INTRODUCTION: A pattern of behaviour employed in any relationship to acquire or maintain power and control over an intimate partner is known as domestic abuse, sometimes known as “domestic violence” or “intimate partner violence.” Abuse is defined as coercive, threatening, or harmful physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological behaviour toward another person. This includes any actions that terrify, intimidate, manipulate, inflict harm, humiliate, or place blame on another person. Anyone can experience domestic abuse, regardless of their ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. It can happen in a variety of situations, including ones between married, cohabiting, or dating couples. People from various socioeconomic origins and educational levels are impacted by domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse can affect everyone, regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or social class.

Any other household member, including a kid or other relative, may also be a victim of domestic violence.

Domestic violence often takes the form of a pattern of abusive behaviour toward an intimate partner in a

romantic or familial relationship, where the abuser exerts control and power over the victim.

Domestic violence may take the form of mental, physical, financial, or sexual abuse. Rarely are incidents isolated; instead, their frequency and intensity tend to increase with time. Abuse in the home can result in fatalities or severe physical harm.

Domestic violence that involves physical assault is the most well-known type. It entails causing the victim physical harm. Physical violence can result from other abusive behaviours including intimidation, threats, and limitations on the victim’s right to self-determination. Abuse during pregnancy can have a harmful effect on the mother and the foetus and have long-term effects. Because mental health is so rarely prioritised, emotional and psychological abuse is hardly ever recognised in society. Depression is a common condition among victims, putting them at risk for eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, and drug and alcohol abuse.

Marital rape is when a spouse is forced into having sex without their consent. Sexual assault includes things like requiring the victim to abort a pregnancy and forbidding her from using birth control. Due to inexperience, illness, a disability, or being under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, this may have occurred. To make marital rape a crime in India, applications have been filed. According to the petition, making marital rape a crime would cause “the disintegration of marriage in India.” Such words highlight the current situation of marriages in India and call for further criminalization of marital rape. One spouse manipulates the other to gain access to financial resources, which is known as economic abuse.

According to the National Family Health Survey (NHFS-4), which was published by the Union Health Ministry, from the age of fifteen, domestic abuse of some kind has affected one in three Indian women. Additionally, 31% of married women reported experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional abuse at the hands of their partners. The main problem is that only about 10% of those really reported this violence.

It is obvious that this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed, and women need to understand their rights and how to defend them. To address these situations, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, was introduced.

The highest percentage of women who believe it is acceptable for men to abuse their wives is found in Telangana, at 83.8%. Men in Karnataka are the most likely to believe that such behaviour is acceptable, at 81.9%. Intergenerational abuse patterns may need to be understood and broken in order to further minimise domestic violence. According to some theories, psychopathology is a contributing factor, and childhood abuse makes some people more violent as adults. Domestic abusers exhibit greater than typical levels of mate retention behaviours, which are efforts to keep the partner in the relationship. Violence in same-sex relationships has been linked to internalised homophobia.

The male-female power divide is the focus of the feminist legal theory known as non-subordination theory. It largely challenges the perception that domestic violence happens as a result of an angry outburst. Thus, patriarchy is the fundamental cause of domestic violence since it upholds certain gender norms.

In many nations, the majority of people think there are times when beating your wife is acceptable. Extreme crimes like honour killings are permitted in many countries. In some instances, a social environment that supports or even encourages domestic violence aids in the emergence of a tolerant atmosphere. Domestic violence homicides and suicides are still referred to as “crimes of passion” in music and the media. People of colour could live by a code that has been developed through historical experience and educates them not to trust “white” civilization. Domestic abuse victims in same-sex relationships run the risk of being stigmatised by society as being “evil.”

The victim’s respect for a religious union may be used by abusers from faiths that place a strong emphasis on marriage to put pressure on her to stay in the relationship. Educating a victim about dating, sexual relationships, gender norms, or reproductive options can also exert pressure on the victim. According to one study, the majority of survivors of domestic abuse cited their spirituality or religious beliefs as “a source of strength or comfort.” According to research, having a religious affiliation enhances one’s psychological health and sense of social support. Forced marriages and child weddings are frequently connected to domestic abuse.

In some ways, divorce carries a greater social shame than domestic abuse. The sufferer prefers to suffer in silence when they are financially dependent on their spouse. They are hesitant to accept the victim due to the social stigma associated with women moving back in with their parents after marriage.

Domestic abuse happens everywhere and in all cultures, however socioeconomic considerations play a significant role as major stressors that might lead to domestic abuse incidents. There are no studies on the subject because domestic violence against men is seldom ever taken into consideration. Domestic violence victims frequently lack the money and specialised skills necessary to secure employment.

One in three women who leave a domestic abuse relationship end up homeless. Due to cultural and religious beliefs that may encourage people to conceal their maltreatment, older generations are more prone to endure their suffering in silence.

Domestic violence has a negative impact on children, whether they are the victims of it or witness it. An abusive cycle that can last for generations is started when children imitate their parents or other family members. A two-pronged strategy should be used to address domestic violence: prevention and alternative treatments.  Domestic violence is broadly defined in the 2005 Domestic Violence Act to encompass sexual, economic, verbal, or emotional abuse. It offers reparations for all forms of abuse and acknowledges that domestic violence is not necessarily only physical violence.

Important aspects of the 2005 Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA)

• The PWDVA recognises the role of Service Providers in providing medical, shelter, legal,counselling, and other types of support services and permits the appointment of Protection Officers in recognition that a woman needs aid with legal proceedings and other forms of support.
• This action only offers short-term, urgent relief.
• The law was created to meet the requirements of women.
• It has several areas where civil law and criminal law overlap; as a result, when a protectiveorder or magistrate’s order is broken, the criminal law will take effect.
• The shelter homes and the medical facility are required by law to offer the harmedindividual shelter or care.

The reliefs under the Act are in addition to existing laws and have been recognised with the goal of allowing a woman to weather an emergency circumstance. The Act makes no changes to the current personal law regime on family affairs.

• Even after receiving relief from one legislation, a woman may later seek relief from anotherstatute.

The Act also specifies the process for submitting applications for orders under the Act, including procedures for creating Domestic Incident Reports, which will be crucial records during the gathering of evidence.

• The Act further stipulates that it is a crime to violate an order that has been obtained.

Government’s function

The Central Government and each State Government shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the following things happen: • The provisions of this Act are widely publicised through public media, including television, radio, and print media on a regular basis.

• Effective coordination between the services provided by concerned Ministries and Departments dealing with law, home affairs including law and order, health, and human resources to address issues of domestic violence is established, and periodic review. • The officers of the Central Government and State Government, including the police officers and the members of the judicial services, are periodically sensitised and awareness trained on the issue addressed by this Act. • Protocols are created and implemented for the several Ministries involved in providing services to women under this Act, including the courts.

Indian domestic violence statistics against men

52.4% of males in India encounter gender-based violence, according to a study of 1000 married men in Haryana’s rural villages between the ages of 21 and 49. 51.5% of men report having been tortured or violently treated by their spouses or other close partners at some point in their lives. 10.5% of men report having been the victims of intimate partner or wife violence in the past 12 months. Physical abuse is the second most frequent form of spousal or domestic violence against men, followed by emotional abuse.

Any spouse, wife or husband, can experience IPV, or intimate partner violence. Some of the main causes of IPV include a lack of education, middle-class ideals, one person having a larger income, etc.

In India, men are also victims of gender-based violence in addition to women. Since most violent incidents involve women, it is a stereotype that domestic violence is only experienced by women, which is untrue. Given that India is a patriarchal or male-dominated country, it is frequently difficult to comprehend how even men can become victims of domestic abuse.

Misuse of domestic violence laws

Domestic violence laws are frequently employed to harass the husband or any other family member claiming to be his dependent, ensuring that he yields to the illegitimate demands of the alleged victim rather than the other way around. In a lot of instances, Section 498A has unfortunately been used largely as a tool for blackmail. Because this section allows police to detain anyone mentioned as a tormentor in a married woman’s complaint and because “cruelty” in marriages has been classified a non-bailable offence, it is frequently used as a tool to wreak revenge on entire families. Then, as a fundamental right, bail is rejected in such situations.

As a result, elderly parents and other family members are frequently falsely accused of torturing the so-called victim on a physical and emotional level, leading to unneeded tension that may have a negative impact on the elderly parents’ health as well as the physical and mental well-being of the accused’s family members.

Even if the accusation is later found to be untrue, the accused still faces social humiliation. Although poor and uneducated women may have had to put up with the abuse from their husband’s family, many educated women now take advantage of this behaviour for illicit ends.

On the premise that only seriously hurt women would come forward to make complaints and that they would always tell the truth, the law was revised and heavily favoured women.

Gender-biased legislation’ contribution to the situation’s deterioration

Since gender is a social construction, factors including race, caste, nation, class, culture, sexual preference, aptitude, traditions, etc. frequently have an impact on it. Gender roles are highly rigid in many south Asian nations, including India. Stereotypical ideas and gender biases are fostered by this rigidity. The Indian Penal Code’s laws against gender violence do not apply to men who suffer domestic abuse at the hands of their wives or other intimate partners. These attackers, who are typically women, are exempt from the law.

It was determined in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar that the petitioner’s domestic violence case was fake and that she had abused the Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The Supreme Court noted that the husband and his family were being harassed by using Section 498 A improperly by having them arrested.

The court cleared the husband in Bibi Parwana Khatoon v. State of Bihar and said that it must protect itself from unwarranted inferences from the relatives.

The Supreme Court issued detailed directives to stop the abuse of Section 498A, IPC, in Rajesh Kumar and others v. State of U.P.

The Indian Penal Code of 1860, Section 498A, states that only a man can be held accountable for treating his wife cruelly. The law does not contain any provisions or subsections that would hold a woman accountable for domestic violence. No one, not even the police, pays attention to males who try to speak up and report the physical abuse and torture they are subjected to. When a guy complains about domestic abuse, Indian society frequently labels him as “effeminate” or “feeble.”

Many men do not report the domestic violence they experience because they believe that things will improve quickly. Physical or psychological assault of any kind is a flagrant violation of human rights. Domestic violence situations that go unreported and unspoken can ultimately result in divorce, acrimonious arguments, separation, depression, and even suicide.

There are many false cases when women falsely accuse a guy of rape or domestic abuse because of the discriminatory laws in the Indian Penal Statute that favour women. The sad issue is that these biassed laws inherently assume that a male can never be the victim.

Women do not need to provide any kind of evidence to back up their claims. The biassed laws assume that they are real animals.

In contrast to males who commit suicide more frequently, women are more likely to consider doing so, according to a World Health Organization report from 2002. Numerous medical and mental illnesses, including depression, suicidal thoughts, and chronic bodily conditions like cancer, heart attacks, HIV/AIDS, etc., can be brought on by repeated exposure to violence.

Gender-neutral laws are urgently needed.

Both men and women are entitled to basic human rights and gender equality. Gender-neutral legislation are urgently needed in the present, when males are wrongfully accused of rape, domestic abuse, and sexual assault. Domestic violence is a term that in no way implies that only women can be its victims; men can also be its victims and are not always the perpetrators. Since domestic violence does not just affect women, it should be classified as spousal violence.

Domestic abuse laws in India exclusively protect women; they do not protect men. It creates the misleading impression that men are only capable of being the aggressor and never the victim. The prevalence of domestic violence against men is steadily rising. Therefore, special clauses and changes are needed to create gender-neutral legislation that will aid victims in obtaining redress and a sentence for the offender regardless of gender. In order to protect both spouses from domestic violence, which is still a problem in our society, specific laws and reforms are required.

CONCLUSION

A very promising piece of legislation, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which went into effect in October 2006, combines civil and criminal processes to give victims of domestic violence access to appropriate remedies. The act includes provisions for security personnel, medical care, no-cost orders, and other things that aid the victimised women in defending themselves and their loved ones.

But there are some issues with the Act as well. It is obvious that additional concrete steps need to be taken to carry out the Act. According to Human Rights Watch, police frequently fail to file a First Information Report (FIR), which is the first step in starting a police investigation, especially if the person who feels wronged is from a neighbourhood that is underdeveloped socially or economically. In India, the majority of cases of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and marital rape go unreported. Inadequate access to legal aid and a lack of skilled counsellors who can assist victims of domestic abuse contribute to their agony. Solving problems like these is necessary to guarantee that women receive the justice they rightfully deserve. But It is also important to recognise that although males are frequently the perpetrators of the patriarchal breakdown, some men are also the victims of the violence in a society that is still primarily patriarchal. The most crucial thing to comprehend is that men and women differ from one another in order to strike a balance and fill the emptiness in relationships; one should not expect either men or women to behave in a certain way. With practise and patience, both men and women can gain the qualities they lack. Accepting, valuing, and balancing diversity are all aspects of equality. To the benefit of society as a whole, it is necessary to throw off the constraints of patriarchy