A Study of Gender based Violence in India:

Challenges and Resolutions.

Submitted By:

Naveeta Negi
Assistant Professor
Deptt. Of English
Satyawati College Evening
University of Delhi
kimnegi@gmail.com

Violence against women and girls is widespread in India. Despite some legislative measures that
have been taken in the past few years, due to the continuous pressure from women right
movements, the media and the online campaigns. Many women still continue to face violence in
their day to day lives. Gender- based violence not only take place in a public space but can also
happen in the domestic sphere too. It often gets unreported as a result of systemic and social
barriers and the formal mechanism to put an end to these kinds of violence remains ineffective.

Gender-based violence and violence against women are often used interchangeably. It has been
acknowledged, worldwide that most gendered based violence is inflicted over girls or women, by
men. Using the term, gendered based violence is important as it highlights that many forms of
violence against women emerge from the power inequalities between men and women.

There are majorly three causes of gender based violence, harmful gender norms, hunger and war
and conflict. Gender stereotypes are often used to justify violence against women. The cultural
stereotypes are always portrayed men as aggressive, controlling and dominating. On the other
hand, women are shown as docile, depended and someone who has to rely on men as their
providers. Hunger is said to be a major cause of gendered based violence. Women and young
girls are often given away in marriage, due to the food scarcity at home. Money shortest at home
is one of the causes that leads to tension within the family household, which could finally end in
domestic violence on women and girls.
During the war, girls and women are often subjected to abduction, rape and violence from the
men of other community. During displacement, women might face issues in terms of not only
sexual violence or physical abuse, but also the lack of proper sanitation and denial of accessing
the basic services|. Women and children who are displaced from their homes become refugees,
women face challenges that are conditioned by their social roles and by their status as mothers,
widows, property owners or the survivors of violence.

Image source- Google Images

Taking this issue in the Indian context of violence against women 70% of women are the victims
of domestic violence and 38% of men admit that they have physically abused their partners in an
intimate relationship in India. One of the most widely accepted definitions of violence against
women that has been framed by the United Nations is "Any act of gender-based violence that
results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to the
woman, including the threats of these kinds of acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation, whether in
public or private life." (Violence against women in India, a review of trends, patterns and
responses. By ICRW). The above quote explains that how the united states has stated that it is
not necessary that the act of violence against women should be just physical, this act could be
psychological too. The psychological violence can also be a threat or a harm done to make the
woman loose her sanity. Even these kinds of violence against women is really dangerous.

In India, before article 377 was abolished, according to the law, someone who was caught being
hurting or tormenting any of them, could be handcuffed and put behind the bars. There are many
personal experiences of people who has been gang raped, beaten with a brick and nearly thrown
out of a moving vehicle because of their sexuality.

Before the abolishment of article 377 in India, it was a criminal offence to have physical or
sexual relationship between the two people of the same sex. “November-December 1991: A
document detailing the experiences of gay people in India is released by the AIDS Bhedbhav
Virodhi Andolan (ABVA), an organisation fighting discrimination against those affected by HIV
or AIDS. The 70-page report reveals the shocking extent of blackmail, extortion, and violence
that gay people faced, especially at the hands of the police.” - Quartz India

There are many more cases reported or unreported of such brutality this community of LGBTQ
faced before the article 377 was abolished in India. A leading newspaper in India, published an
interview of a person from the queer community, after one year of abolishment of the article 377
in India. This person tells his experience of how people from the community are coming out and
accepting their sexuality. Many of them, has come out in front of their own families and in their
workplaces. There are definitely more open conversation happening around homosexuality. The
argument in the court of law was that the fundamental rights are being cancelled out if section
377 is implied. Fundamental rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution of India, such as the
right to life and liberty, equality, exercise of freedom of expression and association. Those who
were in the favour of decriminalization argue that it’s not justifiable to put section 377 on
consenting adults. “On 6 September 2018, the Court ruled unanimously in Navtej Singh Johar v.
Union of India that Section 377 was unconstitutional "in so far as it criminalises consensual
sexual conduct between adults of the same sex".– , Google news.

Image source- Google.

The other kind of violence that could happen against women is the intimate partner violence.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a kind of domestic violence by the partner in an intimate
relationship. IPC van take different forms such as, physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse.
The world health organisation defines IPV as “ ... any behaviour within an intimate relationship
that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm to those in the relationship, including acts of
physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviours." - Google
Definition.

There are various causes or risk factors of the intimate violence against woman in India. There
are three kinds of factors involve, that is individual risk factors, relationship factors, community
factors and societal factors. Individual risk factors may include low self esteem, low income, low
academic achievements, heavy alcohol and drug use. Relationship factors may include marital
conflict, jealousy, possessiveness, economic stress, unhealthy family relation and interactions.

Worldwide, 38% of murders of women are committed by a male intimate partner. Women are
most likely to suffer from intimate partner violence if their education is low, exposed to their
mother abused by the partner, or are abused during childhood and have an attitude of accepting
male dominance and their violence. Major effects of intimate violence on woman are the victim
becoming quiet and unsocial, lose of efficiency to work, goes into self-isolation, suffer from
depression and lack of sleep, lose of weight and appetite. Happiness of women are destroyed and
could even lead to suicidal tendencies. Almost one third, that is 30% of woman who has been in
a relationship has reported some kind of physical or sexual violence by their partner in the period
of their lifetime.

Indian women are exposed to intimate partner violence due to many factors that operate at the
multiple levels of their lives, some of them are early marriage, husband’s alcohol use, women’s
employment and justification of violence. Specifically, in India, there are some more important
factors that cannot be left unturned while keeping violence by an intimate partner in the context.
These factors are culture practice of dowry, growing up while witnessing violence, presence of
multiple children in the family, forced sex, partner's controlling behaviour and residence with
higher rates of murder cases.

In the above argument, I have stated that how violence against women in India happens at
various levels and at various occasions. Some of the violence can severely affect the body and
others can affect the soul. In both of these kind of violence, it’s the woman who bears all the
losses. So, the conclusion of my study was that if a woman has the knowledge about her own
rights given to her by the government of India, she would be able to raise her voice against the
injustice done to her by the patriarchy.

Bibliography

1. Violence Against Women In India. Prepared By The International Center For Research
On Women For UNFPA India, 2004.
2. Thomas, Maria. "Timeline: The Struggle Against Section 377 Began Over Two Decades
Ago". Quartz India, 2020, https://qz.com/india/1379620/section-377-a-timeline-of-
indias-battle-for-gay-rights/.
3. 2020, https://www.thehindu.com › ...PDF reportable in the supreme court of India
criminal original jurisdiction writ petition - The Hindu. Accessed 1 June 2020.
4. "Intimate Partner Violence Definition - Google Search". Google.Com, 2020,
https://www.google.com/search?
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