RESPECT WOMEN WHO SHARE HOUSEHOLD
Introduction:
In simple term, Domestic violence means violence which women face in their own houses. Every day, we hear many cases of Domestic Violence in our neighborhood where women sharing households are subjected to unprovoked violence. It is quite common these days to know about the incidents where A Husband comes late after drinking alcohol and then he takes out the frustration on his wife or A husband blackmailing his wife to do any work as per his wishes else he would beat the child. The list of such incidents is virtually unending. But what is worse is that more than half of the cases of Domestic Violence go unnoticed and unreported because aggrieved person does not want to disclose the identity of the wrong doer, as he/she is the member of her own house and in some way or the other related to the family.
Behind closed doors people are being beaten, tortured and killed. Women are more prone to domestic violence as compared to men, because women are treated as weaker section of the society. We see women getting brutally treated in the house by their so called loved ones that are known to be their husbands or any family member.
Law and Crime of Domestic Violence
The Constitution Of India does not distinguish between the citizens on the basis of their Gender for imparting Fundamental Rights but still even after 71 years of Independence, women have to fight for their rights, rather I should say have to fight for their basic rights.
Fundamental Rights are the basic rights for the existence of human beings, same as the food, clothing and shelter are the basic needs for human’s survival. Therefore, the Government of India should make stringent laws and make sure they are executed in the situations for which they are made.
THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005
To protect the women from Domestic Violence in shared household, THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005 has been enacted. The objective of the Act is to provide more effective protection to the rights of women who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Any victim of violence at shared household now has been provided with an efficacious remedy to report the matter to the court concerned. The Act is a comprehensive provision and is a code for itself. It goes even to authorize the presiding officer to device his own procedure to deal with matter, if the need be. It takes care of the financial aspects as well. The financial relief granted under this Act is to be over and above the other relief that may have been granted in some other proceedings by the same or some other Court.
The Act also gives the option for filing an application on behalf of the aggrieved person. So it is not necessary that people should only act when it is in their family or related to their family but we can act and help other individuals who are in need of help.
The Domestic Violence does not happen only with the victim, it affects all the members who are there in the family, especially the children. The children will react to the events according to what they witness around them and have their traits developed on the basis of the said occurrences. Therefore, the girls of the house feel it is acceptable to get beaten up by the male members of the house and the boys of the house feel that women are there in the house only to be ill- treated and they can make her do anything which they want. And then this continues from door to door and generation to generation.
According to the Act, Domestic Violence does not mean the violence only on the women but it also covers:
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Spouse
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A child of his spouse
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Another person living under the same roof.
Some of the circumstances of Domestic Violence, as per the Act are:
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Forcing a wound or blow
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Placing a person in the fear of physical injury to himself or to one of his children
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Harassing, stalking, ill-treating, insulting, brutality or cruelty
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Convincing a person by force or threat to engage in any conduct or act
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Confining or detaining the spouse or the other person, against his will
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Harming a child of the spouse
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Attempt to cause damage to the property related to spouse’s or other person property
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Depriving the spouse or any other person anything which he/she is entitled to without any lawful excuse.
Domestic violence and Society:
No matter what the Question is, violence is not the answer. As the word itself states “domestic” which means home, therefore the problem and the solution to these problems lies in our home only. The Domestic Violence is not only seen in rural areas but it also prevails in urban areas. The easiest way to tackle this problem is communication with an open mind. Open mind of accepting the strengths and flaws of each other. Respect each other enough to accept their strengths and weaknesses.
Discussions and seminars could be held in rural areas to educate the women about their rights and what is the redressal procedure of filing a complaint and obtaining a relief.
Domestic violence is rooted deeply in our society because of social norms and economic dependence. Main cause for occurrence of domestic violence is that women are financially dependent on their male counter parts, so either they are not allowed to take any decision in the household or they have to seek permission for everything they want to do. If they start earning some money they would not be subjected to domestic violence and the earnings would also help the family in catering for expenses. But most of the times, when a woman becomes a mother, she is under the family pressure of leaving their job and take care of the baby and the household, at the cost of her career.
Husbands should help their wives to maintain a balance between their personal and professional life.
Conclusion:
There are also many Non Government Organizations who work for the betterment of the cause of Protection of women from Domestic Violence. Even if we don’t get to witness domestic violence in our own house, we can get connected with the victims and help in the manner we can. We can voluntary go to any village and educate the masses about how they should prevent physical abuse of women. The basic idea is to develop a sense of respect for the Women folk in the entire society. We can start from our own household. Every one of us in our homes has our domestic female helps. Once they are comfortable in talking to us, we can ask them if they are going through any sort of violence and provide guidance to them.
Domestic violence is increasing because of inefficient legal justice system; weak rules of law and male dominated social and political structures. We have to change the social set up by imparting proper awareness. To change, we have to change.
So, the Women of Society, RISE & BE THE CHANGE.
As it is rightly said, be the change you want to see. If you want to see better India, I think it’s high time we should start respecting our women. As a woman is the one who nurtures the world and disrespecting her means showing disrespect to society as a whole. The worst we could do is not providing a safe environment to our women in our own household.
And to all the women in the world, what feels right, we should always fight for it. No matter how hard it seems, we have to fight for justice not for anyone else but for ourselves. As it is rightly said stop it while you still have a voice otherwise bear it till the rest of your life.
We should all pledge to make this world a better place to live in by doing our part to the fullest.
STOP GENDER BASED DISCRIMINATION
Read more blog at www.advocatetanwar.com
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Ravneet Kaur, Team Gender Sensitization
Law Offices of Kr. Vivek Tanwar Advocate and Associates