Domestic violence Against Women

  Often we see many types of violence related to women around us or read about them in newspapers etc. But you have rarely read news related to domestic violence but the shocking facts come when National Family Health Survey (NFHS4) has mentioned that one in every three women has suffered some form of domestic violence since the age of 15, which actually presents a large figure.

But now the question arises that if one out of every 3 women is being victimized, then why are the figures so low that it is a common reason that the figures are not recorded at all.  According to the data received, 86% of women experiencing domestic violence do not seek help from anyone, and 77% of the victims do not even mention incidents to anyone, leading to the figures not being officially recorded.

If we try to understand domestic violence in general terms, it means the act done by intentional physical force, threat, conduct or temperament in the boundary wall of the house which is aimed at harm or to establish physical, psychological, emotional and social control.  Doing or being deprived of anything is involved in domestic violence.

Domestic violence was the top crime among Indian women facing various crimes against women recorded in the year 2019.  During 2019, out of a total of 4.05 lakh crimes against women registered by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 1.26 lakh (more than 30%) were domestic violence.

First, let's talk about the reasons why domestic violence against women is seen in India in a very wide scale.

The most prominent reason is the lack of conservatism and patriarchal mindset whereby the man considers himself to have the right to control the woman and the subordination of women to his subordinates, apart from this, violence is done to the married women who fall prejudiced thinking only because  She is unable to produce a son.

Many times, in economic greed, people become victims of violence in demand for dowry, one of the major reasons for increasing violence is illiteracy and lack of correct information, women do not know where to complain against it.

Apart from this, there has been an increase in violence due to the intention of sexual exploitation, a large part of the rape in India is of the acquaintances themselves. Recently the issues of marital rape have also increased significantly which is another main cause of domestic violence.

Many times unemployed women who are dependent on their partner or family suffer financial and emotional violence even when they ask for money for the things they need and many times with women who claim their earnings on their kind.  Violent behavior occurs.

Elderly women and widowed women are subjected to verbal and emotional violence inside the house, due to banning the love affair of an unmarried woman, her own housemates often commit emotional and verbal as well as physical violence.  Apart from this, due to misunderstanding between the couple living in live relationship and other reasons, the cases of violence have been found to be increasing in them.

However, the government has been trying to control this from time to time through a number of laws and measures such as the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, extending the definition in 2005 to include verbal, emotional, sexual and economic violence along with physical violence.  Also included, it was very important to define, any type of violence has negative effects not only on physical but also mental and reproductive health.  According to the WHO, India accounts for 37% of the maximum violence committed by intimate partners in the South Asia region.  In addition, in the definition language, protection was provided to the married as well as elderly and live-in people, under which not only security but also financial compensation can now be demanded if she is living separately.  In addition, if the crime is proved, the culprit may face imprisonment of up to 3 years and a fine of up to 2 lakh.

Although the number of cases increasing every year is a concern even after these efforts, only 14-15% of the total victims seek help, out of which only 7% reach the relevant authorities - police, doctors, lawyers or social service organizations  , But more than 90% of the victims only sought help from their immediate family.  Which makes it clear that cases are not being registered and if whatever happens, the settlement cannot be done at the administrative level.  Apart from this, the above law is misused many times leading to increasing number of false cases. Apart from this, the insensitive attitude of the police against the victimized women is still a serious issue, besides the lack of awareness can still be seen clearly.  In remote areas, cases are not registered and the cases which are filed are not taken many times and the cases are resolved by mediation or consultation, along with this, the compensation is not paid on time, which is enough to make a living.  There is a problem.

Therefore, it is necessary that judicial reforms should be done to make the laws more stringent so that the false litigants are identified and those who are really guilty should be punished.  Police stations should be empowered to register a complaint soon, and those who are unable to go to the police station, they should have access to the helpline numbers such as -

The data should be collected at the local level so that policies can be improved, apart from this, the NGO needs to be encouraged and women empowerment measures should be provided to empower women financially, police forces and officers should be provided with ethics and  Sensitive training should be imparted and timely compensation should be paid to wish for a better life and a better, safer and healthier life.