by Cheryl Barnette

Created on: December 30, 2009

Just try to prosecute a man in India for domestic violenceBREAKTHROUGH INDIABreakthrough is an international human rights organization that uses media, education and pop culture to promote values of dignity, equality and justice. Domestic violence occurs in all societies around the world and is not a function of class, caste, religion or nationality. In India, women can experience violence through their life cycle, across regions, religions, communities and classes. It can take the form of sex-selection, female feticide and infanticide, forced pregnancy, domestic violence, dowry-related violence, violence in armed conflicts sexual harassment and assault, forced prostitution and honour killings. In each of these cases, violence is perpetrated because of a woman's gender.According to an International Centre for Research on Women study in 1999, four out of 10 women in India have experienced violence at home and 45 percent of women have suffered at least one incident of physical or psychological violence in their lifetimes: 56 percent of women actually justify the abuse.Below is an article written by Indira Jaising, lawyer in the Supreme Court of India from the website: www.indiatogether.org .Indira Jaising is a senior lawyer practicing in the Supreme Court of India. She is also Director of the Womens Rights Initiative of Lawyers Collective. November 2002, New Delhi (WFS) - According to the myth of the family as a sanctuary of tranquility and harmony, domestic violence is a veritable incongruity, a contradiction in terms. Violence shatters the peaceful image of the home, the safety that kinship provides. Nonetheless, the insidious nature of domestic violence has been documented across nations and cultures worldwide. It is a universal phenomenon. Domestic violence is violence that occurs within the private sphere, generally between individuals who are related through intimacy, blood or law. Despite the apparent neutrality of the term, domestic violence is nearly always a gender-specific crime, perpetrated by men against women. In 1992, Lawyers Collective drafted and circulated a Bill on domestic violence and this was widely circulated amongst women's groups and organizations including the National Commission for Women (NCW). In 1994, NCW came out with its draft Bill on domestic violence, which was vehemently criticized by women's organizations. By this time, most women's groups were united towards the need for a law on domestic violence. And they saw this as a way

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>