Parliament Question: Domestic Violence

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2184 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.08.2025 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE †2184. SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS PAVAN RAJENIMBALKAR: Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state: (a) the details of domestic violence cases in the country during the last five years; (b) whether the Government has conducted any survey related to domestic violence; (c) if so, the details thereof and outcome thereon, State/UT-wise; (d) the number of cases of domestic violence in Maharashtra along with the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard during the said period, gender-wise; and (e) the details of the steps taken by the Government for empowerment of women ? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) to (d): The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes data on crimes, including crime against women, in its publication “Crime in India”, which is available on the website of NCRB https://ncrb.gov.in. The said report is available upto the year 2022. As per the NCRB report, the number of cases registered under the ‘the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005’ (PWDVA) during the last five years i.e. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 are 579, 553, 446, 507 and 468 respectively. The number of cases registered under PWDV Act, 2005 in Maharashtra during the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 are 9,11, 3, 5 and 1 respectively. “Police‟ and “Public Order‟ are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibility to maintain law and order, protection of life andproperty of the citizens including investigation and prosecution in crimes against women and children rests with the respective State Governments and they are competent to deal with it. Section 8 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005 mandates the States/ UTs to appoint such number of Protection Officers in each district as it may consider necessary and also to notify the area or areas within which a Protection Officer shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred. It is the duty of the Protection Officer to report the cases of domestic violence to the Magistrate upon receipt of complaints and to assist the Magistrate in the discharge of his functions. However, Conviction of an accused person is done by the competent court after careful consideration of factual positions, evidence and all related legal aspects as per the provisions of law. The PWDVA provides to women remedies such as protection order, residence order, custody order, monetary relief, compensation order etc. under it. Nevertheless, the Central Government gives highest priority to ensuring safety and security of women and has undertaken various legislative and schematic interventions in this regard. These include legislations such as “Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita”, “Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita”, “The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2006‟, “The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961‟, The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act 2013. Besides these legal provisions there are multiple schemes and projects implemented by the Government which include One Stop Centres (OSCs); Universalisation of Women Helplines (WHL), Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) which is a pan-India single number (112)/ mobile app based system for emergencies; capacity building in community through awareness programmes, setting up/ strengthening of Women Help Desks (WHDs) at Police Stations etc. One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme, which is fully funded by the central government is being implemented across the country since 1st April, 2015. It provides integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence and those in distress, both in private and public spaces. It also provides an integrated range of services including medical aid, legal aid and advice, temporary shelter, police assistance, psycho-social counselling to needy women. 843 OSCs are operational across the country (including 55 OSCs in Maharashtra) and over 11. 94 lakh women have been assisted (including 38,734 number of women assisted in Maharashtra) upto 30th June, 2025. Under Nirbhaya Fund, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has also undertaken several initiatives, which, inter-alia include training and skill development programs for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers. BPR&D has also prepared Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for “Women Help Desk at Police Stations‟ to ensure their smooth functioning by focusing on four critical components, viz. infrastructure, training, human resource development and response mechanism. A book titled “Women’s Safety and Security- a Handbook for First Responders and Investigators in the Police‟ has also been prepared for the purpose of prevention and investigation of crime against women with specific reference to the crime of sexual assault, which includes investigation, victim compensation and rehabilitation. Emphasis has been laid uponinculcating appropriate behavioural and attitudinal skills in the police force for prevention and detection of crimes against women and children and for proper interaction with the victims of crime. Webinars on women safety with sensitivity, gender sensitization of police personnel etc. have also been organized by BPR&D. To ensure that the Police Stations are more women friendly and approachable, as they would be the first and single point of contact for any woman walking into a police station 14,658 Women Help Desks (WHDs) have been set up, of which 13,743 are headed by women police officers. To provide help and support to needy women and women in distress, Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112) has been established in all 36 States and UTs for various emergencies, with computer aided dispatch of field/ police resources. Since its launch, over 43 crore calls have been handled so far. In addition to ERSS, a fully functional dedicated Women helpline (WHL-181) is operational in 35 States/ UTs except West Bengal. The WHL has also been integrated with ERSS. So far, Women Helplines have handled over 2.10 crore calls and assisted over 84.43 lakh women. To ensure that justice is delivered to unfortunate women and young girls who are victims of heinous sexual offences, Government has been providing financial assistance to States/ UTs for setting up Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) since 2019. As of 30th May, 2025, a total of 747 FTSCs, including 406 exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts, are operational in 30 States/UTs, having disposed of more than 3.30 lakh cases of rape, and offences under POCSO Act across the country. The Ministry also undertakes awareness exercise for safety and security of women and children from time to time. Further, the Government, through institutions like the National Commission for Women (NCW), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and their counterparts in States have been spreading awareness through seminars, workshops, audio- visual, print and electronic media etc. to sensitize the people about the safety and security of women and children and also about various provisions of law. In addition, Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Home Affairs have issued advisories to States/ UTs from time to time on various issues pertaining to safety and security of women and children. To make legal aid more accessible for women, the National Commission for Women (NCW) in collaboration with Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) has launched a legal aid clinic which is a single-window facility for resolving grievances of women by providing free legal assistance. Similar Legal Aid Clinics have been set up in 17 States. The Ministry has launched the 'Mission Shakti Portal' with all functional features on January 22, 2025. This portal aims to enhance accessibility of various government services for women, establish quality mechanisms for rescue, protection, and rehabilitation, and build the capacity of functionaries and duty holders under various schemes and legislations. Furthermore, a National dashboard has been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) for monitoring calls across all States/UTs implementing theWomen Helpline. This dashboard enables real-time monitoring of calls received and women assisted. Through this system, the Central Government will be able to maintain centralized data on violence faced by women across India, categorized by types of cases, including instances of domestic violence. (e): The Government gives utmost priority to the safety, security and empowerment of women across the country. The Government has adopted multi-pronged approach on a life- cycle continuum basis to address the issue of women for their educational, social, economic and political empowerment so that they lead the process of development of India. In the past few years, a number of initiatives have been taken for holistic development and empowerment of women in the country. The Ministry of Women and Child Development implements the Umbrella Scheme named ‘Mission Shakti’ during the 15th Finance Commission period with effect from the financial year 2022-23. It is aimed at strengthening interventions for women safety, security and empowerment. It seeks to realise the Government’s commitment for “women-led development‟ by addressing issues affecting women on a life-cycle continuum basis. It focuses on strategies for improving convergence across Ministries/ Departments and at different levels of governance. It also seeks to promote greater participation and support of Panchayats and other local level governance bodies, apart from strengthening digital infrastructure support, last mile tracking and Jan Sahabhagita. Mission Shakti has two sub- schemes -‘Sambal’ and ‘Samarthya’. The “Sambal” sub-scheme is for safety and security of women. It has the components of One Stop Centres (OSCs), Women Helpline (WHL), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and a new component of Nari Adalat. The “Samarthya” sub scheme is for empowerment of women. It has the components of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Palna and a new component of Gap Funding for Economic Empowerment i.e. SANKALP : Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW) to facilitate inter-sectoral convergence of schemes and programs meant for women at the Central, State/ UT and District levels for creating an environment in which women are able to realize their full potential. The support under the HEW provides for guiding, linking and hand holding women to various institutional and schematic set ups for their empowerment and development including access to healthcare, quality education, career and vocational counseling/ training, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, backward and forward linkages, health and safety for workers, social security and digital literacy. The Anganwadi Services under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a universal scheme without any entry barriers, under which pregnant women and lactating mothers are eligible for the services including the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP). Government has also implemented the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) which aims to provide cash incentive through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode to Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) for partial compensation for the wage loss so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery and to improve healthseeking behaviour. The scheme also seeks to promote positive behavioural change towards girl child by providing additional cash incentive for the second child, if that is a girl child. Benefits have been extended to over 4.05 crore women through this scheme. Aslo, Palna, a sub-scheme is implemented in all States/ UTs to provide day care facilities and protection to children. The services of childcare have been extended through Anganwadi cum Crèche (AWCC) by way of enabling more and more mothers to work and the care givers to participate in the workforce. In 2017, the Maternity Benefit Act was amended to increase paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children. This Act also provides for paid maternity leave to women workers and crèche facility within prescribed distance in all establishments having fifty or more employees. Depending upon the nature of work assigned to a woman, Section 5(5) of the Act also provides for work from home for woman after availing the maternity benefit for such period and on such conditions as the employer and the woman may mutually agree. Besides, multiple initiatives for increasing participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have also been undertaken. Vigyan Jyoti was launched in 2020 to balance low representation of girls in different streams of Science and Technology from 9th to 12th standards. The Overseas Fellowship Scheme started in 2017- 18. It provides opportunities to Indian Women Scientist and Technologists to undertake international collaborative research in STEM. Several women scientists have played significant roles in India’s maiden Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), or Mangalyaan, including building and testing the scientific instruments at the Space Application Centre. Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education is administering ‘National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology’ (NMEICT) Scheme, SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds), SWAYAM PRABHA, National Digital Library (NDL), Virtual Lab, e-Yantra, NEAT (National Education Alliance for Technology) etc. to ensure quality education through e-learning to students across the country. Under the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram, Vidya Lakshmi Portal (VLP) has been launched by the Government to ensure that students avail education loans easily through single window system of banks. All Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have been on- boarded on the Portal. Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) Scheme focuses on woman ownership of houses and it has been decided that the allotment of house shall be made in the name of the woman or jointly in the name of the husband and wife, except in the case of a widower/ unmarried/ separated person/ transgender. Construction of over 11.8 crore toilets under ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, clean cooking gas connections to 10.3 crore women below poverty line under ‘Ujjawala Yojana’ and connecting nearly 15.6 crores rural household with tap drinking water connections under ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’ have transformed the lives of women by reducing the drudgery and care burden. In order to enhance the employability of female workers, the Government is providing training to them through a network of Women Industrial Training institutes, NationalVocational Training Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes. A number of enabling provisions have been incorporated in Labour Codes viz. the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code on Social Security, 2020 for creating congenial work environment for women workers. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) mandates that at least one third of the jobs generated under the scheme (MGNREGS) should be given to women. Under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), over 10 crore women are connected with nearly 91 lakh women’s self-help groups that are transforming rural socio-economic landscape in several innovative and socially and ecologically responsible ways, also availing governmental support including through collateral free loans. To ensure economic independence of women through skill development and vocational training, the Government has introduced Skill India Mission. The National Skill Development Policy focuses on inclusive skill development, with the objective of increased women participation for better economic productivity. Government has also set up the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana across the country. Emphasis has been laid on creating additional infrastructure both for training and apprenticeship for women; flexible training delivery mechanisms such as mobile training units, flexible afternoon batches along with on local need-based training to accommodate women; and ensuring safe and gender sensitive training environment, employment of women trainers, equity in remuneration, and complaint redressal mechanism. National Agriculture Market or e-NAM, an online trading platform for agricultural commodities is helping women overcome or compensate the barriers they face in accessing markets. National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) is playing a significant role to uplift women cooperatives as large number of women are engaged and involved in cooperatives dealing with activities related to food grain processing, plantation crops, oilseeds processing, fisheries, dairy & livestock, spinning mills, handloom and power loom weaving, Integrated Cooperative Development Projects, etc. Other schemes include Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), Samagra Shiksha, Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojna, Swacch Vidyalaya Mission, Swachchh Bharat Mission, etc. In order to enhance the employability of female workers, the Government is providing training to them through a network of Women Industrial Training institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes. To ensure economic independence of women through skill development and vocational training, the Government has also introduced Skill India Mission. India is promoting greater roles for girls in the armed forces. Government has also enabled provisions to allow women’s participation in non-conventional sectors such as fighter pilots in Indian Air Force, Commandos, Central Police Forces, admissions in Sainik Schools, entry of Girls in NDA etc. The Government has also taken initiatives to increase femaleparticipation in the civil aviation sector with the creation of women aviation professionals through a special focus on young school girls, especially from low-income families. Globally, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots, around 5 per cent of pilots are women. In India, the share of women pilots is significantly higher. There are schemes like Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana and Stand-Up India, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) which have been launched for helping women set up their own enterprises. To economically empower women, 84% of loans of sizes from rupees ten lakh to rupees one crore under ‘Stand-Up India’ have been made available to women by the Government. With special attention towards entrepreneurship, Government of India has played a key role in the facilitation and disbursement of a large number of loans to small women-led enterprises ensuring that women become a vital force in the country’s burgeoning start-up ecosystem supported under the Start-up India. In order to bring women in the mainstream of political leadership at the grass root level, Government has reserved at least 33% of the seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for women through the 73rd amendment to the Constitution. Today, there are more than 14.50 lakh Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) in PRIs, which is approximately 46% of the total elected representatives. Government is providing training to the EWRs from time to time to build on their capacity with a view to empowering women to participate effectively in the governance processes. The greatest leap forward for women empowerment and representation of women in the highest political offices in the country has been the notification by Government of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 (Constitution One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 on 28th September, 2023, for reservation of one third of seats for women in the House of People (Lok Sabha) and in the State Legislative Assemblies including Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi. As per Periodic Labour Force Survey, conducted by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the female labour force participation rate (usual status, age 15 years and above) has increased from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% 2023-24. This significant jump is an outcome of the Government resolve for ensuring women’s empowerment through policy initiatives aimed at their long-term socio-economic development in the country. *****