Our society’s warped understanding of power relations has forced us to remain in denial about many ills. One of these is domestic abuse. With the debate having progressed drastically in the past decade, various segments of the society have pushed the State to legislate on this form of violence. The narratives of chaadar aur chaar dewaari have been exploited for long, largely in a bid to deprive women of their rights and to keep them bound to outdated cultural interpretations of their social status.

While on the legislation front, the apparent indicates all is well, it isn’t. With every province left to legislate on its own without a well-thought national policy, loopholes and flaws are left exposed, leaving the victims vulnerable. Where then is justice? What then of the abuse survivors?

With a lack of political will and infrastructure to back up legislative provisions, enforcement is left handicapped. One wonders what priority is assigned by the government to those women who are abused and left helpless.

How abused women are isolated by their own families, and are left to fend for themselves without a safety net in place is a scandal. This is how abuse inherently works, by isolating the abused, the victim. There is little point to talking about rehabilitation, which simply cannot begin until the abused is removed from the abusive environment. For communities to act as a support group, the government should take the lead. For now, it is nowhere to be seen.

Also read: Unsafe at home

For a society plagued with such ills, the obvious challenge is to fight deep-rooted biases that reinforce stereotypes and prevent women from shattering narratives that have for long dictated their place in society. From popular literature to media, women have not been depicted as agencies of change and ability, in and of themselves. With alternative narratives challenging mainstream portrayal of women, it is time to finally wake up and smell the coffee.