DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005 – AN OVERVIEW

 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005

 

The passage of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, has endangered a new ray of hope for millions of women of this country, who have silent victims of violence and exploitation at home due to absence of an effective and holistic law to deal with these problems. In the 2005 UN Population Fund Report it was found that 70% of married women in India between 15 to 49 years are victims of beating, rape or forced sex. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Register a case of cruelty by husbands and relatives in every 9 minutes.

 

IMPORTANT PROVISIONS:

The Act states that if a man commits any kind of violence of insult his wife, he can be jailed for the offence and have to pay a fine up to Rs. 20,000/-. The Act covers women be they wives, live-in partners, sisters, mother in laws or any other women relative. The new law protects them against:

1. Physical violence; like – beating, slapping, hitting, biting, kicking, punching, pushing, shoving, or causing bodily injury or pain in any other manner etc.
2. Sexual violence: like – forced sexual intercourse, forcing a woman to look at pornography or any other obscene pictures or material etc.
3. Verbal and emotional violence; like – insult, name calling, insults for having male child etc. 

Thus, the main objective of the Act was to providing effective power to women.

 

LIMITATIONS:

 

The inability of legislative measures to effectively deal with social problems in general and problems pertaining to women in particular sign with respect to effectiveness of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Behind the protection officers, the Act allowed the NGOs to provide refuge to the victims, and even take their complains to Magistrates. But here also the problem lies that government has not allocated any budget for build homes for the distress women. This law protects the women only from the violence caused by women, but there are number of cases where women are being tortured by women. Moreover, it is apprehended that law can be misused by the shrewd women to trouble innocent husband to score a point over them on any matter whatsoever.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Though critics have warned against the possible misuse of the law yet one can not rule its positive ramification. The very fact that now the boundaries of the law have been enacted and it has acquired a more holistic nature, is a welcome relief and was a much-needed respite. However, a pertinent issue here is successful and effective implementation of the law. Unless and until illiteracy and ignorance about the law is ousted, the law will not achieve much, as first women need to be educated about the law to be able to know what all covers and what exactly constitutes ‘Domestic Violence’.