The Women Graduates Union (WGU) organised a talk and panel discussion on domestic violence in Colaba on Monday. The talks shed more light on the importance of education, violence behind closed doors and the legal recourse that can be taken in such a situation.
The Women Graduates Union (WGU) organised a talk and panel discussion on domestic violence in Colaba on Monday. The talks shed more light on the importance of education, violence behind closed doors and the legal recourse that can be taken in such a situation.
On the panel were Dr Vibhuti Patel, professor and director of the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy and Head, PG Economics, SNDT Women's University, Rinki Roy Bhatacharya, founder/chairperson of the Bimal Roy Film Society and Monica Sakhrani, associate professor and chairperson, Centre for Social Justice and Governance, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
The discussion busted various myths surrounding domestic violence where Bhatacharya spoke of it as a 'socially sanctioned crime'. With her study of more than 2,500 cases from 4 states, Sakhrani talked about how orders were passed in just 600 and how women backed out owing to immense pressure in more than 100 cases. "There are service providers and protection officers available in all these states but Maharashtra has a bad dissemination of protection officers. Women don't know such things exist to help them. Mumbai has 6 to 7 protection officers, but they are not that active. Cases are supposed to be concluded in 60 days but many have been languishing for more than 5 years," said Sakhrani.
The panel clarified that a woman has the right to reside in her matrimonial house and the law for domestic violence isn't just for married women. "According to article 498 A, if a woman dies an unnatural death within the seven years of her marriage and there is evidence to prove domestic violence, the court considers the husband a criminal It is the most underused law and we see more than a lakh cases under it every year," said Sakhrani.
The panel aimed at providing women with better awareness tools and stressed on the fact that violence is common among all classes and castes.
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