The domestic violence act 2006, which came into force from 26th October, is a comprehensive law to deal with the violence’s committed against women in all sphere of life. This law gives a protective mechanism against women to fight against domestic violence, verbal abuse, sexual exploitation etc. The focus of the law is to give protection to the wife, live-in partner, relatives or mother, sister and widows, who are abused and exploited mentally and physically. The Ministry of women and child development at the centre envisaged the law for the welfare and development of women, so that they are not exploited and there is sense of equality and justice in the society towards women.
Domestic violence is common in every society, but the magnitude of abuse is going beyond control and women are paying the price for it. So this act will act as a deterrent in preventing mental and physical abuse against the abusers. The reasons of domestic violence can be of several reasons but the fact that women pays such brunt should not be tolerated in a civilized society like ours, where we nagas are know for equal treatment towards women and this culture should be kept alive, so that our cultural values of respecting women remain intact.
State may boast of equality and justice in the state on the status of women but they are several cases of atrocities against women where women reputation is outraged by their husband which in a civilized society like ours should not be allowed so what we need of the hour is to sensitize the citizens from the head of the state to maid servants so that equality and just prevail. The Domestic violence act 2006 under the aegis of Department on women and child development should draw a comprehensive plan to organize workshop’s to all NGO’s, Naga Mother’s Association, Naga Student Federation, students and different stake holders of the state, so that the law can be implemented in letter and in spirit so that the act does not become a master piece to the public at large where implementation becomes a thing of a past and justice can be delivered to them. Some of the features of the act are as follows:
Physical Violence
The Act defines Physical Violence as:
• Any kind of bodily harm or injury
• A threat of bodily harm
• Beating, slapping and hitting.
But violence against women is not always physical. For the first time, the law has expanded the definition to include sexual, verbal and economic violence. For instance, activists have often found that women victims of abuse are subjugated sexually.
Sexual Violence
Under the law, Sexual Violence will include:
• Forced sexual encounter
• Forcing a woman to look at pornography or any obscene pictures
• Any act of sexual nature to abuse, humiliate or degrade a woman’s’ integrity.
The new law is also tough on men who subject women to name calling or verbal abuse.
Verbal Violence
The Act defines Verbal Violence as:
• Name calling
• Any kind of accusation on a woman’s character or conduct
• Insults for not bringing dowry
• Preventing a woman from marrying a person of her choice
• Any form of threat or insults for not producing a male child.
Another important step has been to recognize Economic Violence. Under the Act, Economic Violence is:
• Not providing money, food, clothes, medicines
• Causing hindrance to employment opportunities
• Forcing a woman to vacate her house
To sum up it is widely said that if you want to progress and developed your family and nation, you need to educate women. So in order to empower women, we need to create a sense security among women and take them into confidence so, that they are free from all sort of abuses and discrimination in the society. The state government need to take concrete steps to successfully implement the act so that people are aware of there rights.
Limatemjen
M.A (Political Science), New Delhi
