Jose K Joseph
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Despite the presence of laws seeking to prevent domestic violence against women, the state witnesses more than 4,000 such cases every year. This has prompted calls from women’s rights activists and social scientists for stricter implementation of the laws.
According to data available with the state police, the cases of domestic violence against women in the state include more than 500 dowry-related murder cases every year. Documents accessed by Orissa POST show that a majority of the domestic violence cases in recent years have been reported from Khurda, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak and Angul districts.
“Dowry remains the foremost reason for domestic violence against women in most cases. Rising public awareness about the laws and their stricter enforcement has brought about steady changes in the situation in recent years. More cases of domestic violence are getting reported these days than earlier,” said Rashmiprava Mishra, domestic violence protection officer, Khurda.
However, leading NGOs and women rights activists say wider awareness on laws to prevent domestic violence against women is necessary because still a shockingly large number of cases go unreported in the state’s rural areas.
“Awareness among women in rural areas about their rights is very low. We are currently conducting a 16-day campaign that aims to raise awareness about domestic violence at the community level. Our campaign vans reach many interior villages and our volunteers provide all the information and necessary services to curb violence against women,” said Anuradha Mohanty, a leading women’s right activist who is executive director of the NGO, People’s Cultural Centre (PECUC).
As per guidelines framed by the Supreme Court, any financial demands made by a man or his family members to his wife’s family before or after the marriage would come within the definition of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Snigdha Panigrahi, member of State Commission for Women, said the commission organises many awareness campaigns on domestic violence against women. “Society as a whole must act together with determination to end the menace. Still a majority of the domestic violence happens with demands for dowry,” she said.
Social scientists are of the opinion that women could be free from domestic violence in the true sense only when the prevailing social stigmas and the domination of men in most spheres of life disappear. Meanwhile, people engaged in counselling the victims of domestic violence say the victims find it hard to get the support of their families after they seek justice for the injustice committed against them.
