Domestic violence is a serious issue in India with 37% of women reporting being beaten at some po... more Domestic violence is a serious issue in India with 37% of women reporting being beaten at some point in their lives in national surveys. While this is likely to be an undercount given the stigma associated with intimate partner violence and women's lack of access to the justice system, it is noteworthy that conviction rates continue to be extremely low even for the those cases that end up in the Courts. Drawing from critical legal anthropology and feminist jurisprudence, I argue that legal language, procedures and discourses attempt to normalise domestic violence by deploying discursive strategies such as consistent and pervasive use of the passive voice diminishing perpetrator responsibility, trivializing violence by avoiding the use of violent attributions in describing violent acts, and shifting blame to victims. Of the 787 cases registered under Section 498(A), disposed by the Bombay High Court between 1998 and 2004, just 6% obtained a conviction where the victim was alive, and 35% to 39% were convicted where victims had committed suicide or had been murdered. Conviction rates were extremely variable with many judges acquitting all the cases that they tried and just two judges convicting a third or more of the cases brought for trial. This disparity was further consolidated by procedural inconsistencies including the treatment of evidence, extent of documentation required to prove a history of abuse, the classification of interested witnesses and retractions by medical examiners, who were seldom cross-examined. The findings present a very troubling picture for gender justice in India, suggesting that what we need are not additional laws but a gender-aware approach to the implementations of existing laws.
Although India's divorce rate is low in cross-national perspective, the separation rate is three ... more Although India's divorce rate is low in cross-national perspective, the separation rate is three times as large as the divorce rate. There is striking variation across states, with marriage dissolution lower in the North compared with the South and North-east, consistent with previous arguments regarding relative female autonomy across regions. Surprisingly, there is very little difference between rural and urban rates of dissolution of marriage across states
In this article we argue for a comprehensive approach to addressing child sexual abuse in India. ... more In this article we argue for a comprehensive approach to addressing child sexual abuse in India. It suggests that both school curricula and teacher education programmes include age appropriate sexuality education as key area so both teachers and children are empowered to recognise, report and mitigate the threat of abuse. While recognizing that schools are not the only site or even the primary site where child sexual abuse (CSA) occurs, we argue that schools can be sites of social change where the patriarchal attitudes and cultures of gender based violence that encourage CSA are interrogated.
Given the high incidence of child sexual abuse in India, the authors of this paper argue for unde... more Given the high incidence of child sexual abuse in India, the authors of this paper argue for understanding the links between sexual abuse and the marginalization and disempowerment of children in our society which also manifests in other forms of child abuse (physical, verbal, and psychological). The marginalization and neglect of children creates conditions in which child sexual abuse often goes unnoticed or unreported. While appreciating the enactment of a specific law to protect children from sexual offences (POCSO, 2012) we argue that it can be effective only in a culture where the state, education sector and civil society act together to address children's physical and psychological safety and patriarchal attitudes within families, schools and communities.
Nationally, more than a third of women report some form of domestic violence in India. This study... more Nationally, more than a third of women report some form of domestic violence in India. This study set in a Mumbai slum shows that structural violence contributes to domestic violence and also systematically disadvantages women by forcing them to drop out of school, reduces labour force participation and prevents women from leaving abusive marriages. We find that birth order, age at marriage and the support of the natal family, all play a critical role in shaping women's life trajecto-ries. Although natal families and women's social networks under certain conditions can help mitigate violence, these are limited. Using six case studies, this study proposes a framework that encompasses multiple dimensions and forms of insecurity, categorised into material, physical, sociocultural or sexual constraints. By doing so, it delineates mechanisms by which institutional and normative contexts gender vulnerabili-ties. Methodologically, this article uses an ethnographic approach and, including two pairs of mothers and daughters as case studies, offers an intergenerational perspective that underscores the transmission of violent life trajectories, highlighting the limited possibilities for mitigation.
Sreeparna Ghosh Violence against women in India has recently been brought to the world's atte... more Sreeparna Ghosh Violence against women in India has recently been brought to the world's attention. But for too long the problem has been under reported. This column looks at what the data can tell us. A recent G20 survey ranked India as the worst place to be a woman (Baldwin 2012). Female foeticide, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender-based violence constitute the reality of most girls' and women's lives in India. That domestic violence in India and globally is grossly underreported in surveys and to the police is well known. 1 But my recent analysis shows that there is a gap between what is reported in the national surveys such as the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) and the figures from the police's National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). 2 How large is this gap and what can it tell us? My analysis presents some surprising findings: First, the disparity in reporting of domestic violence between the NFHS-3 and NCRB (2009) ranges from...
This research is based on aa disserta-tion project that explored domestic vio-lence in Mumbai. Da... more This research is based on aa disserta-tion project that explored domestic vio-lence in Mumbai. Data were collected during a year of fieldwork that included ethnographic and archival methods, observations and casual conversations, as well as formal interviews with 52 ...
Domestic violence is a serious issue in India with 37% of women reporting being beaten at some po... more Domestic violence is a serious issue in India with 37% of women reporting being beaten at some point in their lives in national surveys. While this is likely to be an undercount given the stigma associated with intimate partner violence and women's lack of access to the justice system, it is noteworthy that conviction rates continue to be extremely low even for the those cases that end up in the Courts. Drawing from critical legal anthropology and feminist jurisprudence, I argue that legal language, procedures and discourses attempt to normalise domestic violence by deploying discursive strategies such as consistent and pervasive use of the passive voice diminishing perpetrator responsibility, trivializing violence by avoiding the use of violent attributions in describing violent acts, and shifting blame to victims. Of the 787 cases registered under Section 498(A), disposed by the Bombay High Court between 1998 and 2004, just 6% obtained a conviction where the victim was alive, and 35% to 39% were convicted where victims had committed suicide or had been murdered. Conviction rates were extremely variable with many judges acquitting all the cases that they tried and just two judges convicting a third or more of the cases brought for trial. This disparity was further consolidated by procedural inconsistencies including the treatment of evidence, extent of documentation required to prove a history of abuse, the classification of interested witnesses and retractions by medical examiners, who were seldom cross-examined. The findings present a very troubling picture for gender justice in India, suggesting that what we need are not additional laws but a gender-aware approach to the implementations of existing laws.
Although India's divorce rate is low in cross-national perspective, the separation rate is three ... more Although India's divorce rate is low in cross-national perspective, the separation rate is three times as large as the divorce rate. There is striking variation across states, with marriage dissolution lower in the North compared with the South and North-east, consistent with previous arguments regarding relative female autonomy across regions. Surprisingly, there is very little difference between rural and urban rates of dissolution of marriage across states
In this article we argue for a comprehensive approach to addressing child sexual abuse in India. ... more In this article we argue for a comprehensive approach to addressing child sexual abuse in India. It suggests that both school curricula and teacher education programmes include age appropriate sexuality education as key area so both teachers and children are empowered to recognise, report and mitigate the threat of abuse. While recognizing that schools are not the only site or even the primary site where child sexual abuse (CSA) occurs, we argue that schools can be sites of social change where the patriarchal attitudes and cultures of gender based violence that encourage CSA are interrogated.
Given the high incidence of child sexual abuse in India, the authors of this paper argue for unde... more Given the high incidence of child sexual abuse in India, the authors of this paper argue for understanding the links between sexual abuse and the marginalization and disempowerment of children in our society which also manifests in other forms of child abuse (physical, verbal, and psychological). The marginalization and neglect of children creates conditions in which child sexual abuse often goes unnoticed or unreported. While appreciating the enactment of a specific law to protect children from sexual offences (POCSO, 2012) we argue that it can be effective only in a culture where the state, education sector and civil society act together to address children's physical and psychological safety and patriarchal attitudes within families, schools and communities.
Nationally, more than a third of women report some form of domestic violence in India. This study... more Nationally, more than a third of women report some form of domestic violence in India. This study set in a Mumbai slum shows that structural violence contributes to domestic violence and also systematically disadvantages women by forcing them to drop out of school, reduces labour force participation and prevents women from leaving abusive marriages. We find that birth order, age at marriage and the support of the natal family, all play a critical role in shaping women's life trajecto-ries. Although natal families and women's social networks under certain conditions can help mitigate violence, these are limited. Using six case studies, this study proposes a framework that encompasses multiple dimensions and forms of insecurity, categorised into material, physical, sociocultural or sexual constraints. By doing so, it delineates mechanisms by which institutional and normative contexts gender vulnerabili-ties. Methodologically, this article uses an ethnographic approach and, including two pairs of mothers and daughters as case studies, offers an intergenerational perspective that underscores the transmission of violent life trajectories, highlighting the limited possibilities for mitigation.
Sreeparna Ghosh Violence against women in India has recently been brought to the world's atte... more Sreeparna Ghosh Violence against women in India has recently been brought to the world's attention. But for too long the problem has been under reported. This column looks at what the data can tell us. A recent G20 survey ranked India as the worst place to be a woman (Baldwin 2012). Female foeticide, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender-based violence constitute the reality of most girls' and women's lives in India. That domestic violence in India and globally is grossly underreported in surveys and to the police is well known. 1 But my recent analysis shows that there is a gap between what is reported in the national surveys such as the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) and the figures from the police's National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). 2 How large is this gap and what can it tell us? My analysis presents some surprising findings: First, the disparity in reporting of domestic violence between the NFHS-3 and NCRB (2009) ranges from...
This research is based on aa disserta-tion project that explored domestic vio-lence in Mumbai. Da... more This research is based on aa disserta-tion project that explored domestic vio-lence in Mumbai. Data were collected during a year of fieldwork that included ethnographic and archival methods, observations and casual conversations, as well as formal interviews with 52 ...
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Papers by Sreeparna Chattopadhyay
Marriage Dissolution in India. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306257303_Marriage_Dissolution_in_India [accessed Apr 9, 2017].
Marriage Dissolution in India. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306257303_Marriage_Dissolution_in_India [accessed Apr 9, 2017].