Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694871206167.pdf (India)
Research Note on Eliminating Violence against Women Research and Information Division Lok Sabha Secretariat ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Note is only for the use of Members of Parliament.

It is largely based on published sources and is intended to serve as a background aid.

It is not for publication or reproduction in any form.
1 The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (VAW), 1993 defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.
The Declaration defines violence against women as encompassing but not limited to, three areas; violence occurring in the family, within the community and violence perpetrated or condoned by the State.

It recognizes that violence against women is pervasive and cuts across lines of income, class and culture.

Domestic violence as a form of VAW Domestic violence has been recognized by far the most common form of gender based violence.

Domestic violence is about abuse of power.


It may include Psychological, Physical, Sexual, Financial or any other forms of violence.

It is also recognized that VAW is ingrained in the social system and the causes are multifaceted for a single act of violence.
However, from the Indian point of view, some of the main reasons are unequal power relations between men and women; prevalent culture is used to justify the abuse, claiming that such practices are part of culture; religious ideology being interpreted in ways that justify gender inequality and constrain women’s sexual and social autonomy, acting as a precursor to violence; occurrences of gender based violence within the family are considered to be private matter not to be discussed publicly and neither community nor family intervenes in such cases; social silence and silence of women are reasons for recurrence of domestic violence to great extent; lack of economic independence reduces women’s capacity to act and increases their vulnerability; restrictions of women’s control over economic resources can also constitute a form of family violence.
2 The Constitution of India provides the legal framework for integration and implementation of measures promoting and protecting human rights of women.

The Constitution not only guarantees quality but it also envisages substantive equality and provides that the State can make special laws and provisions for women, children and other marginalized sections of the society.

The Fundamental Rights mentioned under the Part III of the Constitution guarantees certain basic rights to all citizens of India.
Article 14 confers equality before law and equal protection of the law on both men and women.

Article 15 prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, etc.

; Article 15(3)empowers the State to make special provision for women and children.

Article 16 substantiates for equality of opportunities in the matter of public appointments.
Article 21 of Indian Constitution proclaims that the right to a life free of violence is a fundamental right of every citizen irrespective of their caste, class and gender.

Further, under Chapter IV of the Indian Constitution, dealing with the Directive Principles of State Policies, Article 39 enshrines that the State should provide an adequate means of livelihood to men and women and equal pay for equal work.
Article 42 urges the State to ensure the provision for just and humane condition of work and maternity relief.

Under Article 51A, it has been stated that it will be the fundamental duty of every citizen to renounce the practices derogatory to the dignity of women.

Article 32 and Article 226 of the Indian Constitution provide remedy against the State in case the basic fundamental rights of the citizens are violated.
Legal Recourse as Available Besides, using constitutional provisions and remedies provided under the personal laws, a victim of domestic violence may seek remedy under civil law as well as the criminal law.

Also, in order to remedy matrimonial wrongs within a common structural framework, the Family Courts Act was enacted in the year 1984.
3 Under criminal law, a victim of domestic violence may lodge a complaint for inflicting cruelty under Section 498-A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides evoking other Sections of the Penal Code depending on the gravity of an offence as well as for claiming maintenance.

Female infanticide or forcing to terminate pregnancy, physical violence, offences like bigamy, adultery, fraudulent marriages, etc.

are punishable under the Code.


Legislations The Parliament being a vehicle of social change is responsive to women rights and has enacted several women-specific and women-related legislations.

Some of the important laws vis-à-vis women rights are: • The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA) which came into effect in October 2006 is enacted to provide protection and support to victims of domestic violence.
The law is civil in nature and defines domestic violence to include all acts of omission and commission that causes injury to a woman’s physical, sexual or mental health and includes specific forms of violence such as physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse.

It seeks to provide relief to women in the form of protection orders, residence orders, monetary relief, custody order and compensation orders.

Breach of any protection order is a criminal offence under the Act.
The PWDVA recognizes the right of all women to live free from violence within the private sphere of home – both before and after marriage.

The objective of the law is to prevent violence and provide emergency relief in case of such situations irrespective of the status of their relationship with the respondent.
• The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 amended in 1976 provides the right for girls to repudiate a child marriage before attaining maturity whether the marriage has been consummated or not; The Marriage (Amendment) Act, 2001amended the Hindu Marriage Act, Special Marriage Act, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure providing for speedy disposal of applications for maintenance; and a wide discretion has been given to the Magistrate to award appropriate maintenance.
4 • The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 prohibits the solemnization of child marriages where a person, if a female has not completed 18 years of age and if a male has not completed 21 years of age and punishes those who promote, perform and abet child marriages.

• The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 deals with trafficking of persons for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and it does not recognise trafficking of persons for the purpose of physical and other forms of exploitation.
• The Dowry Prohibition Act 1961: This legislation was enacted to address the social evil of dowry.

The Act defines dowry and penalizes the giving, taking or abetting the giving and taking of dowry.

It also lays down a built-in implementation mechanism in the form of Dowry Prohibition Officers to ensure effective enforcement of the law.
• To provide access to safe abortion, The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 legalizes termination of pregnancy till 20 weeks of gestation under prescribed circumstance and by registered medical practitioners • The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act of 1986 and the Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 have been enacted to protect the dignity of women and prevent violence against them as well as their exploitation.
• The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) (PC&PNDT) Act, 1994prohibits sex selection, before or after conception and prohibits misuse of pre-natal diagnostic techniques for determination of sex of foetus leading to female foeticide.

• Criminal Law (Amendment), Act 2013 was enacted for effective legal deterrence against sexual offences.
Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted to prescribe even more stringent penal provisions including death penalty for rape of a girl below the age of 12 years.

The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation and trials within 2 months each.
• Efforts are being made by the Government towards making Personal Laws gender-friendly with the help of all stakeholders including the community and religious leaders.In this direction, the Parliament passed ‘The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019’ makes all declaration of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void (i.e.

not enforceable in law) 5 and illegal.


Talaq-e-biddat refers to the practice under Muslim personal laws where pronouncement of the word ‘talaq’ thrice in one sitting by a Muslim man to his wife results in an instant and irrevocable divorce.
• The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017: This Act increased the maximum period of maternity leave available to working women from the existing twelve weeks to twenty-six weeks; time-off for feeding children; facilitate "work from home" to a mother by inserting enabling provision; and make it mandatory an in respect of establishments having fifty more employees, to have the facility of or crèche.
India has been striving to secure gender equality based on the principles of justice by substantially increasing coverage of programmes for affirmative action, review the laws, remove gender bias, gender budgeting, campaigning for equal rights to women in property, credit facilitation, income generating opportunities, providing support services like day care facilities, crèches, and working women hostels.
The Government also mobilizes women Self Help Groups and Cooperative Societies and takes up programmes for awareness generation and gender sensitization.

The Government of India has taken several initiatives for bringing about social equality, empowerment and development of women.

Few of the initiatives include: • Setting up of the National Commission for Women by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has been conducting gender sensitization workshops and programmes for the police, administration and judicial officials across the country.

Legal Awareness Programmes are also organized in partnership with State Commissions for Women and civil society organizations for disseminating information about women rights.
• The 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendment Acts, (1993) to provide for reservation of one-third of the seats for women in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities, their participation in decision making at the local levels.

laying a strong foundation for • India’s ratification to the CEDAW in 1993 to ensure the complete eradication of all forms of gender-based inequalities in India.
6 • One Stop Centres (OSCs): The Government has initiated the setting up of “One Stop Centers” (OSCs)across the country with the objective of facilitating access to an integrated range of services including medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psychosocial counselling, and temporary support services to women affected by violence.

Under the scheme, it has been envisaged that OSCs would be set up across the country in a phased manner.
As on date, 728 OSCs have been approved, out of which 551 are already operational.

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) (Save daughter, Educate daughter)Scheme is an awareness generation campaign to address the critical issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR).

The overall target and objective of the Scheme is to prevent gender-biased sex selective elimination, ensure the survival and protection of the girl child, and to ensure her education, with an overall aim of increasing the child sex ratio.
The success of the scheme is evidenced by the fact that since the launch of this scheme, an improving trend in Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) by 9 points has been seen at all India level from 918 in F.Y.

2014-15 to 927 in F.Y.

2017-18 (up to January, 2018), as per HMIS report received from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
• The Scheme of Universalisation of Women Helpline is intended to provide 24 hours immediate and emergency response to women affected by violence through referral (linking with appropriate authority such as police, One Stop Centre, hospital) and information about women related government schemes programs across the country through a single uniform number (181).
• The Ministry has formulated a Central Scheme “Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking for Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-Integration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation-Ujjawala”.

The scheme was conceived primarily for the purpose of preventing trafficking on the one hand and rescue and rehabilitation of victims on the other.
The implementing agencies can be the Social Welfare/Women and Child Welfare Department of State Government, Women’s Development Corporations, Women’s Development Centres, Urban Local Bodies, reputed Public/Private Trust or Voluntary Organizations.
7 of women • Nirbhaya Fund: To ensure safety of women in public places, the Government of India had set up a dedicated and non-lapsable fund called Nirbhaya Fund in 2013, for the implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and various security Ministries/Departments/States/UTs have been funded under this Fund.
On the proposal of Department of Justice, the Empowered Committee under Ministry of Women & Child Development has recommended setting up of 1023 Fast Track Special Courts throughout the country for expeditious trial and disposal of rape cases.

The project is under implementation.

country.


Projects the of in • Mahila Police Volunteers: Ministry of Women and Child Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs has envisaged engagement of Mahila Police Volunteers (MPVs) in the States/UTs who will act as a link between police and community and in distress.
The broad mandate of MPVs is to report incidences of violence against women such as domestic violence, child marriage, dowry harassment and violence faced by women in public spaces • Swadhar Greh: Scheme for relief and rehabilitation of women in difficult circumstances including the victims of rape.

The Scheme envisions a supportive for women victims of difficult circumstances so that they could lead their life with dignity and conviction.
It envisages that shelter, food, clothing and health as well as economic and social security are assured for such women.

institutional framework • The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued advisories to all State Governments/UTs, advising investigation, conducting of medical examination of sexual assault survivors without delay and for increasing gender sensitivity in Police.

In order to facilitate States/UTs in the matter, an online analytic tool for police i.e.
“Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” has been launched on 19 February 2019. to ensure thorough them • Besides, the “National Database on Sexual Offenders” (NDSO) has been launched on 20 September 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies.

NDSO has data of over 5 lakh sexual offenders.


8 Joint Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women Parliamentary Committee on the Empowerment of Women, which came into existence on 29 April 1997, consists of 30 members of Parliament from both the Houses, has a wide scope of functioning.
Its main work include: (a) Consider the reports submitted by the National Commission for Women and to report on the measures that should be taken by the Union Government for improving the status/conditions of women; (b) examine the measures taken by the Union Government to secure for women equality, status and dignity in all matters and the measures taken by the Union Government for comprehensive education and adequate representation of women in Legislative bodies/services and other fields; (d) report on the working of the welfare programmes for the women; (e) report on the action taken by the Union Government and Administrations of the Union Territories on the measures proposed by the Committee; and (f) examine such other matters as may seem fit to the Committee or are specifically referred to it by the House or the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha or the Chairman, Rajya Sabha.