Violence against women (VAW) is a harsh and complex reality and disproportionately affects women and severely impacts their lives and livelihoods. It is estimated that globally one in three women have faced violence in their lifetime. Most violence against women is perpetrated within the homes and often by intimate partners. In the year 2020, it was estimated that a woman or girl was killed every 11 minutes in her home¹. In India, while data on gender-based violence reported in the NFHS-5 shows a decline, it also revealed that the perpetration of intimate partner violence impacts women’s ability to become educated or join the labour force.

VAW manifests itself in the public as well as within private spaces. While incidents of violence in public spaces intimidate women and act as barriers for women’s mobility and accessibility of such spaces including workspaces, domestic violence or violence in private spaces are often manifested in deteriorating mental and physical health of women and children within the household in addition to acting as barriers in mobility. The triggers to VAW are often linked to exercising control and power of women’s bodies but recent data by NFHS also reveals that as women earn, violence is triggered to gain access to women’s earnings.

NFHS-5 clearly shows that 29% of women are victims of Intimate Partner Violence, more so when there is an acceptance of the violence. It also highlights that women who have an earning face 6% more incidents of violence as compared to those who do not earn.  One-fourth of ever-married women aged between 18-49 who have experienced spousal physical or sexual violence report having physical injuries². Almost 18% of women report facing mental and emotional violence.

Mitigating violence and seeking help is rare. Only 14% of women who have experienced physical or sexual violence by anyone have sought help to prevent its occurrence³. Those who do seek help, most often seek redressal from informal circles of family and friends and at best from local communities. Seeking help from formal institutions, especially using helplines, accessing police stations or resorting to legal establishments, is much lower.

The Indian judicial system has several legal safeguards to protect and prevent VAW. There also exists a range of mechanisms to ensure women remain protected as well as are able to seek help whenever necessary. The establishment of the Emergency Response Support System through the pan India helpline of 112, the integrated One Stop Centres Schemes (Swadhar Greh) and the 181 helplines are attempts to address VAW. The National Commission of Women and its state counterparts are also legal institutions for women seeking immediate interventions for prevention and protection. However, there needs to be expanded mechanisms and development of community-based intervention systems for not only protecting women and preventing VAW but also generating awareness around it.⁴

The United National General Assembly declared observation of elimination of violence against women and children in the fortnight from November 26^th to December 10^th, that marks the International Human Rights Day. The objective has been to raise awareness around issues of VAW in a campaign mode and is observed globally by International Agencies, Governments, NGOs, departments and CSOs. India is no exception and has taken important steps to curb VAW.  The largest anti-poverty program in the world - the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Program (DAY-NRLM), which has the potential through its engendered strategies to reach out to millions of rural women to address VAW, has launched a nation-wide campaign on November 25th, 2022.

The Mission, with its multidimensional approach to poverty, enhances the agency of women as economic actors and promotes a number of institutions to further gender mainstreaming. One such institution is the Gender Resource Centre/Gender Justice Centre. These institutions can be accessed by the large network of women to seek support for their entitlements and for redressal against VAW. While systemic interventions are being geared towards addressing GBV, this year a month-long Gender Campaign is being proposed from November 25th to December 23rd to add momentum to the work and increase awareness and visibility around this issue. This campaign will be the initiation of an annual campaign on gender with each year focussing on specific themes corresponding to issues of gender equity.

Through these ongoing efforts at all levels, and involvement of a variety of stakeholders, there is much potential for increased awareness of institutional mechanisms and support systems at work to mitigate VAW, which, hopefully, can lead to reduction in crime rates and a better and inclusive space for women.

 

1. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures

2. ibid

3. ibid

4. https://www.theigc.org/blog/the-growing-concern-around-violence-against-women-in-india-where-do-we-stand/