Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

Home is supposed to be the safest place. For many women it is also the place where they have the least power: the house is in someone else's name, the bank account is someone else's, and leaving means losing the roof over their heads. Criminal law can punish a wrong after it happens, but a woman in this position needs something faster and more practical, a court order that keeps her in her home, keeps the violence away and gives her money to live on. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is that civil remedy.

In two minutes

The 2005 Act gives a woman in a domestic relationship civil remedies against domestic violence: protection, residence, monetary relief, custody and compensation orders, obtained quickly from a Magistrate with the help of Protection Officers and service providers.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Law Relating to Women and Children on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.