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Legal Help
Reaching a safer place.

For some survivors, the criminal legal system may offer options for protection from abusive partners. The Hotline doesn’t give legal advice — nor are we legal advocates — but there may be legal resources available in your community that we can help you identify.

Contact us to talk through legal resources suited to your situation:

  • Call 011.23389680
  • Or chat live now
What to expect when you contact us

Legal protections

Protective orders and restraining orders

  • A protective order is a legal document intended to prohibit your partner from physically coming near you or harming or harassing you, your children, or other loved ones
  • You can apply for a protective order at courthouses.
  • Protective orders may be able to put a stop to physical abuse but they depend on your partner’s adherence to the law and law enforcement’s willingness to enforce the protective order. Psychological abuse is still possible.

Other legal resources

  • The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is a civil law that provides protection to women, from men in the household. It also provides that an aggrieved may also file a complaint against a relative of the husband or the male partner.
  • Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code is also a criminal law, which applies to husbands or relatives of husbands who are cruel to women.
  • Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 is a Criminal Law that punishes the giving and taking of Dowry. The tradition of dowry itself is banned under the law.

Safety and law enforcement

  • If possible, identify non-law enforcement emergency service providers in your area before violence occurs to minimize interactions with the criminal legal system during an emergency.
  • If you determine that it’s safe for you and others for you to do so, call 9-1-1 during a life-threatening emergency.
  • For non-life threatening situations, consider contacting us 24/7 to speak confidentially with one of our expert advocates.

Contact

National Commission For Women

Plot no.21,FC33,Jasola Institutional Area

New Delhi - 110025

Administrative Line: (011) 23389680

The Hotline

National Commission For Women

Privacy Policy

Domestic violence, or intimate partner violence (IPV) as it is sometimes called, is a worldwide problem.[10] Domestic abuse includes physical, emotional and sexual violence of any form. In India, the PWDVA also includes economic abuse under the definition of domestic violence. A 1999 study examined the prevalence and characteristics of domestic abuse in five districts of northern India during 1995–1996. The study reported that in those five districts, lifetime prevalence of domestic abuse ranged from 18% to 45%.

Exempted from federal income tax under the provisions of Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Conservative lawmakers and anti-women's rights supporters still claim that the higher age of consent could results in abuses and wrongful arrests in statutory rape in spite of the high incidence of unreported or reported cases of sexual abuse that warrants such laws. According to a 2012 United Nations report, 47% of Indian women marry younger than 18 (the legal marriage age is 21 for men and 18 for women).

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