Domestic violence: Protection officers for women suffering abuse

TWO decades after the enactment of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, the matrimonial home continues to be unsafe for many wives in India. Domestic violence accounted for 24 per cent of the around 25,700 complaints received by the National Commission for Women last year. In a welcome move, the Supreme Court has directed all states and union territories to identify officers in the Department of Women and Child Development at the district and taluka levels and designate them as protection officers. A protection officer is tasked with ensuring the safety and wellbeing of any woman who is subjected to cruelty by her husband or his relatives. It is this officer’s job to inform the aggrieved person about her rights — the law empowers her to file a complaint, avail free legal aid and seek monetary relief.

The court’s order on a plea filed by an NGO, We the Women of India, makes it obvious that there are glaring gaps in the implementation of the domestic violence Act. Leaving survivors of abuse to fend for themselves deprives them of their constitutional right to life and liberty. Such indifference shows the State, which is duty-bound to help every citizen live with dignity, in a very poor light. The lack of shelter homes for women who lodge complaints against their husbands and in-laws makes them even more vulnerable to being victimised and exploited.

The SC Bench has directed that the exercise to designate protection officers should be completed within six weeks so that all districts and talukas are covered. This deadline will test the resolve and commitment of the authorities, which often pay only lip service to the safety of women at home. It is important to fix the accountability of states and UTs which lag in implementing the legal provisions. It’s a good sign that more and more women are preferring not to remain silent sufferers. What they direly need is a robust support system and timely delivery of justice.

Editorials