Domestic violence in India

Forms

Physical violence

Physical injury is the most visible form of domestic violence. The scope of physical domestic/intimate partner violence includes slapping, pushing, kicking, biting, hitting, throwing objects, strangling, beating, threatening with any form of weapon, or using a weapon. Worldwide, the percentage of women who suffer serious injuries as a result of physical domestic violence tends to range from 19% – 55%. Physical injuries as a result of domestic violence against women are more obvious than psychological ones, and can be more easily discerned by health professionals as well as courts of law in the context of legal prosecution.

Emotional abuse

Emotional abuse has been gaining more and more recognition in recent years as an incredibly common form of domestic violence (and therefore a human rights abuse) within the private home throughout developing nations such as India. Psychological abuse can erode a woman's sense of self-worth and can be incredibly harmful to overall mental and physical wellbeing. Emotional/psychological abuse can include harassment; threats; verbal abuse such as name-calling, degradation and blaming; stalking; and isolation.

Women who experience domestic violence overwhelmingly tend to have greater overall emotional distress, as well as disturbingly high occurrences of suicidal thoughts and attempts. According to a study by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information, suicide attempts in India are correlated with physical and psychological intimate partner violence. Of the Indian women who participated in the study, 7.5% reported attempting suicide. This correlation is supported by the high rates of domestic violence in India, although the rates differ greatly by region, individual socioeconomic status and other factors.

Sexual assault

Domestic sexual assault is a form of domestic violence involving sexual/reproductive coercion and marital rape. Under Indian law, marital rape is not a crime, except during the period of marital separation of the partners.

The Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) considers the forced sex in marriages as a crime only when the wife is below 15. Thus, marital rape is not a criminal offense under IPC. The marital rape victims have to take recourse to the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA). The PWDVA, which came into force in 2006, outlaws marital rape. However, it offers only a civil remedy for the offence.

Honour killing

An honour killing is the practice wherein an individual is killed by one or more family member(s), because he or she is believed to have brought shame on the family. The shame may range from refusing to enter an arranged marriage, having sex outside marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by the family, starting a divorce proceeding, or engaging in homosexual relations.

In 2010, the Supreme Court of India issued notice seeking data and explanation for rise in honor killings to the states of Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Dowry-related abuse and deaths

In almost all Hindu families, the ritual of taking dowry has caused a serious problem. A newly married brides suffer domestic violence in the form of harassment, physical abuse or death when she is thought to have not brought enough dowry with marriage. Some cases end up in suicides by hanging, self-poisoning or by fire. In dowry deaths, the groom's family is the perpetrator of murder or suicide.

According to Indian National Crime Record Bureau, in 2012, 8,233 dowry death cases were reported across India, or dowry issues cause 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India. For contextual reference, the United Nations reports a worldwide average female homicide rate of 3.6 per 100,000 women, and an average of 1.6 homicides per 100,000 women for Northern Europe in 2012.

Dowry deaths in India are not limited to any specific religion, and it is found among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and others. Some 80% of the total Dowry related crime found in the Hindu community followed by other Indian Religions as giving Dowry is considered as an important ritual in the traditional Hindu marriage. Furthermore, in many parts of India the Ritual of Tilak(Engagement)done mostly in Hindu families is used by Groom's Family to Demand a huge sum of money.

The Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, prohibits the request, payment or acceptance of a dowry, "as consideration for the marriage", where "dowry" is defined as a gift demanded or given as a precondition for a marriage. Gifts given without a precondition are not considered dowry and are legal. Asking or giving of dowry can be punished by imprisonment of up to six months or a fine. It replaced several pieces of anti-dowry legislation that had been enacted by various Indian states. Murder and suicide under compulsion are addressed by India's criminal penal code. The law was made more stringent with Section 498a of Indian Penal Code (enacted in 1983). Under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA), a woman can seek help against dowry harassment by approaching a domestic violence protection officer.

Regional, gender and religious differences

Kimuna et al. have published domestic violence trends in India, based on the 2005–2006 India National Family Health Survey-III (NFHS-III) data on the 69,484 ever-married women ages 15 to 49 from all regions of India. They report 31% of respondents had experienced minor to major form of physical violence in the 12 months prior to the survey, while the domestic sexual violence prevalence rate ever experienced by the woman was about 8%. Women who lived in cities, had higher household wealth, were Christian and educated had significantly lower risk of physical and sexual domestic violence. In contrast, wives of men who drank alcohol had significantly higher risks of experiencing both physical and sexual violence.

According to a study made by Michael Koenig about the determinants of domestic violence in India published by the American Journal of Public Health in 2006, higher socioeconomic status reduced domestic abuse.

Gender

Babu et al. surveyed both genders on domestic violence in eastern region of India. The results show that 16% of women had reported experiencing physical forms of domestic violence, 25% sexual form, 53% psychological, and 56% reported any form of domestic violence. Men reported being perpetrators of domestic violence with 22% reporting some form of physical domestic abuse, 17% sexual, 59% psychological, and 59.5% any form of domestic abuse. Men reported experiencing higher prevalence of all forms of violence, but reported experiencing lowest rates of sexual violence. The perpetrator of domestic violence, physical or sexual or psychological, was typically the husband in majority of cases and in some cases husbands' parents. Further, low income and low education increased the risks of domestic violence.

Religion

The National Family Health Survey of India in 2006 estimated the lifetime prevalence of sexual violence among women aged 15–49, including instances of marital rape in India. The study included in its definition of "sexual violence" all instances of a woman experiencing her husband "physically forcing her to have sexual intercourse with him even when she did not want to; and, forcing her to perform any sexual acts she did not want to".[12] The study sampled 83,703 women nationwide, and determined that 8.5% of women in the 15–49 age group had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime.[13] This figure includes all forms of forced sexual activity by husband on wife, during their married life, but not recognised as marital rape by Indian law.

In 2005–2006 nationwide family and health survey report, the lowest domestic violence prevalence rate was reported by women of Jainism religion (12.6% of women), the highest by women of Buddhist religion (40.9%). The same report also states that the frequency and intensity of domestic violence experienced was lowest among Jain women who had ever been victims of such violence.

Dynamics

According to Unicef's Global Report Card on Adolescents 2012, 57% of boys and 53% of girls in India think a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife.

Patriarchal social structure

There are three main aspects of the patriarchal household structure in India that affect women's agency: marriage, active discrimination by means of abuse (marital or extramarital), and diminished women's agency through limited economic opportunity through stifled opportunity for independence. In all these dimensions, there is a clear relationship between strong patriarchal familial structures and limited capabilities and agency for women, which are strongly correlated with causal factors for domestic violence such as gender disparities in nutritional deprivation and a lack of women's role in reproductive decisions.

Dowry system

Domestic violence often happens in India as a result of dowry demands. Dowry payments are another manifestation of the patriarchal structure in India. There are strong links between domestic violence and dowry, a cultural practice deeply rooted in many Indian communities, which is the money, goods, or property the woman/woman's family brings to a marriage to now become under the ownership of the husband. This practice continues even today in India although banned by law since 1961, and in recent years dowry amounts have risen dramatically.

In a 2005 study published in World Development, results from a survey pointed to a negative correlation between dowry amount and inter-spousal violence, indicating the potential dangers of a wife falling short on dowry payments or expectations. These dangers include not only common physical and emotional abuse such as hitting and continual degradation, but in some cases dowry death and bride burning as a result of the husband's dissatisfaction with the dowry payment. In fact, 8391 dowry deaths reported in 2010, a steep rise from 6995 such reported cases in 1997.

Under-reporting of domestic violence

According to Shalu Nigam, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1983 Section 498A "criminalized cruelty within a marriage." However, many women who filed cases under section 498A of Indian Penal Code end up getting revictimized in the process. Domestic violence was often not handled as a legitimate crime or complaint, but more of a private or family matter while negating the rights of women as citizens. Myth and misogyny operate while implementing the law. But now this trend has changed. Section 498a introduced to protect women from Domestic Violence.

Caste, class, religious bias and race also determine whether action is taken or not. For example, poor or lower-caste females do not have the same access to legal enforcement or education and often have trouble getting help from law enforcement.

Other

Other factors outside culture that demonstrate differences in domestic violence prevalence and gender disparities in India include socioeconomic class, educational level, and family structure beyond the patriarchal framework. A 1999 study published by the American Journal of Epidemiology identified so-called “stress factors” that are critical to understanding varying rates of domestic violence in other scopes outside of region-specific factors. These stress-related factors within the household include low educational attainment, poverty, young initial age of marriage, having multiple children, and other limiting engendered development factors.

Effects

Victims suffer many types of physical and emotional abuse as a result of illegal actions taken within the private home, and those who have experienced some form of domestic violence tend to have greater long-term mental disorders and drug dependencies than those who do not. In India, reducing domestic violence is imperative not only from an ethical and human rights perspective but also because of obvious instrumental and immediate health benefits that would be gained from such reduction.

Health

Serious health problems often result from physical, emotional, and sexual forms of domestic violence. Physical health outcomes include: Injury (from lacerations to fractures and internal organs injury), Unwanted Pregnancy, Gynaecological problems, STDs including HIV, Miscarriage, Pelvic inflammatory disease, Chronic pelvic pain, Headaches, Permanent disabilities, Asthma, Irritable bowel syndrome, Self-injurious behaviours (smoking, unprotected sex) Mental health effects can include depression, fear, anxiety, low self-esteem, sexual dysfunction, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or post traumatic stress disorder. Fatal effects can include suicide, homicide, maternal mortality, or HIV/AIDS.

Negative public health consequences are also strongly associated with domestic violence. Social and economic costs have been identified as direct results of these public-health consequences, and it is argued that these justify state action to act in the interest of the public to reconcile these costs (specifically including costs such as worker earnings and productivity, public healthcare, and costs associated with the criminal justice system).

Women's agency

The act of domestic violence towards women is a human rights violation as well as an illegal act under Indian law. It is therefore widely considered a threat to women's agency through any lens, and there is a growing recognition in many Indian regions that the nation can reach a higher potential through obtaining greater social and economic capital than by reducing women's participation in society. Domestic violence is one of the most significant determinants of this denial. Greater gender equality through greater women's agency cannot be achieved if basic health needs are not being met and if cultural biases that allow for domestic violence in India persist.

Legal efforts

New sexual violence legislation

On 19 March 2013, the Indian Parliament passed a new law with the goal of more effectively protecting women from sexual violence in India. It came in the form of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, which further amends the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1973, the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The law makes stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks and forcibly disrobing a woman explicit crimes for the first time, provides capital punishment for rapes leading to death, and raises to 20 years from 10 the minimum sentence for gang rape and rapes committed by a police officer. The new law doesn't address marital rape, rape committed by the armed forces or rape against men.

Conservative lawmakers and anti-women's rights supporters still claim that the higher age of consent could results in abuses and wrongful arrests in statutory rape in spite of the high incidence of unreported or reported cases of sexual abuse that warrants such laws. According to a 2012 United Nations report, 47% of Indian women marry younger than 18 (the legal marriage age is 21 for men and 18 for women).

Gender discrimination under law

The domestic abuse laws are claimed to be discriminatory against men by male right activists. In particular, Section 498A, the act that criminalizes cruelty against women by husband and his relatives, has been used by anti-feminists in their arguments to justify removing any legal penalty against criminals. Men's rights activists such as the "Save the family foundation" in India argue that the law is often misused by women. However, a 2012 report on Section 498A from the Government of India found that the empirical study did not establish any disproportionate misuse of Section 498A as compared to other criminal laws. Even though misuse of Section 498A was not established, more recently the Supreme Court came out with directives that every complaint received by the police under Section 498A must be referred to a Family Welfare Committee before the police can arrest the perpetrator.

More glaringly, the law only offers reliefs to women. Men in India cannot avail of a similar legal remedy to protect themselves from domestic violence from either men or women. For men, even a simple relief of having a male or female aggressor stay away from them (a restraining or protection order) is not afforded by the current law.

But in 2016 this discrimination was removed by supreme court itself. The bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton F Nariman ruled on 6 October 2016 (Thursday) that this provision frustrated the objective of the legislation since "perpetrators and abettors of domestic violence" can be women too. The words "adult male" has been struck down from the domestic violence act. However this new definition still did not include men as victims and was later changed back to the original.