Violence Against Women in India

Domestic violence against women is prevalent in almost all the societies in the world. It is an issue which was not even recognised as a crime 40 years ago and is still not recognized as a crime by many societies. Women suffer from violence, including physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological violence by strangers and their partners all over the world (Kaya, 2010). Even though it is a worldwide occurrence, there are some women who face more intense and frequent violence depending on their culture, country, religion,

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) finally became law in 2005. It was only passed after a great deal of parliamentary deliberation to bridge the gap between existing legal provisions and progressive aims enshrined in the Constitution and international human rights conventions. The Domestic Violence Act provides female victims of domestic violence legal recourse, both civil and criminal. Specifically, it allows women to seek injunctions and protective orders, along with criminal provisions for imprisonment and fines, which come into play when a perpetrator breaches a civil order. This broader response to domestic violence more effectively addresses the social realities that Indian women face, including threats of violence and mental abuse for which they often require immediate civil

Through, the years Domestic abuse and police arrests has impacted society because the police officers failed to provide equal protection towards women who are victims towards sexual abuse. Therefore, the policy reform was established to reduce crimes and political power. However, violent crimes have been categorized with higher rates of proscution.Women were not provided with equal protection against domestic abuse and increased the rate of victims who are incarcerated. Women who encountered domestic violence have been arrested for self-defense. Victims of domestic abuse have been physically forced and violently assault in order to take advantage of them and form authority over them. In order to understand the social world we need to include women experiences towards domestic violence and mandatory arrest in order to reduce crimes and prevent victims from being incarcerated.

Furthermore, even if the woman is aware that she is being abused, she may decide not to report the abuse due to various forms of support she receives from her partner. An anonymous survey conducted with South Asian women from ages 18-62 showed that 50.6% of the participants reported that they do not disclose the abuse because their partner provides them with financial and/or social support (Raj & Silverman, 2003). Because these women are less likely to report their experiences with domestic abuse, if they are fortunate enough to escape the abusive household at all, the intensity of the mental illnesses they may develop caused by this abuse is likely to higher due the prolonged time they spent in this toxic situation (Ellsberg et al., 2008).

Intimate partner violence includes the physical, sexual, or psychological harm brought unto someone by a current or former partner. While both males and females can be targets of abusive relationships; women are more likely to report cases of intimate partner violence to the police. Based on reports, the rate of women targeted is significantly higher than the percentage of men. Intimate partner violence may occur in all countries, cultures, religions, and socioeconomic groups throughout the world. Underreporting is a huge issue in our society, which stems from aspects such as cultural views, the presence of children, a lack financial support/help, myths associated with intimate partner violence, patriarchy, and strain theory.

In relation to this, domestic violence is a major issue. It is a controversial subject at hand in today’s society and many people are affected, whether it is public or privately known. This type of family violence is complex and many people ask why it is so violent and why it is considered violent. To respond to these questions, an article was released on countries that outlaw domestic violence. This article stated that “in recent years, sexual harassment has been publicly acknowledged as harmful to women, and countries are taking the first steps by adopting legislation prohibiting it” (www.unicef.org). Because of many speculations and confusion, domestic violence is categorized into specific offences: marital rape is a criminal offence and sexual harassment laws. “[The] laws that criminalize gender-based violence are positive steps but they offer not guarantees. Worldwide, even where laws are in place, prosecution of perpetrators is rare, and successful prosecutions uncommon” (www.unicef.org). Although these laws are passed and enforced in many countries around the world, violence still occurs and women are still being violated and abused, whether it is publically or privately, in a family relationship.

One of the most significant health and social problems affecting every society in the world today, irrespective of age, race, ethnic, socio-economic, and religious groups, is Domestic Violence against women.

Everywhere around the world women and girls are terrorized, mistreated and victims of abuse, rape, and assault. Sadly this kind of treatment towards women and girls is often very common in Asian countries. The article by Gardiner Harris entitled, “Rape of Girl, 5, Draws Focus to Child Assault in India”, talks about how an innocent five year old girl was raped, tortured and almost killed in India. Harris wrote in the article that people demand stricter laws against sex crimes and that there should be more protection for women. In Asia women tend to be less desirable, and are treated with less respect than a man. Harris also claims that news reports are packed with stories about heinous crimes and assaults against women (Gardiner Harris, 2013).

In my country, the Philippines, thousands of women suffer from domestic violence (Raposas, 2008). Women suffer in silence to keep the family together. Violence is unreported due to embarrassment, and the thought of it being "normal" and that nothing could be done anyway. Research have confirmed that "most abused women are not passive victims but rather adopt active strategies to maximize their safety and that of their children (Koss, et al, 1991, p. 59).

Our popular understanding of feminism and criminology has significantly changed over few decades, and with it, our legal response. Criminology has traditionally been one of the most androcentric fields of study in India as well around the world. The majority of the research and theory have been based on the study of male criminality and criminal justice system responses to male offenders. Women, when consider at all, have been represented in negative and stereotypical ways, with a focus on their failure to adhere to “traditional” models of appropriate female behavior.

The hypotheses for “Domestic Violence Against Women: Statistical Analysis of Crimes Across India” article was developed by reviewing obtainable writings on wife-beating in India and the efforts to conceptualize

In the United States, there are about ten people who die from domestic violence every single day. The U.N identifies October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. What happens when ‘Home’ is not the safest place to be? Domestic abuse occurs across the world, in various cultures and affects society, irrespective of their economic status. Behaviors that are adopted by a person to control their partner in a relationship refers to domestic violence. Domestic violence against women particularly marital abuse in United States compared with India is what this paper is going to be based on in order to obtain notions from various perspectives. One must have thought of at least 3 women you know who have been abused. So would this be considered a global epidemic? Maybe yes, maybe no. Violence by a partner is common in the Indian society that women end up committing suicide (Mullender et al., 2000). The causes, types of domestic violence, the abuser and the after effects of such behavior will be analyzed with substantial evidence.

This project begun as a personal revolt against the rising rape culture and sexual assaults in India when three of my closest female friends got sexually assaulted in Delhi this May. These were young financially independent and headstrong women yet they felt completely powerless after this event and could not report it. This normality around rape and assault led me to probe into the root cause and cultural implications around it.

Violence against women is not a recent phenomenon. Women have been victims in all ages, societies. Women are subjective to violence in all countries now days, they’re being violated both physically and sexually. Laws are initiated in a lot of courtiers to protect women who are being violated but even with that the number of cases are still increasing. Violence against women affects women physically and mentally. Since, the act of violence against women is now being acknowledged by a lot of people these days thanks to the feminism movement or the modern women movement which are fighting for equal rights regardless of the age and gender that no man or women should be violated in such inhumane actions but, if we took a look around the rates of violence, violence against women is higher since majority of the abusive cases are women. The status of women in her society contributes or plays a huge role

In a survey conducted by The Thompson Reuters Foundation in 2011, India was ranked as the fourth most dangerous place for women. Crimes against women (CAW) are very common and sexual offences form a large proportion of such type of felonies. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, ‘a total of 2,44,270 incidents of crime against women (both under IPC and SLL) were reported in the country during the year 2012 as compared to 2,28,650 in the year 2011 recording an increase of 6.4% during the year 2012. These crimes have continuously increased during 2008 -2012 with 1,95,856 cases in the year 2008, 2,03,804 cases in 2009 and 2,13,585 cases in 2010 and 2,28,650 cases in 2011 and 2,44,270 cases in the year 2012’ . CAW are increasing on a daily basis according to these statistics. Instances of gender- based violence are quite common and reported almost every day in newspapers.