Empowering Marginalized Communities: Enhancing Legal Awareness To Combat Domestic Violence In India

Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of behavior that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner¹. One of the largest populations of domestic violence victims in the world resides in India². It is a social problem that permeates through all socio-economic strata of the country, but its occurrence is particularly acute among impoverished and illiterate households³, as well as those residing in urban slums⁴. These demographic groups - collectively addressed as marginalized communities, constitute a significant portion of the country's population and are disproportionately affected by domestic violence⁵. 

Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA) in India aims to safeguard those vulnerable to domestic violence. While the academic discourse has thoroughly examined the contents of the law, its effective application and enforcement still warrants scrutiny. A dearth of mandated protection officers, delayed trial procedures, insufficient shelter facilities and police malconduct - all serve as hurdles in the enforcement of PWDVA⁶. However, the biggest factor contributing to its under-utilization is a lack of awareness of the reliefs guaranteed by law, especially among marginalized communities⁷. A strong inverse correlation has been established between legal awareness and victimization of women from these communities⁸. 

Recognising the indispensability of increased awareness amongst victim groups, the Organic Act 1/2004 on Comprehensive Protection Measures to Combat Gender Violence in Spain enshrines preventative awareness among citizens as the law's first guiding principle⁹. Notably, the act mandates incorporation of legal awareness into the Spanish education system. This has resulted in a substantial increase in the willingness to formally report cases of domestic violence, indicating an enhanced agency as well as trust in the legal recourse among victims¹⁰. 

In the case of PWDVA, provisions regarding awareness remain ambiguous. Although Section 11(1) tasks the government to ensure regular publicity of the act's provisions - which may be viewed as a peripheral effort to improve awareness, the absence of specific mandates and well-defined roles for enforcement agencies, make it an ancillary objective at best. Therefore, the ongoing awareness programs launched by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) lack funding¹¹, suffer from a dearth of credible evidence to measure success¹² and do not stay resilient to changing political cycles¹³. Besides, the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 - formulated to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society, also does not give due stress to legal awareness and lists it as an “optional” function of the Central Authority¹⁴. Consequently, legal interventions aimed to mitigate the occurrence of a social evil have fallen short in reaching and protecting those that need them the most. 

To address this issue, a specific legislative amendment in the PWDVA must be enacted, incorporating a clause for preventive awareness measures to be carried out by NALSA. This must entail measurable objectives, explicit assignment of responsibilities, mapping of targeted groups, and penalties for non-compliance by officials or authorized bodies. The clause must also commission the institutionalization of impact evaluation and obligate state governments to collect data, publish annual monitoring reports and document feedback from the targeted beneficiaries - to assess the effectiveness of ongoing programs and maintain accountability of enforcement agencies. An additional component in the amendment must cover the theme of information dissemination, and how the forces of media and technology may be leveraged for deeper penetration - which can be in the form of advertisements on television or radio, campaigns on social media, and automated broadcast messages. 

Incorporating learnings from Spain's approach and adapting it to India's unique circumstances, legal awareness sessions must be mandated in schools and community gatherings in India, their subject matter must be context-responsive keeping in mind the country's diverse socio-cultural norms, and they must encourage conversations about topics that are commonly treated as taboo, such as domestic violence. For extended reach, well-entrenched government apparatus of Anganwadi centers (Courtyard shelters) and Urban Local Bodies must also be leveraged. 

The importance of empowering marginalized communities through improved awareness to tackle the state's failures in protecting their rights has been well documented¹⁵. Increased legal awareness has already proven to mitigate crimes in India - be it in the domain of forest exploitation¹⁶, cyber violations¹⁷, or substance abuse¹⁸. It is central to establishing trust in the legal recourse and minimizing incidents of domestic violence in India. Given the extent of domestic violence among marginalized communities, increased legal awareness will also serve to mobilize victims as a strong pressure group that can influence budget allocations, legal policies, election manifestos and public narrative. Additionally, this holds the potential to improve socio-political participation of women from marginalized communities. Hence, in light of the country's deep-rooted social hierarchies and patriarchal mindsets, increased legal awareness will not only impart greater agency for victims but also push the needle towards gender-parity. 

Views Are Personal

References

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