Rights-based strategies in the prevention of domestic violence

This study is an attempt to broaden the discussion about the prevention of domestic violence against women informed by a rightsbased strategy. Specifically, the study discusses the critical elements of a human rights framework to reduce domestic violence, present research findings on the prevalence and correlates of domestic violence in intimate relationships in Kerala, and explore strategies for the prevention of domestic violence on the basis of research and analysis. The study suggests that domestic violence needs to be resituated in the broader social transformation of society and that domestic violence should be conceptualized as violation of a woman’s most basic right. The strength of a rights-based strategy is that it meshes formal treaty doctrines with grassroots activism and critiques of power. While the right to make the claim is global, the specific and useful strategies to prevent domestic violence must be developed locally. Research and analysis in this study in the context of Kerala clearly suggests that domestic violence against women (physical and psychological) is pervasive in terms of wide prevalence, multiple forms and high frequency of occurrence. Moreover forced sex and physical violence during pregnancy are also not uncommon. The study suggests that “right to housing” and “right to property and inheritance” are critical and most fundamental for any strategy in the prevention of domestic violence. Four points need to be emphasized here: (a) Importance of immovable assets and social support is significant in making a difference to the incidence of violence. (b) Changing norms of acceptability of violence in the family is critical to reduce inter-generational transmission of violence. (c) Male attitudes and society’s attitudes also need to be changed in this regard. Since prevention of domestic violence requires fundamental changes in attitudes and behavior, it confronts societal and individual resistance to change. (d) Support structures could be both within the family and from NGOs, women’s self-help groups etc., who can both help in changing attitudes and in helping women acquire immovable assets. This calls for creative community involvement, shared responsibilities, and collective action with the goals to challenge the patriarchal assumptions of power and control and entitlement to women. Key words: domestic violence, women, human rights, development, property ownership, Kerala JEL Classification: D 2, I 3, J 1, O 1, K 0