Protection of Women
from Domestic Violence
Act (2005)
Act that has given a new dimension to the word abuse.
Overview
INTRODUCTION
REASON FOR PWDVA ENACTMENT
KNOW THE RULE
LOOPHOLES
CASE STUDY – LAW BEING MANIPULATED
ADAPTATION
INTRODUCTION
• Domestic violence is a global issue reaching across
national boundaries as well as socio-economic, cultural,
racial and class distinctions
• It is the establishment of control and fear in a relationship
through violence and other forms of abuse. This violence
can take the form of physical assault, psychological abuse,
social abuse, financial abuse, or sexual assault.
• The frequency of the violence can be on and off,
occasional or chronic. Like the films Thappad and
Darlings for instance
• Women form the largest group of victims of domestic
violence since time immemorial and violence against
women still continue even in the 21st century.
• India, as a country with much diversity in religions,
economic classes, social caste system, is no exception so far
‘Domestic Violence’ is concerned.
Goddess • Domestic Violence’ is a term recognized and defined by the
Indian legislature recently, though its existence is a reality
down the ages
• The patriarchal setup has been deeply rooted in Indian
society since time immemorial. It may be believed that this
system laid the foundation stone for the abuse of women.
Heaven under her feet
• Domestic violence affects women from every social
background irrespective of their age, religion, caste, or
class.
• For too long now, women have accepted it as their destiny
or have ignored their right to raise their voice, perhaps,
because of the justice system or because it still remains a
Brides of God
taboo.
• The United Nations defines gender- based violence
as “any act that results in, or is likely to result in,
physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to
women, including threats of such acts or arbitrary
deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public
or in private life.”
• According to the latest report by The National
Family Health Survey (NFHS) a large scale, and
multi round survey conducted in Indian
households:
• “29.3% married Indian women between the ages of 18-49
years have faced domestic violence/or sexual violence. 3.1%
of pregnant women between the ages of 18-49 have
experienced physical violence during any pregnancy.”
(2015)
• As many as 77% women never sought any help from
anyone about the violence inflicted on them.
REASONS
• Domestic violence against women is an age old phenomenon.
Women were always considered weak, vulnerable and in a
position to be exploited.
• Traditional Indian culture’s strictly patriarchal rules and structure
have made the issue of domestic violence a complex and
nuanced one.
• Custodial rape and dowry-related violence were broadcast in the
media, the subject of violence against women grabbed national
emphasis, resulting in high-profile legal prosecutions.
• The rape case in Mathura in 1972 sparked nationwide protests
calling for rape laws to be changed
• The draft received approval from the cabinet in June 2005. The
bill was signed into law as the Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act, 2005, after it was passed by both Houses
and received Presidential approval. It came into effect on the
26th of October 2006.
KNOW THE RULE
What does Domestic Violence mean?
• It can be termed as Domestic violence in case it 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 causing physical abuse,
sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse and economic
abuse.
This Act was considered to be the first piece of legislation to
provide legal recognition and protection to relationships
outside of marriage
Types of Domestic Violence
1. Physical abuse – It means any act or conduct which is of such a nature as to cause
bodily pain, harm, or danger to life, limb, or health or impair the health or
development of the aggrieved person and includes assault, criminal intimidation and
criminal force.
2. Sexual abuse – It includes any conduct of a sexual nature that abuses, humiliates,
degrades or otherwise violates the dignity of a woman.
3. Verbal and emotional abuse – It includes
1. Insults, ridicule, humiliation, name-calling and even insults specially with
regard to not having a child or a male child in particular.
2. Repeated threats to cause physical pain to any person in whom the aggrieved
person is interested.
4. Economic abuse – It includes activities such as not providing money for
maintaining the woman or her children, not providing food, clothes, medicines, etc.,
deprivation of all or any economic or financial resources, forcing the woman out of
the house, preventing from accessing or using any part of the house, preventing or
obstructing one from carrying on employment, etc.,
Salient Features of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA)
• Recognising that a woman requires assistance with legal procedures and other forms of support, the PWDVA allows for
the appointment of Protection Officers, and recognises the role of Service Providers in providing medical, shelter, legal,
counselling and other kinds of support services.
Who is a Protection Officer?
• The Protection Officer is the person in charge to assist women in obtaining the
appropriate order under the Act.
• Protection Officer can be either a government servant or a social worker working for
women and child welfare, with a post-graduate degree in Humanities or Law.
• One or more Protection Officers are appointed within the jurisdiction of each Judicial
Magistrate.
Role of Government
• The provisions of this Act are given wide publicity through public media.
• The police officers and others of the judicial services, are given periodic awareness
training on the Act.
• Effective coordination between the services by concerned Ministries.
• Finally, the Act provides that the breach of an order obtained is a criminal offence
How To Find Domestic Violence
Helplines And Counselling In India
National Commission for Women – The apex national level organization of India with the mandate of
protecting and promoting the interests of women and has launched a Whatsapp Number for help &
assistance to women experiencing Domestic Violence in the wake of the COVID-19 Lockdown.
WhatsApp: +91-7217735372
SHEROES is an app exclusively for Indian women where you can talk about anything personal or
professional in your life. Your conversation is 100% confidential and secure. Get online counselling free for
depression, relationship counselling, online marriage counselling in India, domestic abuse helpline and
more on the AskSHEROES free online counselling chat helpline for women.
• Lack of awareness of the law, and therefore the accessibility
and awareness of services, types of relief, and legal rights,
prevents proper implementation of the law
• Beyond enforcement, implementation is also dependent on
the slow-moving social acceptability of reporting these
cases.
LOOPHOLES
• A total of 4,71, 684 original cases and 21,088 appeals
are pending under the Domestic Violence (DV) Act in
the county, according to the data submitted by the
National Legal Services Authority before the
Supreme Court. The NALSA has submitted state-
wise data regarding pendency of disposal of cases
under the DV Act as of July 1, 2022.
• WHO indicates that globally one out of every three women of
age 15-49 has been physically/ sexually abused by their
partner in relationships.
• India, even while going through a pandemic, has received
23,722 cases and this year it has reached to 30,865 cases.
• National Commission for Women chairperson, Rekha says
that she receives around 400 calls daily on helpline and at
least 10 SOS calls asking for emergency help.
• violence in a relationship becomes normalized and accepted
psychologically.
• burden of “reforming” a violent man often falls on the woman.
• fear of judgement all make a woman think twice before speaking up.
• Women also feel unsafe approaching the police because if their
partners are jailed, they will be subjugated to more abuse once
released, and that they would be harassed by their in-laws or others
in the meanwhile.
• Married women with children who are financially dependent on their
abusive husbands find it the most difficult to leave.
• for the sake of the child, many women continue to stay in physically
and emotionally abusive marriages.
• Lack of information about alternatives also forces women to suffer
silently within the four walls of their homes.
CASE STUDY
A source close to House Inhabit had revealed, “It is not
surprising to anyone who knows her. Amber was always
filming him.
She used to regularly tape Johnny Depp while he was
drunk, take pictures of him passing out and used all of it
during the defamation trial.
ADAPTATION- DARLINGS
The story of domestic violence is also the crux of a brave new film on
Netflix called ‘Darlings’ with Alia Bhatt in the lead as an actor and as
producer.
Brave because it is rare that a top actress, in her prime, would take up the
role of a true-to-life middle-class housewife sans glamour. Brave also
because it is a subject that rarely gets its due in popular culture. It is
probably only because a reigning actress backed it, that it has got the
mainstream spotlight.
Hopefully, films like these become cultural mouthpieces and propel some
women to take action and end the cycle of violence. The same repetitive
behavior in an abusive relationship is a cycle of calm, violence, and
reconciliation.
Since it’s a movie and wants to make a statement, Alia’s character evolves
from a suffering child-like bride to an avenging woman. As Ernst
Hemingway said “All things truly wicked start from innocence”, we see a
complete turn of events where the wife takes things into her own hand and
with tables turned, the tragi-comedy leaves the viewers with closure.
FAQ
What is a domestic relationship?
A domestic relationship means a relationship between two persons who live or have,
at any point of time, lived together in a shared household, when they are related by
consanguinity, marriage, or through a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption
or are family members living together as a joint family.
Who can file a complaint in matters of domestic violence?
Any woman who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by
the offender or any person may file a complaint on her behalf. A child is also entitled
to relief under the Domestic Violence Act.
What is a Domestic Incident Report?
A Domestic Incident Report means a report made in the prescribed form on receipt of
a complaint of domestic violence from an aggrieved person.
What is the timeline for disposal of any application preferred under PWDVA?
Even though the time line set out in the provisions of PWDVA which specifically
determines that any application shall be disposed off within a period of 60 days,
however considering the volume of complaints filed it is not possible for any matter
to be disposed off within 60 days.
There no specific timeline as to the final disposal of any application preferred under
the provisions of PWDVA but there are various factors that determine the timeline
Resources
Bhattacharjee, Kaushik, and Subhabaha Pal. "Protection of Women from ‘Domestic Violence’Act
2005: Statistics Reveal What Society Conceals." (2016).
Kaur, Ravneet, and Suneela Garg. "Addressing domestic violence against women: An unfinished
agenda." Indian journal of community medicine: official publication of Indian Association of Preventive &
Social Medicine 33.2 (2008): 73.
Hackett, Michelle. "Domestic violence against women: Statistical analysis of crimes across
India." Journal of comparative family studies 42.2 (2011): 267-288.
Kalokhe, Ameeta, et al. "Domestic violence against women in India: A systematic review of a decade of
quantitative studies." Global public health 12.4 (2017): 498-513.
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THANK YOU
Rumaisa Mohamed
INSTITUTE OF ENGLISH
