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Understanding The Domestic Violence Act

Understanding The Domestic Violence Act

What is the Domestic Violence Act?
 
The domestic violence act, officially known as the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, was initiated by the Indian government in October of 2006. The Domestic Violence Act was originally passed by Parliament in August of 2005 and subsequently assented to by the President in September of the same year. In November of 2007, the Domestic Violence act was ratified by four of the twenty-eight state governments in India.
The Domestic Violence Act, for the first time in the nation’s history, formally defined an act of domestic violence. The definition has since been used in thousands of court cases, both of a civil and criminal nature, to prosecute those individuals who commit violent actions against their spouses or loved ones.
What is the Domestic Violence Definition according to the Domestic Violence Act?
The Protections of Women from Domestic Violence Act defines domestic violence in a series of steps or classifications. For the purpose of the domestic violence act, domestic violence is defined as any conduct that is delivered in a habitual nature and encompasses various forms of assault, which make the life of the aggrieved or inflicted person miserable.
The domestic violence act states that the victimized party is impeded from his or her personal liberties through perpetual violence or belittlement; the nature of the definition constitutes a feeling of depression by the aggrieved party even the underlying conduct does not amount to physical ill-treatment.
The Domestic violence act further defines domestic violence as any action, committed in the constraints of a relationship or marriage, as any action, which forces the aggrieved part to lead an immoral life or any action that delivers harm or injuries to the aggrieved person.
The Domestic Violence Act also states that a domestic violence charged will not be heard if the pursuit of course of conduct by the responding party was reasonable for his or her own protection or for the protection of his or another party’s property.
Why was the Domestic Violence Act Passed?
 
The Domestic Violence Act was meant to provide protection to the wife or female live-in partner from acts of domestic violence at the hands of her husband or male live-in partner. The laws within the act also extend to protect women who are widows, mothers or sisters from acts of domestic violence.
Under the act, domestic violence includes all actual abuse or the threat of abuse, regardless of whether the actions are of a physical, sexual, economic, verbal or emotional nature. Economic domestic abuse, according to the domestic abuse act, refers to any harassment by way of unlawful dowry demands to the women or her relatives.
One of the primary goals of the domestic violence act is to secure the woman’s right to obtain housing. The domestic violence act provides for the woman’s right to reside in a shared household, whether or not the individual has any title or rights to the home. This right is secured by a residence order, which is passed by a coordinating court under the Domestic violence Act. These orders cannot be passed against anyone who is a woman.