By Guangliu Thaimei:
Domestic violence or DV, also known as family abuse is among the most underreported crime worldwide for both men and women. This typically happens in marriages, relationships, children and elderly people. The victims of DV are overwhelmingly women and they experience a severe form of violence globally. The victims may experience severe psychological disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and children who experienced DV often show psychological problems from an early age, such as avoidance, hypervigilance etc. This may contribute to continued trauma. It has been established through research that countries with less gender equality face more domestic violence. Encyclopedia Britannica states that in the early 1800s, most legal systems implicitly accepted wife-beating as a husband’s right over his wife. From the late 20th century onward, in most countries, there was little protection in practice or in law against domestic violence. The specific form of domestic violence such as honour killings, dowry-related deaths and forced marriages has been given increased attention. In recent decades, India made some progress to abridge dowry related violence, but laws are on paper, not in life.
Laws and Statistics
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 was enacted by the Indian government to protect women from domestic violence. Under this act women who experience domestic violence at home can file against the male adult perpetrator. The Ministry of Women and Child Development, the National Commission for Women and the non-governmental organizations have also taken propaganda of the remedies available in the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 organizing awareness seminars, campaigns, workshops etc in order to safeguard the women in India. In India, a total of 3,582 cases of domestic violence during the second wave of COVID - 19 between April and June 2021 were reported. An analysis of prevalence data of 161 countries and areas conducted by the WHO from 2000-2018 found that worldwide, nearly 30% or 1/3 of women have been subjugated to sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner or non-partner sexual violence or both.
Why does it happen?
The cases or occurrence of domestic violence still prevails in our society because of less access to education, gender ideologies, cultural attitudes, drug use and personality disorders like anger management or low self-esteem. All these practices need to be controlled in society in order to reduce the cases and to save more women and children. Therefore, reformation of the legislation to ensure that domestic violence falls under the scope of the law is important. In order to control or limit the violence, it is also important to abolish or restrict the offering and receiving of dowry and bride price. The impacts of these transactions should be scrutinized on the legislative decisions regarding DV is also important. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “A key strategy in preventing (DV) is the promotion of respectful, community and societal level change. Also, early intervention programs such as school-based violence to prevent dating violence are also effective. The women are led to believe that their husbands have this right over them, that their male 'significant others' can do as they please with their bodies. Such is the situation that some women accept this quietly, unflinchingly. We can call for laws, changes but we have to start at someplace that actually brings about a change. Reprimanding and reporting to the lawful authorities about domestic violence that you see happening around you is a minor step, but can bring a major change in the life of the victim.
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