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Domestic violence is widely prevalent, but has remained largely invisible, in the public domain. Violence against women transcends boundaries, religions, cultures and income groups. Although, forms of violence may vary, the basic purpose is the same-subjugate women, to maintain male dominance.
Some forms of violence like rape and wife-beating are recognized as universal forms of violence. Others like dowry, sati and female foeticide are perpetuated by specific cultures and communities. The Parliament has now empowered Indian women with a law to protect themselves from violence of any kind occurring within the family.
Therefore, there are reasons to cheer the passage of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Bill, 2005 by both houses of Parliament. This path-breaking legislation seeks to protect women from all forms of domestic violence and check harassment and exploitation by family members or relatives. Women will now be able to take legal action against abusive husbands and those who harass them.
Background
Domestic violence is undoubtedly a human rights issue and serious deterrent to development. The Vienna Accord to 1994 and the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action (1995) have acknowledged this. The United Nations Committee on Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against women(CEDAW) in its General Recommendation in 1989 has recommended that States should act to protect women against violence of any kind especially that occurring within the family.
Presently, where a woman is subjected cruelty by her husband or his relatives, it is an offence under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. The civil law does not, however, address this phenomenon in its entirety. Therefore, it is necessary to enact a law, keeping in view the rights guaranteed under articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution to provide for a remedy under the civil law, which is intended to protect the woman from being victims of domestic violence and to prevent the occurrence of domestic violence in the society. The Bill is an important step in fulfilling the promise of legislation against domestic violence and gender discrimination made to women by the UPA government under the Common Minimum Programme.
In India, equality for women is a concept that the Constitution avows, with the ground reality presenting a completely different picture. It is of continued discrimination against women, both economically and socially, with little apology. It has taken 58 years since the country’s Independence for women to be able to stake a legal claim to ancestral property, with both Houses of Parliament having cleared the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 in its recent session. Similarly, a new legislation that has been enacted to protect women from domestic violence is testimony to the fact that the country has a long way to go before it can rid itself of this inhuman taint that is, according to statistics, widespread.
Provisions
The Bill covers those women who are or have been in a relationship with the abuser where both parties have lived together in a shared household and are related by consanguinity, marriage or through a relationship in the nature of marriage or adoption. In addition, relationships with family members living together as a joint family are also included.
Even those women who are sisters, widows, mothers, single women, or living with the abuser are entitled to legal protection under the proposed legislation. However, whereas the Bill enables the wife or the female living in a relationship in the nature of marriage to file a complaint under the proposed enactment against any relative of the husband or the male partner, it does not enable any female relative of the husband or the male partner to file a complaint against the wife or the female partner.
The definition of “domestic violence” has been extended to include actual abuse or threat or abuse that is physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic. Harassment by way of unlawful dowry demands to the woman or her relatives would also be covered under this definition.
The Bill seeks to protect the rights of women to secure housing and to reside in her matrimonial home or shared household, whether or not she has any title or rights in such home or household. This right is secured by a residence order, which is passed by the Magistrate.
It empowers the Magistrate to pass protection orders in favour of the aggrieved person to prevent the respondent from aiding or committing an act of domestic violence or any other specific act, entering a workplace or any other place frequented by the aggrieved person, attempting to communicate with her, isolating any assets used by both the parties and causing violence to the aggrieved person, her relatives or others who provide her assistance from the domestic violence.
It also provides for appointment of Protection Officers and registration of non-governmental organizations as service providers for assistance to the aggrieved person with respect to her medical examination, obtaining legal aid, safe shelter, etc.
Winding up the discussion on the Bill in the Lok Sabha on August 24, 2005 the Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Ms. Kanti Singh assured that the Bill would not disturb equations within the family. The Bill, she said, was aimed at empowering women and liberating them from the cycle of violence, not from any one individual. As for the selection of Protection Officers, she said great care would be taken in this exercise as they were crucial for the success of the legislation.
Welcomed
The All Indian Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has welcomed the Bill, as a significant step forward in providing women access to legal protection and relief from domestic violence. The Bill fulfils a long-pending demand of AIDWA and the women’s movement for a civil remedy to address this inadequately recognized, yet rampant form of violence. It hoped proper implementation of the Bill would arrest the rising graph of domestic violence in the country.
Analysis
Thanks to intense lobbying by women’s groups, the scope of the domestic violence bill has been expanded to include women out of marriage relationships. It will no longer be possible for a man in a live – in relationship to ill-treat a woman or throw her out without succour. The Bill brings the other woman within the ambit of the law. Relationships outside marriage have always existed, but are becoming increasingly common.
It is time the law took cognizance of it and provided redressal. So far, the second wife in a bigamous marriage could not seek succour from the law. The Bill seeks to rectify this anomaly. It provides not just protection from violence (physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic) but also ensures a roof over her head.
In a society where women’s rights are denied and where the dominant structures of family and civil society are still patriarchal, the Bill is a progressive piece of legislation capable of providing much relief to the other woman. It is easier for a man to ill-treat a mistress. Her “anomalous” status makes her more vulnerable. There are innumerable cases where women are used, abused and discarded. They have to fight not just an abusive and unfair partner but a hostile society. The other woman is generally seen as an immoral adulteress who needs no sympathy. No one is willing to believe that she is a victim of domestic violence or accept her right to residence. In this hostile atmosphere it is extremely difficult for her to get her due. Only the court can come to her rescue.
Study
Close to five crore women in India suffer from violence in their homes and only 0.1 per cent of them ever pick up the courage to report the abuse, reveals a new study, Section 498A, IPC : “Used or Misused?” conducted by the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research.
The study released here on August 30, 2005 sought to analyze whether 498A – a section that aims to protect women from being subjected to cruelty from husband or other relatives – is being used or misused. It found that out of 100 cases ordered for investigation under 498A, only in two cases the accused got convicted.
The study understood the perceptions of the whole spectrum of people affected by the implications of 498A – lawyers, police, non-government organizations, judges as well as the victims and the accused. The study was limited to Delhi, Bangalore, Mysore, Jaipur, Ajmer, Kolatta and 24-Parganas South.
The study revealed a general tendency to avoid seeking redress among the victims of domestic violence. However, if the victim decides that she wants to take action against her husband or his relatives, she is always advised to reconcile the matter at every stage, according to the study.
In a society where women’s rights are often denied and where the dominant structures of family are still patriarchal, the Bill is a progressive piece of legislation, capable of providing much relief to victims of domestic violence. The extent of domestic violence prevalent in our society is far greater than we would like to admit. Statistics reveal that 45 per cent of Indian women are slapped, kicked or beaten by their husbands and 75 per cent of battered women contemplate suicide. The right of residence will make it a lot easier for such women to walk out of an abused relationship without the fear of being on the road. The protection officers drawn from NGOs will hopefully be more responsive and sensitive to their needs than the police is in most such cases. Some may argue that the empowering clauses are likely to be misused by avaricious elements, but that is true of all laws. Of course, laws alone can not change society, but legal protection can give women confidence to fight the injustice they have been quietly putting up with all these years.
**Freelance Writer
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