etc. Domestic violence against girls is in fact, more severe at homes. As the common mob mentality of India prefers to have at least one male child after marriage, the girls in most of the occasions are cursed and assaulted for having taken birth in the home. This kind abuse is prevalent both in cities and villages but is more common in latter. In fact, the number of rape cases of pre-matured girls has been rising since last few years. A survey of teens and college students found that rape accounted for 67 percent of sexual assaults in girls. Apart from sexual abuse and rape, pushing, slapping, punching, stalking and emotional abuse are other forms of domestic violence against children.
4. Reasons for High incidence of Domestic Violence5
Patriarchal Attitude
This is the major factor behind the high incidence of domestic violence. A patriarchal attitude of men purviews women as an object and consider her of low status. Men consider that they ownership over the body of women.
Dowry System
There is strong link between domestic violence and dowry. If the bride is not giving dowry according to the expectation of groom, she is subjected to many forms of violence. In many cases, they are burned.
Social Culture
In our Indian culture, it is found that wife is supposed to be submissive to the husbands. She is supposed to be tolerant. For example, Pativarta Nari is considered ideal. All these socio-culture prevent a woman from walking out of violent relationship.
Gender Inequality
The research carried out in different parts of the world indicates that any social culture which treats women as fundamentally of less value than men is conducive to violence against women. India ranked 135 among a total of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2022 indicating wide gender gap. As men consider themselves superior, resorting to violence boosts and nurtures their egoistic superiority complex.
Lack of Support
Absence of viable alternatives of survival and lack of proper support group also forces a woman to continue tolerating violent behavior. For instance, uneducated women find no support from her maternal family therefore; continuously suffer due to economic dependence.
Lack of Awareness
Lack of awareness of their own rights and a general social belief in women’s subordination perpetuate a low self-image in women and her inferior status. Women are taught that marriage is the ultimate goal she has to achieve. All this conditioning gradually becomes the nature of Indian woman.
Other Reasons
Poverty, alcoholism, unemployment etc. also contribute to violent behavior. These factors put women at greater risk of violence because of the stresses created by financial hardship and relationship crisis.
5. Remedies6
A recent study by the India’s National Crime Records (NCRB) has conclude that domestic violence against the women is the fastest growing crime in India and also according to their latest reports a crime is being recorded against their husband foe every three minutes in India. For every minute, averages of two women are raped in our country. Every six hours, a young married woman is found beaten to death, burnt or driven to suicide7. The main question which arises in our mind after seeing the present phenomena of domestic violence are that how to reduce the occurrence of the domestic violence in not only but also in the world. Since it depends on the mental problems of the spouse or the house members, it can be fully curbed out of the society only by the willingness of each and every members of the society. However, with the help of the following, domestic violence can be controlled.
Laws
NGOs
Police
LAWS: - At present there is no single law in the Indian Constitution which can strictly deal with all the different forms of ‘Domestic Violence’ as discussed in this essay. There is an urgent need for such a law in the country. In fact, there has also been misuse of section 498-A and DVA, 2005 because of restricted definition of cruelty subjected to married women. Thus the law in our country should be changed and new amendments regarding the law which deals with the domestic violence should be made to create a fear in the mind of the monsters who tortures their spouses for their happiness or for silly reasons.
NGOs: - The role of non-governmental organizations in controlling the domestic violence and curbing its worse consequences is essential. Some of the NGOs are: -
Sakshi
Majilis and swadhar in Mumbai
Sneha in Chennai
Vimochana in Bangalore
Sakshi — a violence intervention agency for women and children in Delhi works on cases of sexual assault, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse and domestic abuse and focuses on equality education for judges and implementation of the 1997 Supreme Court’s sexual harassment guidelines. Women’s Rights Initiative— another organization in the same city runs a legal aid cell for cases of domestic abuse and works in collaboration with law enforcers in the area of domestic violence. In Mumbai, bodies like Majlis and Swaadhar are doing meaningful works in this field. Sneha in Chennai and Vimochana in Bangalore are working on many women’s issues arising from domestic abuse. They are also doing active work in issues related to labor. Services ranging from counselling, education and outreach, giving provisions, and mobilizing them for gaining self-confidence are provided to them. Anweshi is a women’s counselling center in Kozhikode providing meditation, resource and counselling for battered women. All the above bodies have their own registered offices, contact numbers and websites for those who want to seek help. There are at present only few NGOs for welfare of men like Social Welfare Association for Men (SWAM) in Chennai. Few more such organizations need to be opened for the help of abused men. These NGOs continue to spread awareness amongst people regarding the legal rights they have in hand for fighting against the atrocities they are subjected to. They are encouraging more and more people to report any case of domestic violence so that proper action may be taken against the culprits.
Police: - Police plays a major role in tackling the domestic violence cases. They need to be sensitized to treat domestic violence cases as seriously as any other crime. Special training to handle domestic violence cases should be imparted to police force. They should be provided with information regarding support network of judiciary, government agencies/departments. Gender training should be made mandatory in the trainings of the police officers. There should be a separate wing of police dealing with women’s issues, attached to all police stations and should be excluded from any other duty. Authorities should take steps to recognize Domestic Violence as a public health issue. A crisis support cell needs to be established in all major Government and Private Hospitals with a trained medical social worker for provide appropriate services. Training programmes must be organized for health professionals in order to develop their skills to provide basic support for abused people. Documentation on the prevalence and the health consequences of domestic violence should be undertaken by the concerned government departments, health care institutions, NGOs and counselling centers. A nodal agency should also be set up for the annual consolidation of the documented work and publish the same for wider publicity among the masses for increasing awareness.
6. Consequence of Domestic Violence8
Since domestic violence depends on the personal feelings of the family members, its consequences also depend on the victims. The consequence thus broadly categorized under the following:
EFFECTS ON VICTIM AND FAMILY.
EFFECT ON THE SOCIETY.
EFFECTS ON VICTIM AND FAMILY9:
The effects on the victim and the family are also broadly divided into many types based on whether the victim is a male or female or children.
AGAINST WOMEN: - Since women are mostly mentally weak than men in India, the deadly consequence will be suicide and such consequence is increasing nowadays. Because of their problems in the house, many Indian women lose their concentration on work which leads to drop out from work place. Some women leave their home immediately after atrocious attacks and beatings from their husband and try to become self-defendant. Their survival becomes difficult and painful when they have to work hard for earning two meals a day. Some of the women who left their home are forcefully and willingly for their living involved in pornography and women trafficking. The major consequence of domestic violence against the women is that the child, who notices what is done openly in front of his eyes, may have a tendency to reciprocate the same in their lives. Because of the domestic violence against the women leads them to maintain a distance from their partner. Their sexual life is affected adversely and also leads to a divorce and seeks separation which again affects the life of the children. In India, there are certain organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations such as Women Welfare Association of India (WWAI), Affus Woman Welfare Association (AWWA) and Woman’s Emancipation and Development Trust (WEDT) to rescue the women who are being cruelly tortured by their in-laws and her husband.
Against Men: - The consequences may be psychological because in many families men are not physically harassed but mentally by his wife and in-laws for many reasons like not earning money for a comfort living, for not giving a quality education to his child and other reasons. An emotionally harassed and depressed man may lose interest in the occupation he is associated with. There has been a spate of farmers’ suicide in recent years in Karnataka. Several farmers have committed suicide not only because of indebtedness but also because of discord in family and depression resulting out of it. According to statistics of Save India Family Foundation (an NGO), around 1.2 lac harassed husbands have committed suicide in the country in the last four years (2011-2015)10.
Against Children: - The consequences in case of domestic violence against teens are far more drastic and its effect is long lived. Children are sensitive to issues related to violence of any kind as they are not mature enough to comprehend them. In their upcoming years, they used to do what they learned from their parents. Now if the approach of parents itself is negative, children are bound to get influenced by it. They may adopt the negative traits of the ill they see around them or develop a hostile approach in life because of the ill-treatment they are subjected to. If a child is beaten badly for underperforming in school, he may do the same to his children, thinking it might be the only possible way of making a person to work hard. This may lead to bad future of our country. The children who escape being a part of this vicious circle are looked after by children welfare organizations like, Indian Child Welfare Association (ICWA), Child Relief and You (CRY) and Child Line etc.
Effects on the Society:
All the different forms of violence adversely affect the society. Violence against women may keep them locked in homes submitting to the torture they face. If they come out in open and reveal the wrong done to them for help and rescue, it influences the society both positively and negatively. At one hand where it acts as an inspiration and ray of hope for other suffering women, on the other hand it also spoils the atmosphere of the society. When something of this kind happens in the society, few families may witness the evil of domestic violence knocking their door steps. Some families try to imitate what others indulge in irrespective of it being good or bad for the family.
7. Conclusion and Suggestions
Having looked at a sensitive topic of “Domestic Violence in India”, we can sense the importance of discussion of such a topic. The varying causes which can spark the violence within the four walls of homes need to be analyzed carefully and a wise study of the factors causing the violence may prevent a family to suffer from the menace of domestic violence. The domestic violence may have a far wider and deeper impact in real life than what has been covered in this essay. What is required is to see closely the association of the factors provoking a particular form of domestic violence and to control it. If these factors can be controlled, then more than one form of violence can be prevented from harming an individual or our society and India would be a much better place to live in.
Way Forward11:-
Gender Sensitization:
A gender sensitization of all stakeholders is an important component of effective responses to domestic violence. It should form part of curriculum of training of the police, judiciary, bureaucracy, policymakers, social workers, counsellors, and other service providers.
Disseminate Information:
Many women are unable to escape domestic violence because they are unaware of legal services and agencies working in this area. Therefore, disseminating information on the range of services available is essential.
Raise Public Awareness:
It is important to generate public awareness on domestic violence as a violation of human rights. Educational strategies aimed at changing attitudes, belief and biases of law enforcers, the judiciary and citizens need to be developed and implemented.
Healthy relationship skills:
Social-emotional learning programs for youth and healthy relationship programs for couples should be promoted.
Economic Empowerment
So many women stay in destructive relationships because they will be homeless, with their children, if they leave. Divorce financial distributions need to be much fairer. Policy changes that tend to help women financially like raising the minimum wage, universal basic income can make a difference. Article 21 of our constitution ensures the right to live with dignity for women. Protection of women from domestic violence act 2005 has not helped much in preventing domestic violence. A comprehensive effort of required at societal and government level.
Endnotes: -
1. Protection of women from domestic violence act 2005, s-3.
2. Harini Sudersan&Niruphama Ramakrishnan, The domestic violence Act: ConstitutionalPerspective, (Oct 8, 2022,23:00), http://www. legalserviceindia .com/articles/dmt.htm, ( last accessed on oct 15, 2022)
3. Mishra, P., 2022. Domestic Violence. [online] Legal Service India. Available at:https://www.legalindia.com/dhawesh_pahuja_article_about_domestic_violence [Accessed 16 October 2022].
4. Ibid
5. ForumIAS Blog. 2022. [Answered]Discuss various reasons for the high incidence of domestic violence in India. Suggest some measures to prevent it. [online] Available at:https://blog.forumias.com/answereddiscuss-variousreasonsforthehighincidenceofdomesticviolencein-india-suggest-some-measures-to-prevent-it/ [Accessed 16 October 2022].
6. Rao, B., 2022. Domestic Violence- Remedies. [online] Youth Ki Awaaz. Available at:http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/02/domestic-violence-in-india-remedies [Accessed 16 October 2022].
7. Anand, R., 2022. Domestic Violence. [online] Domesticviolence- Categorize. Available at:http://www.domesticviolence.in/category/domestic-violence- [Accessed 16 October 2022]
8. Article by Ankur Kumar on domestic violence in India, Posted on February 7, 2010 in Editor's Picks, Society
9. Sharma, A., 2022. Violence in Home. [online] Legal India. Available at:http://www.legalindia.com/dhawesh_pahuja_article_about_domestic_violence [Accessed 16 October 2022].
10. Ibid
11. ForumIAS Blog. 2022. [Answered]Discuss various reasons for the high incidence of domestic violence in India. Suggestsome measures to prevent it.. [online] Available at: https://blog.forumias.com/answereddiscuss-various-reasons-forthe-high-incidence-of-domestic-violence-in-india-suggest-some-measures-to-prevent-it/ [Accessed 16 October 2022].