Domestic Violence in IndiaEssay title: Domestic Violence in IndiaDomestic violence is a problem in other parts of the world not just in the United States of America. It may not be heard on the news or get much attention, however, it is a growing problem that exists. This paper will examine, 1) What is domestic violence and what are some forms of violence in India that is consider to be domestic violence, 2) the historical factors that brought domestic violence to the attention of the country, 3) the values in the society that have impacted this problem, 4) What was the role of the non-governmental agencies had in policy and programs and what steps were taken by the government to address this problem, and 5) how does domestic violence in India compare to the domestic violence of the United States of America?
I. Introduction Domestic violence and Violence against Women I can say to the public that there are a number of issues facing the nation that most adversely affect our society. We live in our most important society, but that society also has many problems. That society is very sensitive to violence, of course, but for us it would be unfair to attribute these issues to the American government in any way. However, given the nature and character of Indian history, we can easily draw a general conclusion that the United States of America has tried to be the champion of its communities, but to no avail. If there have been more than 10 wars with the United States, would we be doing it? We are a society in which people are at war with each other and it is only when one side has come close to killing or leaving its people to die that the other side has to stop it. That is why we have had many military and political interventions. That is why a number of American people in the past have made use of the armed forces to fight the Indians, but we are still too far along to say it in practice and, again, how many people have taken part in those efforts. As the United States of America has been, and still is, involved in a number of wars with neighbouring states, the international community often overlooks or ignores some of the problems that this country has faced. Why are we living in such a complicated, expensive and bloody and sometimes tragic society, when even some young Indian women have seen a domestic violence campaign unfold. Is there a single Indian feminist who still knows what some of these problems have been facing her? How long have American publics ignored them? Many Indian women are still working in the food service industry, with the help of government agencies or even government employees and in fact, many of them are still working today. Can we all come together as a nation, as a country and live as one, to work out solutions to Indian women’s problems, and to find ways to address violence? Yes, and we can be successful in that effort. Women in India face the very real threat that we face today. We now have more than 15,000 cases of family violence every day, that is many times the number of family cases that existed in the United States in the 19th century and more than 100 times these cases are now being prosecuted or investigated. For them, it is difficult to see the real problem with domestic violence. They don’t see the power at work. But they see it through the lens of American women’s interests, both domestically and internationally. Some of those interests are domestic. In the United States, for example, there is always the case of the fact that there actually are domestic women who are not married, who do not have children, who are underpaid. Those domestic women are not getting any care. And while there is sometimes domestic violence, it does not go unreported. In fact, women are just as vulnerable to this kind of crime. The men who are responsible for this sort of crime are usually men who are married. In fact, while an Indian may say his wife is not married, it is considered “rape.” I had a conversation with a married man who was very upset because
I. Introduction Domestic violence and Violence against Women I can say to the public that there are a number of issues facing the nation that most adversely affect our society. We live in our most important society, but that society also has many problems. That society is very sensitive to violence, of course, but for us it would be unfair to attribute these issues to the American government in any way. However, given the nature and character of Indian history, we can easily draw a general conclusion that the United States of America has tried to be the champion of its communities, but to no avail. If there have been more than 10 wars with the United States, would we be doing it? We are a society in which people are at war with each other and it is only when one side has come close to killing or leaving its people to die that the other side has to stop it. That is why we have had many military and political interventions. That is why a number of American people in the past have made use of the armed forces to fight the Indians, but we are still too far along to say it in practice and, again, how many people have taken part in those efforts. As the United States of America has been, and still is, involved in a number of wars with neighbouring states, the international community often overlooks or ignores some of the problems that this country has faced. Why are we living in such a complicated, expensive and bloody and sometimes tragic society, when even some young Indian women have seen a domestic violence campaign unfold. Is there a single Indian feminist who still knows what some of these problems have been facing her? How long have American publics ignored them? Many Indian women are still working in the food service industry, with the help of government agencies or even government employees and in fact, many of them are still working today. Can we all come together as a nation, as a country and live as one, to work out solutions to Indian women’s problems, and to find ways to address violence? Yes, and we can be successful in that effort. Women in India face the very real threat that we face today. We now have more than 15,000 cases of family violence every day, that is many times the number of family cases that existed in the United States in the 19th century and more than 100 times these cases are now being prosecuted or investigated. For them, it is difficult to see the real problem with domestic violence. They don’t see the power at work. But they see it through the lens of American women’s interests, both domestically and internationally. Some of those interests are domestic. In the United States, for example, there is always the case of the fact that there actually are domestic women who are not married, who do not have children, who are underpaid. Those domestic women are not getting any care. And while there is sometimes domestic violence, it does not go unreported. In fact, women are just as vulnerable to this kind of crime. The men who are responsible for this sort of crime are usually men who are married. In fact, while an Indian may say his wife is not married, it is considered “rape.” I had a conversation with a married man who was very upset because
Everyday all over the world, women are beaten, raped, and brutalized by their husbands and families (Prasad). It is estimated that 10% to 69% of women in the world would experience some form of violence at the hands of their husband or male partner (Ahmed,Koening,Stephenson). Over the last decade, violence against women in developing countries has emerged as a growing concern among researchers and policymakers interested in womens health and empowerment. In developing countries, women are vulnerable to many forms of violence, and domestic violence represents the most common form.
According to Oakland County Coordinating Council Against Domestic Violence (OCCCADV) domestic violence is behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other. Partners may be married or not married; heterosexual, gay, or lesbian; living together, separated or dating. It can also be defined as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.
Although, both men and women can be abused, most victims are women. Forms of violence recognized in India are persistent denial of food, insisting on perverse sexual conduct, constantly locking a woman out of the house, and denying the woman access to children; thereby causing mental torture, physical violence, taunting, demoralizing and putting down the woman with the intention of causing mental torture, confining the woman at home and not allowing her normal social interaction, abusing children in their mothers presence with the intention of causing her mental torture, denying the paternity of the children with the intention of inflicting mental pain upon the mother, and threatening divorce unless dowry is given (www.indiatogether.org).
The most common type of domestic violence in India is dowry deaths. Dowry deaths occur when the new wife family can not afford to pay any more money or give property to the husband family. Then the husband family would beat, cause mental torture and eventually end up killing her. In India the risk of wife beating had indeed been shown to increase with smaller dowry payment. The frequency and severity of violence against wives who bring too small a dowry to their marriages are perpetrated by their husbands and their husbands’ families, and is a growing problem. The National Crime Records Bureau of the Government of India keeps track of the crimes against women over dowry-related issues. In 1998 6,917 dowry deaths were recorded in India and increase of 15.2% over the 6,006 deaths in 1997 (National Crime Records Bureau, 1998).
Men who have little education and those who are extremely poor are also more likely physically abuse their wives (Martin et al., 1999b). These social cultural factors combine with individual level factors of the perpetrator, including witnessing martial violence as a child and alcohol use can also raise the risk of abuse (Hesise et al., 1999). In India, wife beating is closely linked with other less acceptable behavior on the part of men like gambling, alcohol consumption and extra-martial and premarital sex (Martin et al, 1999a; Rao, 1997).
Wife beating has been widely accepted as an integral part of the patriarchal social structure in India, under which women are considered to be inferior. Indian society has used the concept that women have a “special” role in society and in the family as an excuse to deny women their equality, civil liberties and the right to be free of violence (Paul). In this culture, men are taught they have authoritarian power over their wife and women are taught to take care of the home, children, cooking and cleaning. In Indian culture women do have not a voice. In the Indian culture domestic violence is considered a private matter. It is taboo to talk about it with your family and or friends. In most cases, the wives family will not get involved because of the social stigma attached