India, a country well known for its rich and diverse culture where every state exhibits its own story, way of life and mores yet a common happening among these states, like anywhere in the world is ‘domestic violence’.

We boost that India is one of the few countries around the globe that recognizes domestic violence as a violation of women’s right but is it actually implemented in here.

In figures:

1. Bangalore has witnessed hundred cases of dowry-related complaints. Some were freshly bruised, others have been starved for days and some fear that their husbands or in-laws will burn or strangle them to death.

2. According to the National Family Health Survey, one in five married women in India experiences domestic violence from the age of 15.

3. A nationwide survey shows that 52 per cent of women suffer at least one incident of physical or psychological violence in their lifetime.

4. Every six hours, a young married woman is burned alive, beaten to death, or driven to commit suicide.

5. It is estimated that more than 15,000 women suffer from dowry-related violence ever year.
6. Rajasthan ranks sixth in the country in the arena of atrocities against women.

7. Kerala, the most literate state too is high on the graph of women abuse.

8. Independent women too are victims of domestic violence lately the case of Shweta Mahajan, a pilot married to Rahul Mahajan has come to the fore.

9. Of the women reporting violence, 50 percent were kicked, beaten or hit when pregnant. About 74.8 percent of the women who reported violence have attempted to commit suicide.

10. According to UN, two third married Indian women are victims of domestic violence.

What is the foundation of it?

Right from the childhood, the society conditions or rather train the female members to take care of the house, their siblings, their parents and so on and so forth. Whether they are working or not that is no consideration but are suppose to look after the house, the kids and husband as well.

They are subjected to face various kinds of violence, verbal and non-verbal both but they don’t speak and suffer in silence. Behind the closed doors of many a home, women are abused, physically, emotionally, verbally. But these stories rarely make it to the public domain because the victims themselves will not speak even if they are abused to the extent that they cannot hide their wounds from friends and family. Thus, till some extent, they are to be blame for its prevalence.

Present scenario:

Once the girl is married, abuse by the husband and his family may begin. Later in life, many women face violence from their sons and family when they reach old age. If they are unfortunate enough to become widows, violence may take the form of widow immolation.

Seventy five per cent of women who are victims of domestic violence do not seek help due to concern for family ‘honor’.

If ever they have gone to the local police station to register a complaint about domestic abuse, instead of using the provisions of the law, the police have advised them to think again and try to reconcile their differences with their husbands. Under these circumstances, the policemen should be held accountable under the law.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which was notified on October 25, 2006, has come to the fore. It offers women victims of domestic violence civil remedies of a kind not available to them earlier.

What could be done?

We know that law alone won’t suffice to eradicate this problem because of certain limitations. Yet, just because these laws are either not properly implemented, or women fail to use them enough, is not an excuse to allow crimes such as domestic violence to continue unchecked. Every new law of this kind strengthens the hands of those who want to establish that women’s rights are truly human rights.

Secondly, the practice of dowry system should be completely shunned off. There are cases where the girls’s parent themselves offer large amount of money. Are they marrying off their daughter or buying social security for them?

If we look to the other side of the issue, the act also must take into consideration the situation whether the women is not feigning domestic violence in order to gain advantage. Since, the Indian Americans say that it could lead to more broken homes.

So, the bottom line is, it’s jungle rule out here, so women take stand or pick up your shield or linger the way you’ve been so many years.

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Image 2: gettyimages

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