Domestic Violence Legislation:

Protecting Victims and Ensuring Justice

-By: Nidhi
1st year BALLB
(Hons.) student
at Integrated
Law Course,
Faculty of Law,
University of
Delhi
 INTRODUCTION

Domestic Violence or Domestic Abuse is a social issue which was present in the past and is
still known today. The rational meaning of domestic violence encompasses any form of
domestic violence by an intimate or romantic partner at any place and by any kind of means.
Primarily, the women of the society are affected by domestic violence.

Domestic violence need not necessarily be related to physical harm, but it can take various
forms, such as emotional or mental stress, sexual abuse, financial constraints, etc. It is an
epidemic-scale that has serious repercussions for each victim and their children as well as for
the society. Domestic violence poses particular challenges to the mental and physical health
of the victim and negatively affects society on a large scale, and to delve deeper into the
topic, it is needed to proceed further.
ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

• PHYSICAL ABUSE:
This is the most usual component and form to constitute domestic violence. It comprises
acts such as slapping, hitting, grabbing, biting, pushing, and pulling one’s hair. When one
partner refuses the other partner’s medical care and pressurizes them to take unprescribed
drugs or alcohol, it also encompasses physical abuse.

• EMOTIONAL ABUSE:

This kind of abuse occurs when one partner undermines the other partner’s self-respect,
dignity and emotions. Persistent criticism, downgrading one’s skills, name calling, and
destroying one’s relationship with one’s children are a few examples of this.

• SEXUAL ABUSE:

Attempts to compel someone into engaging in any sexual activity or behaviour against
their will. Sexual abuse includes, but is by means limited to, marital rape, assaults on the
body’s sexual organs, coercing sex following physical violence, or treating someone in a
degrading way.

• ECONOMIC ABUSE:

When there are restrictions on a person’s capacity and ability to obtain, utilize, or
preserve financial resources to which they are legally entitled. It can also include
hindering someone’s access to money, assets, credit, or financial information through
any coercive means.
 STATISTICS RELATED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

There are several sites and survey records which show the presence of domestic
violence in the society such as:

• “29.3 per cent of married Indian women between the ages of 18 and 49 have
experienced domestic/sexual violence; 3.1 per cent of pregnant women aged 18 to 49
have suffered physical violence during their pregnancy.”1

• “The prevalence of psychological pressure among women belonging to the Buddhist

and Christian category is lower as compared to women belonging to other religious
groups. On the other hand, the psychological pressure of women is higher for women
belonging to SC, ST and OBC. A lower proportion of Sikh and Buddhist women face
physical violence. Christian women have registered the highest proportion of sexual
violence whereas it is lowest among Sikh and Buddhist religious groups.”2

• “Domestic violence is also not disclosed by women because they are afraid of their
privacy being exposed and embarrassment, abuse, involvement of police, stigma etc.”3

• “In the study conducted by (Dandona, et al., 2022) the results revealed horrifying reality
where it was observed that cruelty by husband and relatives was 35.8% in years 2014 to
18 which was only 18.5% in 2001 and 28% in 2018 per 100,000 women under age
category of 15 to 49 years which clearly indicates 53% enhancement in this period.
Extreme variations across various Indian states were observed and cruelty by husband
and was lowest in Sikkim and highest in Assam.”4

1
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW),
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–2021. Available at: http://rchiips.org/nfhs.
2
Sunil Kumar Mishra & Vikas Dubey, Experience of Domestic Violence in India: Prevalence and Variation Among
Different Socio-Economic Status Groups (Inst. for Hum. Dev., Centre for Gender Studies, Int’l Women’s Day
Series, 2020).
3
International Centre for Research on Women.: Domestic Violence in India 1: a Summary Report of Three
Studies. ICRW; 1999.
4
Crime in India. http://nrcb.gov.in.
 LEGISLATIONS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACROSS
THE GLOBE:

• INDIA:

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 20055:

Protecting wives and females from violence committed by their husbands, male cohabitors, or
their family members is the goal of the Act. Mothers and adopted sisters are among the
women the women who are protected by the law. Harassment of the victim or her family
members through illegal dowry demands would also be included.

Section 498A of IPC (Indian Penal Code)6:

This section makes it illegal for a husband and his family to treat a married woman cruelty in
order to coerce her or any of her family members to comply with any illegal demands for
property, or to cause serious physical or mental harm that could lead to suicide.

• UNITED STATES OF AMERICA(USA):

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) (1994)7:

This act was crucial for drawing attention and to provide legal remedies for the problems of
sexual assault and abuse, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking.

• UNITED KINGOM (UK):

Domestic Abuse Act 20218:

The primary objective of this Act is to define what domestic violence actually is. The Act lays
a standardized definition of domestic abuse in the country as well as groundworks and legal
frameworks doe future abuse detection, prevention, and treatment.

5
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, No. 43 of 2005, INDIA CODE (2005)
6
Indian Penal Code, § 498A, No. 45 of 1860, INDIA CODE (1860).
7
Violence Against Women Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-322, §§ 40001–40703, 108 Stat. 1902 (1994).
8
Domestic Abuse Act 2021, c. 17 (UK).
• UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993)9:

The United Nations enacted the declaration on the elimination of violence against
women. The goal of this was to eradicate all forms of violence against women. It also
discusses how to prevent sexual, physical, and even psychological abuse against women

9
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, G.A. Res. 48/104, U.N. Doc. A/RES/48/104 (Dec.
20, 1993).
 SOLUTIONS AND REMEDIES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

To protect the victims of domestic violence from further suffering, there are several remedies,
measures and solutions which should be followed such as:

• There can be civil protection orders passed by the relevant authority in order to protect

the victims from any abuse or molestation by the harasser. Protection orders can be in

various forms such as non-molestation order (NMOs), Restraining orders, Domestic

violence orders (DVPOs).10

• Awareness is also a very crucial way to combat the issue of domestic violence.

Workshops, seminars, and sessions must be conducted to make the general public aware

of and enhance their knowledge of their legal rights and the protection that they can seek

• It’s not only a legal battle to deal with domestic violence; it’s also an emotional one. The

National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), the National Commission for Women

(NCW) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide shelter and counselling

services are among the support agencies that victims are urged to contact. These groups

give people a secure setting in which to exchange concerns and get prompt assistance.

• There are various helplines and emergency contact numbers through which the victim can

instantly reach the authorities and complain about the wrongdoer, and these helplines are

available 24/7 and take just and rational action to provide relief and safety to the victim as

well as a fair punishment to the harasser.

• Police and medical professional must also be trained to recognize and assist the victims of

domestic violence and handle the particular matter in a very careful and judicious way.

10
Baker McKenzie, Protection for Domestic Violence Victims and Relief Granted, Resource Hub (2025), available
at https://resourcehub.bakermckenzie.com/en/resources/fighting-domestic-violence.
 CONCLUSION

After a crucial analysis of all the facts, opinions, and statistics, it can be deduced that
domestic violence is a widespread issue, and it affects millions of people on a global level
regardless of the place, culture, and boundaries. Domestic violence is an issue that prevails in
most households, but the proportion of actual complaints is comparatively less due to many
factors, such as societal pressures, prestige or reputation of the family, and the future of the
children, etc. Mostly, the victims of domestic violence are women who get abused by their
intimate partner or the family or relatives of that partner.

There are also various legal frameworks constituted to deal with this issue in different
countries, such as India, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom, etc. and also
many global declarations are also formed for the purpose of providing solution and guidance
in the issues related to domestic violence, but most of them have proved to be ineffective due
to a lack of public support and loopholes in the implementation of the legal mechanisms.

The rational measure is to enact ground-level solutions for the victims, and there must be a
holistic approach followed to deal with the issue. Awareness programs should be conducted
for the public, and there must be proper counselling as well as rehabilitation of the wrongdoer
to change his mindset. There must be effective helplines launched for instant communication
and reporting by the victim.

However, apart from all these measures, it is the utmost duty of every individual, society, and
organization to uniformly take efforts to tackle with issue. Therefore, it is essential that all the
nations work together in a coordinated manner because the fight against domestic violence is
a larger, more complex one that calls for everyone’s efforts. Once more, additional research is
needed to explore the long-term impact that domestic violence has on our valued women. It is
anticipated that such studies will start examining the phenomenon’s masculine effect. In last,
the society has a very crucial role to play in dealing and coping with this widespread issue of
domestic violence.