Study Report - Women Victims of Crimes in Kerala - Kerala Police

The Convention guarantees women equal rights with men in all spheres of life,
including education, employment, healthcare, enfranchisement, nationality, and marriage.
In 1992, the Expert Committee monitoring its implementation recognized that violence
against a woman because she is a woman is a form of discrimination against women.
(Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979)
Nature and types of gender-based violence against women
Violence against women reaches beyond the immediate threat of bruises and broken
bones. The violence women in many parts of the world routinely endure is linked to
severe health problems—chronic pain, disability, disease, and mental problems—that
affect not only the health of individuals, but the social health of communities and the
economic health of nations.
Beijing Platform for Action states violence against women encompasses but is not
limited to the following:
‣ Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including
battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related
violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices
harmful to women, non- spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;
‣ Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general
community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at
work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced
prostitution;
‣ Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State,
wherever it occurs.
Economic violence is another category of violence identified by the UN Special
Rapporteur on Violence against Women. This is perpetrated usually by an intimate
partner or family member and includes economic blackmail, control over money a
woman earns, denial of access to education, health assistance or remunerated
employment and denial of property rights. (Coomaraswamy 1996).
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