Conflict in the Shared Household: Domestic Violence and the Law in India

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA) was enacted following a concerted campaign by Indian women's groups. The law was envisaged to provide emergency civil reliefs to women facing violence within their homes. Over the years there has been a massive increase in cases filed under the PWDVA. Interactions with lawyers indicate that that the law is useful because of the comprehensiveness of the definition of domestic violence and the scope of reliefs provided in it; and that it allows women direct access to courts. The objective of this publication is to take stock of the progress made towards achieving statutory objectives in the first decade of its implementation. In this regard, the work attempts to cover themes relating to state accountability in terms of providing a supportive framework to facilitate women's access to justice, experiences in court, and jurisprudence evolved by appellate courts. It also seeks to trace and document the history behind the enactment of the PWDVA 2005. The work will capture the experience of key functionaries under the law, and analyse judicial trends by examining orders and judgments passed by the courts of magistrate, various high courts, and the Supreme Court.