Violence against women is the global issue. It destroys the dignity and nullifies human rights and fundamental freedoms of women. It is one of the most underreported crimes in the world. Domestic Violence is urge to maintain male dominance in the society.

This Research aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of laws and challenges in domestic violence and will propose a legal framework to effectively tackle this issue.

What is Domestic Violence and What constitutes it?

It is an abusive behaviour in any relationship where one partner dominates and controls the other. It can take the form of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse. Domestic Violence can happen with anyone irrespective of their race, caste, background, gender, religion, etc. Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Section 3 says Domestic Violence is indicated by the following:

• Threat to Health, Life, and Safety. It can be mental and physical, and it could also be an abuse of a sexual, verbal, economic, and emotional kind.
• Harassment of any form like injuries to the person affected by coercion or other people related to unlawful demands for property or dowry or valuable security like jewellery or other assets.
• Otherwise causing harm or injury through physical or mental ways to the victim.
   

Types of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence does not always include physical abuse. Along with physical abuse, it also includes different types of behaviour.

Different types of abuse that domestic violence includes are as follows:

1. Physical Abuse
   • Direct assault on body
   • Includes use of weapons
   • Destruction of property
2. Emotional Abuse
   • Bullying or controlling behaviour
   • Emotional manipulation
   • Damaging someone's self-worth
3. Sexual Abuse
   • Sexual activity without consent
   • Assaulting the genitals
   • Coercive sex without protection against pregnancy

• Different Laws regarding Domestic Violence

There are various laws in India that directly deal with the safety of women.
Here are some well-known laws:

1. Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act, 2005 This Act prohibits a broad range of sexual, physical, economic, and emotional abuse defined under this Act. According to this law, a woman can get protection against Domestic Violence, the right to live, and financial compensation in the mutual house.
    
2. Section 498A of the IPC, 1860 The harassment may be mental or physical. Despite marital rape not being deemed a crime in our country, forced sex may be regarded as cruelty. The legal action for domestic violence in India under Section 498A has broad scope.

2. Section 498A of the IPC , 1860:

The harassment may be mental or physical. Despite, Martial Rape not being deemed a crime in our country, forced sex may be regarded as cruelty. The legal action for domestic violence in India under Section 498A has broad scope.

Case Laws:
Here are some landmarks cases:

1. Inder Raj Malik and others v. Sunita Malik (1986) In this case, it was held that the provision of Section 498A of IPC is not ultra vires and it is constitutional. It doesn't invoke double jeopardy with the province of Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
    
2. Sandhya Wankhede v. Manoj Bhimrao Wankhede (2011) In this case, the Supreme Court resolved the question by ruling that the provision to Sec 2(q) doesn't exclude female relatives of the husband or male partner from the scope of a complaint that can be submitted under the Domestic Violence Act. As a result, complaints can be filed not only against the adult male person, but also against the adult male's female relatives.
    

Challenges in Addressing Domestic Violence

The main legal challenges in addressing domestic violence are:

• Filing of false cases: In the past years, it was seen that women are misusing and getting wrong advantage of laws, which were made to protect them, by filing false cases. It was seen in many cases, that women file false cases against their husbands under Section 498A of IPC, 1860, for the sake of revenge. Educated women doing so know that the offence under this section is cognizable and non-bailable.
• Lack of support services: This is also a challenge in addressing domestic violence. Many regions lack sufficient shelters for victims to reside temporarily. Victims also experience psychological trauma from domestic violence, which requires professional counselling, but such services are often unavailable. Additionally, the lack of free or low-cost legal aid programs makes justice inaccessible for economically disadvantaged individuals.

Conclusion
Domestic Violence is a most concerning issue over worldwide. It can be in any form , including physical, emotional , psychological each living deep scars on the victims. Many laws have been enacted regarding the protection and support of survivors against domestic violence. Laws which are enacted , have both positive and negative side. Positive side is doing justice and negative side is doing injustice. Negative side includes filing of false cases of domestic violence which undermine the credibility of genuine victims and complicate the judicial process. In order to reduce the misuse of domestic violence laws , there must be combination of strong level framework , better support system for survivors , all these factors will lead to create a society where all individuals can live free from fear and harm.

References:

1. https://unacademy.com/content/upsc/study-material/general-awareness/the-legal-action-for-domestic-violence-in-india/
2. https://blog.ipleaders.in/top-10-domestic-violence-cases/

Written By: Tamanna Garg