Domestic Violence on Women in India
INTRODUCTION :
“Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women...” The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, General Assembly Resolution, December 1993
Since the 1990s, there has been increasing concern about violence against women in general, and domestic violence in particular, in both developed and developing countries. Not only has domestic violence been acknowledged worldwide as a violation of basic human rights, but an increasing amount of research highlights the health burdens, intergenerational effects, and demo-graphic consequences of such violence (United Nations, 1997; Heise et al., 1999; Jewkes, 2002; Campbell, 2002; Kishor and Johnson, 2004; 2006). Domestic violence occurs in all socioeconomic and cultural population subgroups; and in many societies, including India, women are socialized to accept, tolerate, and even rationalize domestic violence and to remain silent about such experiences. Violence of any kind has a detrimental impact on the economy of a country through increased disability, medical costs, and loss of labour hours; however, because women bear the brunt of domestic violence, they disproportionately bear the health and psychological burdens as well. Victims of domestic violence are abused inside what should be the most secure environment—their own homes—and usually by the persons they trust most Violence against women and girls continues to be a global epidemic that kills, tortures, and maims – physically, psychologically, sexually and economically. It is one of the most pervasive of human rights violations, denying women and girls equality, security, dignity, self-worth, and their right to enjoy fundamental freedoms. Violence against women is present in every country, cutting across boundaries of culture, class,
“Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women...” The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, General Assembly Resolution, December 1993
Since the 1990s, there has been increasing concern about violence against women in general, and domestic violence in particular, in both developed and developing countries. Not only has domestic violence been acknowledged worldwide as a violation of basic human rights, but an increasing amount of research highlights the health burdens, intergenerational effects, and demo-graphic consequences of such violence (United Nations, 1997; Heise et al., 1999; Jewkes, 2002; Campbell, 2002; Kishor and Johnson, 2004; 2006). Domestic violence occurs in all socioeconomic and cultural population subgroups; and in many societies, including India, women are socialized to accept, tolerate, and even rationalize domestic violence and to remain silent about such experiences. Violence of any kind has a detrimental impact on the economy of a country through increased disability, medical costs, and loss of labour hours; however, because women bear the brunt of domestic violence, they disproportionately bear the health and psychological burdens as well. Victims of domestic violence are abused inside what should be the most secure environment—their own homes—and usually by the persons they trust most Violence against women and girls continues to be a global epidemic that kills, tortures, and maims – physically, psychologically, sexually and economically. It is one of the most pervasive of human rights violations, denying women and girls equality, security, dignity, self-worth, and their right to enjoy fundamental freedoms. Violence against women is present in every country, cutting across boundaries of culture, class,