GENDERED DIMENSIONS OF IMPLEMENTING THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT IN INDIA: CASE STUDIES ON LEGAL AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES

Abstract

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) 2005 was hailed as a paradigm shift from criminal-law–centric responses to a civil, rights-based model that could guarantee speedy reliefs such as protection, residence and maintenance orders. Nearly two decades on, the gulf between legislative promise and ground-level practise is still yawning. Relying on feminist legal theory and an intersectional perspective, this article examines the gendered barriers to the implementation of the Act in western-Indian district courts. Drawing on three qualitatively rich data sets—(a) interviews with five magistrates, (b) focus-group discussions with ten practising advocates and (c) structured questionnaires administered to twenty-five PWDVA survivors—the study unpacks legal bottlenecks (delays, non-registration, inaccessible paperwork), institutional pitfalls (under-resourced Protection Officers, inadequate gender training) and socio-cultural constraints (victim-blaming, caste hierarchies, economic dependence). Cross-tabulations and ANOVA tests show how the employment status, education level, and urban–rural location intersect to configure women’s experiences of justice. We contend that patriarchal bureaucracies and disintegrated service delivery have strangled the transformative potential of the PWDVA, and we advocate a multi-pronged reform programme. specialised DV benches, digitalised filing, compulsory feminist orientation for frontline actors AND community-driven legal-literacy drives.