Adhikary and Dutta

respect to occurrence of violence against the fair sex. Actually, the manifestation

of patriarchal power results in violence against women. In a patriarchal country

like India the male enjoys dominance, privileges and freedom in all aspects of life,

where as women are deprived of basic human rights and therefore are the victims

of social customs. The definition of violence against women (VAW) cannot be

singled out. UN General Assembly, in its resolution 48/104 of 20 December, 1993

defined VAW as ‘Any act of gender based violence that results in or is likely to

result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering to women including

threat of such act, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty whether occurring

in public or private life’. Violence reveals the wild nature of human beings. Any

untoward action that adversely affects security, freedom and welfare of women,

is considered as violence against women. It recurs in different manners, namely,

physical, psychological, sexual and financial. Violence created by men is their last

resort in order to dominate and control over women. It gets the women deprived

of enjoying their basic human rights. Obviously this is an illegal offence. It is

the matter of central concern of many national and international human right

movements. The tragedy becomes aggravated because this crime does occur not

only in external atmosphere but also within the family at home. When violence

occurs within the family, this is commonly known as Domestic Violence (DV).

Domestic Violence refers to ‘the range of sexually, psychologically and physically

coercive acts used against adult and adolescent women by current or former male

intimate partners’ World Health Organization (1996). Beating, kicking, slapping,

harmful restrictions to regular ordinary behaviour, normal activities and freedom of

movement, threats to demolish property, denial of access to resources and control

over assets, threat of murder, hurting the feelings by using the rotten language,

sexual assault, stimulation to commit suicide or deliberate self-harm etc. are the

common examples of domestic violence against women. It is not restricted to

married women only. The victims of domestic violence range from the killing aged

woman to killing of female foetal. Girls, unmarried young, ever married, never-

married, widows, divorce, old aged all sections of females are victims of DV.

Domestic violence is present everywhere irrespective of time and space, region,

religion, class, caste, status and position, economic condition, age etc. It is not

confined to existing husband only; violence against women may occur also from

other members of in-laws family, boyfriends and former husbands, other family

members such as nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, siblings etc. and sometimes from

parents also.Alcoholism, dowry, monetary crisis, extra-marital affairs, personality

disorders, interference of in-laws, marital maladjustment, property disputes, drug

addiction etc. are some of the main causes of domestic violence. Domestic violence

results in many awful effects such as detention into home, emotional break-down,

loss of self-confidence, loss of dignity, mental disorder, physical injuries etc.

It affects not only the woman concerned but also affects the family as well as

society. It increases the risk of having low birth-weight baby, under-five death

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