Protection of lives and dignity of women Report on violence against women in India Human Rights Now May 2010 Human Rights Now (HRN) is an international human rights NGO based in Tokyo with over 700 members of lawyers and academics. HRN dedicates to protection and promotion of human rights of people worldwide. [email protected] Marukou Bldg. 3F, 1-20-6, Higashi-Ueno Taitou-ku, Tokyo 110-0015 Japan Phone: +81-3-3835-2110 Fax: +81-3-3834-2406 Report on violence against women in India TABLE OF CONTENTS Ⅰ: Summary 1: Purpose of the research mission 2: Research activities 3: Findings and Recommendations Ⅱ： Overview of India and the Status of Women 1: The nation of ―diversity‖ 2: Women and Development in India Ⅲ: Overview of violence and violation of human rights against women in India 1: Forms of violence and violation of human rights 2: Data on violence against women Ⅳ: Realities of violence against women in India and transition in the legal system 1: Reality of violence against women in India 2: Violence related to dowry death 3: Domestic Violence (DV) 4: Sati 5: Female infanticides and foeticide 6: Child marriage 7: Sexual violence 8: Other extreme forms of violence 9: Correlations Ⅴ: Realities of Domestic Violence (DV) and the implementation of the DV Act 1: Campaign to enact DV act to rescue, not to prosecute 2: Content of DV Act, 2005 3: The significance of the DV Act and its characteristics 4: The problem related to the implementation 5: Impunity of DV claim 6: Summary Ⅵ: Activities of the government, NGOs and international organizations 1: Government agencies‘ approach 2: The approaches by NGOs 3: Approaches by international organizations 4: International community and donors Ⅶ: Realities of violence and efforts to exterminate the violence in Rajasthan 2 1: An environment surrounding women in Rajasthan 2: Women and development in Rajasthan 3: NGOs activities to protection of women‘s rights in Rajasthan 4: Activities of international organizations 5: Summary Ⅷ: Indian government’s obligation under international law 1: Right to Life 2: Right to be free from torture 3: Right to effective remedy 4: Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women 5: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 7: Summary Ⅸ: Policy proposal and conclusion ANNEXURES Annexure1: THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005 Annexure2: Concluding comments by CEDAW 3 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYUMS AP Aggravated Person CDPO Child Development Protection Officer Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against CEDAW Women DIR Domestic Incident Report DPA Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 DPO District Probation Officer DSW Dep artment of Social Welfare DV Domestic Violence DV Act The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 DWCD Department of Women and Child Development FIR First Information Report First M&E Report Staying Alive: The First Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2007 HPI Human Poverty Index HRLN The Human Rights Law Network HRN Human Rights Now ICRW International Center for Research on Women IndiaSAFE Indian Studies of Abuse in the Family Environment IO Investigating Officer IPC Indian Penal Code 1860 JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency LC Lawyers Collective LCWRI Lawyers Collective Women‘s Rights Initiative M&E Monitoring & Evaluation M&E Report Monitoring & Evaluation Report MWCD Ministry of Women and Child Development NCRB National Crime Recode Bureau NCW National Commission for Women NFHS National Family Health Survey NGO Non-Governmental Organization NLSA National Legal Services Authority PO Protection Officer PWDVA Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 PWDVR Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Rules, 2006 Second M&E Report Staying Alive: The Second Monitoring & Evaluation Report 4 RUWA Rajasthan University Women‘s Association SHGs Self-Help Groups SP Service Provider Service Provider UN United Nations UNDP United Nation Development Programme UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNICEF United Nations International Children‘s Emergency Fund UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund For Women VAW Violence Against Women 5 I. Summary 1. Purpose of the research mission Human Rights Now (HRN), a Tokyo-based international human rights NGO1 conducted an investigation on violence against women in India during its research mission of the ―violence against women project‖ from September 15 to September 22, 2008 and published this report with recommendations. HRN‘s Violence Against women project aims: to build a network with women‘s organizations and NGOs fighting against violence in Asia and to improve the current situation of violence by conducting investigations and making policy proposals in cooperation with such organizations. Another goal of the project is to change the aid policy of the Japanese government which has almost no targeted aid plan to exterminate the violence against women in Asia despite being one of the main donor countries in the region. The research focused on India, the region where the violence against women is reported to be severe: the violence against women includes domestic violence, dowry-related violence, sati, acid attacks, ―witch hunting‖, violence related to child marriage, and rape.2 The research focus is on domestic violence (DV), which is an urgent problem in India since a great number of women have been killed by their husbands and husbands‘ family members. Various NGOs have been making efforts to improve the situation by pressuring the government to enact laws against DV. As a result, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (DV act) was enacted. Although the enactment of the DV act was a significant step towards changing the situation, the implementation of the act has been far from successful. Thus, the main focus of this research is, along with the investigation of the reality of DV, to observe the role the DV act plays in real life—particularly to identify the cause of problems as well as possible solutions. Due to time restrictions, the HRN research mission selected two areas in India – Delhi and Rajasthan. The capital, Delhi, was chosen to examine the status of implementation of the law and to gain an overview of how the law is enforced nation-wide. Rajasthan was chosen since the state is seen as facing serious and typical problems of violence against women.3 The mission found serious gaps between law and reality related to VAW (Violence Against Women) in India and its causes, as well as made several recommendations at the end of this report to fill the gap in order to protect women from violence. HRN expresses its deepest thanks for the cooperation and support given to the research mission by numerous organizations and individuals. 1 Human Rights Now is a Japan-based NGO established by a group of lawyers, researchers and activists working for the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, with special focus in Asia. 2 A lot of reports on the violence against women have been issued by many international organizations and the Government of India. For instance, ICRW (International Centre for Research on Women) published a report (http://www.icrw.org/docs/DVIndia_Report5_702.pdf). The Department of Women and Children (Government of India) also issued a report named the ―Report of the Working Group on Empowerment of Women‖ （http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp11/wg11_rpwoman.pdf）in 2007. 3 Lawyers Collective Women‘s Rights Initiative, ―Staying Alive First Monitoring & Evaluation Report 2007 on the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, at http://www.unifem.org.in/violenceagainst women.html. 6 2. Research Activities (1) Research Mission to India (September 15 to September 22, 2008 ) The following is the activities of HRN research mission. Date Organization/ Content Location Sep.15th, The Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur. Exchange of opinions Jaipur, Rajasthan. morning with representatives from DV act-related organizations. 15th, noon Chat with a woman from one of the NGOs mentioned above. 15th, afternoon Visit to Rajasthan State Commission for Women. Hearing from the staff. Visit to a shelter run by Rajasthan University Women‘s Association：RUWA. 16th, morning Chat with management staff and a hearing from shelter patrons. Visit to Women‘s Police Station, Mahila Thana. Hearing from police officers. 〃 16th, afternoon Jaipur city police office. Visit the DV prevention seminar organized by an NGO. Chat with Dr. Pawan Surana, 16th, evening former chairperson of Rajasthan State Commission for Women 17th, morning Visit to NGO Vishakha Visit to Sedhereyo Ki Dani, a village participating in a project Sedhereyo Ki Dani, 17th, noon organized by Vishakha. Hearing from project participants. Jaipur, Rajasthan Visit to United Nations Fund for Population Activities: Jaipur UNFPA, Jaipur office. Hearing from staff. 17th Visit to Department of Women& Child Development office. Hearing from staff. 18th, morning Visit to female NGO Jagori office. 18th, afternoon Visit to Delhi office, Lawyers Collective.(LC). Visit to Delhi high court. Attend the lawsuit over Indian penal code section 377. Exchange of opinions with Judge 19th of Delhi high court about DV act. Hearing and an exchange of opinions 〃 with a protection officer coordinated by LC. Visit to Human Rights Law Network: HRLN. Hearing about various forms 20th of violence against women. Meeting with the head officer of YWCA Delhi. 21st, morning Chat with a reporter from Asahi newspaper. 21st, evening Exchange of opinions with UNICEF Visit to JAICA 22nd. morning Visit to NGO Multiple Action Research Centre：MARC, an NGO aiming to empower women through law. (2) Monitoring After the mission, HRN continues its monitoring on the situation of implementation of the DV Act in India and legal arguments surrounding the Act based on the data, interview with NGOs and observing legal cases. This report includes our continuous research on VAW in India. 3. Findings and Recommendations HRN found that Indian DV Act includes many innovative and progressive provisions and systems to prevent DV and protect victims of DV.