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Domestic violence, how can we control it?

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Essay Contest for UPSC Exam for IAS

‘Home sweet home!”, is what one feels when he/she enters home. But what if the same ‘sweet home’ terrifies him? What if the same home instils fear in the person’s mind? The home then becomes a terror for the person all of a sudden through the means of domestic violence.

Domestic violence has been deeply rooted in our society for centuries, be it domestic abuse or a domestic violent act. It is astonishing that even in today’s world, where we have civilised and modernised ourselves, where we have moved towards liberalism, where we have accepted prominent changes in the society, however we still lag behind in abolishing some social evils including domestic violence. We are witnessing about thousands of cases every year, excluding the cases which are probably not even reported. The unreported cases generally include victims in rural areas, who are unaware of their legal rights.

Before finding the solutions to this grave problem, it is a must, to be aware of the causes and reasons which lead to domestic violence.

According to the statistics, women are most prone to this social evil. A popular reason for this is the maintenance of dominance of men in the society. For instance, most of the women are beaten up in their homes for no reason, so that the men are able to reserve the patriarchal dominance and power in the society, and prove themselves stronger and influential. A recent debated issue in India was the “triple talaq act”, which has brought a revolutionary change in Muslim women’s lives by providing them with necessary rights to live with dignity. Before the act was passed, the married women were tortured due to lack of restrictions imposed on the culprits. The women were victims of domestic violence and most of them were even thrown out of their homes in rage, despite the fact that no religion supports any act of violence.

Moreover, the above reason is also accompanied by the conservative and radical minds, who repel themselves from change, and are stern to follow orthodox policies of maintaining a position in the house over the weaker members. Such people generally suffer from inferiority complex and thus indulge in violent acts.

Another important reason is lack of education and awareness among the victims about their legal rights, which help them to live with dignity. Lack of education lets the people to be victims easily.

This social evil can be dissolved and curbed by taking some actions, however it may take time.

Most importantly, there is a need to aware people about their rights and duties, so that they are able enough to stand strong against tortures. Proper education is required along with awareness to be strong enough to stand for themselves and raise voice against domestic violence. There is also a need to drop any mob mentality (which includes being conservative and supporting wrong notions and facts about/related to domestic violence), which disables one to choose between the right and wrong.

Stringent laws ought to be implemented in every state, which straightforwardly punishes the culprit. Enforcement of strict policies is also required to help the victims of violence to avail justice. Also, the NGOs and other social activists and organisations should educate everyone to raise their voice and report cases related to domestic violence around them, or cases witnessed by them.

We have crossed periods, centuries and decades till now, thereby liberalising, modernising and educating ourselves. We have adopted healthy and modern lifestyles, and have slowly established our identity in the society. Hence, it is a high time that we together stand against this social evil such as domestic violence, and switch to a socially and morally educated environment, and promote healthy and positive social atmosphere to live in.

-Snigdha Kashyap

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