Ruby chaudhary
Balzac wrote in
"Physiology of Marriage
Pay no attention to a women's
murmurs, her cries, her pains, nature has made her for our use and for bearing
everything children, sorrows, blows and pains inflicted by man. Do not accuse
yourself of hardness. In all the codes of so called civilized nations man has
written the laws that ranged woman's destiny under the bloody epigraph:
"Vae-Victus" woe to the weak"1
It is sheer shame that woman who
constitute one half of the world have been submitting to the indignities, insults,
injuries and humiliation with a stoic patience without any complaint. They are
the unquestioning victims of generations of conditioning in which a girl/woman
is unchangeably slotted. "The true women" Simone de Beauvoir remarks "is an artificial
product that civilization makes, as formerly eunuchs were made - Her presumed
"instincts" for Coquetry, docility are indoctrinated as is Phallic
Pride in man" 2 Women
are glorified as sublime sufferers, selfless slaves, tireless workers and are
expected to curb their needs as well as their entire personality. The salvation
of a woman lies in maintaining stoic silence - a silence which breaks only
after she completes her journey of life. They suffer all through their life and
quit this world without uttering a single word in protest.
Of late however the scenario is
changing and the world is gradually waking up after its long dark slumber of
ignorance and there has been an increasing consciousness regarding the status
of woman which is amply reflected in global debates over the issues of woman
empowerment. The empowerment of women is essentially the process of upliftment
of economic, social and political status of women - the second class citizens
in the society. It is an attempt to guard women against all forms of violence
and worst of which is domestic violence because it happens within four walls
and often goes unnoticed. The irony of a women's life is that the house which
she turns into a "home", a "paradise" often turns out to be
hell for her.
The tragedy of India lies in the
fact that though the top most position in the country is held by a women - Mrs.
Pratibha Patil who is the Honourable President of India but unfortunately in
India hundred of girls children are daily suffocated to death even before they open
their eyes because their expectant parents hope for a son instead. The
following lines of a poem reveal the undesirability of a girl child
"Whenever someone gives you a sorrow name that sorrow daughter"3.
My paper dwells on the various
aspects of domestic violence including female infanticide - even though this
unfortunate practice has crossed the domestic boundaries and is a burning
social issue. Domestic violence is one of the heinous and the most pervasive
human rights violation, for long women have been suffering the indignities
meted out of them in their abodes either accepting it as their destiny or
because of the defective system of justice which harasses the poor victim more.
The legal system however made a landmark change in August 2005 with the passing
of Domestic Violence Act which received the assent of President on 13th
September 2005 and came into force on 26th October 2006. This
Domestic Violence Act was further strengthened by Right to Information Act 2005
and both these effective weapons have given women some degree of freedom to
stand up and fight for her rights and against social evils.
The Domestic Violence Act is a
comprehensive law and addresses all issues related to women. The Act is an
extremely progressive one as it embraces a wide range of wrongs committed
against women. This Act also covers women who are in a live-in relationship and
also provides protection to other women in the household including sisters and
mothers thus the Act is not just limited to marital relation only, it includes
relations of consanguinity, marriage or through relationships in the nature of
marriage adoption or joint family thus all "domestic relationship "
are covered within this Act.
The Act has given a new dimension to
the word "abuse" because unlike the old view abuse now includes
actual abuse or threat of abuse, whether physical, sexual, verbal economic and
harassment by way of dowry demands. One of the outstanding feature of the Act
is that it provides a woman right to live in the matrimonial or shared
household, whether or not she has any title in the household. This law also
covers those women who are or have been in a relationship where both parties
have lived together in a shared household and are related by marriage or
adoption. Any one guilty found of domestic violence can be put behind bars for a year and a fine
of Rs. 20,000 will also be imposed, all crimes mentioned in the Domestic
Violence Act are non-bailable.
This Act gives a very wide
definition of physical, sexual, verbal and economic violence committed against
women. The physical violence is defined as any act or conduct which is of such
a nature as to cause bodily pain, harm or danger to life, limb or health of the
person aggrieved, or that includes assault, criminal intimidation and criminal
force. Under this law sexual violence includes forced sexual relationship
within or outside marriage, forcing any women to watch obscenity or any act of
sexual nature to abuse, humiliate or degrade a women's integrity. The most
important feature of this Act lies in the definition of verbal abuse which was
regarded as insignificant uptill now but now this Act specifies verbal violence
as name calling, any remark on character of a woman, insults for not bringing
dowry not allowing to marry according to her choice and remarks regarding her
infertility or girl child also come within this Act.
One of the most outstanding features
of this Act is the inclusion of economic violence. As most of the women in
India depend upon their men folks so by depriving women of her basic needs is
the easiest way to humble her but no longer now as withholding such resources
now falls under the category of economic abuse. This Act comes into play in
instances of marital disputes where the husband intentionally tends to deprive
the wife of necessary money as weapon. This law also holds guilty such husband
who sells of their wife's jewellery or any other assets.
The Domestic Violence Act offers
remedy for the aggrieved by providing easy access to justice mechanism insisting
on simplicity of procedures and urging upon expeditious hearing. Under the Act
the law provides of the setting up and functioning of Protection Officers. The
State Government will appoint Protection Officers to help the affected women.
These Protections Officers will be appointed in every district and will assist
the victim to file cases before the magistrate. This Act guarantees complete
protection to the women. Her abusers would be ordered not to harass her, or
communicate with her, he cannot enter the workplace or any other place
frequented by the abused, even the relatives of the abused women have the
protection rights and apart from this, the women can rightfully continue to
live under the same roof with the man while fighting him in the Court. There
are a lot of facilities provided under the Act like medical facilities, shelter
home facilities counseling assistance by welfare experts, support by Protection
Officer, police officers and service providers. Proceedings under the Act for
relief may be initiated by an application addressed to Magistrate and appeal
can be made by an aggrieved person, Protection Officer or any person on behalf
of the victim. The Magistrate has to fix the first date of hearing within three
days of complaint.
The special features of this Act are
that the crime committed under this Act is non-bailable offence and this Act
also ensures that an aggrieved wife who takes recourse to the law cannot be
harassed for doing so. A person who is accused of domestic violence cannot during
the pending disposal of the case restrict the aggrieved continued access to
resources to which she is entitled by virtue of the domestic relationship. A
woman who is a victim of domestic violence will have the right to services of
the police, shelter homes and medical facilities she also has the right to file
her own complaint under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code. Section 18-23
of the Domestic Violence Act provides a large number of avenues for abused
women to get relief. She can get through the Courts, Protection Orders,
Residence Orders, Monetary Relief, custody order for her children, Compensation
Order and interim/ex-parte orders.
The Government has tried to create a
strong support system by passing this Act. This Act acknowledges the role of NGOs
as service providers and it has been stated in the Act that the protection
officer, police officer or a service provider will not only assist the
aggrieved women in seeking relief measures but they will have to ensure that
the benefits flowing out of the Act are actually made available to her. The Act
prefers sensitized personnel for its implementation. That is why it lays stress
on active participation of the women in the capacity of protection officers.
The Right to Information has been given the status of fundamental right under
Article 19(1) of the Constitution. Article 19(1) states that not only each and
every citizen has the freedom of speech and expression, they also have the
right to know about the functioning of the government. The aggrieved women also
has a right to be informed of the facilities and services that may be available
to her and in order to pursue the status of her complaint she can take recourse
to the Right of Information Act 2005.
I would like to conclude my paper by
saying that though the Government has tried to make major changes but it is now
left to the Media, Social Organisations to make woman aware of her rights.
Instead of pondering over the grooms and brides of Rakhi Samant and Rahul
Mahajan in their Swayamvars or highlighting the petty issues of non serious reality shows
like Big Boss, Sach Ka Saamna and so on,
the media should highlight women's problem with dignity and make women aware of
her strength instead of her just showing as a
jewellery decked beautiful doll with hardly any brains. A balanced and
purposeful life will no longer be a utopian fancy for a woman if she liberates
herself from the stereotyped conditioning of society and is not dependent on
her fathers, husbands, brothers and sons any more.
REFERENCES
1.Quoted
from Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Trans. H.M.Parshley London; vintage
1997, P 285
2.
Simone de Beauvoir, op. cit, P 428
3.
Rukshana Ahmad, Trans. And Ed, We Sinful Women; Con
4
Temporary urdu feminist poetry, including the original Urdu; Rupa paperback
[New Delhi .1994] P 107
(DR. RUBY CHAUDHARY)
Senior
Lecturer
Bhavan's
Mehta Mahavidayala
Bharwari
District : Kaushambhi
