Causes of domestic violence in India

February 1, 2022

INTRODUCTION

Domestic abuse is one of the most serious gender-based human rights violations. Domestic violence has become so established in culture that in certain parts of the nation, young girls are taught that abuse is also a love language. As a result, even highly educated women might become victims of domestic abuse without realising it. Many people see a woman’s inability to work outside the home as evidence of her husband’s love and caring. As a result, women are compelled to rely on others for financial support. Sometimes a woman’s money is taken away by her husband and in-laws, leaving her with nothing.

Domestic abuse has numerous manifestations, and this is only one of them. Domestic violence was strongly exposed during the Covid-19 shutdown. Staying at home to keep safe has not been an option for many women around the country, since many were stuck in the same family as their attackers. Domestic abuse complaints more than quadrupled during the countrywide lockdown, according to data supplied by the National Commission for Women. The following is a thorough composition including the notion of domestic violence, its varieties, causes, and treatment for domestic abuse.

What is domestic violence?

Domestic violence is defined as “physical, sexual, and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation, and other traditional practises harmful to women, non-spousal violence, and violence related to exploitation” by the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Domestic violence is defined as “any act, omission, commission, or conduct of the respondent that harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb, or well-being, whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so, and includes anything causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, and economic abuse.” Furthermore, any conduct that harasses, damages, injures, or puts the injured person in risk in order to pressure her or any other person linked to her to fulfil any unlawful demand for dowry or other property or valuable security.

As apparent from the definition, domestic violence can take any one of the following forms:

Physical abuse: Acts which, by its nature cause bodily injuries or impairs the health or development of a person amounts to physical abuse. It includes acts like punching, hitting, hair-pulling, use of weapons, causing miscarriage without women’s consent,
Sexual abuse: Any act of sexual nature which results in humiliation, degradation or violation of dignity of woman amounts to sexual abuse. It is regarded as one of the invisible forms of domestic violence. Usually, it can be in the form of marital rape or incest. Marital rape is not an offence in India. However, a husband forcing himself upon the wife amounts to cruelty and comes under the purview of violence against women.
Verbal abuse: includes insults, humiliation, name calling, ridicule especially with regard to not having a child or male child as well as repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person close to the aggrieved person.
Psychological and Emotional Abuse: Acts which leave a deep negative impact on the victim’s psyche.
Economic abuse: consists of exclusion of women from all financial decision-making, unequal pay and denial of property rights. As per the law, it is the

Deprivation: of all or any economic or financial resources to which the aggrieved person is entitled to.
Disposing: or alienating assets, shares, bonds etc. in which the aggrieved person has an interest in. The interest can be by virtue of the domestic relationship, or which is required by the aggrieved person or her children or her stridhan or any other property jointly or separately held by the aggrieved person.
Prohibition: or restriction to access to resources or facilities which the aggrieved person is entitled to use or enjoy by virtue of the domestic relationship. It includes access to the shared household.

CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic violence against women occurs due to one or more of the following factors:

1) Dowry

2) Incapable of procreation

3) incapable of procreating a male progeny

4) behavioural issues

5) Patriarchal society

Dowry is still one of the most common motivators for domestic violence cases. The Dowry Prohibition Act was passed in 1961. The legislation, however, has proven to be a paper tiger, considering the escalating incidence of dowry-related deaths. The second factor is a woman’s inability to procreate. The ultimate religious goal of a woman’s existence has been to generate a new life, i.e., reproduction, from ancient times. Women who are unable to reproduce are despised by society and are commonly referred to as the cursed one. Things may appear to have improved in the twenty-first century. However, the majority of cultures continue to look down on childless women. As a result of societal pressure, psychological and emotional abuse occurs. In rare circumstances, however, the cause of violence might be highly illogical, such as being unable to conceive a male kid. The third reason is as follows. Even now, India is obsessed with male children. The prevalence of female feticide and female infanticide demonstrates this. Fourth, the husband’s or in-laws’ behavioural disorders, such as rage, alcoholism, and so on. Finally, and maybe most importantly, there is patriarchal society. The notion that males are superior to women has existed from time immemorial. This is the battle that we are still fighting today. Women were frequently considered as a source of pleasure for males rather than as humans with respect. The patriarchy is so entrenched that even after 70 years of independence, we still haven’t been able to satisfy women’s basic fundamental rights.

CONCLUSION

Domestic violence is one of the most heinous forms of abuse that women face in our society today. According to statistics, 85 percent of domestic abuse victims are female. Only 15% of the casualties are guys. Domestic abuse may happen to everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, creed, religion, or social position. If the issue of domestic violence is not addressed adequately, this form of abuse will persist in all classes of society indefinitely. To eradicate this heinous sort of abuse, we as a society must band together and enact harsher laws that protect the victims of this abuse.

REFERENCES

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February 1, 2022