Question : Domestic Violence against Women

(a) whether the cases of domestic violence against women have increased over the years;
(b) if so, the details of such cases in each of the last three years and reasons therefor;
(c) the number of protection officers appointed under Domestic Violence Act;
(d) whether any financial assistance is being provided by the Government to States to enforce various Acts enacted for the protection of women; and
(e) if so, the details thereof along with further steps taken or being taken by Government in this regard?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (b) : As per the data published by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in the past three years, the number of cases reported/ registered of domestic violence against women under ‘The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005’ is 437 in 2016, 616 in 2017 and in the year 2018 is 579.

(c) : As per section 8 of ‘The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the State Governments are authorized to appoint such number of Protection Officers in each district as it may consider necessary.

(d) to (e) :In order to ensure better implementation, States/UTs have been requested by Ministry of Women & Child Development to appoint sufficient number of Protection Officers having independent charge, allocate separate budget for smooth functioning of Protection Officers (PO), providing suitable support to survivors, training and capacity building of Police, Judiciary, Medical Officers, Service Providers and for creating mass awareness on the provisions of the said Act.

In addition, the Ministry of Women & Child Development is implementing the schemes of One Stop Centre (OSCs) and Universalisation of Women Helpline (WHL) to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence. As of now, a total of 680 OSCs are operational in the country and WHL is operational in 32 States/UTs. So far, more than 50 lakh women have benefitted from these Schemes.

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