INTRODUCTION:

Domestic violence is a form of gender-based violence, intended at subordinating women. The global dimensions of domestic violence are of great concern, both in terms of their scope and extent. Domestic violence is perhaps the most universal, yet one of the most invisible forms of violence against women. No country or society can claim to be free of domestic violence, but the patterns and trends may vary across regions and countries.

Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women...”

It is an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of equality, development and peace, categorically declares the Beijing platform for action. It further asserts in all societies to a greater or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture. The low social and economic status of women can be both a cause and consequence of violence against women. The World human Rights Conference in Vienna 1993 recognized violence against women as human rights violence.

In the same year, United Nations Declaration, 1993 defined violence against women as “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 deprivations of liberty, weather occurring in public or private life”. (cited by Gomez, 1996). Several studies at the national and international levels have revealed the widespread nature of the violence against women. The UNIFEM Report, “A Life free from violence: It’s our Right”(1998) reveals that 34 million women are battered each year worldwide, one in six women are the victims of rape in industrialized countries and between 16 and 52 percent of women surveyed were assaulted by intimate partners. There are several forms of violence that constitute a violence of women’s right to live with dignity and self-respect. These include rape, incest, domestic violence, widow immolation, female feticide and infanticide, trafficking in women, sexual harassment, molestation, eve teasing, witch-hunting, dowry deaths, honor killings, female genital mutilation, and so on.

Adriana Gomez has also talked about to basic forms of violence, that is, structural and direct, structural violence arises from the dominant political, economic and social systems. Structural violence according to her is the basis of direct violence, because it influences the socialization which causes individuals to accept or inflict suffering, according to the social function they fulfill. (Larrain and Rodrigue, 1993)

In India, domestic violence was documented as a criminal offence in 1983. The offence chargeable under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code that relates to domestic violence is any act of cruelty by a husband (or his family) towards his wife. To deal with the problem of domestic violence, our parliament has made on act, i.e. ‘‘the protection of women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. It has received the assent of president on 13-09-2005 and effective from 26-10-2006. It is an act to provide for more effective protection of the rights of women guaranteed under the constitution who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family. Domestic violence has been defined under section -3 of the act, i.e ‘‘any act, omission or commission or conduct of the respondent shall constitute domestic violence.

The large number of the studies has been done on domestic violence across the world. In India, most of the studies focused on dowry-related violence and deaths (Vindhya, 2000; Waters, 1999; ), childlessness (Kohher-Reissman, 2000) and the gender and agency dimensions of domestic violence (Hegde, 1996),Wife-beating (Jejeebhoy and Cook,1997). Visaria (1999) in the study of Kheda district of Gujarat, found the most frequently reported types of violence against women were abusive language (80 percent), beating (63 percent), forcing women back to their parental home (52 percent) and threats to thrown them out (51 percent). The causes for violence were related to complaints about meal preparation and childcare and economic stress.

CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

There is no one single factor to account for violence perpetrated against women. Number of causes of domestic violence has been identified by various studies conducted in India as well as abroad. These causes can be divided into two categories, one, where the causes are focused on the individual characteristic of the abuser. These causes include individual problems such as unemployment, stress, poverty, physically challenged, lack of material resources. Second cause identified as systematic and structural patriarchal control of men over women. This is in two ways, firstly, it a gender power relation between men and women based on the ideology of male superiority and female inferiority (Kanwalpreet, 2006). Coomaraswamy (1992) points out that women are vulnerable to various forms of violent treatment for several reasons, all based on gender-: 1. Because of being female (2) Because of her relationship to a man and (3) Because of social group to which she belongs. Thus there are number of studies conduct on women violence.

SHGS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:

Self Help Group (SHG) intervention has brought tremendous change in the life of women at different level. Basically SHGs is the small homogenous group of women which working at grassroot as well as community level. Numerous studies has shown that SHGs playing a significant role in the fight against violence where the Gulabi Gang is the most imperative example of group women, which working with numeral of women against violence. In the study of Pondicherry it is also found the changes in the life of women after joining the group. All the group members invariably experienced a change in the attitude of their husbands and other family members and felt relatively relaxed from domination after joining SHG. They said that previously, they were ill-treated, verbally abused and were even beaten by their husbands but after joining SHG, they were treated with respect in their families. Few women said that they could voice against any ill-treatment from family on them. (Sahu Lopamudra1, Singh Suresh K2 2012). In the other study, Participatory Impact Assessment of SAPAP where tried to know the violence at home, workplace and in the broader public space. The percentage of members reporting domestic violence (45%) was significantly lower than the percentage of non-members reporting such incidence (74%) (Ranjani K. Murthy,K. Raju and A. Kamath,2005). Thus number of studies has shown the changes in the life of women after joining the group. In this way it could be said that women are set up against violence after joining the group.

CONCLUSION:

Violence against women is a concern of noticeably significant importance at societal and family levels. Domestic or intra-family violence perpetrated by both male and female family members and relatives deserves special attention. Domestic violence is a serious threat to women’s basic human rights and physical and psychological well-being. Violence against women is a complex problem which requires coordinated solutions, involving the participation of both the state and civil society. There is a strong and urgent need for mobilizing and adequately utilizing all allied sectors of society for formulating policy and programmes. These involve the development of community networks in order to provide care and support to people who are victims of violence. Violence against women is a serious problem in our society thus Women need to be empowered through education, employment opportunities, legal literacy, and right to inheritance.

REFERENCES:

1. A.Goel, M. Kaur and A.Sultana,(2006) ‘Voilence Against Women-Issues and Perspectives’ Deep and Deep Publication ,New Delhi.

2. Burra,N,Deshmukh-Ranadive.J.Murthy,R.K,(2005),Micro-credit,Poverty and Empowerment,Linking the Triad , sage publication ,New Delhi.

3. Declaration on the elimination of all forms of violence against women, 1993, www.unhchr.ch.

4. Jejeebhoy, Shireen J, Cook, Rebecca J. ‘State accountability for wife-beating: The challenge’, The Lancet, Vol. 349. London. 1997.

5. Kanwalpreet, 2006, ‘violence against women- issues and perspectives’, deepand deep publication, New Delhi.

6. Kholer Riessman, (Catherine). ‘Stigma and everyday resistance practices: Childless women in South India’, Gender and Society, 14 (1). Thousand Oaks. 2000.

7. Mahajan, A. 1990. "Instigators of wife battering." In Sooshma Sood, ed., Violence against Women. Jaipur: Arihant Publishers.

8. Rao, V. 1997. "Wife-beating in rural south India: A qualitative and econometric analysis." Social Science and Medicine, 44(8): 1169-1180.

9. Sahu Lopamudra1, Singh Suresh K2 ‘A Qualitative study on role of self-help group in women empowerment in rural Pondicherry, India’, National Journal of Community Medicine, Volume 3, Issue 3, July – Sept 2012 Open Access Article, www.njcmindia.org.

10. Srivastav,V.P., ‘Handbook on Crime Against Women’ Indian publishers distributors, New Delhi.

11. Violence in India: A Summary Report of Three Studies, Washington, DC: International Centre for Research on Women. 1999.

12. Visaria, Leela. ‘Violence against Women in India: Evidence from Rural Gujarat’, Domestic.

Received on 20.06.2017 Modified on 21.07.2017

Int. J. Ad. Social Sciences. 2017; 5(3):129-131.