ARTICLE 18- PROTECTION OF THE FAMILY, WOMEN & CHILDREN
1) The family shall be the natural unit and basis of society. It shall be protected by the State
which shall take care of its physical health and moral.
2) The State shall have the duty to assist the family which is the custodian or morals and
traditional values recognized by the community.
3) The State shall ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also
ensure the protection of the rights of the woman and the child as stipulated in international
declarations and conventions.
4) The aged and the disabled shall also have the right to special measures of protection in
keeping with their physical or moral needs.
PROTECTION OF THE FAMILY, WOMEN & CHILDREN
263. The Protection from Domestic Violence Act 1997 provides for legal protection to women
and children who are survivors of domestic violence. It provides for various forms of orders
namely Protection Orders, Occupation Order, Tenancy Order and Ancilliary Order which can be
enforced by the relevant courts to enhance protection of women against domestic violence. The
said Act was amended in 2016 to widen the definition of the term ‘domestic violence’. ‘Domestic
Violence’ includes, inter-alia, the infliction or attempted infliction of injury, intimidation, forcible
engagement in an act from which the spouse had a right to refrain.
Table 34: Statistics on Court Orders from 2015 to 2018
Application of protection order
Interim Protection Order
Protection Order Issued
Application of Occupation order
Occupation Order issued
Application of Tenancy order
Tenancy order issued
2015
556
525
332
8
5
2
0
2016
879
757
494
20
6
4
2
2017
616
576
361
13
6
1
0
2018
531
506
270
24
7
1
0
Source: Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare
264. Due to a lack of financial autonomy, women are not able to access legal aid in most of the
matters pertaining to domestic violence, family law matters - divorce, alimony, rights of visit and
custody of children. In this regard, the Legal Aid Act has been amended to make legal aid
affordable to women who are victims of domestic violence.
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