The UN Declaration on Violence against Women,(VAW) adopted in 1993, defines violence against women as encompassing “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life” According to the World Bank, violence against girls and women is a global pandemic that affects one in three women in their lifetimes. According to UN Women, during the COVID-19 pandemic, violence against women has emerged as a shadow pandemic.

Emerging Forms Of Violence Against Women

The World Health Organisation lists following VAWs

1. Intimate partner violence: Physical, sexual, psychological: ex marital rape, the hidden crisis of domestic violence (ex dowry deaths in India).
2. Sexual violence: Including conflict-related sexual violence. Ex: Nirbhaya Case, Disha case.
3. Honour Killings : To preserve family honour especially in case of inter-caste and inter-religious marriage : example: Manoj and Babli honour killing case 2007.
4. Forced and early marriages: which increase vulnerability to domestic abuse, early pregnancy threatens life and health of young girls. According to UNICEF, one in four Indian women are child brides.
5. Human trafficking : Particularly for the sex trade or child brides. This is often mired by unthinkable violence and a life of misery and deprivation.
6. Economic violence: Not giving due economic rights to women. ex: According to Oxfam, 80% of farmworkers in India are women but own only 13% of them have land ownership.
7. The violence of neglect like a nutritional deficiency. Example: According to NFHS 4 data: 51% of Indian women in the age group in 15 to 49 suffering from anaemia.
8. Natality Inequality: Amartya Sen in his book The Country of First Boys calls this the crisis of Missing Women reflected in the worsening sex ratio of the country.
9. E-violence: has also emerged as another dimension of VAW for example cyberbullying and harassment. Harassment of women online has been aggravated and is in turn aggravating physical violence. For example cases of online stalking have resulted in real-life harassment. Further, whatever the form women are either physically, emotionally or mentally hurt in this process.

Measures To Combat This Emerging Forms Of Violence

This multifarious crisis of VAWs therefore needs a multipronged approach 1. Improving Public Safety

1. Safe public places: through street lighting, CCTV surveillance, police patrolling.
2. Effectively operationalizing Women Safety Helpline across the nation (112).
3. Ensuring One-Stop Crisis Centres of the Ministry of Women and Child Development are established across the nation.

2. Reforms in the Criminal Justice System

1. Addressing the delays in the justice system: through Special Courts, Fast track courts.
2. Addressing Double Victimisation of victims: example mandating Victim Impact statements.

3. Legislative Efforts

1. Improved implementation of laws like Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act: by mandatorily establishing Internal Complaints Committee and ensuring annual submission of audit reports.
2. Addressing the Legislative vacuum: example recognising Marital rape under Section 375 of IPC.

4. Socio-Cultural changes

1. Eradicating Patriarchy root and branch: through gender sensitisation campaigns like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.
2. Curriculum Changes to incorporate gender sensitisation in education through efforts of NCERT and other bodies.
3. Efforts to address intimate partner violence through legislative backing of such crimes and family counselling must be done. For example, marital rape must be included in the definition of rape under IPC.

5. Economic empowerment: Improved female labour force participation of women through

1. Affirmative action Ex: Operation blackboard 1987 had 50% teaching seats reserved for women.
2. Women-centric support: Example: UBI for women recommended by Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee in their book Good Economics for Hard Times.
3. Upholding Coparcenary rights: example through effective implementation of Hindu Succession Act.

6. Political Empowerment

1. Improved political participation of women: for example by introducing 33% reservation for women in Parliament.
2. Empowering Women political leaders: ex MoWCD Intensive Training Programme for Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) of Panchayats

7. Addressing Online harassment

1. This should be pursued by an online coalition to combat this malaise on lines of the Christchurch call to combat extremism on the Internet.
2. Gender sensitisation and technology training to police forces to address such crimes are also the need of the hour.

Violence against women is a symptom of the larger crisis of discrimination and bias against women. In the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the commitment of our Preamble to Equality and human dignity, VAWs should be addressed root and branch. An array of legislative and policy efforts like Section375, 376 of IPC, PoCSO Act, Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, SHE Box, Safe City Projects etc. complemented with societal efforts against patriarchal norms can herald us into a world unscarred by violence against half its population.