Domestic Violence Act to Take Effect in India

According to a U.N. Population Fund report from 2005, 70% of married women between ages 15 and 49 in India are victims of violence and rape. Fortunately, India passed a law criminalizing domestic violence, defining it aptly to include verbal, physical, and emotional abuse as well as economic mistreatment. Ranjana Kumari of the Center for Social Research in New Dehli said, "It's a victory for the women's movement in this country which has been fighting for years for laws that protect the basic rights of women." However, for the law to be fully effective, Kumari explains that the government must fund "shelter and protection to a woman against further abuse if she files a complaint."