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Focus on Protection of Women from Violence Act

P. Anima

`Delhiites continue to have misconceptions about the law'

NEW DELHI: More than a year after the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) was passed by Parliament, Delhiites continue to have misconceptions about the law, with most of them believing the Act is going to be rampantly misused, reveals a new study by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), a research organisation here in the Capital.

The latest study on "Knowledge and awareness on Domestic Violence and Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005" was conducted to gauge general public knowledge and awareness about the PWDVA among the people of Delhi and some districts of Punjab.

More than 50.7 per cent of the 513 people interviewed in Delhi for the in-house study said they had heard about the Act. But while 46.6 per cent of them understood domestic violence to be lack of understanding between husband and wife, some confused it with property disputes or conflicts in the husband's family. "It is the crux of the Act that people have failed to understand," said senior researcher Chittaranjan Mishra who co-ordinated the study, completed a week ago.

"There are a number of civil measures in the Act that complement the existing criminal aspects," he added.

The thrust of Act that seeks correction of the perpetrator's behaviour more than punitive measures is lost on the people. Though more than 80 per cent of the respondents have heard, seen or were aware of domestic violence, according to them a significant number of victims (25.4 per cent) did not approach anyone for help, while a few others turned to friends and relatives.

Though 42.5 per cent of the victims approached the police, 421 respondents said that in 50.6 per cent of the cases no action was taken against the perpetrators. Interestingly, the study points out that the primary reason for inaction was mutual compromise arrived at by the parties concerned.

Mutual compromise was arrived at in more that 50 per cent cases and money was used in 16.9 per cent instances to withdraw the case.

Significantly, the respondents felt women belonging to the upper class were most likely to make use of the Act, in contrast to women of lower and middle classes. But a whopping 60.8 per cent of the respondents in Delhi believed that the Act would be rampantly misused. A large section of them (59.9 per cent) believed the Act would be misused intentionally.

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