Andhra Pradesh stands third in the country in filing of cases under the Domestic Violence (DV) Act after Rajasthan and Kerala. As many as 713 cases have been filed in AP up to October 2007 while 3440 cases were filed in Rajasthan and 1028 cases in Kerala.

A total of 7,913 cases were filed in the country under the Act that came into existence in October 2006.

The number would have crossed 10,000 by now, according to speakers at a three-day national workshop here organised by the Centre for World Solidarity and the Lawyers Collective to assess the impact of the pioneering pro-women law.

The Lawyers Collective that monitored the implementation of the DV Act across the country said AP’s performance was commendable.

Protection officers

The government appointed protection officers at the district level and even has a budget allocated for it with two registered NGO service providers who support the process. AP has also notified medical facilities and shelter homes for the victims.

The DV Act ensures that victims of domestic violence are given temporary relief and protection and also ensures that the woman gets child custody and monetary support from her husband.

The Collective’s advocacy officer Ms Tenzing Choesang told the workshop that the Collective took up the task of monitoring the implementation of the DV Act since there were many laws to protect women but they were not implemented in “full and true spirit” of the law.

Women’s rights

The Lawyers Collective, a women’s rights initiative wanted to ensure that the DV Act did not go the way of the other similar laws that were meant to protect women’s rights.

Ms Choesang dismissed the campaign against the DV Act by some men and fundamentalist organisations that men too needed protection as they too were victims of domestic violence at the hands of women and that women were abusing the provisions of the DV Act to wreak vengeance against men.

Writ petitions

There are four writ petitions including one in AP seeking that the DV Act be declared void.

Ms Choesang said only one in four victims of domestic violence sought redressal under the DV Act and a majority of victims suffer silently abuse heaped on them.