SUPPORT THE REVIEW OF THE FAMILY BREAKER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW OF INDIA

IN SUPPORT A REVIEW OF THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT, 2005

SAVE INDIAN FAMILY

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SIGN ON
TO SUPPORT AND FAVOUR THE MOVE OF THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT TO REVIEW THE NEWLY ENACTED AND ENFORCED ACT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.


It is appropriate for the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) at the center to set up a panel of lawyers to review several laws, namely


i. The Dowry Prohibition Act , 1961
ii. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act , 1956
iii. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act , 1986
iv. The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act , 1987
v. The National Commission for Women Act , 1990
vi. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act , 2005
.

We support an in-depth review by the panel of lawyers that should also look into the complaints regarding the misuse of these laws. Groups such as Save Indian Family that are protesting about the misuse of such laws should also be interviewed by the inter-ministerial committee set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to review legislation that impact on women rights and to monitor the harmful side-effects of the implementation of the recommendations made by the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the Task Force on Women and Children. In addition, the core group appointed by the MWCD to prepare a revised plan of action on the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women 2001 should also ensure that all laws are made gender neutral.

All laws that affect families should also take into account that mothers and sisters are women too, and it takes two to tango. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 etc, which has already been reviewed by statutory bodies including the Parliamentary Standing Committee should be re-looked at. Amendments to the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 have been finalized and forwarded to the MWCD should also take into account the various reports that this law is being misused and the suggestions regarding how to curtail the misuse. The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 has already been reviewed and amendments to the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 have been proposed and the NCW has been requested to hold consultations regarding the same The Protection of Woman from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is not the only significant genderbiased law that should be reviewed by the proposed panel.

It was only last year in October 2006 that the women groups around the country joined together to celebrate yet another weapon for the bad women to misuse in India when the Govt of India had brought the PWDVA into force. Further, to mark the first anniversary of the PWDVA a national conference was organized by the Lawyers Collective (that is composed mainly of women who are against the institution of marriage) in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) recently on the 26th and 27th of October 2007 where the first Monitoring and Evaluation Report on the PWDVA , 2005 was released. They made it obvious that the husband and his family have no rights when faced with an abusive woman.

We are aware that there are several womens groups (including the so-called Lawyers collective, which is in actual fact the anti-family womens collective) who have sent up blogs and websites campaigning against the review of the PWDVA In that context we apprehend that the Ministry is succumbing to pressure from vocal groups of abusive women, who believe in lawlessness and denial of rights to husbands and their families.

Every family has a right to live free from abuse, and that is not what the PVDWA guarantees. Denial of the right to reside in their own home for senior citizens is one of the most extreme forms of abuse, rendering the parents and grandparents homeless and insecure. There are concerted efforts among womens groups to abuse these badly drafted gender baised laws.

The Honble Supreme Court in Batra v Batra rightly decided that the right should only available to a woman in a household owned by the husband and not in the household owned by the in laws, even though it may have been been the shared household. In a country where the joint family pattern of residence is then norm, any other judgment virtually gives a license to women to throw out senior citizens from the own home with the help of a bad law. It is the PWDVA that needs to be reviewed, not the judgment.
.
The Act itself had been brought in force in 2006 and has had barely one year to function but already it is obvious that it is being misused on a large scale (as are the other gender biased laws). At a recently concluded conference to monitor and evaluate the functioning of the law, it was unanimously agreed by the participants that the Act should not be implemented in its current form since it is liable to be grossly misused.

In this context, we think that the move to set up a Panel to review the PWDVA is right and is being opposed by vested interests trying to undermine the rights of senior citizens.

Pursuant to a commitment made by the UPA government (that succumbed to pressure from those with vested interest in its common minimum program), this ill-conceived Act has given the anti-family groups yet another easy to misuse law, which is in violation of the fundamental rights of senior citizens and families to live a life free from abuse.


We, the undersigned, therefore demand that

All effort be made in the name of review to undermine the provisions of the PWDVA.
Spell out the purpose of reviewing the PWDVA before undertaking a review in a transparent manner.
Review the complaints of all those crying of misuse of these laws and by taking appropriate steps in the Supreme Court of India .
Appoint full time qualified Investigating Officers (who should be held responsible if any misuse of the law is reported) and notify Service Providers and medical facilities.
Impose legal sanctions all women (and their helpers) who are misusing the law.
Appoint sufficient number of Magistrates to decided cases under the PWDVA in an expeditious manner.


We request all of you to sign this e petition to support the proposal of the MoWCD to set up a panel to review the PWDVA.. Please write letters separately to following with copies to us:
1. The Minister Renuka Choudhury at min-wcd@nic. in .
2. The Secreta ry , Mr Anil Kumar at secy.wcd@nic. in and
3. Dr Kiran Chadha , Joint Secretary , Ministry of Women and Child development , Shastri Bhawan , Dr Rajendra Prasad Road , New Delhi - 110001.

We also request you to forward it further amongst your partners, networks and friends.

SAVE INDIAN FAMILY