Sheer Brutality: Domestic Violence against Women & Children

Shrishti Kasana
Amity Law School, Noida

Volume III, Issue IV, 2020

Domestic violence is a very common practice which is prevalent in India and the most common victims of domestic violence are the women and the children in the country. Domestic violence against women is considered normal by the society due to the gender norms and values the society which place women in a subordinate position to men. How many of the people like us can imagine living 24×7 in the same house as one’s abuser, tat too with the constant fear of what the abuser might next do to hurt us and in what way and with what intensity. We can never have the clue of what mind be going in the mind of the abuser and what the victim must be going through all the time. The pain, the fear, the agony of the victim is beyond ones understanding. Domestic violence is a pat-tern of a specific behaviour in a relationship which is used to gain or even maintain and control in a relationship. An interview was prepared to assess the prevalence and prac-tice of domestic violence and 50 women of Lucknow were interviewed to get an ade-quate result. The study showed that alcoholism of husbands is one of the major reasons behind domestic violence against women the result also made it clear that Domestic vio-lence is very much present in the Indian society and children and women who are the victims are not aware of the laws regarding domestic violence and about the various in-stitutions that might be able to provide them help.  How would it feel if even just cough-ing resulted in beatings, or even being kicked out of the house on suspicion of having COVID-19 symptoms rather than paying attention to the problem beating the victim mercilessly, or one subjected their partner to constant verbal abuse or mental torture, or starved one to death, or did not let one even use the toilet at all? In order to slow down the spread of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), actions such as social-distancing, re-stricted travel, sheltering in-place and closure of public places and transport are suggest-ed by the government guidelines and these have led to a drastic increase in family vio-lence around the globe. In fact many of the affected countries have indicated a dramatic increase in reported cases of domestic violence hence improving the cooperation be-tween human welfare and animal welfare agencies also increasing community partner-ships and informing the public to report any concerns and problems of abuse are all vi-tal and critical at this moment. Although female  public participation is increasing and many laws have been amended accordingly, India still hasn’t succeeded in making Indi-an women equal citizens of  their own country. In the Indian society a huge number of women are treated violently by their intimate partners and the continue to suffer in si-lence. In some extreme cases, domestic violence even leads to the death of the victims. It is on this premise that this paper deliberates the meaning, types of domestic violence, their causes and also the after-effects of domestic violence on women and children. In addition, this paper also discusses the management of this crime against women and also examines the role of the social workers, professionals and other organisations in provid-ing support and help to the affected individuals.

 

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