In the past, violence against women, particularly violence occurring in the home or between intimate partners, was viewed as a private matter, not as an issue of civil or political rights. Now, however, courts in many countries all over the world have recognized that domestic violence is not a private matter. For example, by applying the legally accepted definitions of torture to the violence that woman face everyday around the world, the international community has explicitly recognized violence against women as a human rights violation involving state responsibility. When states fail to take the basic steps needed to protect women from domestic violence or allow these crimes to be committed with impunity, they are failing in their obligation to protect women from torture. Similarly domestic violence violates a number of other rights, including the right to life and liberty, the right to self determination, the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel and degrading treatment, etc. Many of these rights are enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which India has signed and ratified. In light of this legally binding international obligation, the failure of a government to prohibit acts of violence against women constitutes a failure of state protection.
The main provisions of the ICCPR that can be applied to cases of domestic violence are as follows: Article 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 16, 23, 26.
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