Starting in 1961, India took a strong stance to begin the fight against domestic violence. In 1961, the Dowry Prohibition Act forbade giving or receiving of dowries. The implementation of laws continued and the Domestic Violence laws in 1983 and 1986 were also added. India’s strict laws continued into the 21st century. India’s mission based stance against domestic violence has been well catalogued and proven successful.
India’s crackdown continued and in 2005 the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, commonly known as PWDVA, increased the scope of domestic violence to include physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, and economic abuse. Even with the inclusion of these other categories, the numbers remained low. This all-encompassing legislation protected women and children completely and ensured harsh penalties.
India has far less domestic instances than other countries including the United States. The National Family and Health Survey, completed in 2005, detailed the domestic violence prevalence total over a lifetime for women in India. The occurrence rate for domestic violence was 33.5% with 8.5 from sexual violence in women aged 15-49. Sexual Violence in India is low compared to other countries. In late 2005 the law was further strengthened to ensure that all cases be responded to with days. By making the safety of women and children important, the numbers continued to improve.
In 2012, the National Crime Bureau report on India shows that the strict laws were working and continued to be some of the lowest in the world. In 2014 the Lancet reported that this trend continued when compiling their information as well.
