Paradigms of Domestic Violence

PARADIGMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
– A glance on the existing legal provisions and its impact
Domestic violence and dowry deaths are prevalent all over India. We all know some people or
the other around us who have at some point faced domestic violence, or have perpetrated it.
However most of the times our hands are tied without knowing how to react to such
situations.There are mainly three laws in India that deal directly with domestic violence,viz.;
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
and Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is a civil law that provides
protection to women in a household, from men in the household. This law not only protects
women who are married to men but it also protects women who are in live-in relationships, as
well as family members including mothers, grandmothers, etc. Under this law, women can seek
protection against domestic violence, financial compensation, the right to live in their shared
household, and they can get maintenance from their abuser in case they are living apart.This law
exists is to ensure that women do not get kicked out of their own homes and are given an
opportunity to sustain themselves if they have been abused. It is also meant for protecting
women from their abusers .This is because under the Act, a Magistrate can pass a protection
order under the Act to ensure the abuser doesn’t contact or get close to the survivor.Marital rape
is not recognized as a crime in India. Men charged under the Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act can be subject to a restraining order, but they do not face jail time. The
criminal law that the Supreme Court modified in its recent judgment protects a woman from
“mental and physical cruelty” and harassment for dowry since the same calls for immediate
arrest for those accused of violating the law.The second law is the Dowry Prohibition Act. This
is a criminal law that punishes any transactions related to dowry. Under this law, if someone
takes, gives or even demands dowry, they can be imprisoned for 6 months or they can be fined
upto Rs. 5,000.The third law that exists to help women who are facing violence at home is
Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting
her to cruelty). This is a criminal law, which applies to husbands or relatives of husbands who
are cruel to women. Cruelty, under the Act, refers to any conduct that drives a woman to suicide
or causes grave injury to her life or health – including mental health and also includes
harassment in the name of dowry. If convicted, people can be sent to jail for up to 3 years under
this law.
Domestic Violence has different dimensions starting from the act of such a violence to the
impact of a suit filed on the offender.Thus , domestic violence should also be understood from
the perspective of the male counterpart in the act.According to a recent newspaper report, Men’s
rights activists scored a significant victory in India recently when the Supreme Court essentially
identified them as the victims in domestic violence cases. The judges weren’t making the law
gender neutral, however. They stated that Indian women were filing inaccurate claims of
domestic violence.The ruling read that most of the complaints filed by the petitioners were trivial
and were filed without foreseeing the repercussions and implications.It is to be emphasized that
this isn’t the first time the law has been questioned by the courts, however. In 2005, a panel of
the Supreme Court called women’s misuse of the provision “legal terrorism.” In 2014, the court
also diluted the protocol for arrests under the law, stating that it was putting “bedridden
grandmothers and grandfathers of the husband” in jail. Because it’s a civil charge, rather than
criminal, and it relates to harassment over dowries, elderly parents of the husband also often face
charges.
However , sixteen Women’s groups have sent a memorandum to the chief justice of India,
demanding that the ruling should be reversed. The statement said that the entire judgment was
delivered in the basis that women are liars and false cases. The statement also asserted that the
judgment completely overlooks the fat that women are daily recipients of harassment for dowry
and domestic violence .Recent studies have projected that social stigma and insensitive
attitudes of police lead women to avoid filing domestic assault charges. According to the data on
1,675 abused women, only 47% of women went to the police. A third of those who did not
approach the police had faced violence for three to five years, two-thirds had faced violence
during pregnancy, and a third had attempted suicide. A quarter also experienced rape and sexual
assault with objects.It is to be noted that violence against women in India gained international
attention when a brutal gang rape in the capital in December 2012 ignited protests across the
country. Stronger laws on sexual assault and violence against women were introduced after such
events.
Legal provisions related to domestic violence has been on controversial grounds in other
countries too .Russia is one of three countries in Europe and Central Asia that have not enacted
laws specifically targeting domestic violence. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
contains a number of provisions that criminalize the intentional infliction of harm to a person’s
health and provide for punishment depending on the severity of the harm. However, the only
legal provision applicable to prosecuting domestic violence appears to be article 116 of the
Code.Article 116 deals with physical assault, defined as “battery or similar violent actions, which
have caused physical pain but have not amounted to light injury”,i.e., have not merely caused
temporary harm to a person’s health or the insignificant loss of the general capacity to work.
According to a report on Russian federation ,Russia decriminalized non-aggravated battery in

July of 2016 and made it an administrative offense punishable by a fine or detention. However,
repeated battery and battery committed against close relatives remained punishable under the
Criminal Code. Russia amended the Criminal Code once again in February of 2017 and removed
the provision regarding assaulting close relatives from the article on nonaggravated battery. As a
result, violence committed against family members has also been made an administrative
offense. Only repeated instances of battery are now prosecuted as criminal offenses and
punishable by criminal law. International and nongovernmental organizations have noted that the
failure to adequately protect victims of domestic violence may be incompatible with Russia’s
international human rights obligations.

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– A glance on the existing legal provisions and its impact

According to a report on Russian federation ,Russia decriminalized non-aggravated battery in

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