A landmark bill to protect women from all forms of domestic violence and check harassment and exploitation at the hands of family members or relatives was unanimously passed by the Lok Sabha earlier in the week. While the print and electronic media was splashed with stories on the Women’s Reservation Bill not much was heard about this piece of legislation although it has to be said that the bill itself is a land mark of sorts given the magnitude of the problem. The approval of the bill in the lower house without much delay only goes to acknowledge that women need legal rights to be shielded against violence in their own homes.
In a marked deviation from other women-oriented legislation, the proposed Act focuses on protecting rights of women in her matrimonial or shared household, unlike the laws that emphasize punishment in offences like dowry. It is for the first time that domestic violence has been defined by the law. Even sisters, widows, mothers, single women living with the abuser would be entitled to legal protection.
Under the civil law, women can appeal for a magisterial order restraining the abuser from harassing her. More often than not, women refrain from lodging a complaint for fear of being thrown out of her matrimonial home or having her children taken away from her.
The proposed Act provides for the rights of women to secure housing. It provides for the right of a woman to reside in her matrimonial home or shared household, whether or not she has any title or rights in such home or household. She also gets temporary custody of her children, who are often used as an instrument of blackmail by the abuser to prevent a woman from lodging a complaint. Such relief is not provided under criminal laws at present.
According to available statistics from around the globe, one out of every three women has experienced violence in an intimate relationship at some point in her life. This is an average based on available national surveys across industrialized and developing countries (World Health Organization 1997). Statistical evidence on the actual prevalence of domestic violence in India is scant however. The only large-scale indicator of violence against women is the data relating to crimes against women published by the National Crimes Record Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Government of India. The records of the bureau reveal a shocking 71.5 percent increase in cases of torture and dowry deaths during the period from 1991 to 1995 and may reflect increased reporting of violence.
Globally, violence within the home is universal across culture, religion, class, and ethnicity. Despite this widespread prevalence, however, such violence is not customarily acknowledged and has remained invisible -- a problem thought unworthy of legal or political attention. Because of this, acts of violence against members of the household, whether wife or child, were perceived as discipline, essential for maintaining the rule of authority within the family.
It is a widespread phenomenon faced even in Naga society where women have to live in an abusive relationships keeping silent about their suffering because of shame and family honor. The lack of viable options keeps women trapped in such violent situations.
While the new bill to check domestic violence is a much welcome legal measure, the Government would also do well to bring in a new legislation to check sexual exploitation of women in workplaces. Such legal safeguards for our women folk will play an effective part in empowering them economically, educationally and socially.
