Violence Against Women In India: A Closer Look At the Social and Legal System Interactions, Problems, and Solutions

Abstract

Violence against women (VAW) in India reflects encouraged patriarchal notions, societal despotism, and cultural subjugations. The Indian government is continuously striving to bring legal reforms that can deter perpetrators from inflicting violence on women. However, these changes are occurring only on the surface when in fact the issues are deep-seated. Therefore, this thesis addresses two main research questions: 1) What factors contribute to the increase in cases of VAW in India and how the legal system addresses these factors, and 2) What policies and schemes are employed to empower women and provide support services to women victims of violence, and what are the effects of these policies/schemes. To explore each of these questions, the thesis was divided into two parts. In part 1, a legal case analysis strategy was adopted to qualitatively analyze 26 High Court cases from Uttar Pradesh, India. Seven major themes emerged from the thematic analysis of these cases that highlight the reasons for the perpetration of violence, victim-blaming, barriers to report the crime, and legal systemic barriers. In part 2, a policy analysis framework was applied to review and analyze six major schemes and policies focused on VAW. All the schemes and policies were assessed, compared, and prioritized against different criteria which were constructed based on the research findings from part 1. Major results of this study suggest that the schemes and policies focused on VAW are structurally flawed and lack proper monitoring. In conclusion, efforts must be made to deter the act of perpetrating violence on women by implementing suitable community and family interventions, recognizing and eliminating factors that lead to revictimization, providing detailed guidelines to enhance services through local schemes and policies, and acknowledging patterns of patriarchal and cultural norms surrounding VAW.