Dear Friends:
This news is from the New York Times today (28 03 2012). It is, however, not the full report as it is blocked. -bhuban March 28, 2012, 12:17 AM When Home Is No Refuge for Women By THE NEW YORK TIMES “This month, two women’s stories, told courageously, helped to underline the reality of domestic violence in India,” Nilanjana S. Roy writes about Nita Bhalla, a journalist, who wrote for the BBC about being physically assaulted by her partner and Meena Kandasamy, a poet and writer on social issues who wrote in Outlook, a national newsmagazine, of surviving a violent marriage: “My skin has seen enough hurt to tell its own story,” Ms. Kandasamy wrote. Both Ms. Kandasamy and Ms. Bhalla are, in Ms. Bhalla’s phrase, “professional, educated, independent” women, but as surveys of domestic violence in the country indicate, their empowerment was no protection against abuse, Ms. Roy writes. In 2005-6, the National Health and Family Survey, conducted by the Ministry of Health in households across 29 states, mapped domestic violence in India. It found that about 40 percent of married women across the country had experienced domestic violence; the survey called it a serious public health problem. In the six years since the Health Ministry data were published, some progress has been made, on the legal and social fronts. More women have begun to talk about domestic violence (only 1 percent of reported violence and abuse is instigated by women against their male partners, according to the survey findings). In 2011, the popular Hindi television series “Dil Se Di Dua-Saubhagyavati Bhava” told the story of a woman married to a man who is alternately charming and abusive. Perhaps the most significant change has been in the application of the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, a landmark piece of legislation that took effect in 2006. For the first time, it formally recognizes a woman’s right to protection from violence at home and addresses verbal, emotional and economic abuse as well as physical and sexual abuse. Significantly for India, it includes unmarried couples and “sisters, widows and mothers” living in shared households. A major problem identified by women’s rights organizations and the Delhi-based Lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative 2011 report is police attitudes toward domestic violence, Ms.Roy writes. The police are often the point of first contact for women who want to report violence in their homes, “there is confusion among police officers as to what constitutes domestic violence,” she writes. “For instance, some officers think that verbal abuse or a slap is acceptable and does not need to be reported _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
