Delays do not bode well for Domestic Violence Bill
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDV) is a new legislation aimed at providing relief to millions of women affected by violence in their homes. Although the Bill was enacted last year, the government still has not notified the date from which the Act becomes operational. The rules under the Act are still to be finalised. Activists from Action India and the National Centre for Advocacy Studies met recently in the capital to demand that the central government commit financial resources and infrastructure, and draw up strategies for the implementation and enforcement of the Act.
Fifty million women are missing in South Asia because of the increasing number of cases of foeticide, dowry deaths, honour killings and other acts of violence being inflicted on them. India enjoys the ignominy of being in the forefront of crimes against women. This spiral of violence is being sustained by glaring even criminal — shortfalls in the investigation of such crimes by our investigatory agencies and the judicial bias against women who are forced to seek legal redress.
The Truth Commission organised by Bangalore-based Vimochana, in which former judges and activists looked at 24 violence-related cases, found that in 12 of the cases the police had not bothered to even assess the nature of the case; in another five, the investigation was downright shoddy; five cases smacked of judicial bias. No wonder then that the police seldom feel the need to give copies of the FIR to the complainants.
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 attempts to plug the loopholes in implementation. It calls for the building of a cadre of protection officers who will operate in every district of the country, helping abused victims file cases before magistrates. The law has taken the unprecedented step of stipulating that the concerned magistrate hear the case within three days of its registration. Senior Supreme Court advocate Indira Jaisingh points out that the protection officers can be either government officials or representatives of NGOs.
Determined not to add to the backlog of cases, the PWDV Act stipulates that every case must be disposed of within two months of its hearing. The Bill also calls for the setting up of more courts and the hiring of more judges in order to cut down on needless delays.
Another departure from earlier practice has been to title reports prepared by protection officers Direct Incident Reports, not First Information Reports (FIRs). Jaisingh maintains: The whole idea of getting a new cadre in place is to ensure that they function more effectively. The courts are already so overburdened that we need to have a new team in place.
The creation of a new cadre, and the setting up of more courts, requires additional funding. The amount that has been tabulated by the Lawyers Collective is minuscule — an additional Rs 178 crore annually. The money will go towards token payment for the protection officers, and assist in building infrastructure. The new legislation also empowers women to seek relief and services from the judiciary, police, shelters, hospitals and other institutions.
Since the aim is to protect women from physical, verbal, psychological, emotional, sexual and financial abuse, the Bill ensures women the right to continue to live in the marital home. It is for this reason that the household is referred to as shared household rather than matrimonial household. If the protection order is breached, the man can be imprisoned.
The Bill is an expression of concern at the escalation of violence against married women. India has one of the highest rates of violence against women who are pregnant. The Washington-based International Centre for Research on Women, in collaboration with independent researchers, quotes some alarming statistics to confirm this trend. Fifty per cent of the women interviewed reported being kicked, beaten or hit whilst they were pregnant. Seventy-five per cent of those who reported repeated violence have attempted to commit suicide.
This violence is so endemic that it stretches across regions, communities and classes. Already, statistics collated by the Department of Women and Children indicate that domestic violence figures are spiralling at 40% per year; 7 lakh complaints are expected to be registered in 2006-07 alone.
One of the main reasons for this alarming increase is the downward slide in conviction rates. During the 1970s, judicial conviction rates were as high as 70%; today they are down to 40%.
Some key observations need to be kept in mind regarding domestic violence. Domestic violence is an intractable problem that appears to be getting worse. Still, many women are willing to remain silent and suffer an abusive situation because they do not want to disrupt their childrens lives. In extreme cases where women are forced to report cases of domestic violence, it is because they want to end the violent incidents, not because they are seeking a divorce. They hope to both preserve their marriage and put an end to the abuse. For, marriage grants a woman privileges through her husband and her children and also provides some social security for the future. Then again, many women do not want to return to their parental homes where they could find themselves in an equally vulnerable position.
The Domestic Violence Bill attempts to ensure that it has an implementation process built into it. And, at the same time, enough flexibility to allow greater levels of manoeuvrability both for the victim as well as the law-enforcing body. The question activists are asking is: why is the government dragging its feet on its notification? Women need speedy redress. This Bill is one more step in the right direction.
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