This document discusses domestic violence in India. It defines domestic violence as power misused by one adult to control another. It provides facts about domestic violence in India such as 21-28% of ever-married women experiencing abuse. Consequences of domestic violence include health impacts and negatively impacting children who witness it. Children who experience domestic violence face risks of suicide, drug use, and becoming future abusers. The 2005 Domestic Violence Act in India expanded the definition of abuse and made related crimes non-bailable. However, changing mindsets is also needed to fully address domestic violence.
This document discusses domestic violence in India. It defines domestic violence as power misused by one adult to control another. It provides facts about domestic violence in India such as 21-28% of ever-married women experiencing abuse. Consequences of domestic violence include health impacts and negatively impacting children who witness it. Children who experience domestic violence face risks of suicide, drug use, and becoming future abusers. The 2005 Domestic Violence Act in India expanded the definition of abuse and made related crimes non-bailable. However, changing mindsets is also needed to fully address domestic violence.
This document discusses domestic violence in India. It defines domestic violence as power misused by one adult to control another. It provides facts about domestic violence in India such as 21-28% of ever-married women experiencing abuse. Consequences of domestic violence include health impacts and negatively impacting children who witness it. Children who experience domestic violence face risks of suicide, drug use, and becoming future abusers. The 2005 Domestic Violence Act in India expanded the definition of abuse and made related crimes non-bailable. However, changing mindsets is also needed to fully address domestic violence.
This document discusses domestic violence in India. It defines domestic violence as power misused by one adult to control another. It provides facts about domestic violence in India such as 21-28% of ever-married women experiencing abuse. Consequences of domestic violence include health impacts and negatively impacting children who witness it. Children who experience domestic violence face risks of suicide, drug use, and becoming future abusers. The 2005 Domestic Violence Act in India expanded the definition of abuse and made related crimes non-bailable. However, changing mindsets is also needed to fully address domestic violence.
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INTRODUCTION
What is domestic violence
Facts about domestic violence Consequences Domestic violence on women & girls Factor that perpetuate domestic violence Impact of domestic violence on children Domestic violence against children Acts on domestic violence (also NFHS-3) Need for new act
What is domestic violence
Domestic violence can be described as the power misused by one adult in a relationship to control another.
Facts about domestic violence
21-28% women are abused by a current or former partner some
time during their lives
14-25% of ever-married women report being raped by their current or former husbands 25% of women who attempt suicide may have suffered domestic violence 45% to 59% of mothers of abused children are themselves the victims of spouse abuse Only a small percentage of victims of domestic violence are identified in medical practice. Never Married Women Also Experience Physical and Sexual Violence Most Women Do Not Seek Help When They Are Abused
consequences Denial of fundamental rights Human development goals Undermined Health consequences Physical Mental Fatal outcomes
Impact on children
Injury (from lacerations to
fracturesand internal organs Depression injury) Fear Unwanted pregnancy
Anxiety Suicide Gynaecological problems
Homicide Low self-esteem STDs including HIV/AIDS Maternal
Physical abuse Sexual abuse and rape Psychological and emotional abuse Femicide Sexual abuse of children & adolescents Forced prostitution Sex selective abortion & infanticide Traditional & cultural practices affecting the health & lives of women.
Factor that perpetuate
domestic violence [causes] Cultural
Gender-specific socialization Womens economic dependence on men Cultural definitions of appropriate sex roles Limited access to cash and credit Expectations of roles laws within relationships Discriminatory regarding Lesser legal status of womeninheritance, either by rights, use of practice communal lands, and Belief inproperty the inherent superiority of males written law and/or by after divorce or widowhood Laws regarding divorce, child custody, Values maintenance that give men proprietary rights over women and girls Under-representation maintenance of women in Limited access to employment and inheritance in formal and Notion of the family as the private sectors power,informal the media in the politics, Legal definitions ofand rape and sphere domesticand under male control abuse Limited access to education and training for legal and professions Customs ofmedical marriage (bride price/dowry) Domestic women taken Lowviolence levels ofnot legal literacy among Acceptability of violence as a means to resolve conflict seriously women Notions of family being private and Insensitive treatment of women and girls beyondby control of the state police and judiciary Risk of challenge to status quo/religious laws Limited organization of women as a political force Limited participation of women in organized political system
Economic Legal political
Impact of Domestic Violence
on Children Children who witness
domestic violence may
develop serious emotional, behavioral, developmental or academic problems. children and teens who grow up with domestic violence in the household are most likely to-
attempt suicide Use drugs become abusers in later life commit crimes
Domestic violence against
children Every year, as many as 275 million children worldwide become
caught in the crossfire of domestic violence and suffer the full
consequences of a turbulent home life. Violence against children involves physical and psychological abuse and injury, neglect or negligent treatment, exploitation and sexual abuse. The perpetrators may include parents and other close family
members. Children who survive abuse often suffer long-term physical and psychological damage that impairs their ability to learn and socialize, and makes it difficult for them to perform well in school and develop close and positive friendships. The effects of violent behaviour tend to stay with children long after they leave the childhood home.
Act for domestic violence
Domestic violence Bill with first draft in 2001 and final draft in
2002 were heavily criticized by all stake holders due to many
shortcomings
Domestic Violence Act 2005 defines DV
Any act, omission or commission
or conduct of the respondent shall constitute domestic violence in case it
Strengths of this act
A new dimension to the word abuse . includes actual abuse or threat of abuse (harassment by way of dowry demands)
All crimes in the Domestic Violence Act are non-bail able
The Act has also defined Physical Violence very comprehensively, as: Any kind of bodily harm or injury, A threat of bodily harm, Beating, slapping and hitting.
For the first time, the law has expanded the definition to include sexual, verbal and economic violence.
The new law is also tough on men who subject women to name calling or verbal abuse.
Another significant step has been to recognize Economic Violence. Under the Act, Economic Violence is: Not providing money, food, clothes, medicines,# Causing hindrance to employment opportunities # Forcing a woman to vacate her house.
A very forward-thinking and important part of this definition
NFHS-3 [national family health survey]
Almost two out of five ever-married women in India are subject to spousal violence
Women rarely initiate violence against their husband
Most spousal violence begins within five years of the start of the marriage
Most women suffer violence in silence
Acts of physical violence by the husband against his wife include:
pushing, shaking, throwing something at her, slapping, arm twisting, hair pulling, punching, kicking, dragging, beating, trying to choke or burn her on purpose, and threatening her or attacking her with a weapon. Acts of sexual violence by the husband include physically forcing the wife against her will to have sex or perform other sexual acts that she did not want to perform.
Need for new law
DV is more than crime; it is a serious human rights violation.
Change from something centred on dowry to a more comprehensive mental, psychological, sexual and economic violation A civil remedy was needed more than a criminal remedy.
Mediation in marriage usually aimed to cool conflicts, reach
agreements and maintain the institution of marriage
It insisted on maintaining family relationships inspite of
violence and sometimes recommended drastic compromises to save a marriage.
A bill alone will not help in preventing
domestic abuse; what is needed is a change in mindsets.
