Domestic Violence and its Remedy
What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence (also named family violence) is violence or other abuse in a domestic setting, such as in marriage or cohabitation in our society. The victim is dependent on the offender. Domestic violence can take the form of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, and many more. Domestic violence signifies different names: wife abuse, marital assault, woman battery, spouse abuse, wife-beating, conjugal violence, intimate violence, battering, partner abuse, etc.
Domestic violence is an epidemic problem with far-reaching consequences for every individual, community, and victims. Sometimes it results in death, serious injury, and medical & mental health issues, etc. for victims, their children, the families, and others. Also, their children, family, or friends, those who are trying to protect them from every situation. For every, domestic violence, many victims struggle with the health problems who suffer in various domestic abuses like shot, stabbed, clubbed, burned, choked, beaten, or thrown by their abusers.
Key elements of domestic violence:
- Conduct perpetrated by adults or adolescents against their intimate partners in current or former dating, married or cohabiting relationships of heterosexuals, gay men, and lesbians.
- A pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors, including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion.
- A pattern of behaviors including a variety of tactics — some physically injurious and some not, some criminal and some not — carried out in multiple, sometimes daily episodes.
- A combination of physical attacks, terrorist acts, and controlling tactics used by perpetrators that result in fear as well as physical and psychological harm to victims and their children.
- A pattern of purposeful behavior, directed at achieving compliance from or control over the victim
Domestic Violence: A Pattern of Behaviors:
The abusive behaviors take different forms like; physical, sexual, psychological, and economic. To understand the pattern, different types of domestic violence behaviors to be discussed in the below lines. The first two categories are types of physically assaultive battering where a person has direct contact with the victim's body. The other categories involve, where a person has no direct physical contact with the victim's body during the attack although the victim is the target of the abuse. Let us discuss it:
- Physical Assault
- Sexual Assault
- Psychological Assault
- Use of Economics
Schematic Intervention:
THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION, AND REDRESSAL) ACT, 2013
• DM, ADM, Collector or Deputy Collector to be notified as District Officer
• Local Complaints Committee (LCC) to be constituted in every district
THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT (PWDVA), 2005
• Ensure appointment of Protection Officers (PO) preferably women (with independent charge) through State Government
• Ensure effective functioning of PO
THE DOWRY PROHIBITION ACT, 1961
• Ensure effective functioning of Dowry Prohibition Officers (DPOs) appointed by State Government
THE PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE ACT, 2006
• Ensure effective functioning of Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPO) appointed by State Government
• DM shall be deemed to be CMPO on certain days i.e. Akshay Tritiya etc.
Intervention Programmes:
ONE-STOP CENTRES - SAKHI
• Provide an integrated range of services to women affected by violence: medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psychosocial counseling, temporary shelter Role of District Administration:
• Funds are transferred directly to districts
• Districts are to ensure operationalization
181 - WOMEN HELPLINE
• Immediate and 24-hour emergency response to women affected by violence across the country through universal 181 number Role of District Administration:
• Link One Stop Centres to Women Helpline
• Assist referred women through District Hospitals, Protection Officers, etc. 9
NIRBHAYA FUND
• Districts can put up proposals through concerned departments of State Governments for innovative projects on the safety and security of women under the Nirbhaya Fund
• In this regard, letters have been sent to Chief Secretaries/Administrators of States/UTs on 1 st August 2017
CITIZEN SUPPORT
- District administrations may spread awareness of the services available to citizens:
- Panic buttons will be available on all phones soon for women to send distress signals to five persons and police in crises
- Grievance Redressal: Dedicated email at min-wcd@nic.in to address all public grievances of women and children
- Anti-trolling response: MWCD has a dedicated e-mail help-wcd.@nic.in solely to address and resolve issues of hateful conduct and stalking on Social Media platforms
- NARI Portal: Website dedicated to providing simplified information on schemes and other essential knowledge related to women www.nari.nic.in 10 CYBERSECURITY
- Cybercrime is a rising concern, especially for women and children
- District administration should take steps to spread awareness in schools about safety in cyberspace Tips for children:
- Keep your personal information such as mobile number, address, etc. secret online
- Do not hesitate to block somebody you do not want to chat to
- Take screenshots if anything bad happens online
- Never tell cyber café owners your email and password
- Never share our PIN or confidential information over the phone or internet
- Avoid posting about your plans and activities on social media 11 MAHILA SHAKTI KENDRA (MSK)
- New Scheme announced in the Finance Minister's Budget Speech of 2017-18
- To be implemented in 100 districts in the first year (2017-18), followed by 100 more in the second and third year each.
- Aim: to provide one-stop convergent support services to empower rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health, and nutrition.
A lot of act and websites are there to protect you from this Domestic violence. Sherose(https://www.naaree.com/) an Andriod app developed by a group of women helps 24*7 to all the clients who need any help in Domestic violence. Generally in our society, this Violence is spreading like burnfire but due to ignorance and self-respect culprits are not coming out. They have to understand if they will not come out and protest then these inhuman individuals will take control of their life. Every human being needs respect so why not we come out and ask our respect. Law and social worker will help you if you ask. Social worker's roles are very crucial in this field. They have to counsel and provide legal solutions to their clients. Sometimes it's better to come out from your comfort zone and ask for your rights.
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