STUDY ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The contempt of Women is a common thing in the history of mankind though they have different and disparate cultures. There occurs tremendous charges I the status and position of the women in the Indian society after and independence. The position of women in the Indian society has been a very complicated one. It could not be an exaggeration to say that the recent changes in the status of women in India is not a sign of progress but it is really a recapturing of the position that they held in the early Vedic period. The status of women who constitute almost half of the Indian Population is not that encouraging. Ender based violence – including rape, domestic violence, mutilation, murder and sexual abuse is a profound health problem for women across the globe. But it is not considered as a public problem of serious concern. The Declaration on the Elimination of violence against women adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as ”any act of gender based violence that results in or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm, or suffering to women including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty; whether occurring in public or private life”. The status of women in India is not equal to the status of men in terms of access, participation and reward. It owes this situation to the patriarchal and feudalistic structure of the society. The issue of gender discrimination manifests itself as violence in the family, community and society. It takes the form of female feticide, female infanticide, abuse of the girl child, social harassment, mental torture, physical violence and cruelty affecting the body and mind of the women.