Laws for Women
WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN INDIA: ACTS, LAWS AND POLICIES
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA)
The PWDVA came in to force on the 26th of October 2006 as a National Law spanning all of India except for the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The Act is supposed to provide quick protection and relief to women facing domestic violence. Some of the salient features of this Act are: * Only women can avail of the remedies provided under this Act. * The Act provides a broad definition of violence and includes physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and economic abuse within the ambit of domestic violence. * A case filed under the PWDVA is supposed to be disposed of within 60 days of filing, with a view to providing women with quick access to justice. * The law recognizes the right of a woman to be free from domestic violence in her natal home as well as her marital home. * The law recognizes the rights of couples in informal relationships/ unmarried partners. * The Act grants legal recognition to a woman’s right to reside in a ‘shared household’. * Although this is a civil law, women can approach magistrates’ courts (criminal courts) to access their rights under this Act. * The PWDVA emphasizes a violence-free atmosphere and creates a social responsibility on the community at large to inform the authorities about domestic violence. * The Act makes the government responsible for its effective implementation by ensuring it is given wide publicity. It is also the duty of the government to conduct sensitization training for the stakeholders of the Act.
Explanation:
This new law, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, protects, as the title says, women facing violence in domestic relationships. This is not limited to matrimony alone, but also includes relations in the nature of marriage, between brothers and sisters and mother and some who live in a common shared household.
Most importantly, the law
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA)
The PWDVA came in to force on the 26th of October 2006 as a National Law spanning all of India except for the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The Act is supposed to provide quick protection and relief to women facing domestic violence. Some of the salient features of this Act are: * Only women can avail of the remedies provided under this Act. * The Act provides a broad definition of violence and includes physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and economic abuse within the ambit of domestic violence. * A case filed under the PWDVA is supposed to be disposed of within 60 days of filing, with a view to providing women with quick access to justice. * The law recognizes the right of a woman to be free from domestic violence in her natal home as well as her marital home. * The law recognizes the rights of couples in informal relationships/ unmarried partners. * The Act grants legal recognition to a woman’s right to reside in a ‘shared household’. * Although this is a civil law, women can approach magistrates’ courts (criminal courts) to access their rights under this Act. * The PWDVA emphasizes a violence-free atmosphere and creates a social responsibility on the community at large to inform the authorities about domestic violence. * The Act makes the government responsible for its effective implementation by ensuring it is given wide publicity. It is also the duty of the government to conduct sensitization training for the stakeholders of the Act.
Explanation:
This new law, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, protects, as the title says, women facing violence in domestic relationships. This is not limited to matrimony alone, but also includes relations in the nature of marriage, between brothers and sisters and mother and some who live in a common shared household.
Most importantly, the law