Domestic Violence

The response to the phenomenon of domestic violence is a typical combination of effort between law enforcement agencies, social service agencies, the courts and corrections/probation agencies. The role of all these has progressed over last few decades, and brought their activities in public view.

The traditional attitude on issues related to domestic violence gave top priority to privacy. Police officers, government and other social forces were always reluctant to interfere in family matters in the past and preferred to simply counsel the couple even in extreme cases instead of making arrests and generating the process of criminal justice.

However in recent times, the spirit of activism shown by advocacy and feminist groups has brought the effect and scope of the criminal justice system to redress wrongs done by domestic abuse in sharp visibility.

Domestic violence is now being viewed as a public health problem of epidemic proportion world over – and many public, private and governmental agencies are seen making huge efforts to control it. Given below are the main bodies from the leading countries of the world that are rendering great service in this area. There are several organizations all over the world – government and non government – actively working to fight the problems generated by domestic violence to the human community.

Police intervention, law and justice, social workers and medical professionals are all tackling this sensitive problem in a more realistic manner now. United Kingdom, US, Canada, India and all other leading countries in the world have made rapid progress in this area.

In India – Sakshi – a violence intervention agency for women and children in Delhi works on cases of sexual assault, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse and domestic abuse and focuses on equality education for judges and implementation of the 1997 supreme Court Sexual Harassment Guidelines. Women’s Rights Initiative – another organization in the same city runs a pro bono legal aid cell for cases of domestic abuse and work in collaboration with law enforcers in the area of domestic violence.

In Mumbai – the commercial capital of India, bodies like Majlis and Swaadhar are doing meaningful works in this field. Sneha in Chinnai and Vimochana in Bangalore are working on many women’s issues arising from domestic abuse. They are also doing active work in issues related to labour. Services ranging from counseling, education and outreach, giving provisions, and mobilizing and organizing activism are provided by them. Anweshi is a women’s counseling centre in Kozhikode that doubles up as meditation, resource and counseling center for battered women. Then there are several domestic violence redressal bodies in Calcutta like the Socio-Legal Aid Research and Training Center, Prgatisheel Mahila Manch and Swayam. All the above bodies have their own registered offices, contact numbers and websites for those who want to seek help.

In the United Kingdom Kiran Asian Women’s Aid and Asiana operate as Asian Women’s refuge center. They are run by women who understand the culture and needs of Asian women. There are various bodies in all the states of US to redress the wrongs done to human beings by domestic violence and abuse. They are situated in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, and Maryland. Michigan,Massachussetts,New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania,Virginia,Texas,Oregon, Washington State and Washington DC. In Canada – Saskatchewan, Montreal and Vancouver house several bodies which provide redressal, safe services and shelter for victims of domestic violence.