By Antra Azad, a 4th Year, B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Chanakya National Law University, Patna
For some people, lockdown meant staying at home to safeguard themselves from the increasing corona cases outside whereas for a section of the society it was fighting from raging pandemic outside their door and atrocities by the partner inside their home.
The United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life[1]." According to WHO estimates, at some point in their lives, one out of every three (30%) women in the world has experienced physical and/or sexually intimate relationship abuse or non-partner sexual assault. The majority of this violence is caused by intimate partner abuse. Almost a third (27%) of women aged 15 to 49 who have been in a relationship say their intimate partner has physically and/or sexually abused them. India saw an increasing trend of violence during the lockdown imposed in the country due to Covid-19.
Causes of Domestic Violence
The Prime Minister of India declared a one-day nationwide lockout on March 22, 2020, but the situation prevalent forced to extend the lockdown along with other guidelines of social distancing which made the life of women more vulnerable to domestic violence. The notion that atrocities and violence are limited to villages and do not creep into the household of rich, educated, metropolitan cities should break the constrain. According to several sources, during the pandemic, metropolitan police stations received around 20-25 calls every day related to the violence. However, NGOs reported a decline in the number of reported cases and this may be due to confinement at home, round-the-clock surveillance or not be able to contact friends and relatives due to isolation. Spending quality time with the family during this pandemic acted like a silver lining for a few, but it turned out to be a nightmare for others. As the number of persons infected with Covid-19 climbs, countries are being pressed to implement travel restrictions, resulting in unemployment, job losses, and lost earnings. According to experts, low income has been linked to an increase in domestic abuse. Domestic abuse seems to have an inverse association with a woman's educational degree, according to reports. Domestic violence is avoided by women who are self-sufficient and have access to resources. Several other types of research, on the other hand, have found that as women's status rises, so does domestic abuse. Such violence leads to adverse impacts for a lifetime which may be physical, emotional, sexual, and reproductive health, as well as increase their risk of contracting HIV, and the scar never fades away.
Gender inequality is yet another cause of domestic violence when the male ego and masculinity overpowers them and find their female partners as gullible targets. Such violence is in the physical, psychological and sexual form, in a country that does not even acknowledge sexual violence as a crime in a marital relationship.
Laws Related to Domestic Violence
Domestic violence in itself is a pandemic. Time travel from the year 2003 where only 45 countries recognised the domestic violence law whereas by the year 2011 domestic abuse was prohibited in 125 countries, but rape inside a marriage is not specifically prohibited in 127 countries.
India lays down wide legislation in this arena to safeguard the interest of women. Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, the provocation for dowry by the husband or his family is considered a crime. The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 makes the practice of dowry illegal. Furthermore, the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act of 2005 bans a wide variety of harassment against women, including physical, mental, sexual, and financial abuse, all of which are broadly defined. The Act applies to women who are not married and live in a live-in relationship. Under this Act, a woman can choose to be free of abuse and has a variety of choices. Such choices extend up to seeking an order of security against her husband and his relatives, to remain in the same house (she cannot be evicted from her matrimonial home even though she reports her abusers), to seek restitution, custody of her children, and compensation.
In addition to laws that seek retribution for gender-based violence, many empowering laws are many empowering laws that seek to improve a woman's social, economic, and legal position, making her more secure and less vulnerable to violence, as well as less inclined to accept such abuse if it occurs. But the lack of proper implementation of these laws is making women vulnerable and end up in the vicious cycle from running one resort to another without getting any relief except the fingers of society pointing at her suspecting her to be the whole root of the chaos.
What's more surprising is that many women accept the wrongdoing committed against them because of culturally based gender stereotypes that give men the upper hand. Many Asian women feel that disclosing their husband's abusive behaviour would embarrass them and their families. This paints a frightening picture of how the crime goes unreported and the offenders continue to victimise the victims, causing physical, mental, and psychological damage. The reluctance of the victim to report the crime due to the perpetrator's fear and their inability to step away from the perpetrator is said to be the main explanation for the crime going unreported. Gender discrimination, as well as the tradition of elevating the husband and prioritising family over personal issues, have always been rooted in women. As a result, it has become critical to ensure that victims are safe from offenders and that they receive shelter assistance before they are self-sufficient.
Area of Actions
Gender Sensitisation
The very notion behind violence against women is the mental construct built by the society that women are week and could be moulded as per the need. This construct needs to break in society by educating children from an early age and teaching them the interaction etiquettes with the opposite gender.
Make Violence a Crime
The state recognises domestic violence as a criminal offence and has instilled various sections and acts to make the liable person pay for it but at the same time is reluctant enough to see it as a private matter which puts women at risk. The state should utilize its legal mandate to take strong punitive action against wife batterers because society cannot turn its blind eyes on women by labelling the act as a private act. The present mandate in India is effectively limited to dowry-related violence.
Promote a Holistic Approach
For women who are being abused by intimate partners, a set of integrated answers that meet both their practical and strategic needs provides the most meaningful and long-term solutions. The design and implementation of all domestic violence intervention techniques should be guided by this notion. It is critical to identify major and secondary stakeholders involved in domestic abuse. Those involved in the judicial process, income-generating, and education are currently the most important actors. Others who need to be sensitised and involved in building a well-coordinated, well-rounded response to domestic abuse include those in housing, child protective services, the private sector, and labour unions.
Address the Batterer
State agencies and non-governmental organisations should collaborate to develop batterer-centred initiatives that target the perpetrator of violence. This has been successfully attempted in a number of sites around the world and has shown potential for repetition.
We have entered the twenty-first century but the basic bugs in our society are yet to be addressed. This disease has not only led to an increase in violence but has also surrendered on the support system provided for them. To reduce the prevalence there is a need for a quick bounce back from the government with an equipped mechanisms to tackle and reduce the violence.
References
[1] United Nations. Declaration on the elimination of violence against women. New York : UN, 1993.
(Disclaimer- The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Child Rights Centre.)
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