Domestic Violence and Gender Equality: Law and The Reality
- NLR Journal
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
By Joyeeta Rajkhowa, NEF Law College, Guwahati, Assam.
Abstract
The present paper is a sincere attempt to analyze the gaps existing between the various women centric laws and their implementation. To protect women’s rights and interests have always been a priority not only for the law makers and policy framers but also for the judiciary since many decades. Though many times, these pillars of the government have been successful in promoting and protecting women’s rights either through judicial precedents or framing new laws, yet many lacunae still exist in the system for which women continue to be the victims of crimes or violence. Also, the severity of these laws is undermined when the offenders of violence are not retrained from committing the same acts. Subsequently, it is women who are victimized and end up as vulnerable members of the society. It manifests in various forms and remains a significant barrier to achieving equality, development, peace and realization of human rights. In fact, domestic violence accounts for a significant percentage. In India, data for the years 2017 to 2022 issued by National Crime Records Bureau indicate that cruelty by husband and relatives faced by women account for one-third of all crimes against women[1]. In recent times, a resurgence of patriarchal values and norms and other factors have contributed towards an unprecedented growth in domestic violence against women and one such factor that can be highlighted here is the prevalence of dowry. To eliminate the practice of dowry, the Dowry Prohibition Act and Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act were enacted. Unfortunately, both proved to be ineffective in fulfilling their legislative intent. Thus, through this paper, an attempt is made to achieve an insight into the existing gaps and providing suggestions for better execution of woman centric laws in India.
[1] Government of India, “A Statistical Compilation of Gender related Indicators of India” (Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, 2023).
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