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Domestic violence (DV) – also called intimate partner abuse, spousal abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV), dating violence, and domestic abuse — takes many forms.
Maltreatment that takes place in the context of any romantic relationship is abuse as described by the above specific terms. It therefore affects women, men, or teenage girls and boys, whether in a married or unmarried heterosexual or homosexual relationship.
Intimate partner violence may consist of one or more forms, including psychological, physical, emotional, sexual, or economic abuse and is defined as one person in an intimate relationship using any means to put down or control the other.
Types of domestic abuse include physical, verbal (also called emotional, mental, or psychological abuse), sexual, economic or financial, and spiritual abuse. Stalking and cyber-stalking are also forms of intimate partner abuse.
Physically abusive behaviors include assault of any kind, ranging from pushing, pinching, hitting, or slapping to choking, shooting, stabbing, and murder.
Verbal, emotional, mental, or psychological violence is described as using words to criticize, demean, or otherwise decrease the confidence of the wife, husband, or other intimate partner victim.
Sexual abuse refers to any behavior that uses sex to control or demean the victim, like intimidating the victim into engaging in unsafe sex or sexual practices in which he or she does not want to participate.
Economic or financial abuse is described as threatening or otherwise limiting the victim’s financial freedom or security.
Spiritual abusers either force the victim to participate in the batterer’s religious practices instead of their own or to raise mutual children in a religion that the victim is not in favor of.
Stalking refers to repeatedly harassing and threatening behavior, including showing up at the victim’s home or workplace, placing harassing phone calls, voicemail, email or postal mail messages, leaving unwanted items, or vandalizing the victim’s property. It is usually committed by perpetrators of other forms of domestic violence.
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 gives the legal definition of “Domestic Violence” under Section 3.
The DV Act is applicable to whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a civil law which focuses on the reliefs given to the aggrieved woman such as compensation, protection, right to residence in the “shared household” etc., unlike in the criminal law, where the prime focus is on punishing the accused. It covers all kinds of violence faced by a woman at her “shared household”.
The DV Act is applicable to all women, irrespective of their marital status, age or religious beliefs. The broad definition of “domestic violence” under the DV Act protects the rights of women guaranteed to them under the Indian Constitutional, to achieve a violence free home.
To minimize the unwieldy position of law, be it procedural or substantive, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 was enacted to protect the women from acts of domestic violence.
The legislative intent was further emphasized by the Supreme Court of India in the case of Indra Sarma vs. V.K.V Sarma, (2013) 15 SCC 755 wherein it was stated that the DV Act is enacted to provide a remedy in civil law for the protection of women, from being victims of such relationship, and to prevent the occurrence of domestic violence in the society.
The definition provided in Section 3 of the DV Act includes the following as acts of domestic violence:
Although there is no specific cause for domestic violence, women at the highest risk for being the victim of domestic violence include those with male partners who abuse drugs (especially alcohol), are unemployed or underemployed, afflicted by poverty, have not graduated from high school, and are or have been in a romantic relationship with the victim.
Unmarried individuals in heterosexual relationships tend to be more at risk for becoming victims of intimate partner abuse.
A mind-set that gives men power over women puts individuals at risk for becoming involved in an abusive relationship, either as a perpetrator or as a victim.
Research shows that those who grew up in a household in which domestic violence took place or in which a parent suffered from alcoholism are more likely to become either perpetrators or victims of intimate partner violence as adults.
Teenagers who suffer from mental illness are also at risk for being in an abusive relationship as young adults.
A victim of domestic violence may require various services such as shelter home or safe accommodation, medical aid, child care, legal aid services and other community services.
According to Section 10(1) of DV Act, the Service Providers are the NGOs, Companies or voluntary organizations working in the field of domestic violence and are registered under the laws of the State.
Service Providers are duty bound to provide assistance and support to women facing domestic violence. A woman can go to a registered Service Provider to make a complaint under the DV Act.
An aggrieved woman, in order to file a complaint for domestic violence may:
The duties of the police officers, Protection officer, Service Provider, or the Magistrate is laid down under Section 5 of the DV Act.
It states that, upon receipt of complaint they shall inform the aggrieved person—
Section 27 of the DV Act provides that a first class magistrate or metropolitan court shall be the competent court to grant a protection order and other orders under the DV Act and to try offences under the Act within the local limits of which:
The remedies available under the DV Act as provided from Section 18 to 23 for the aggrieved person are as follows:
The Magistrate may, after giving the aggrieved person and the respondent an opportunity of being heard and on being prima facie satisfied that domestic violence has taken place or is likely to take place, pass a protection order in favour of the aggrieved person and prohibit the respondent from—
The Magistrate may pass a residence order:
Under Section 20 of DV Act, an order for monetary relief can be passed by the court in case a woman has incurred expenditure as a result of violence. This may include expenses incurred by a woman on obtaining medical treatment, any loss of earnings, damage to property, etc. The aggrieved person can also claim for maintenance from her male partner.
The Magistrate may direct the respondent to pay monetary relief to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by the aggrieved person and any child of the aggrieved person as a result of the domestic violence and such relief may include, but is not limited to—
It has also been provided in the section that the monetary relief provided should be adequate, fair and reasonable and consistent with the standard of living to which the aggrieved person is accustomed.
In case there is a failure in part of the respondent to make payment in terms of the monetary order, the Magistrate may direct the employer or a debtor of the respondent, to directly pay to the aggrieved person or to deposit with the court a portion of the wages or salaries or debt due to or accrued to the credit of the respondent, which amount may be adjusted towards the monetary relief payable by the respondent.
The Magistrate may grant temporary custody of the children to the aggrieved woman or any person making an application on her behalf. This is to prevent a woman from being separated from her children, which itself is an abusive situation. Section 21 also states that the Magistrate may, at any stage of hearing of the application for protection order or for any other relief under this Act grant temporary custody of any child or children to the aggrieved person or the person making an application on her behalf and specify, if necessary, the arrangements for visit of such child or children by the respondent. However, the Magistrate may refuse such visit to such child or children, if it feels that any visit to the child or children by the respondent may be harmful.
The Magistrate may on an application being made by the aggrieved person, pass an order directing the respondent to pay compensation and damages for the injuries, including mental torture and emotional distress, caused by the acts of domestic violence committed by that respondent.
Section 23 gives power to the Magistrate to pass such interim order as he deems just and proper and also if the Magistrate is satisfied that an application prima facie discloses that the respondent is committing, or has committed an act of domestic violence or that there is a likelihood that the respondent may commit an act of domestic violence, he may grant an ex parte order on the basis of the affidavit in such form, as may be prescribed, of the aggrieved person under Section 18, Section 19, Section 20, Section 21 or, as the case may be, Section 22 against the respondent.
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