“Staying Alive,” the Third Monitoring and Evaluation Report 2009

230 Pages·2009·6.06 MB·English

Staying Alive
Third Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2009
on the
Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act, 2005
Lawyers Collective
Women’s Rights Initiative
In collaboration with
Lawyers Collective
Women’s Rights Initiative The International Center for Research on Women
Lawyers Collective, Women’s Rights Initiative, 63/2 Ground Floor, Masjid Road, Bhogal-Jangpura, New Delhi - 110 014
Supported by
Tel.: [phone], e-mail: [email protected], website: www.lawyerscollective.org
UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women
22
Lawyers Collective
Women’s Rights Initiative
In collaboration with
The International Center for Research on Women
Staying Alive
Third Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2009
on the Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act, 2005
Supported by
UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women
© Lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative and International Center for
Research on Women, 2009
The Lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative (LCWRI)
The Lawyers Collective is a group of Lawyers with a mission to empower and change
the status of marginalised groups through the effective use of law, and an engagement
in human rights advocacy, legal aid and litigation. LCWRI actively uses the law as a tool
to address critical issues of women such as domestic violence, sexual harassment at the
workplace, matrimonial and family related matters, crimes against women particularly
sexual assault and reproductive rights. The LCWRI was instrumental in the drafting of,
lobbying for and enactment of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,
2005 (PWDVA).
Understanding that evaluation is at the core of effective functioning of any legislation,
the LCWRI has been conducting an annual monitoring and evaluation exercise on the
manner in which PWDVA is being implemented across the country since its enactment.
This is the third year of the Law and we present to you the Third Monitoring and
Evaluation Report, in an effort to appraise the promise of the Act.
International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
ICRW, founded in 1976, is a private, non-profit organisation headquartered in Washington,
DC, with the Asia regional office in New Delhi, India, and field offices in Hyderabad
and Mumbai in India and Kampala in Uganda. ICRW’s mission is to empower women,
advance gender equality and fight poverty in the developing world. To accomplish this,
ICRW works with partners to conduct empirical research, build capacity and advocate
for evidence-based, practical ways to improve policies and programmes.
Designed and Printed by:
New Concept Information Systems Pvt Ltd.
Email: [email protected]
ii
FOREWORD
“The day will come when man will recognise woman as his peer, not only at
the fi reside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be
the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in
the highest development of the race.”
—Susan B. Anthony
Leader of the women’s rights movement of the 19th century
You have before you, the Third Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2009 on the
implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
Many women facing violence have contributed to this Report and inspired LCWRI to
continue our tracking of the Law against all odds and we are proud to have kept up
this effort.
These past three years have taught LCWRI that whilst it is possible to have a Law on
the table, it does not fl ow from this, that violence against women will automatically end.
That is how it should be, but unfortunately, we are far from being a society governed
by law alone.
The PWDVA has not yet gained the desired level of social acceptance and women
still fi nd themselves waging a lonely battle. One of the most insurmountable barriers
faced is delays. At a recent National Conference in Delhi hosted by the Ministry of Law
and Justice, the delays of the Law were described as a ‘national emergency.’ This is
undoubtedly the case, however, even national emergencies visit us selectively; the
delay affects the vulnerable more than others as they are approaching the court for
justice on survival issues.
It appears that Judges are hesitant to grant ex-parte orders even when the
circumstances so demand and that proceedings are not being completed within a
reasonable timeframe. While it is easy to blame this on the lack of suffi cient number
of Judges, those who deal with domestic violence cases must realise that there
are solutions within the given system that they can utilise. Interim orders can be
granted to prevent further derogation from a woman’s right to residence, frivolous
appeals against interim orders need not be entertained and available procedural tools
can be used to speed up justice. Women’s organisations must now form a part of
the mainstream demand for judicial reforms, so as to ensure that women affected
by domestic violence can get their voice heard and extricate themselves from the
violence they face.
iii
Third Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2009
Ultimately, the success of any law must be judged by how infrequently it needs
to be invoked, not how often it is used. Today, we measure the success of the
PWDVA from the number of cases fi led under the Act. These fi gures tell us that
women have become aware of their rights and to that extent, we may call this an
indicator of success. However, on the other hand, it is a sad reminder of the fact that
violence against women in the ‘safe haven’ they call home, continues to assume the
proportions of an epidemic.
Having a law in place is one thing, but having people imbibe the ethos of the law is
quite another matter. There was a time when we said that violence in the home was
invisible. With the enactment of the PWDVA, there is no more ‘invisibility’. However,
as is the case with any battle worth fi ghting, this victory has given rise to yet another
struggle. With the visibility of domestic violence, what has become clear is that
discrimination against women has increased. The fi ght to outlaw discrimination has
not yet begun and looms ahead of us. Time and again we are told that women are
‘misusing’ the Law. When asked what is meant by ‘misuse’, it is diffi cult to get a
coherent answer, except perhaps that a woman should learn to live with ‘trivial’ forms
of violence within the home and not take these issues to court. Constitutional law still
stops at the doorstep of the home it seems. One can only conclude that the intent
behind this claim is to dissuade women from using the Law. It seems that as the
number of women successfully procuring their rights increases, the louder the cry of
‘misuse’ becomes. Changing the status quo, making the relationship within marriage
more equal, will be by far the most diffi cult battle ahead.
This year, LCWRI together with ICRW, is presenting a rigorous data set on knowledge
about and attitude towards the PWDVA and gender issues among Police, Judiciary
and Protection Offi cers and other key stakeholders — a unique data set that has
never been collected and analysed before. Quantitative data on these aspects
coupled with qualitative interviewing and observations from other key stakeholders
are extremely important to help track the implementation of the Law over the next
couple of years, and also inform evidence based programming and interventions.
Both our organisations are particularly pleased by this collaboration and the coming
together of our respective strengths and perspectives. We believe that through this
partnership, we will carry the effort of monitoring the Law beyond court rooms and
to the doorsteps of stakeholders such as the Protection Offi cers, Police, Service
Providers and most important of all, to the women themselves for whom this Law
was created.
Zero tolerance of violence against women must remain a constitutional goal. Thus, the
primary responsibility to stop violence is that of the State. However, since civil society
has an equal, if not a greater, stake in ending violence against women, we have kept
up our effort at documenting the implementation of the Law. We continue to hope that
this is a task which will, in the near future, be undertaken by the State as an effective
tool to monitor the implementation of the Law.
iivv
Third Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2009
“... the constitutional protection of dignity requires us to acknowledge the value
and worth of all individuals as members of our society. It recognises a person
as a free being who develops his or her body and mind as he or she sees fi t. At
the root of the dignity is the autonomy of the private will and a person’s freedom
of choice and of action.”
-A. P. Shah C. J. and S. Muralidhar J Naz Foundation v. NCT of Delhi & Ors. WP(C) No.7455/2001
(High Court of Delhi); July 2009

Ms. Indira Jaising Dr. Ravi Verma
Project Director Regional Director
Lawyers Collective Asia Regional Offi ce
Women’s Rights Initiative International Center for Research on Women
vv
vi
Third Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2009
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Staying Alive,” the Third Monitoring and Evaluation Report 2009 was conceptualised
by Indira Jaising and compiled by the Lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative
(LCWRI) team under her guidance and the International Center for Research on
Women (ICRW) team, spearheaded by Ravi Verma and Mary Ellsberg.
The Report was written by Udiksha Batra and Nandita Bhatla, with substantial
contributions from Tenzing Choesang and Brototi Dutta and assistance from Jhuma
Sen, Ujwala Kadrekar and Pranita Achyut.
A very special thank you to Sonal Makhija and Kritika Shrivastava (Editors) for their
insightful comments, time invested and absolute commitment.
National data collection, tabulation and analysis were undertaken by Tenzing Choesang.
Brototi Dutta, Ujwala Kadrekar, Pooja Badarinath, Aileen Marques and Pouruchisti Wadia
undertook tabulation and analysis of court orders and judgments. Samridhi Sinha and
C.P. Nautiyal assisted in data tabulation.
Formulation of research tools, qualitative data collection from this year’s study sites
(Delhi, Maharashtra and Rajasthan) and analysis of data was undertaken by Nandita
Bhatla, Pranita Achyut and Aprajita Mukherjee. We especially acknowledge the kind
assistance of Kavita Srivastava.
We thank Amy Gregowski, Deepa Bhalerao Singh, Sigma Research and Consulting, Paroma
Ray and Saptarshi Mandal for their involvement at different stages of this process.
We wish to extend our gratitude to Girija Vyas and Yogesh Mehta, National Commission
for Women, for their continuous support.
Our Report is a result of invaluable collaborations. A special mention must be made
of all those involved in this process. The nodal departments of all state governments,
the NJA, NIPCCD, the High Courts of Delhi, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, State Judicial
Academies of Delhi and Maharashtra, Maharashtra Commissionarate of Women and
Child Development, Police Department in Maharashtra, Offi ce of the Special Inspector
General of Police Maharashtra, PAW Cell, CAW Cell Delhi, and the DWCD Delhi,
Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
We thank all our civil society partners for their help and continued commitment towards
creating a violence-free society for women.
vii
Third Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2009
A warm thank you to the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women,
managed by UNIFEM, for supporting LCWRI’s ‘Staying Alive’ project. Special mention
must be made of Anne Stenhammer, Sushma Kapoor and Gitanjali Singh, UNIFEM
South Asia Offi ce. We also thank the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their
support to ICRW’s M&E Programme.
All aspects of logistics and administration were supervised by Udiksha Batra and Kritika
Shrivastava and special thanks are due to Molamma Mathew, Usha Verma, Gurmid
Rawat, Shishupal Prajapati, C. P. Nautiyal, Karan Singh, Dilip Chibde and Manohar Lal.
We wish to express our deep appreciation to our families and well-wishers for their
continued support throughout this process.
Special thanks are due to New Concept Information Systems Pvt. Ltd. for designing
and printing this Report, especially Romi Mukker, Ram Gopal Rathi, Parul Baghel and
Madhura Dasgupta for their patience and hard work.
Last but defi nitely not least, our heartfelt gratitude to all the study participants who
consented to give their time and share their views to make this Report possible.
A detailed list of all individuals who have been a part of this process are listed in
Annexure 1.
vviiiiii