A GENERAL OUTLINE

1. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
SHARADA
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

3. Violence against
Women
“Any act of gender-based violence that results in
or is likely to result in physical, sexual, or
psychological harm or suffering to women,
including threats of such acts, coercion or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether
occurring in public or private life."
United Nation’s General Assembly definition, 1993

4. Forms/Types of Gender Based
violence
 Domestic
 Sexual
 Physical
 Cultural
 Religious
 Socio – economic
 Patriarchy
 Family
The factors that promote GBV form the basis of the form
they take. They are promulgated by the agents of the
society who include custodian of culture, media,
religious leaders, discriminatory legislations, economic
dependency, myths among others.

5. Family Violence
The most common and perverse
manifestation of violence against
women is that which is inflicted in
their most intimate environments, in
surroundings that are supposed to
welcome, cultivate, develop and bring
out the best in human beings – the
family

6. Situation of violence against women in India
Gender discrimination, including physical, sexual,
motional and economic violence, son preference,
unequal resource distribution and unequal decision-
making power (in both private and public spaces)
Caste discrimination, especially (but not restricted to)
women from specific castes
Communal violence against women
Neo-economic policies impacting women’s lives in
diverse ways (specific kinds of jobs for women, market
impacting men leading to increasing violence against
women

7. Effects of Family Violence on Women’s Lives
 Life with a violent partner can have physical, social,
emotional and psychological effects on women, in both
the short and long term.
 This results in lower self-esteem, loss of confidence in
themselves and others, isolation, depression, and
suicidal tendencies.

8. Family Violence and its Impact on Children
 Women who are victims of violence and who suffer
effects on their health and physical, mental and
emotional condition will have more difficulty giving
their children the appropriate attention, affection
and care.
 Witnessing violence leaves children very scared,
distressed and anxious about their own safety and
that of their mother and siblings.
 Around 60% of children who live with an abused
mother are or will be directly abused by their
mother’ s aggressor.

9. Contd..
 Children who experience family violence also develop
coping strategies. One of the most common strategies is
skipping school, which always exposes them to other risks.
 Other coping strategies include alcohol and drug use,
involvement in street fights, and self destructive
behaviors.
 Studies show that children who are abused are more likely
to suffer psychiatric disorders in adulthood, and reproduce
and/or become victims of violent behavior.

10. Literacy Rate
Census Year Persons Male Female Literacy gap
1901 5.35 9.8 0.7 -
1911 5.92 10.6 1.1 -
1921 7.16 12.2 1.8 -
1931 9.5 15.6 2.9 -
1941 16.1 24.9 7.3 -
1951 18.33 27.16 8.86 18.30
1961 28.30 40.40 15.35 25.05
1971 34.45 45.96 21.97 23.98
1981 43.57 56.38 29.76 26.62
1991 52.21 64.13 39.29 24.84
2001 64.83 75.26 53.67 21.59
2011 74.04 82.14 65.46 16.68
Source: Census of India 2011

11. Literacy rate among male and female in rural and urban India
Residence Sex 2001 2011 Change in percent
Rural Male 70.70 78.57 +7.87
Female 46.13 58.75 +12.62
Urban Male 86.27 89.67 +3.4
Female 72.86 79.92 +7.06
Source: Census of India 2011

13. Violence against Women
NFHS 3: 1 in 5 women ( 20%) face domestic violence from their
husbands (global statistics between 20-50%)
The National Crimes Record Bureau (2007): total crime against
women has increased by 12.5% from 2006
From 2006-2007, there was a 6.2% increase in rates of cases
filed under dowry “deaths” (NCRB 2007)

14. Realistic Facts about Violence

16. Extent of Violence

20. VIOLENCE UP

23. Cases of Violence in INDIA
 BANGALORE: Sexual harassment at the work
place is rampant but no one talks about it -- 17%
of working women in major cities have admitted
to it. However, most of these women said the
harassment wasn't physical.
 These findings are part of the survey, 'Sexual
Harassment at Workplaces in India 2011-2012',
done by Oxfam India during a workshop at the
India Islamic Cultural Centre.

24. CONTD..
 "Most women faced incidents that were non-physical.
66 of the 400 respondents faced a cumulative of 121
incidents of sexual harassment. About 102 of the 121
incidents were reported to be non-physical, whereas
the remaining 19 incidents were physical," the report
said.
 It added: "While 87% of the general population and
93% of working women respondents reported
awareness of sexual harassment of women at
workplace, a majority of the victims didn't resort to
any formal action against the perpetrators. The top
three industries unsafe for women are labourers (29%),
domestic help (23%) and small-scale manufacturing
(16%)."

25. CONTD..
 As m any as 17 per cent of working wom in India have
en
experienced sexual harassm at their workplace,
ent
 The survey was conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,
Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Durgapur
by Oxfam India and the S ocial and R ural R esearch
Institute.
 "About 17 per cent of working women in India feel that
they have experienced acts of sexual harassment at
workplace, indicating a high incidence of sexual
harassment among working women from both the

27. Laws under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
 Dowry Prohibition Act: any property or valuable (direct or
indirect) given before, at or after the marriage
 Section 304B: Death of a woman within 7 years of her marriage
 Section 498A: When husband or his family subjects woman to
cruelty (“intentional” behaviour that causes serious injury or
harassment for dowry)
 Section 376: Rape law
 Section 294: Obscene acts and songs
 Section 354: Intent to outrage a woman’s modesty

30. International Day For Elimination
Of Violence Against Women
NOVEMBER 25, 2012

31. Protection of Women against Domestic
Violence Act (PWDVA) 2005: highlights
 Rights-based (civil) law
 Advocates the right to live with dignity
 First law in India to define DV in a
comprehensive way
 Legal right to live a life free of violence
 Government accountable to stop DV
 Emergency orders to stop DV (right to residence,
protection orders)

32. Millennium Development Goals India
The overall goal of the 2008-2012 MDGs
Country Programme is to advance the
fulfillment of the rights of all women and
children in India to survive and thrive,
develop, participate and be protected by
reducing social inequalities based on gender,
caste, ethnicity or region.

33. Campaign Materials

34. State initiatives in India
Police initiatives to introduce a more rights-based approach to women’s issues (gender
training of their personnel and the Parivartan programme of the Delhi Police)
Government schemes for the girl child
Institutionalizing safety of women and girls: the Delhi
government initiatives
Changing policy into law – initial stages: sexual harassment at the
workplace guidelines and child sexual abuse draft bill

36. Concluding Remark
Family violence is part of an extensive range of
violent acts that occur in the private and public
spheres, committed mainly by men, and whose
principal victims are women and children.
Violence against women, particularly at the hands
of their partners, is a serious human rights
violation, and an obstacle to the development of
democratic societies.

37. CONTD..
F amily violence limits or hinders women’s full exercise of their
rights. Therefore, addressing this problem will always require
policies and actions to which states are actively committed.
F amily violence will always have a devastating effect on the
lives of children, since it is an experience of brutal isolation for
them, and asking for help can be a difficult, solitary exercise.
T issue of family violence must be addressed from a gender-
he
based perspective, especially with children and starting at a very
early age – working with them to build new gender references
that are equitable and democratic.