KATHMANDU: Women activists feel that government should take initiation for the effective implementation of the domestic violence bill and said that there should be wide dissemination about the provision on the bill.
The Domestic Violence and Punishment bill 2065 defines physical, mental, sexual, financial as well as behavioral violence as domestic violence.
The amendment version of the bill against domestic violence is being promulgated in order to guarantee every individual’s right to live with dignity in the society and to punish the perpetrators in order to control every type of violence inside the home. It also aims to protect the rights of victims.
The bill is applicable to ‘family relations’, which includes the relations within descendents, marriage, adopted sons and daughters, joint family, dependents and domestic workers of the family.
The law states that the victim could file a complaint at a police station, local body or National Women’s Commission.
The government will establish service centres for victims to ensure security, treatment and rehabilitation. Such centres will provide victims with legal aid and psychological counselling, among other services.
The bill has provision for inflicting up to six months of imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine on perpetrators of domestic violence, and half the punishment to accomplices. In case of physical or psychological injuries to the victim, the perpetrator will have to bear compensation of treatment. A person once found guilty of perpetrating domestic violence will face double penalties for each new offence of domestic violence, the bill states. The bill has added ten per cent extra punishment to those engaged in public services.
Durga Sob, president of Federation of Dalit Women said that after the continuous struggle for several decades the bill against domestic violence was introduced and said that it is one of the achievements for fighting for the rights of women and for their empowerment.
“The effective implementation is the challenge of the domestic violence bill†added Sob and said that there are many laws and policies in Nepal which are not practiced in the real sense. She stressed for spreading awareness about the bill against domestic violence at the grass root level and said that the larger masses that are living in the rural area should be informed and made aware about the bill.
She viewed that women engaged in the sister organisations of the political leaders should be made advocates for informing the grass root level. She recommended that the bill could be more effective if it addressed the specific population group and said that the state has the greatest role for the effective implementation of the bill.
Dhan Kumari Sunar, member of NWC said that they were working as per the mandate of the bill and that they were engaged in dialogue with different concerned authorities for making the implementation procedure easier. She added that they were thinking of referring the case of domestic violence to the local bodies and police officers that are above their limitations adding that they could not punish or compensate any one by showing the reason of the domestic violence.
Meera Dhungana, senior advocate said that the government should formulate the directives and regulation concerning about the bill. She also argued for sufficient budget for helping victims and suggested publishing leaflets including complete information about the bill by using simple language arguing that legal language is difficult to understand.
“There should be public pressure programmes for the effective implementation of the bill†added Dhungana adding that the message should be disseminated in an extended manner.
Pramada Shah, former president of Saathi argued that there should be Rapid Response Team under police structure for providing immediate help to the victim. “There should be establishment of rehabilitation centres within the day of implementation of the domestic violence as law” viewed Shah adding that there should be safe places for women for shelter. She said that NGOs, government bodies and communities should play an important role for the effective implementation of the bill. She also said that they have been struggling for the rules related to domestic violence from the last 17 years.
Renu Raj Bhandari, president of Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) said that the bill still has loopholes and claimed that the concept of the bill is still not clear but added that it is the initial phase for empowering women. She added that there should be provision for counsellors with the establishment of complaint centres.
She said that the bill should be drafted from the human rights perspective and said that different components that are included in the bill should have clear definition.
She argued that the support mechanism cannot be effective as the right for investigation into the case was given to police officers and local bodies, adding that they are directed by patriarchal concepts. She urged for practical support from different concerned societies and the government. She added that the state should play the role of controller and the government should have policies for empowering women. “The bill should be proactive rather than reactive†added Rajbhandari.
Toya Nath Adhikari, legal officer at Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) said that the implementation would be effective if it could be applied to the rural women who are suffering from real domestic violence.
He said that there should be paralegal committees in coordination with the local women for building support mechanism. He said that they are working towards drafting directives related to the bill.