MCQ
Q.
Campaigns have led to new laws for the protection of women. In 2006, a law was framed to protect women from :
Correct Answer: A
The correct answer is Domestic violence.
- It is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to protect women from domestic violence.
- It was brought into force by the Indian government on 26 October 2006.
- The Act provides for the first time in Indian law a definition of domestic violence, with this definition being broad and including not only physical violence, but also other forms of violence such as emotional/verbal, sexual, and economic abuse.
- It is a civil law meant primarily for protection orders and not meant to be enforced criminally.
- In October 2016, the Supreme Court has made a verdict to delete the words “adult male” before the word ‘person’ in Section 2(q) of the Act making it gender-neutral.
Important Points
- Salient features of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005:
- Includes physical and mental ill-treatment.
- Primarily meant for the protection of wife or female live-in partners.
- Law also extends to sisters, widows, or mothers.
- Harassment in the form of dowry demands also included in this law.
- Gives women the right to secure housing.
- The court can also issue protection orders that prevent the abuser to harass the women by acts at her workplace.
- The act proposes the appointment of protection officers and NGOs.
- A breach of a protection order is a non-bailable offence.