7,913 cases on "domestic violence" registered in One Year

As many as 7,913 cases have been filed since a law to protect women from domestic violence came into force a year ago, according to a national report released Friday.

'Staying Alive', as the report is titled, is the first monitoring and evaluation report of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) 2005.

The report states that the primary users of the law are married women. There are also a number of cases wherein relief has been granted to widows and daughters.

Compiled by the Lawyers Collective (Women's Rights Initiatives) (LCWRI), the report analyses data collected from the office of the Chief Justice of India, the ministry of women and child development and from organisations specifically working on the issue of domestic violence across the country.

"The compilation of the report and the conference is to be regarded as a first step towards evaluation and monitoring which should become an integral component in the implementation of this law," Indira Jaisingh, director of LCWRI, said at the release of the report.

While the most commonly granted relief is for maintenance, the second most commonly granted are residence orders and protection orders.

"There is an urgent need for adequate budgetary allocations to be made by the central and state governments to ensure the effective implementation of the PWDVA," Jaisingh said.

"There is also a need for coordination among different government departments, particularly the departments of women and child development, social welfare, home and law and legislative affairs.

"This is required in order to build a multi-agency response that is uniform across the country in the manner in which it offers relief to women facing domestic violence," she added.

Jaisingh also stressed that the police needed to be trained on providing information about the Act to women who approached them with complaints of domestic violence.