Also: Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, PWDVA 2005, DV Act
Definition
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, a civil law that gives women quick remedies such as protection orders, residence rights, monetary relief and custody against abuse by a husband, partner or relatives in a shared household.
For decades the main legal response to cruelty within marriage was criminal. Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, added in 1983 in response to dowry deaths, punished cruelty by a husband or his relatives, and Section 304B, added in 1986, dealt with dowry death. These laws, now carried into the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, led to arrests and prosecution, but many women did not want to send family members to jail; they wanted the violence to stop, a safe place to live and financial support. Criminal cases also took years and offered little immediate relief.
Women's groups campaigned through the 1990s for a civil law based on the UN's model legislation on domestic violence and India's obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which India ratified in 1993. The Lawyers Collective and others drafted proposals, and Parliament passed the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act in 2005. Its key innovation was to combine civil remedies, a quick magistrate's process and dedicated officials, while leaving criminal law available alongside.
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