By Ghanavi Umesh
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In
India, during the nationwide lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic,
domestic violence complaints touched a record high in the last ten years. What
is worse is the fact that as much as 86% of domestic violence victims do not
seek help in India. Only 77% of women who experience domestic violence have
even mentioned the incident to another person.[1]
This is indeed very unfortunate and alarming.
If anyone is facing instances of domestic violence, please reach out to:
Phone:
Central
Social Welfare Board – Police Helpline: 1091/1291;
(011) 23317004
National
Commission for Women (Whatsapp number): 7217735372
All
India Women’s Conference: (011) 43389101/02/03
Lawyer’s
Collective Women’s Rights Initiative legal aid cell: (011) 24373993/ 24372923
E-mail:
All
India Women’s Conference: info@aiwc.org.in
Red
Dot: weftinfo@gmail.com
The
world we live in, patriarchy still reigns supreme. Women have been historically
subjugated and treated as chattel. The situation now might be better than what
it was a 100 years ago, however women still continue to be oppressed by men and
the patriarchal norms of the society. While domestic violence could mean any
kind of abuse or violence against any person in a domestic setting, such as the
abuse of children, elders, spouses, etc., the phrase is used more often than
not and for the purposes of this article, used to denote the abuse of women at
the hands of their spouses, partners or their relatives. The prevalence of
domestic abuse in the society and the subsequent silence of the victims about
the same show the power men possess over women in the societal sphere.
The
Domestic Violence Act of 2005 defines domestic violence as any harm or
harassment which endangers the life and health of the victim which encompasses
physical, mental, sexual, emotional, verbal or economic abuse. Some scholars
argue that domestic abuse is a form of terrorism, the rationale being the
perpetrators abuse their victims to exercise control over them and make them
fear the perpetrators. More often than not, it is in this quest for control
over women’s bodies, minds and lives, that men abuse their partners. When there
is no active intention on the part of men to instill fear or control their partner,
it is the patriarchal mindset that they have been brought up with, which makes them
perpetuate this crime.
It
took a long time before domestic violence could be made a punishable offence.
This was because of the prevalent norm that what happens within the four walls
of a house must not be brought before public scrutiny. However, feminist
scholars then brought about the ‘personal is political’ movement, that what
happens inside the house is a reflection of the societal patterns. In the
beginning, domestic violence included only physical abuse since the society was
more willing to address physical harm and it was much easier to prove such
abuse. However, the law in most parts of the world has evolved to include other
forms of abuse as well. In the UK, although it was a case of homicide, in R v.
Sally Challen – the court, by holding that years of coercive control had
absolved the lady of the charge of murder and reducing it to culpable homicide,
has shown that merely being coercively controlled is domestic abuse and can
have detrimental effects on the mental health of the victim.
India
is among the countries with the highest rate of domestic violence.[2]
This is mainly because of the patriarchal norms present in the Indian society.
Women have very little autonomy regarding their lives. They’re usually married
off at a young age to a man chosen by their parents. They’re taught to be
submissive to the male authority in their families, which is the father before
getting married and the father-in-law and husband after getting married. There
is also the prevalence of the dowry system in spite of laws being in place
against the same. Thus, women are subjected to violence either to demand dowry
or to simply exert their power over women. Women are generally taught to not
talk about what happens in their households as it will bring ‘shame’ to the
family. Further, most women are not allowed to work and hence are dependent on
their matrimonial home for their economic needs. India also has one of the
lowest divorce rates in the world. This is mostly because women who divorce
their partners face a lot of stigma in the society. Rarely do parents accept a
daughter separated from her husband back into their homes. These problems force
women to stay in abusive marriages without seeking help.
Being
subjected to domestic abuse can have detrimental effects on the physical,
mental and sexual health of the victim. Women in abusive households go through physical
abuse, coercive controlling or forced and unwanted sex by their husbands. There
are a lot of organizational barriers when women actually come forward to file a
complaint of domestic violence. Firstly, the police are unresponsive in cases
like these. They hesitate to file a complaint and dismiss the woman’s problems
by regarding it as a family issue. Secondly, such acts occur in private and it
is hence difficult to bring evidence to the court. It is much more difficult in
cases of emotional or mental abuse. Thirdly, the courts rarely convict men for
domestic violence, and even when they do, it is more like a subsidiary evidence
for another offence such as adultery or polygamy. Fourthly, most women are satisfied
with a divorce from such an abusive husband or in-laws thus not holding them
criminally accountable for the crime.
While
there are laws in India which address problems women face, such as the Domestic
Violence Act of 2005, the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, and s. 498 of the
Indian Penal Code, the implementation of these laws is not satisfactory. Rural
and urban lower courts rarely convict a person charged for domestic violence
and more often than not, domestic violence in India is linked to dowry demands
alone. It does not take into account the fact that domestic violence can occur
without demands for dowry. Marital rape is not a crime in India, and hence the
sexual abuse which women suffer at the hands of their husbands goes unresolved.
Thus, domestic violence still remains a major issue in our country.
The
police must be sensitized and trained to be more responsive to such cases. The
lower judiciary must also address domestic violence as an issue in itself and
not something subsidiary to other offences. Women especially those from rural
backgrounds must be encouraged to seek help and help in holding the
perpetrators accountable for their action. Finally, the people must be
sensitized to understand gender issues in the society and help break the cycle
of abusive households. Only when such measures are taken, can India come close
to solving the problem of domestic violence.
Images from
- "Stop the Abuse" by Charles Rondeau from https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=272892&picture=stop-the-abuse
- "Cycle of Abuse" by Avanduyn from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cycle_of_Abuse.png
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Ghanavi Umesh is a 2nd year student at National Law University Delhi. She has a keen interest in Constitutional law, Environmental law and Intellectual Property law. She is also interested in Economics and Philosophy. One can either find her reading something or bingeing on a TV show in her leisure time. She also loves painting occasionally.
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