Dr. Charu WaliKhanna, Member, was Chief Guest at the Legal Awareness Programme for women at Trilok Puri, Delhi. The programme was organised by Mahila Prayas Jagriti Mission, Trilok Puri, Delhi on 31.1.2014. Member, Dr. Charu WaliKhanna, interacted with the participants mainly women from the Jatav and Valmiki community who shared the problems faced by them. These women also belong to the Mahila Panchayat an initiative taken for empowerment of women by Delhi Govt in collaboration with different NGOs and promoted by Delhi Commission for Women. These Mahila Panchayats offer crisis intervention and legal aid at community level and help tackle local level legal disputes and assist in reduction and reconciliation of violence against women. Member, Dr. Charu WaliKhanna asked the women present what they learnt from the legal awareness programme. The response was very positive and one of the ladies said that since her marriage for the past two years she had been facing domestic violence. Her husband has started treating her with respect and stopped the violence, ever since she has been attending the Mahila Panchayat and become aware of her rights and contact phone numbers in case of emergency. Another woman shared her experience of how she ensured justice for a Scheduled Caste girl who had an inter caste marriage.

The young girls were alive to the issues of women specially the right to exercise their choice while choosing of partner. Member addressing the women said that domestic violence against women in India is an issue which has been under-addressed in the legal arena. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is a significant step. Despite there being a plethora of laws for protection of women, they are not able to access justice due to their lack of knowledge and awareness of their rights. For the empowerment of women and to ensure that they get social, economic and political justice, the NCW has initiated Legal Awareness Programme (LAP) so that women can be made aware of their rights and being empowered will be in a better position to seek justice for them. The Commission is of the view that theoretical knowledge cannot prepare persons for challenges in real life, thus the need to lay more stress on imparting knowledge through discussion, case study, video films, case conference and street plays, interactions and meeting with social activists, visits to Lok Adalats, District Legal Service Authority, Jails, Police Stations, Family Courts, Mahila Courts, Consumer Courts etc. Dr. Charu WaliKhanna, addressing the participants said it is important to understand domestic violence in the context of social inequalities rather than on the dynamics of individual relationships. The structural inequalities in society have created a power differential between women and men with discrimination between male and female being so deep that families normally imbibe and absorb these prejudices in an unconscious manner. The male does not consider acts of violence against a woman as being a crime. Rather he takes it as a normal occurrence and a projection of his manhood. On the other hand, a woman also does no realize she is in an abusive relationship because while some relationships are clearly abusive from the outset, abuse often starts subtly and gets worse over time. As a result she develops an inferiority complex, starts losing her self confidence and starts blaming herself for her miserable existence she blames herself for the violent behaviour of her partner and tells herself she deserves it. When the woman assumes a passive role, the man's aggressive tendencies get further aggravated and he starts believing that he can indulge in violence and get away with it.

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