Legal Take: Protective Shield of PWDVA, 2005
Section 11 of the Prevention of Woman Against Domestic Violence Act, 2005 requires the state government to appoint adequate number of protection officers in each district. A protection officer is the crucial link between the aggrieved woman and the judiciary. The duties and functions of a protection officer are expressly mentioned in Section 12 of the PWDVA, 2005 emphasising on their role in court proceedings and providing comfort to the victim (shelter homes, medical facilities, informing about service providers, etc).
The problem with the appointment of Protection officers:
Protection officers seek protection: Recently a protection officer, Parmesh Tokas was assaulted by five woman when she went to a house in Kishangarh to serve court summons. Due to Section 11(2) of PWDVA, 2005 stating that a protection officer in all probability must be a woman and the increasing incidents of threats received by them, the High Court passed an order dated 3rd December, 2008 granting the right to police protection for protection officers involved in domestic violence claims.
Do you want immediate relief from domestic violence?
If your answer is yes, you are in need of a Protection Order (Section 22 of PWDVA, 2005). A protection order is provided by the court, and prohibits the abuser from committing any further violence. In case the abuser disobeys the order, he is severely punished. The victim must submit an application to the magistrate’s court seeking a protection order. The court will grant her a 14 day interim protection order which would be served to the abuser after a few days. The victim must go to the court on the return day (written on the protection order) where the abuser is also to be present. The protection order becomes a permanent order based on the decision of the case. Moreover, getting a protection order is free and you don’t even need a lawyer.
Even though protection orders don’t always guarantee full proof safety (Kumari’s case) but it is a great way to boost one’s self esteem and gather courage to face the abuser. The full potential of protection officers and protection order is not yet tapped. Increasing awareness and usage of this law will help combat the evil of domestic violence. For web based counselling on legal aspects of the PWDVA, 2005, visit http://wcd.nic.in/.
Tagged domestic violence, Law
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