Published Paper Details:

Today domestic violence against women has become a rampant phenomenon. It is a critical social and legal problem in India as the cases of domestic violence cut across all cultural, socio-economic, educational, religious, and ethnic boundaries. The cases of domestic violence are occurring in severe forms resulting in the oppression of women. The rates too are increasing at an alarming rate in India. The universality of the problem of domestic violence against women and its severe repercussion, necessitates the intervention of the state, civil society, and legal mechanisms for resolving the problem. Law plays a significant role in eradicating violence against women; questioning the subordinate status of women and reconstructing their identities as persons, human beings, entitled to equal rights. Though some laws were formulated to prevent violence like dowry and rape, but the legal redressal to the victims of domestic violence has been a great challenge for women in India. There was no adequate law to protect the victims facing domestic violence inflicted on them in various forms, till the Domestic Violence Act was passed in 2005. This paper will highlight the constitution and salient features of this Act. It will mainly focus on the barriers to the effective implementation of the Act in the context of Jammu District while suggesting some of the remedial measures in combating the problem of domestic violence. The analysis regarding the ineffective implementation was derived from the data collected through interviews with various stakeholders.