Domestic Violence

Why Domestic Violence Law?

According to the World Health Organization (2013), worldwide one in every three women being beaten, coerced into sex or abused in some other way. Domestic Violence, which is an age-old practice in the patriarchal society, has permeated the boundary of class, caste, religion, geographical territory, educational background and other variables, where it is a major human rights violation. These incidents go unreported and ignored by the society while the violence is perpetrated against women by their protectors within the confines of homes, their safest places. The constitutional guarantee of “Equality” had not reached the women of the country who faced deep rooted inequalities in areas of health, education, property, employment and so on. Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 did not deter many from demanding or receiving dowry. The violence associated with it, also continues till date. It was only during the late 1970s uproar against dowry-related deaths by women’s groups by way of protests and street plays emerged after the death of a 21 year old young bride within a year of marriage. However violence not associated with dowry has limited mention in the criminal law. Hence “The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005” emerged as a law specifically addressing the issue. It provides for civil remedies and protective injunctions like Protection Orders, Custody Orders, Maintenance Orders, Residence Orders, Compensation Orders, Expeditious remedies, and so on. 

What is Domestic Violence or Domestic Abuse?

Domestic Violence is an abuse of human rights that denies women security, equality, dignity, self-esteem, identity, and freedom. Besides being a serious human rights violation issue it is a serious deterrent to development. The Vienna Accord of 1994, and the Beijing Declaration of 1995, have been vocal about the various atrocities women were being subjected to. The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CEDAW, its General Recommendation no.XII (1989) said that all states that are parties to the convention should protect women against violence of any kind, especially those occurring within the family. 

As per the United Nations definition, Domestic violence, also called Domestic abuse or “intimate partner violence”, is a pattern of behaviour in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. 

Domestic abuse is any physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological action that an individual is subjected to. It can also include any verbal threats aimed at frightening, intimidating, terrorizing, manipulating, hurting, humiliating, blaming, injuring, or wounding an individual. 

India, a signatory to the CEDAW, has elaborately defined “Domestic Violence” under Section 3 of the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (DV Act, 2005). 

‘…..any act, omission or commission or conduct of the respondent shall constitute domestic violence in case it—

(a) harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so and includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse and economic abuse; or

(b) harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person to coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any dowry or other property or valuable security; or

(c) has the effect of threatening the aggrieved person or any person related to her by any conduct mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b) or

(d) otherwise injures or causes physical or mental harm to the aggrieved person.

Explanation I.—For this section,—

(i) “Physical abuse” means any act or conduct which is of such a 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 includes assault, criminal intimidation and criminal force;

(ii) “Sexual abuse” includes any conduct of a sexual nature that abuses, humiliates, degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of a woman;

(iii) “verbal and emotional abuse” includes—

(a) insults, ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults or ridicule especially about not having a child or a male child, and

(b) repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person in whom the aggrieved person is interested;

(iv) “economic abuse” includes—

(a) deprivation of all or any economic or financial resources to which the aggrieved person is entitled under any law or custom, whether payable under an order of a court or otherwise, or which the aggrieved person requires out of necessity, including, but not limited to, household necessities for the aggrieved person and her children, if any, stridhan, property, jointly or separately owned by the aggrieved person, payment of rental related to the shared household and maintenance;

(b) disposal of household effects, any alienation of assets, whether movable or immovable, valuables, shares, securities, bonds and the like or other property in which the aggrieved person has an interest or is entitled to use by the domestic relationship or which may be reasonably required by the aggrieved person or her children or her stridhan or any other property jointly or separately held by the aggrieved person; and

(c) prohibition or restriction to continued access to resources or facilities the aggrieved person is entitled to use or enjoy in the domestic relationship, including access to the shared household.

Explanation II.—To determine whether any act, omission, commission or conduct of the respondent constitutes “domestic violence” under this section, the overall facts and circumstances of the case shall be taken into consideration.