The speaking order delivered on February 24 directs the attendance of the Secretaries of the Union Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Social Justice and Ministry of Home Affairs; Chairperson of National Commission for Women and a nominee of the Chairperson of National Human Right Commission (NHRC)  and Chairperson of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) at the proposed meeting. The Court has also directed the union government to conduct the first meeting at the earliest, preferably within a period of three months.

The apex court was hearing a petition seeking direction to the Union Government, State Governments and the Union Territories regarding appointment, notification and establishment of Protection Officers, Service Providers and Shelter Homes, in terms of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Advocate Shobha Gupta represented the petitioner “We the Women of India” and Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati represented the Union Government.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to protect women from domestic violence. It was brought into force by the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government through the ministry of Women and Child Development on October 26, 2006.

In a detailed and sensitive order, the two judge bench also directed the Ministry of Women and Child Development to place on record the current status of implementation of Mission Shakti (integrated women empowerment programme), the umbrella scheme for safety, security and empowerment of women schemes. It specifically asked for certain information, including information on the aspect of the number of one-stop centres proposed in each district; the staffing pattern for these centres; and the data on distress calls.

The Modi 2.0, union government has also been asked to disclose the details of the common portal and dashboard proposed to be set up. It is also required to provide material to demonstrate how Mission Shakti shall act as an umbrella scheme for implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, especially with respect to the statutory officers and remedies provided in the Act. The Bench directed the Union Government to file an affidavit elucidating the action taken by it, within a period of six weeks.

Since the Court took cognisance of the matter, it has passed orders asking the Union Government to collect data. In view of these consistent orders, the union government had provided data pertaining to litigation under the DV Act in each state; the nature of Central programmes and plans outlining assistance to support efforts under the Act; broad indications as to what are the desirable qualifications and eligible terms for creation of regular cadre of POs, their cadre structure.

Subsequent to this, NALSA conducted a study which indicated that 4.71 lakh cases under the DV Act were pending as on 01.07.2022. Another 21,088 cases were pending in appeals and revisions. The number of Protection Officers appointed was also indicated. The numbers are quite low. The union government filed an affidavit indicating that a programme, ‘Mission Shakti’ has been framed under which 801 One stop centres have been set up in the districts. In these 801 districts about 4.4 lakh cases are pending. The Bench commented on the fact that there are two few officers per district and stated that if there are one officer in each district, they would be required to monitor 500 cases on an average, which is not an appreciable ratio. It was pointed out that the nature of responsibility of the officers are all-encompassing and not comparable to judicial officers. They are required to make spot visits for surveys and inspections, act as the interface between the survivor, the police and the judicial process. For these reasons, it is crucial to have more Protection Officers in each district.

Feminist and women’s rights groups have welcomed this order of the SC stating that the court has pinned down the issue, where the gaps in implemtntation occur: calling in the ministry of finance is thorough since the PWDVA 2005 implentation requires a dedicated cadre not part time revenue officials, stated Ammu Abraham senior women’s rights activist.

Staggering figures

In 2017, CJP had done a detailed analysis of the state of affairs in the country when related to domestic violence and abuse, Building Lives after Domestic Abuse, Civil, not Criminal Provisions will Empower Women. This detailed report examined the numbers:

Detailed report:

“As per the latest NCRB data, in 2016, a total of 110434 cases were registered at a crime rate[i] of 18.0% under Section 498A (cruelty by husband and relatives) in India. The crime rate was highest in Assam at a rate of 58.7% and a total of 9321 cases registered. The state with the second highest rate of filing of Section 498A was West Bengal at a crime rate of 42.3% and recording a total of 19305 cases. Delhi recorded a crime rate of 40.6% with total number of cases being 3879. This was followed by states like Rajasthan and Telangana recording crime rates of 39.4% and 39.2% respectively.

“In contrast, a mere 437 cases were registered under the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), 2005 in all of India at a rate of 0.1 %. 171 cases were registered in Bihar at a crime rate of 0.3% and 111 cases were registered in Kerala with a Crime rate of 0.6. 90 cases were reported in MP at a rate of 0.2 % followed by 23 in UP, 2 in Assam, 3 in Chhattisgarh, 2 in Maharashtra, 1 in Uttarakhand, 5 in West Bengal. 1 case was registered in Delhi.

This implied that the cases that were registered under Section 498A, were in all probability not linked to the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) 2005. This also means that majority of women are not able to seek the civil provisions of the DVA, which may include free legal advice, compensation, protection orders, request for shelter homes or any other supportive mechanisms. Day in and day out, mainstream media reports are trying to build a case of misuse of the Section 498A, not caring two hoots about the civil provisions of the Domestic Violence Act itself.

Source: NCRB 2016 data

“The above figures point to an acute lapse. Though states such as Bihar, UP, Haryana recorded highest number of dowry related deaths, and by implication, were more violent towards women, the cases registered under Section 498A did not correspond in a similar manner. In fact, if one considers crime rates, these states recorded 7.5, 10.8 and 26.2 respectively. These are miniscule numbers.

“The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) gives a rather comprehensive picture of domestic violence. As per the last report of the survey published for the years 2015-16, as many as 28.8% women reported having experienced domestic(spousal) violence at least once in their lives. Of this, 23.6% belonged to the urban set up while 31.4% belonged to the rural set up. A total of 3.3% women experienced violence during pregnancy. A detailed report explaining attitudes for the year 2015-16 is now available.

Experience of violence from anyone: Twenty-seven percent of women have experienced physical violence since age 15 and 6 percent have ever experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. The detailed report mentions that the most common type of spousal violence is physical violence (27%), followed by emotional violence (13%). Six percent of ever married women have experienced spousal sexual violence.

The trends in spousal physical or sexual violence showed that ever-married women’s ever experience of spousal physical or sexual violence has declined from 37 percent in NFHS-3 to 29 percent in NFHS-4; however, there has been almost no change in women’s experience of spousal physical or sexual violence in the 12 months preceding each survey (24% in NFHS-3 and 22% in NFHS-4).

One-fourth of ever married women who have experienced spousal violence report experiencing physical injuries, including 8 percent who have had eye injuries, sprains, dislocations, or burns and 6 percent who have had deep wounds, broken bones, broken teeth, or any other serious injury. The report also revealed that certain forms of violence like slapping were far more normalised than say, burning.

Regarding attitudes on wife-beating specifically, the report had following observations,

“An important indicator of empowerment is the rejection of norms that underlie and reinforce gender inequality. One such gendered norm is husbands’ “right” to control their wives in various ways, including through violence. Rejection of such norms potentially signifies greater gender equality. 52% percent of women and 42 percent of men believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife in at least one of seven specified circumstances which included reasons like the woman showing disrespect for the in laws, neglects house or children, goes out without informing him, etc.

Covid Pandemic & Domestic Violence

The Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdown saw a surge in both virus and domestic violence cases leading to initiatives by various bodies and social media

The end of the year, 2020 data of National Commission for Women (NCW) data painted a very grim picture on the rising cases of domestic violence in India amid the Covid 19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown in 2020. Over 5,000 complaints and counting, has been recorded by the NCW from women forced into confinement with abusive husbands and relatives over the last few months. In June alone, it received a staggering 2,043 complaints of crimes committed, the highest in the last eight months. To further call attention to this ordeal, the commission that received 607 complaints in 2019 between March to May, in 2020 registered a total of 1477 cases between the same range.  

In May, 1,500 complaints were received by the NCW, whereas 800 in April and 1,347 complaints in March. In February, 1,424 complaints were received while in January 1,462 complaints were received as per the NCW data which may be read here.

As reported then by The Tribune, NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma attributed the rise in complaints to numerous factors like economic insecurity, financial instability and isolation among others. “Victims of domestic violence are distanced from their regular support systems making it difficult for them to call out for help. The series of lockdowns in India reduced the opportunities of reporting of domestic violence cases,” she said.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4) data in India has also stated that the number of violence cases against women is always a concern in India as they remain underreported. It is more difficult to assess the cases and report it in a country like India as just 46 percent of women have access to their own mobile phones as a whole, while in rural areas, the percentage is a mere 37 percent.

Swayam, a feminist organisation based in Kolkata also revealed that where there were 22 complaints on average per month before the lockdown, it increased to 57 complaints on average per month through emails and different helplines. The NGO also released a “Stop Domestic Violence” campaign on Twitter in June which was picked up by the Kolkata Police who took the responsibility of displaying the posters across 79 police stations in the city.

“While talking to the media, the Associate Director of Swayam said: “Domestic violence is a deep-rooted structural problem in our society caused due to patriarchy and gender inequality which prevents women from leading a life free from violence and dignity. Through this campaign, Swayam hopes to involve individuals, corporates and institutions to support the #StopDomesticViolenceCampaign and help raise awareness around domestic violence.”

As most countries were pushed into dealing with the menace of violence against women, Italy as an example of innovation, launched an app called “YouPol’, that allowed victims of domestic violence to seek help without talking on the phone, as per the New Indian Express report. The app enabled survivors to send images and messages in real-time to the state police operators and one could anonymously report if they didn’t want to reveal their personal information. In France, women used the term “Mask 19” if they felt anxious and insecure to ask for help from people working at 24*7 pharmacies who then passed on the message to the Police.

Related:

SC: Women have a right to stay at marital home under domestic violence laws

Violence against women – more than just a law & order problem

Making the Domestic Violence Act work for Women: Majlis Experience

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