INDORE INSTITUTE OF LAW, INDORE

SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS

TOPIC: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; ISSUE OF VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF

WOMEN.

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

MR. ABHILASH AGRAWAL PARYUSHI KOSHAL

[B.A. LL.B]

ROLL NO. - 12

SESSION: 2018-2023

SEMESTER – 3 rd

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Paryushi Koshal , B.A.LLB (HONS.) , 2 nd year – 3rd semester has
successfully completed the project assignment in partial fulfillment of requirements for the
knowledge of human rights provided by Mr. Abhilash Agrawal prescribed by INDORE
INSTITUTE OF LAW .

This assignment is the record of authentic work carried out during the academic year 2019 - 20.

Signature of faculty ----------------------------

Date - ----------------------------

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project assignment entitled ‘Domestic violence against women; dowry
death’ submitted for fulfilling the essential criteria of INDORE INSTITUTE OF LAW, is a
record of an original work done by me under the guidance of Mr. Abhilash Agrawal , B.A. LLB,
Indore Institute of Law for the Academic session 2019 - 20.

Paryushi Koshal

BA.LL.B (Hons.)

2nd year – 3rd sem

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Trust in the lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understandings; in all your ways
acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

It is not possible to prepare a project without the assistance and encouragement of other people.
This is certainly no exception. On the very outset of this project I would like to extend my
sincere and heartfelt obligation towards all the personages who helped me in this endeavour.
Without their guidance, help, cooperation and support I would not have made headway in this
project.

I am ineffably thankful to Mr. Ahilash Agrawal for conscientious guidance and encouragement
to accomplish this assignment.

I extend my sincere gratitude to INDORE INSTITUTE OF LAW for giving me this opportunity.

I also acknowledge a deep sense of reverence, my gratitude towards my friends and family
members who have always supported me morally as well as economically.

Last but not the least I want to thank THE ALMIGHTY who made everything possible.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ABSTRACT

2. INTRODUCTION

3. DOMSTIC VIOLENCE

4. CAUSES AND TYPES OF VIOLENCE

5. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005

6. REMEDIES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

7. CONCLUSION

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 1.ABSTRACT

Violence against women is one of the major public health and human rights problems in the
world today. It is a universal phenomenon, which cuts across boundaries of culture or class and
which affects millions of women across the world. Its serious consequences on the health and
well being of women and their children compel us to act towards its immediate prevention and
elimination. Violence against women is both sustained by and in turn helps to sustain women’s
unequal status in society.

The violence girls and women experience occurs most frequently in the “safe haven” of the
family. Since much of this is hidden inside the home, it is difficult to document and even harder
to prevent. Violence against women has a substantial impact on women’s health and well being
and on that of their children. Both in the short and in the long term, it puts them at higher risk for
a wide range of physical and mental health problems.

Keyword: women, violence, gender, inequality and rights.

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 2. INTRODUCTION

Domestic violence is one of the crimes against women which are linked to their disadvantageous
position in the society. Domestic violence refers to violence against women especially in
matrimonial homes. Domestic violence that is any act of physical, sexual, or psychological
abuse, or the threat of such abuse, inflicted against a woman by a person intimately connected to
her through marriage, family relation, or acquaintanceship is universal and has its root in the
socio-cultural set up of the society. The perpetrators of domestic violence have often been found
to be the males and the victims, their sexual partners. Internationally, one in three women have
been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in their lifetime by a member of her own family.
Therefore domestic violence is recognized as the significant barriers of the empowerment of
women, with consequences of women’s health, their health health-seeking behaviour and their
adoption of small family norm.
In ancient India, women enjoyed a significant role not only at home but in the society as a
whole. Many a Vedic hymns are attributed to the woman sages. The dialogue between Gargi
and Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad reflects the position that women held in
the public sphere. The woman was the apostle of the Matrri-shakti. The kings and the priests
always held and propagated that the prosperity depends upon the respect that a household
shows towards the women and the Kingdom would be visited by inauspicious events in case
the woman was harassed by the subject. The Turkish and Afghan invaders changed the gender
equation in the sub-continent. The locals having lost the battle into subjection were coerced to
hand over their women. The invaders always came single on horseback without accompanied
by their families and they sought subjection rules to be written over the body of the women in
the conquered territory. To protect the honour and chastity of the women became a major
societal aim for the local population. The purdah system became in vogue for Indian women.
A series of superstition and oppressive customs were manufactured that confined women
within the four walls of their house. The status of women was reduced to the status of a maid,
and merely a source of progeny. The patriarchy dominance was total. The male dominant
society would not give due regard and respect the system and the system continue to linger in
the 21st century.

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In spite of multifarious qualities, the women have rarely been treated at par with the men in the
patriarchal system. Women face discrimination, exploitation and violence. Violence against
women and girls has spread into a global epidemic. This has debilitating effect over the
performance of the women. She is harassed physically, psychologically, sexually and
economically. It is one of the most pervasive of human rights violations, denying women and
girls, equality, security, dignity, self-worth, and their right to enjoy fundamental freedoms at par
with men.

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 3. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

National Crime Records Bureau Report, 1997 reveals that in every 33 minutes one Indian
woman is being abused by her husband. It also reveals that in 1989 one dowry death occurred in
every 125th minute.
Violence against women is present across the world cutting across boundaries of culture, class,
education, income, ethnicity and age. When the violence occurs within home, the abuse is
effectively condoned by the tacit silence and the indifference by the instruments of the state and
the law-enforcing machinery. Internationally, one in three women have been beaten, coerced into
sex or abused in their lifetime by a member of her own family. Domestic violence is the most
prevalent yet relatively hidden and ignored form of violence against women and girls. While
reliable statistics are hard to come by, studies estimate that, from country to country, between 20
and 50 per cent of women have experienced physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner
or family member.
Violence in the domestic sphere is usually perpetrated by males who are, or who have been, in
positions of trust and intimacy and power – husbands, boyfriends, fathers, fathers-in-law,
stepfathers, brothers, uncles, sons, or other relatives. But, many of the victims of domestic
violence has either refused to name the perpetrator of the assault or attributed the injuries to other
reasons. In fact, many a victims also justify the wife-beating.
The World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna (1993) accepted that the rights of women
and girls are “an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights.” The United
Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against
Women, in December 1993. It is the first international human right instrument to deal
exclusively with violence against women and kindling a string of enactments against the abuse of
women at home world across.

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 4. CAUSES AND TYPES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Causes

There have not been any specific reasons for the occurrence of domestic violence. But still there
have been some causes that could be seen in these cases that are to be found similar. The causes
can be –

1. Cultural: Acceptability of violence as a means to resolve conflict is the major reason of

violence against women. Victims generally feel that it is better to suffer in silence than to be
separated from their loved ones. They keep hoping for improvement but their wait turns into a
nightmare without any remedy. Religious and historical tradition in the past have sanctioned the
chastising and beating of women1. The male members control family wealth, and as such it
places decision- making authority in male hands, leading to its dominance. Traditional norms in
those societies also allow the killing of errant daughters and wives suspected of defiling the
honour of the family. Even, experiences during childhood, such as witnessing domestic violence
and experiencing physical and sexual abuse have been identified as factors that put hildren at
risk. Excessive consumption of alcohol has been noted as a factor in provoking aggressive and
violent male violence towards women.

2. Economic: Another important factor that contributes to the violence against women is the
economic and financial dependence of women on men. This is generally true when the male
person is unemployed and feels his power undermined in the household. The threat and fear of
violence keeps women from seeking employment or compels them to accept low-paid
exploitative labour. And on the other hand, without economic independence, women have no
power to escape from an abusive relationship.

3. Legal: Improper and inadequate laws and legal status of women is the primary cause for
domestic violence. In India, laws relating to divorce, child custody, maintenance and inheritance
are always in favour of men, ignoring women’s rights. This has further led to violence on the
women. The law enforcement agencies are also less sensitive towards women and their problems
and always tend to guard the male counter-part. In many places it is seen that the perpetrators

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who commit violence are less prosecuted and punished leniently. This finally tends to break the
will power of women and they submit themselves before the male society. The last nail which is
driven into the coffin of all women is that they are less educated than their male counter-part.

4. Political: The isolation of women from communities and less participation in the field of
politics also contribute to more of violence on women. As their interactions with strangers or
outer people are less, so they become victims of violence. They fear to raise their timid voices,
least they fall prey to more violence than before. Thus, the above are the causes that contribute to
domestic violence on women. But now-a-days the scenario is changing with the passage of time.
Women are more financial independent than before; they pursue their higher studies and even
raise their strong voice against their male-counter-part. Now domestic violence is taken up
seriously.

TYPES OF VIOLENCE:

After recognizing the causes that lead to violence against women, it is essential to know the
different types of violence. Though there cannot be any specific type of violence, violence is
such which tends to lower the self-esteem of an individual. Still the researcher has identified
some types of domestic violence against women. They are as follows:
 Violence which is money oriented
 Violence which is the result of stressful family situation
 Violence which seeks power over the weak
 Violence which is the result of the perpetrators pathology
 Violence which aims at pleasure seeking
 Violence which is victim precipitated.
But one thing is to be noted here is that, the primary difference between domestic violence
and any other violence is, the former is committed by an intimate partner or family members
of that partner. These types of violence are generally done by those men who suffer from
depression, inferiority complex, self-low-esteem personality disorders, and psychopaths, have
suspicious and dominant nature, victim of violence in childhood and frequent users of alcohol.

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 5. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005

According to the DVA, 2005; Domestic Violence includes-

I. Any harm or injury that endangers health, safety, limb or well-being either mental
physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse or economic abuse.
II. If one harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a view to
coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any
dowry or other property or valuable security.
III. If one injures or causes harm, whether physical or mental to the aggrieved person;

Any person who believes that an act of domestic violence has been or is being committed
may give information about it to the concerned protection officer .this makes the Act socially
embedded. The Act exempts such persons from any liability, civil or criminal. Also Under
Section 2(f) of the Act, “domestic relationship” means a relationship between two persons
who live or have, at any point of time, lived together in a shared household, when they are
related by consanguinity, marriage or through a relationship in nature of marriage, adoption
or are family members living in a joint family. The scope of this provision is very wide. In a
famous case of Nandan Singh Manral vs. State, the notice was served on the brother-in-law.
But it was held that the husband of the married sister, who lived far away from the family of
the husband, cannot be said to have lived in shared household with the aggrieved person as
no domestic relationship existed. Hence, the notice served on the brother-in-law was quashed.
In contrast, the scope of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code was essentially included to
punish the husband and the in-laws of the bride for the act of cruelty. In the case of domestic
violence also, the perpetrator is the male against a women. Now, if the husband or the relatives
of the husband commits an act of domestic violence through his male relatives or through his
female relatives, it is deemed that there was an act of domestic violence for which the relatives
and the husband will be held responsible. Here the order of the Magistrate will be binding on the
parties, and non- compliance with the orders of the Magistrate amounts to an offence which is
punishable under Section 31 of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Thus
the above definition though, its scope is very large, mentions and points out the true ambit of
domestic violence.
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The DV Act, 2005 ensures the reporting of cases of domestic violence against women to a
‘Protection Officer’ who then prepares a Domestic Incident Report to the Magistrate and
forwards it to the police officer in charge of the police station within the jurisdiction.

5.1. PROBLEMS WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005

The Act has failed to serve its purpose. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act-2005
was introduced in India for the speedy disposal of the cases with victims who faced cruelty by
husbands or relatives. Though the Act stipulates disposal of cases within 60 days, in reality, it
takes nearly six months and sometimes more than two years. For the helpless women who fight
for existence and survival, such long duration of the trials will obviously dampen their spirits
(whatever left) and she is likely to give up, say the experts. In this particular Act, unlike its
predecessor 498A, the victim can directly file the case with the protection officer in charge of a
particular district, who will in turn move it to the magistrate court, without the aid of an
advocate.
The service of an advocate is needed only during the later trials. Mahila Samakhya state project
director P E Usha alleged that the help expected from the police and the judiciary was not
available for the victims in majority of the cases. “Normally, the police personnel will be closer
to the abuser’s family, as they are from the same area. So, they will take sides with the
oppressor. Though the Act ensures that the victim can stay in the same house of the abuser and a
Residence Order is issued, there won’t be enough police protection during her stay at a place
which had been hell to her. It’s difficult for the victims to break the social dimensions easily,
especially when their children are studying in schools closer to the abuser’s house,” she said. She
added that it was high time the existence of the Act was reviewed in the state. “Only the elite
class tries to misuse the Act, when ego plays a better role than common sense. Look at the poor
women we daily meet, they do not even want to come forward with a case, let alone a fake one,”
Usha said, dismissing the allegations that the Act lost its initial luster due to misuse by women.

Women’s Commission member Noorbina Rasheed said that the cases were coming down since
many parties try to settle them outside the court. “The Domestic Violence Act was stipulated in
such a way that no further damage is done to the marriage. Only those cases that do not get

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settled in compromise talks are taken further,” she said. The maximum punishment as per this
Act is one-year imprisonment or a fine of `20,000. Usually the cases lead to separation and make
it easier for those abusive husbands to get rid of their wives and remarry. According to
Kozhikode district protection officer Lincy A K, the absence of separate courts for these types of
cases delays the whole process. “The magistrates are forced to consider domestic violence cases
along with the other ones. This leads to accumulation of cases and delays the whole process.
Thus an Act that was aimed at speedy trials and disposal loses its purpose. And there are no
punishments served immediately after filing the case. Only if the accused breaches the Residence
Order, he/she will be punished. If the accused is a female member, they would not be asked to
vacate the house,” she said.

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 6. REMEDIES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

6.1. The role of NGO’s

The role of non-governmental organizations in controlling the domestic violence and curbing its
worse consequences is crucial. These NGOs continue to spread awareness amongst people
regarding the legal rights they have in hand for fighting against the atrocities they are subjected
to. They are encouraging more and more people to report any case of domestic violence so that
proper action may be taken against the culprits. There are a lot of organizations one of which is
Sakshi — a violence intervention agency for women and children in Delhi works on cases of
sexual assault, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse and domestic abuse.

6.2. Need for Stringent Laws

In 1983, domestic violence was recognised as a specific criminal offence by the introduction
of section 498-A into the Indian Penal Code. This section deals with cruelty by a husband or
his family towards a married woman. There is an urgent need for such a law in the country. In
fact, there has also been misuse of section 498-A and DVA, 2005 because of restricted definition
of cruelty subjected to married women.

6.3. Police Training

Police plays a major role in tackling the domestic violence cases. They need to be sensitized
to treat domestic violence cases as seriously as any other crime. Special training to handle
domestic violence cases should be imparted to police force.

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 7. CONCLUSION

This paper focuses on domestic violence as one of the most prevalent yet relatively hidden
and ignored forms of violence against women. Domestic violence is a health, legal, economic,
educational, development and above all, a human rights issue. It may also take the form of
depriving her of the necessities of her life and her children. Selling away any properties of the
women or of the respondent to deprive women of her rights and privileges also come within the
scope of domestic violence.
Domestic Violence is a serious hindrance to marriage harmony and should not be tolerated by
any women at any cost. Effort should be made to ensure that women get the respect and honour
in their homes as well as outside. There is an urgent need for the society to change; mind-set of
the male dominated society should be more and broader. Women should not be treated as
commodities; rather they should be treated as asset of the families. There is a sharp contrast in
the traditional Indian society, we worship all Goddess like Kali, Durga, Saraswati, Laksmi,
Mansa and many others with great pomp, respect and glamour, but women in our house are
treated no less than animals.
“Marriage” is a sacred bond/relationship which is made in heaven, and the foundation of
marriage is tolerance, adjustment, love, faithfulness, loyalty and respect for one another. Petty
misunderstandings and trifling differences should not be aggravated so that the relationship
which was made in heaven becomes destroyed. The varying causes which can spark the violence
within the four walls of homes need to be analysed carefully and a wise study of the factors
causing the violence may prevent a family to suffer from the menace of domestic violence. The
domestic violence may have a far wider and deeper impact in real life than what has been
covered in this paper. What is required is to see closely the association of the factors provoking a
particular form of domestic violence. If these factors can be controlled then more than one form
of violence can be prevented from harming an individual or our society and India would be a
much better place to live in.

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 8. REFERENCES

Articles
1. Thomas B Jeyaseelan, “Women Rights and Law.” Pg. 2, Indian Social Institute, New
Delhi (2002)
2. Asmila Basu, “Harmful Practices against Women in India: An Explanation of Selected
Legislative Responses.”
3. Sheela Saravanan, “Violence against Women in India.”Institute of Social Studies Trust
(ISST) March 2000.
4. Dr. S. Gokilavan, Dr. SG Jelestin, “Marriage. Dowry, Practice and Divorce.” Pg. 252,
Regal Publication, New Delhi (2008).
5. National Crime Records Bureau (2015). Crime in India:2014 Statistics, New Delhi
6. UNICEF (2009). Domestic Violence Against Women And Girls.
7. UNICEF Innocent Digest. 6: 1-29.
8. Heise L.L., Pitanguy J. and Germaine A. (1994) Violence against Women. The Hidden
Health Burden. Discussion,Paper No 225, Washington DC: The World Bank.
Websites
1. http://www.youthkiawaaz.com
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence_in_India
3. http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/sereport/ser/stdy_demvio.pdf
4. http://iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol19-issue10/Version-4/B0191040814.
5. http://mujournal.mewaruniversity.in/jir2/21

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