History
In the beginning of the 1800s, in English common law wife beating is considered as a men’s right. It is considered a ritual amongst society but with time in the 16th century, this is considered as a crime not only against women but against society as a whole.
It was termed as a breach of the peace in that society. So to curb this problem English common law introduced some laws i.e. to furnish a bond by the husband and to stake pledges from his associates for peaceful life and good behavior in the future. In terms of the sentences, it was only pity fines.
A great change has been seen during the American Revolution, many of the American colonies made laws in favor of women and coined the domestic violence system a heinous crime against the liberty of women. Transfer of the local justices to the state courts.
Taking a course of the same by the judicial system rather than the legislatures of the state. Setting up the precedent in domestic violence cases are some of the things that took place in that era.
The major change took place when the political agitation of the feminist movement begin to take place in the 19th century.
This forces the political system of that era into opinion and legislation.
related to domestic violence within the US, UK, and other countries.
• In the year 1850 Tennessee a state in the US become the first country to make wife beating illegal and penalized strong punishment for the same. Gradually this thing followed by other states also.
— In the year 1878 UK matrimonial causes act was passed which gave a right to the wife to get separated from an abusive husband.
• In the early 20th century a change was also seen amongst the court in these cases whenever these types of cases comes into the court.
The Judge imposes a harsh punishment against the husband’s perpetrator. But when the situation is the opposite the same thing deals with leniency by the court.
Even then in most of the legal systems around the world, the issue of domestic violence was highlighted from the 1990s onward.
In most countries, there were no protection no laws for the security of women in cases of domestic violence. Keeping in view this thing in 1993 the UN published some strategies for confronting domestic violence: A resource manual.
By this, they are urging the countries to treat domestic violence as an unlawful act. But the scenario was not as thought as many countries at that time so this was out of the scope of the law.
Physical discipline of the children and chastisement of the wife is considered as one of the necessary things.
As far as India is concerned there are various forms of domestic violence act has been seen i.e. honor killings, dowry deaths, and forced marriages.
In the year 2005 efforts were being made to curb the issue of domestic violence and in response to this the protection of women from domestic violence act has been passed.
TYPES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
There are various forms of domestic violence engraved in the laws some of these are:-
Physical abuse
One of the most prominent abuse is considered physical abuse where the victim is in constant fear of bodily pain, injury, other physical suffering, or bodily harm. Due to this the growth of her mental and physical state stuck.
Another thing that took place is an acid attack in which the attempt is to damage the face and the body of the victim which also result in blindness and permanent scaring of the female.
As far as India is considered most of the domestic violence cases come after the women get married and the husband or the family members of the husband are dissatisfied over the dowry demands that result in continuous physical abuse of the women and some cases the killing of the women.
According to the National crime records bureau in the year 2011 around 8618 dowry deaths were reported in India but the official figure is far bigger than this amount.
Sexual abuse
It is defined as abuse that humiliates, degrades, or hampers the dignity of women in general. Majority of the sexual abuse is considered marital rape but this is not outlawed in many countries. Marital rape is only hit when the victim is under the age of 15. Besides this, in many cultures, the victim of rape is considered a shame and disgrace to the family. If the victim got pregnant then her life ended up by her family members.
When it comes to marriage in some cultures there is an obligation that the woman is only to bear the children of the husband if it is found out that the woman is using birth control then she has to face the constant fear and threats in society this practice is mostly common among the people of Ghana.
Verbal and Emotional Abuse
In domestic violence cases, the first thing that a female has to face is verbal abuse by her spouse and in some cases by the family of the spouse. When it is intermixed with emotional abuse the situation got worse. The environment of this led to emotional and mental trauma to the female which ultimately hampers her mental strength. WHO termed it as the most common way of abuse in all the societies of the world.
It includes minimizing threats, isolation, public humiliation, criticism among the masses, personal devaluation of the image, coercive control over one’s affairs, and stalking.
This led to increasing chances of depression which can lead to suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, etc.
Economic Abuse
This is a form of financial abuse in which one intimate partner has overall control over the economic resources of the other partner. The assets are used as a means of control.
Economic abuse includes limiting what victims may use or exploiting the resources used to support the daily needs of the victim which may include the right to education, employment, career advancement, and other activities for the betterment of life.
The result of this abuse is the victim has to depend on the perpetrator for his day-to-day activities and life.
Causes of domestic violence in India
Sociological and Behavioral Factors
– This includes the upbringing of the person in a patriarchal atmosphere. Besides this, the anger issues, aggressive attitude, difference in the status of both, Economic hardship, extramarital affairs through which the male member doesn’t look after the family, and other things conclude the changing of the thinking of the male member towards female member.
Historical Factors
– The patriarchal mindset and superiority complex over women are the two major things that can be added up to this factor.
In addition to this, the manner of upbringing of the child in the family also set the norms of historical factors. The family and society atmosphere where he can see the lethargic condition of the married women.
Religious Factors
– The rigid and orthodox mentality of the person who is following his religious obligation without giving a second thought to it led to domestic violence cases amongst the family and the same is forwarded to the other generation unless they change their society or put questions on the long going religious obligation or ritual.
Cultural Factors
– Where society is having an atmosphere or culture of beating women and a superiority complex or a desire of having a male child are some of the prominent things where the impact of culture is more than anything else and this led to the abuse of the female person to fulfill their unnecessary demand. This led to an increase in cases of domestic violence.
Dowry
– This issue came into the limelight after a while when the demands for dowry become an order of the day and that resulted in the mental and physical harassment of the female person. Sometimes the level of torture is so high that the victim got too depressed and ultimately led to suicide.
Legislation
According to the data in India, around 30% of women above 15 years of age face domestic violence once in their life and around 4% of the women have faced this after their marriage. Keeping in view the rise in the cases of domestic violence cases and a rising demand of the law for protection of women against domestic violence legislation came into effect which is The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act in the year 2005.
The aim of this act is to –
- identify and determine the act of domestic violence as unlawful and punishable by the law
- to make society aware of the evils of domestic violence
- to provide protection to the victim/aggrieved of the domestic violence
- to provide timely justice to the victim in a cost-efficient manner
- to lay down the rules according to international procedures and to create harsh punishment against the perpetrators.
- to give a sense of hope to the aggrieved person in cases of domestic violence
- to lay down the duties and procedures to be adopted by the government, judiciary, and other concerned officers
Conclusion
The act plays a very important role in the Indian judiciary and in safeguarding the rights of Indian women against the evil of domestic violence. It gives them a sense of hope and a sense of protection by providing them the ways and remedies against inhuman acts. Although this is a boon for the women there is some lacuna present in it that if a man faces the same thing he cannot apply for the same in this particular act or in any other act. Besides this, it also does not cover the scope of the LGBTQ community. So we can conclude that with the boon it has some curse also.
Written By
Ajmal Ansari