Author – Lokesh Chauhan

Abstract

Countries, including India, had adopted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination to protect women from any kind of violence. India had taken many human rights in their constitution from these documents like the right to equality, life, Freedom of expression, right to marry; the state cannot discriminate based on sex, etc. Violence is the major problem of the world which affects the human right of a woman. It also impacts the mental health of women. 

Domestic violence is one of the significant types of violence. Domestic violence is also called “domestic abuse” or “intimate partner violence.” It means a pattern of behaviour in any relationship used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. It includes domestic abuse, economic abuse, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. Recently the NCW said that domestic violence cases have been increasing since lockdown. In most domestic violence cases, men are the perpetrator, and women are the victims. The Constitution of India and the legislature have given various laws and protections to women; still, they face domestic violence. 

So the researcher wants to study the concept of domestic violence against women in India, the types of domestic violence face by Indian women, and the consequences of domestic violence on victim’s health. The researcher also analyses the international and national laws on domestic violence and explores how the judiciary protects women from violence. The researcher also does an online pilot study on domestic violence against women in Gurgaon, Haryana, to identify why women face domestic violence? The researcher also takes primary and secondary data to analyse this issue. 

Keywords: Human rights, violence, domestic violence, gender discrimination, economic abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse

Introduction

Domestic violence against women is not a new concept in society. It means intimate partner violence which includes physical, verbal, sexual, and economic abuse.  According to the world health organization, one in every three women experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, and 30% of women experienced physical and sexual violence from their partners. Women are facing violence from men, which affects their mental health and physical health. In India, women feel unsafe in the marital home. It is because the patriarchal society doesn’t give enough opportunities to women. They are facing violence from husbands, their in-laws, or others. Most of the domestic violence cases don’t report by the woman because of orthodox society and norms. Many women experience various kinds of domestic violence, but they don’t respond to it. Although the countries had adopted a mechanism through which women can file domestic violence complaints against their husbands, they are still not reporting the incidents. 

During this COVID-19, most women lost their jobs which increased the dependency on the husband’s income. Due to this, they are facing physical violence from their husbands. In this economic hardship, female partners have been experiencing rude behaviour, violent, abusive, impulsive, and controlling the behaviour of their male partners. There are many reports which indicate that most women have been facing domestic violence since 2019. It is because the working women are locked in with their male abusive partners. Even they don’t have access to the mobile, nor space and time to call for help. Most domestic violence cases are unreported because of restricted movement, reduced contact with families, unavailability of communication medium, and a formal support system. During this COVID-19, Indian women filed complaints of domestic violence. One thousand four hundred seventy-seven domestic violence complaints were filed by women between March 25 – May 31, 2020. The number of crimes against women is very high in this lockdown. It is because women are locked inside in the home with their abusive partners. They are facing physical, emotional, and domestic abuse from their partners. 

The Parliament of various countries made laws to protect women from any kind of violence. Still, they are facing violence from their husbands and their families.

Types of Domestic Violence

1. Physical violence

It means that the perpetrator uses force against the victim, which causes injury and hurt. The general definition of physical violence is that an act or conduct causing bodily pain, harm, or danger to life, limb, or health—for example, slapping, criminal force, and assault, etc. It also includes sleep deprivation, forced to take drugs or alcohol, deny medical care by their husbands. According to World Health Organisation, 38% of females are murdered by their intimate partners. During pregnancy, women are facing a lot of physical violence in India. 

2. Emotional abuse 

According to the Istanbul convention, psychological violence means the intentional conduct of seriously impairing a person’s psychological integrity through coercion or threat. It includes threats, criticism, separation, public modification, steady personal devolution, controlling behaviour, harassment, verbal abuse, etc. Due to the emotional abuse, women face anxiety, fear, emotional distress, depression, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, etc. 

3. Sexual assault

According to the world health organization, it means a sexual act, an attempt to obtain a sexual act, and wanted a sexual comment. It includes sexual/reproductive coercion, marital rape, sexual touching or non-physical events, etc. 

4. Economic abuse

Economic abuse is also called financial abuse. It means one partner has control over the other partner’s access to economic resources. During this lockdown, women face economic abuse because they lost their jobs and increased their dependency on the perpetrator’s income. It includes exploiting the resources of victims (valuable things, money, pension books, etc.), forcing or pressurizing the family members of the victims to sell the properties, preventing the victims from obtaining education, etc.    

Consequences of Domestic Violence

Many consequences of domestic violence affect the mental health of the victim. 

a. A physical effect like broken bones, head injuries, internal bleeding, and bruises requires medical care. Pregnant women who are victims of domestic violence have experienced a more significant risk of miscarriage, death of the foetus, pre-term labor pain, etc.

b. Psychological effects include a high amount of stress, fear, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, Post-traumatic stress order, etc.

National and International Laws on Domestic Violence

Domestic violence has been discussed by members of the UN Charter (1945) and the Universal Declaration on human rights (1948). These documents have given various human rights to women and men. 

INDIA:

The Constitution of India has given various rights to its citizens like the right to equality under article 14, prohibition of discrimination on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth under article 15, the state shall make special provisions for women and children under article 15(3), right to life under article 21, etc. 

The legislature enacted the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, for protecting women from domestic abuse. Domestic abuse includes physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, or economic abuse. The aggrieved party women can file the complaint of domestic violence under this act. The magistrate can pass the protection orders, residence orders, and compensation orders in favour of the victims. 

USA:

In 1983, the US had recognized domestic violence as the worst problem among spouses. It affects the rights and mental health of the female section. 

Congress had passed the violence against women act in 1994. In this act, domestic violence is a national crime. The majority of the crime will handle by the state and local authorities, and this federal law will help them while taking the domestic violence cases. The court can pass the restitution orders to pay the victim’s losses. The accused will pay the cost for medical or psychological care, transportation, physical therapy, temporary housing, childcare expenses, attorney fees, expenditure incurred in obtaining a civil protection order, income loss of the victim, and other losses suffered by the victim.

UK:

The Parliament passed the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. It gives legal protection and assistance to the victims of the crime, especially domestic violence. Recently Domestic Abuse Act 2021 was passed by parliament to protect the rights of the victim of domestic violence. According to this act, domestic abuse includes abusive behaviour, physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, psychological abuse, etc.

AUSTRALIA:

The legislature passed Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) 2007 No 18. This act aims to ensure the safety and protection of all persons facing domestic violence, reduce the crime of domestic violence or abuse, and followed the principles of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Role of the judiciary for protecting the rights of women from Domestic Violence in India 

The constitution of India has given many powers to the supreme court, high courts, and district court to protect the rights of the people. 

• In S.R. Batra vs. Smt. Taruna Batra, the court held that the wife is only entitled to claim residence in a shared household. The shared home means the house belonging to the husband, or taken on rent by the husband, joint family property in which the husband is the member of that family. 
• In Krishna Bhatacharjee v. Sarathi Choudhury and Another, Supreme Court said that there are some duties or principles followed by the courts while deciding the domestic violence case. 
• In Vimlaben Ajitbhai Patel v. Vatslaben Ashokbhai Patel and Ors., the court said that the husband has a personal obligation to maintain his wife. 
• In V.D Bhanot vs. Savita Bhanot, the Delhi High Court said that even the wife who had shared a household before the domestic violence act came into force would be entitled to protect the domestic violence act. 
• In Indira Sarma vs. VKV Sarma, the Supreme Court said that not all live-in relationships are the relationships in the nature of marriage. For testing the concept of a live-in relationship, courts see the duration of relationship, shared household, domestic arrangements, polling of resources and financial arrangements, sexual relationship, intention, and conduct of the parties, and socialization in public.

A pilot study on Domestic Violence against Women in Gurgaon, Haryana

The researcher did a pilot survey in which 29 participants have participated. All participants are aware of the concept of domestic violence against women. 96.6% of participants said that control, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and intimidation, isolation, verbal abuse fusions, threat, and blame, using male privilege, economic abuse are the kinds of domestic violence. 51.7% of participants said that women are not only the victim of domestic violence, and 27.6% of participants said that the only woman is the victim of domestic violence. 75.9% of participants are aware of women who are the victims of domestic violence. 20.7% of participants said that they had faced domestic violence like hitting, slapping, punching, causing injury. 24.1% said that they had faced domestic violence like pushing, hitting, slapping, punching, causing injury, pulling hairs, etc. 37.9% of participants said that all age groups of women suffer domestic violence. 34.5% of participants said that the number of domestic violence cases against women in Gurgaon increased during Covid 19, and 31% of participants said that the domestic violence cases against women in Gurgaon have not increased during Covid 19. 86.2% of participants said that alcoholism/drugs, the frustration of poverty, relationship with another man, unemployment or underemployed, dowry issues, office frustration are the causes of domestic violence. 93.1% of participants said that anxiety, depression, antisocial behavior, suicidal behaviour in females, low self-esteem, inability to trust others, fear of intimacy, symptoms of post-traumatic disorder, emotional detachment, sleep disturbances, flashbacks, and replaying assault in mind are the consequences of domestic violence on the victim’s health. 72.4% knew about the laws on domestic violence against women. 41.4% of participants said that the victims of domestic violence should go and inform the incident to the families, friends, police authority, social services, non-governmental organizations, and the national commission for movement. 

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

The constitution and legislature of India have been giving laws and protection to women since independence; still, women are facing domestic violence from husband families. There is a clear indication in India that matrimonial homes are still unsafe for women. The domestic violence during Covid 19 pandemic has various impacts on the mental health of women. The government has started multiple plans like awareness programs, national news channels, radio channels, and social media platforms that solve domestic violence.  The results of the pilot study show that domestic violence against women is a significant issue in India. Participants have some idea about the concept of domestic violence but do not know about laws. Government, schools, parents, and society are responsible for women’s health which is affected by violence. It is because they didn’t do any awareness programs, medical counseling for victims, etc. It’s time to recognize that women are the victims of severe kinds of violence. 

Suggestions 

1. Society has to understand the importance of the female section. Females have their fundamental rights, which has given by the constitution. The community should have to provide opportunities for women to participate in other work also. 
2. Government should have started a check and balance mechanism to see the proper implementations of laws. 
3. Government should make policies and shelter for the victims of domestic violence.
4. Government should ban those daily soaps which are showing the negative characters of women. 
5. Government and NGOs should also participate in awareness programs like gathering for discussing the laws and policies, talk about how to tackle the domestic violence situations, counselling on mental and physical health, etc.
6. Lawyers and judges are the interpreters of laws. So they should do awareness camps in rural areas to discuss the rules and cures of domestic violence.