Now, men seek cover under domestic violence law

NEW DELHI: Two years after women were brought under the protective umbrella of the Domestic Violence Act, men are feeling left out.

Men’s organisations have written to the minister for women and child development (WCD) Renuka Chowdury demanding cover under the Act. They also want women who file false cases against the husband and in-laws to be punished.

The government is under the process of reviewing the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (PWDV) law which was enacted in October 2006 and the WCD ministry had called for suggestions. Men’s organisations promptly shot off a letter to the ministry suggesting an amendment to the Act. They say the Act should be made gender neutral and the words ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ replaced with ‘spouse’ and ‘men’ and ‘women’ be substituted with ‘person’.

Bolstering their case, Swarup Sarkar of Save Family Foundation says there is no evidence to prove that the domestic violence faced by men is any less than what women undergo. “If we go through suicide statistics of men, especially after marriage, it is clear that a man’s life can become hell too,” says Sarkar.

“According to 2005 crime bureau data, 52,000 married men committed suicide as compared to 28,000 women. Yet there is no law to protect them. In 2006, 55,452 married men ended their lives compared to 29,869 women,”
says Sarkar.

According to the National Family Survey on domestic violence only 25% of the violence is caused by men and husbands form a very small percentage of this, while 75% of the violence is perpetrated by the women, he adds.
 
The NGOs shelter homes and other facilities for men too, besides family courts without lawyers.  

They are of the view that domestic disputes should be resolved in family courts only.

Another of their demands is that women should be prevented from filing multiple maintenance cases. “This is in total violation of Article 20 of the Constitution which lays down that an accused can’t be punished twice for the same offence,” added Sarkar.

Harbouring fears that the fair sex may not be fair after all, they want representatives of men’s NGOs and retired judges on MCWD review committees. “The committees comprise only women with extreme views. We want to ensure a balance and sanity in the review of the law,” Sarkar said.