The number of women in India who are affected by domestic violence is estimated to be about 50% although under many studies the number is considerably higher. There are a number of factors which have contributed to this including socio-economic factors, the existence of a culture which condones such violence, religious beliefs and the virtual lack of a support system for women who are victims of domestic violence.

The Domestic Violence Act, 2005, aims to place the responsibility of dealing with cases of domestic violence on a variety of persons ranging from the police to the judiciary by focussing not solely on the punishment of perpetrators but also on the safety of women. In order to do this, it has imposed a number of duties on various authorities.

Under Section 5, a police officer, Protection Officer, service provider or Magistrate who has received a complaint of domestic violence or is otherwise present at the place of an incident of domestic violence or when the incident of domestic violence is reported to him, must inform the woman:

• of her right to make an application for obtaining a relief by way of a protection order, an order for monetary relief, a custody order, a residence order, a compensation order or more than one such order under the Act
• of the availability of services of service providers
• of the availability of services of the Protection Officers
• of her right to free legal services under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
• of her right to file a complaint under Section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code wherever relevant

This is in addition of the usual requirement that the police proceed in accordance with law upon receipt of information as to the commission of a cognizable offence.

Duties of shelter homes

Under Section 6, if a woman or on her behalf a Protection Officer or a service provider requests the person-in-charge of a shelter home to provide shelter to her, such person-in-charge of the shelter home must provide shelter to the woman in the shelter home.

Duties of medical facilities

Under Section 7, f a woman or, on her behalf a Protection Officer or a service provider requests the person-in-charge of a medical facility to provide any medical aid to her, such person-in-charge of the medical facility shall provide medical aid to the woman in the medical facility.

Duties of Protection Officers

It is the duty of the Protection Officer:

• to assist the Magistrate in the discharge of his functions under the Act
• to make a domestic incident report to the Magistrate, in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed, upon receipt of a complaint of domestic violence and forward copies thereof to the police officer in charge of the police station within the local limits of whose jurisdiction domestic violence is alleged to have been committed and to the service providers in that area
• to make an application in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed to the Magistrate, if the woman so desires, claiming relief for issuance of a protection order
• to ensure that the woman is provided legal aid under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and make available free of cost the prescribed form in which a complaint is to be made
• to maintain a list of all service providers providing legal aid or counselling, shelter homes and medical facilities in a local area within the jurisdiction of the Magistrate
• to make available a safe shelter home, if the woman so requires and forward a copy of his report of having lodged the woman in a shelter home to the police station and the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the area where the shelter home is situated
• to get the woman medically examined, if she has sustained bodily injuries and forward a copy of the medical report to the police station and the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the area where the domestic violence is alleged to have been taken place
• to ensure that the order for monetary relief (under Section 20) is complied with and executed, in accordance with the procedure prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
• to perform such other duties as may be prescribed.

The Protection Officer shall be under the control and supervision of the Magistrate, and shall perform the duties imposed on him by the Magistrate and the Government by or under, the Act according to Section 9 of the Act.

Duties of Government

Under Section 11, the Central Government and every State Government must take all measures to ensure that:

• the provisions of the Act are given wide publicity through public media including the television, radio and the print media at regular intervals
• the Central Government and State Government officers including the police officers and the members of the judicial services are given periodic sensitization and awareness training on the issues addressed by the Act
• effective co-ordination between the services provided by concerned Ministries and Departments dealing with law, home affairs including law and order, health and human resources to address issues of domestic violence is established and periodical review of the same is conducted
• protocols for the various Ministries concerned with the delivery of services to women under the Act including the Courts are prepared and put in place.

Note

Under the Act any of several possible perpetrators of domestic violence can be dealt with. These perpetrators are referred to as ‘the respondent’ in the statute and have been defined as any adult male person who is or has been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved woman and against whom she has sought any relief under the Act. The perpetrator may be the woman’s husband or a man with whom she shares a relationship in the nature of a marriage.

‘Woman’ means any woman who is or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the respondent and a ‘domestic relationship’ means a relationship between two persons who live or have, at any point of time, lived together in a shared household, when they are related by consanguinity, marriage or through a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption or are family members living together as a joint family.

A ‘child’ means any person below the age of eighteen years and includes any adopted, step or foster child.