LAW AND ISSUES OF DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE AMONG THE INDIAN

DIASPORA WOMEN

Dr. Ajailiu Niumai

Associate Professor,
Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion 
and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP),
School of Social Sciences,
Hyderabad Central University (HCU),
Gachibowli, Hyderabad-500 046, 
 INDIAN DIASPORA
 Who constitutes the Indian diaspora? Indian
diaspora might be understood as “those
millions of Indians who now live outside the
subcontinent”.

 Indian diaspora comprises of Persons of Indian

Origin (PIO) and Non-Resident Indians (NRI)
who are scattered in different parts of the
world.
 Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (Annual
Report 2006-07), calculates the Indian
diaspora to be approximately over 25 million
in 130 countries wherein their diversity grew
out of a variety of causes such as
mercantilism, colonialism, and globalization
and over several hundreds of years of
migration in different waves.
 Some of them have become remarkable
people.
 Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat and Panjub are five states
with large diasporic communities.
 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
 Domestic Violence is one of the most pervasive of
human rights violations, denying women and
girls equality, security, dignity, self-worth, and
their right to enjoy fundamental freedoms.

 The term ‘domestic’ includes violence by an

intimate partner and by other family members,
wherever this violence takes place and in
whatever form.
 The United Nations Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women
(1993) defines violence against women as
"any act of gender-based violence that results
in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women,
including threats of such acts, coercion or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether
occurring in public or in private life."
 In 1994, the Commission on Human Rights
appointed the 1st UN Special Rapporteur on
Violence against Women, entrusting her with the
task of analyzing and documenting the
phenomenon, and holding governments
accountable for violations.

 The 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing

(1995) included elimination of all forms of
violence against women as one of its twelve
strategic objectives, and listed concrete actions to
be taken by governments, the UN, international
and NGOs.
 Domestic Violence Act 2005 is the 1st
significant attempt in India to recognize
domestic abuse as a punishable offence, to
extend its provisions to those in live-in
relationships, and to provide for emergency
relief for the victims, in addition to legal
recourse.

 This Act has not been applied to those Indian

Diasporic victims who lives overseas.
 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND BOLLYWOOD

 The Government of India started a campaign

“Breakthrough” that goes global with its Bell
Bajao campaign at the 2010 Clinton Global
Initiative wherein United Nations Secretary
General Mr. Ban Ki Moon joins Breakthrough's
Bell Bajao Global campaign as the inaugural
“champion.” With the support of the Ministry of
Women and Child Development and campaign
ambassador and popular film star Boman Irani,
the campaign was launched in August 2008.

 Bollywood actress Somay Ali founded an NGO
called No More Tears Inc. in 2006. It has helped
48 women today. Ali funds her organization in
part by giving 10 percent of the revenue from her
clothing company, So-Me Designs.

 "These people have become part of my family,"

she said. "There is nothing more gratifying than
rescuing a woman."
 Somay Ali's own life reads like a Bollywood script.
She grew up in an opulent 26-room mansion in
Karachi, the daughter of a Pakistani movie producer
father and an Iraqi mother. When Ali was 9, she
moved to Florida with her mother and brother.

 She became an Indian actress but left Bollywood at

age 24. A Bangladeshi woman knocked on her door
and told her that her husband abused her physically
& sexually. Somay Ali helped her & began her
journey to rescue victims of domestic violence.
 Deepa Mehta highlighted about Domestic
Violence and the Indian Diaspora in Heaven on
Earth.

 Mehta blurs the line between reality & fantasy

to provide a nuanced and authentic look at the
struggles of a young Punjabi woman who has
immigrated to Canada for what turns out to be
an abusive marriage. Mehta’s film addresses
arranged marriage, Indian family dynamics and
expectations, domestic violence, and love.

 The movie “PROVOKED” is the true story
of a Punjabi woman named Kiranjit
Ahluwalia who leaves India to marry a
London-based guy, only to be badly abused.
She ends up in prison for murdering her
abusive husband.

 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AMONG
THE DIAPORIC COMMUNITY

 Whether in India, US, Canada or U.K,

there is little information available
regarding the prevalence of domestic
violence among the Diasporic
communities.
 Despite the women’s movement bringing
family and domestic violence into the
public eye, Sen Gupta tells, “There is a
lack of access to information for women,
and there is a lot of silence. There is
absolutely no platform to talk about these
issues or to share their concerns. Many of
the women who tell us about their abuse
are sharing it with us for the first time.”

 There are very few organizations dealing
with Domestic Violence in other parts of
the world. There are a lack of culturally-
appropriate support services.

 Many times when victims seek help from

an organization that doesn’t understand
their needs, they are re-traumatized by the
very institutions that try to help them.
 An inability to access services is one barrier
that domestic violence survivors who live
outside India face in escaping their situation.

 Other obstacles include language barriers, not

knowing one’s legal rights or recourse
regarding abuse, dependence on one’s spouse
for immigration, fear of an arduous and
expensive international custody battle, a lack
of self-sufficiency, and an absence of family,
community, or religious support.
 In New York, there is an NGO “Sakhi”
that deals with domestic violence among
the South Asian Diasporic groups.
 Sakhi’s culturally-focused approach seeks
to empower women to live self
determined lives. It is a model that is
working in New York City. “Because
Sakhi has provided support and tailored
services available nowhere else, their call
volume of new requests for assistance has
more than tripled since 2001,”
 More men are reaching out to find
support for sisters, nieces, and aunts
in abusive relationship in US and
Sakhi found that 13% of their new
calls in 2008 were from men, a rise
from the 8% in 2006.
 NEED SEPARATE LAW FOR DIASPORA
WOMEN (BRIDES)

 The National Commission for Women and the

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs organized a
seminar on 15th Feb 2011 in New Delhi.

 They favoured mandatory registration of marriages,

simplification of the procedure for quick issuance of
visa by foreign missions in India to any deserted
woman to enable her to contest the proceedings filed
by her NRI/PIO husband in a foreign land.
 They proposed to introduce a system of
cross-checking or consent when an NRI/PIO
wants to cancel sponsorship of his spouse’s
visa, barring ex parte divorce by foreign
courts in the case of marriages solemnized in
India as per Indian law, and not permitting
deportation of the woman in order to let
women (brides) contest the case.
 Spouses to sign a pre-nuptial affidavit that
marriages performed in India would come
under the jurisdiction of Indian courts.

 The issue of NRI marriages to be included in

the 12th Five Year Plan was discussed.

 National Commission for Women demanded

that it be recognized as an authorized body to
file applications before foreign courts and
missions on behalf of abused women.
 Girija Vyas, NCW Chairperson asserted
that the NRI Cell started in the Commission
in 2009, had received 515 complaints of
desertion.

 Of the 415 women from India, 68 were from

Delhi, 42 from Uttar Pradesh, 36 from
Haryana, 27 each from Punjab and
Mahrashtra, 25 from Gujarat, 24 from A.P.,
& 13 each from West Bengal & T.N. The
remaining were from other states.
 CONCLUSION
 Indian Diaspora victims of domestic violence
have a plethora of needs—multilingual intake
and mental health services; translation
assistance for court visits, public benefits
offices, and health care visits; referrals for
support services; education; and financial
independence and most of these needs
transcend borders: in India alone there are
several hundred spoken languages, and each
region of the country has its own unique
cultural, social, and religious practices.
 There is no singular portrait of a victim or
survivor of abuse, as domestic violence
spans demographics like age, country of
origin or residence, marital choice, class
and caste, education level, and religion.

 We do know that ending community bias

against those who are abused is one step
that we can all take to be accountable to
each other.
Thank You