The book seeks to analyse the various forms of violence against women, to look into the socio-cultural and structural causes of such violence, the impact on women’s as well as societal health, the legal interventions which have been made and which can be made. There are several forms of violence that constitute a violation of women’s right to live with dignity and self-respect. These include rape, incest, domestic violence, widow immolation, female foeticide and infanticide, trafficking in women, sexual harassment, molestation, eve-teasing, witch-hunting, dowry deaths, the increasing instances of stripping and parading of women and so on. The list is endless. New modes of victimization are constantly emerging. The impact on women is both physical (physical impairment, even death at the hands of spouses) and psychological (high levels of stress, even mental disorder). Besides the psychological and physical trauma experienced by the battered women, domestic violence has also led to enormous economic loss for nations. The discrimination and violence that women are subjected to has its genesis in socio-cultural values that spring from the patriarchal ethos. The influence of socio-cultural factors such as social class, primordial identities of caste and religion, the impact of globalisation and regional specificities cannot be ignored. In this backdrop and context, the Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, Punjab University organised a seminar on Violence Against Women. Sponsored by ICSSR, the seminar sought to inquire into the various aspects, causes and manifestations of violence and arrive at doable strategies to alleviate the problem. The present book is an outcome of this seminar. The authors have focused on different aspects of violence including domestic violence, female foeticide and infanticide, socio-cultural causes of violence, impact of globalisation and new technological developments, impact on women’s health as well as the legal and judicial interventions.
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