Domestic Violence Legislation and its Implementation

OVERVIEW OF GLOBAL GOOD PRACTICES
ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESPONSE SYSTEMS
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The success of this initiative lies in the fact that, from the very beginning, the role of the
hospitals/Municipal Corporation and CEHAT has been clear, with the hospitals providing a
strategic location that women can approach easily, and the hospital staff constituting the
backbone of service delivery. Furthermore, in its initial phase, the NGO provided training of
hospital staff and counsellors on gender perspectives and helped in streamlining hospital
procedures. 33 However, the objective is to ensure self-suffi ciency of the crisis centres, with the
NGO retaining only a monitoring role.
In setting up the crisis centres, linkages with existing shelters, legal aid services and other
women’s support groups were established. Referrals to the centres are made by the in-patient
departments, casualty/emergency departments, outpatient departments, other hospital staff,
other service providers, and community workers/organisations. One of the fi rst tasks of the
project was to develop an “Intake Form”, containing demographic details of the victim, history
of violence, and more crucially, developing a Safety Plan by detailed safety assessment, and an
action plan for intervention. This Intake Form has been replicated since then by various other
service providers and interventions dealing with domestic violence. Another important reform
initiated addressed that whereas previously a woman needing counselling for domestic violence
was referred to psychiatry departments, the project helped modify procedures so that such cases
are now referred directly to the crisis centres.
The success of the ‘Dilassa’ model lies in the fact that a number of additional centres have
been established in Mumbai, and the model is being replicated in other states. This project has
emerged as a model for integrating services for survivors of domestic violence within health
care services.
It is important to reiterate here that many ASEAN countries have an existing effective system
of hospital-based “one stop crisis centres”. In fact, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand
have focused on establishing “One Stop Crisis Centres” as a major strategy in addressing
domestic and sexual violence. The Malaysian “one stop centres” are considered to be extremely
successful in combining clinical therapeutic response with secondary preventive measures.
3. Strengthening the Justice System
The justice system constitutes a pivotal link in the Domestic Violence Response System. A judge
who is sensitive to the needs of survivors of domestic violence is aware of the complexities of the
phenomenon and may change institutional interventions in domestic violence cases. Alternative
dispute resolution (ADR) models have also emerged in various jurisdictions like the United States,
Canada, and South Africa. Some of these ADR models will be explored in this section.
Policies on Arrest and Prosecution – Critiquing “Mandatory” arrest and
prosecution: The attitude of the police and prosecution in most jurisdictions has generally been
that of hesitant enforcement, based on the notion that domestic violence is a “private matter”
where the State has no role to play. It was the battered women’s movement in the United States
33 A comprehensive study of hospital records, the procedure and need for registering such medico-legal cases, and study of casualty
procedures was undertaken to suggest reforms that would lead to responsive service.