Are you a domestic violence victim in India? Learn about types of domestic abuse and domestic violence survivors, counselling, helplines, and support in India.
If you’re a domestic violence victim in India or know someone who is experiencing domestic violence, this article will help you understand what is domestic violence, how to empower yourself against domestic violence, and how to find domestic violence counselling, helplines and support in India.
The cycle of violence explores why women stay in abusive relationships for reasons beyond low self-esteem, isolation, family pressures and lack of community support.
It describes the phases an abusive relationship moves through in the lead up to a violent event and its follow-up. Read it to understand why women are often reluctant to leave a violent abuser or even admit that they are being abused.
If you are involved in an abusive relationship, you may think there’s no way out, but there is, and the dangers of staying can be far worse than those of leaving. Remaining in the toxic, dangerous environment of domestic violence can put your life at risk.
Staying could put others in your life at risk as well. Oftentimes, abusers take their anger out on anyone in their path, even — or especially — children. And aside from the obvious physical dangers of abuse, there are a number of potential emotional consequences to keep in mind for everyone involved, including depression.
Domestic violence and abuse in India is not just a problem of the lower and middle classes. It is very prevalent even among prominent and famous people too.
The signs of domestic violence (DV) are not always obvious and a lot of women don’t report that they’re being abused.
Even the woman’s own family is not always supportive at such times, because of the shame and guilt that surrounds such issues. Another concern that women face is how to prove domestic violence in India.
But, there is hope for women as there are strong laws against domestic violence and abuse in India. Domestic violence Indian gives a lot of power to women.
And yes, there are always some opportunistic women who will try to abuse the legal system by misusing the domestic violence act of India.
But just because people sometimes misuse the law does that mean we should not have laws? After all the statistics of domestic violence by husbands in India are horrific.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NHFS-4) released by the Union health ministry, every third woman, since the age of 15, has faced domestic violence of various forms in the country. Most of the times perpetrators of this violence have been the husbands.
The survey also found that 31% of married women have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence by their spouses. The most common type of spousal violence is physical violence (27%), followed by emotional violence (13%).
The survey did not even mention economic abuse as domestic violence in India, even though that is a significant type of abuse among domestic violence victims in India.
The domestic violence facts in India are truly horrifying and merit a serious discussion into the mind of the Indian abuser, the of the abused woman and how to provide domestic violence support and legal help to domestic violence survivors.
On Sep 4, 2015, a Times of India news report stated that the Bombay high court set aside that part of a state government circular which prohibited counselling and mediation in domestic violence cases without a court order.
What this means is that domestic violence cases can now be resolved out of court, with the help of NGOs, counsellors and police, who will be allowed to counsel a woman “with regard to the course of action which she can take including joint counselling/mediation with her spouse/husband or her family members/in-laws.”
The guidelines further state that a violated woman must be informed about her right to choose her future course of action and that she must be guided with regard to her legal rights under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.
