Wednesday, September 26, 2012

INSAAF retained for drafting bill for protecting of men from intimate partner violence




INSAAF has been retained by prominent Indian men's rights organisations along with  some key Members of parliament for drafting a Intimate Terror (Domestic Violence) act which specifically caters to protecting men and boys from domestic violence from their spouse , girlfriends and parents. It has been alleged that Husbands and boyfriends in Indian are specifically excluded from protected under domestic violence laws in India. Research has also shown that there have been significant demand from all quarters for creation of laws to protect men from intimate terror but all these requests have so far not led to to formulation of an actual law which is believed to have caused due to unavailability of a government forum to consider the safety and security of Indian men in general.

Preliminary Study results from INSAAF's study of Intimate Terror

INSAAF's researchers have collated vast amount of peer reviewed data and evidence from personal interviews of male victims, court case records , statements made by honorable courts and media articles and has determined that domestic violence abuse of Indian males falls across a wide range of categories namely

a. Physical abuse : Husbands and Male partners have presented serious evidence of been  scratched , punched , bit , things thrown at them by their female partners apart from attacks with deadly instruments. In the absence of a legal system to protect men from physical violence  these victims get little or no medical care or attention and are even unable to speak of their physical wounds due to the unavailability of a law to protect them from abuse.

b. Emotional abuse :  Demands to forcefully separate the husband from his parents and family , demand for separate residence, threat of Police action and legal recourse if the wife's demands are not met were  some of the commonly seen tactics of emotional abuse. Also , constant non-cooperation of the wife or the female partner in the smooth running of a family was another commonly seen tactic which was used to abuse husbands in case of non fulfillment of the demands of the wife.

c. Verbal abuse : Calling husbands and male partners derogatory names with an intent to demean and hurt. Names like "impotent" , "Spineless" , "Hijra(Eunuch)" have most commonly come up and were verbal abuses that were levelled against Husbands and male partners with an intent to cause pain and ignominy. Many husbands provided evidence of suffering of such verbal abuse for decades primarily due to their specific inability to earn an income as per the demands of their spouses.    

d. Legal abuse : The acts of misusing the state machinery by the wife or female partner for intent of coercing the husband or the male partner to abide by their demands. Common amongst these are misuse of IPC 498a , DV act 2005 , Rape/Molestation Laws , Denying Child custody on event of separation and Maintenance laws.

e. Economic abuse :- Constant irrational demands on the husband for purchase of jewelery , real estate , expensive clothing , automobiles , restaurant hospitality, feminine beauty products and demands for payments to family members of the wife's family was evidenced .When the husband or the male partner was unable to meet the financial demands of the female partner they were subjected to further emotional and physical abuse. A lot of data spoke of  severe economic abuse and daily non co-operatory tactics to force the man to increase his income beyond his normal means and capability. Inability of the man to earn more led to further domestic abuse and which in many cases led to legal and physical violence and an eventual divorce.


f. Sexual abuse: Using consensual physical relations to coerce a man for either financial payments and/or forced marriage . Threatening to file cases of rape and molestation after consensual physical relations. Forcing men to start families against their will and denying physical relation in a matrimonial relation if to irrational and unreasonable demands are not fulfilled.

INSAAF's study has also has taken into account the scale and propensity of abuse of husbands and males partners in India and compared that to worldwide abuse numbers . We have concluded that in in more than 50% of cases wives and females also initiated fights which led to intimate terror attacks on their male partners. The bill is going through its final touches  and  will be presented for consideration during the winter session of the parliament.

4 comments:

  1. Spouse Murder also should be added to the List. My late Father late Dr J A Mathan was such a victim.

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  2. Yar! I seriously hope this law gets passed living a life of a dog is better than being a husband suffering from all the above written. My life has become a hell as I am under terror attack from my wife as well my mother in law and ofcourse my wife's family...i stay in Bangalore alone and i feel like commiting suicide but there is no law which can help me out...please god let this bill get passed.
    Also, this NCW(National council for women) wont let it happen they are very powerful even powerful than the govt of INDIA so I doubt if its possible to even put forth as NCW will supply women to politicians one night before and the whole equation will get changed.Still, I am hoping for the best!
    And my full support for this community.

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  3. We can ask for a penalty clause in IPC 498A if a girl is found to have framed false charges,this would create a terror in their mind before filling a false case.This would automatically reduce number of false cases.

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  4. Few comments:
    1) I doubt if a law against false charges will automatically reduce the number of false charges, such a law already exists. What we need is higher punishments.
    2) I don't know if denial of physical relationship should be a ground for any crime, this would only increase the risk of marital rape. This may sound like an anti-male perspective, but I don't think anyone should be forced to be in a physical relationship, be it a man or a woman. Even in a marriage, both parties should have equal rights to say no to a physical relationship if they don't feel up to it.
    3) Barring the above, I'm in support of all the other issues which have been discussed.

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