Legal Framework on Protection of Men from Domestic Violence and Human Rights in India: A Critical Study

Domestic violence is usually viewed as a crime and a civil cause of action committed against a woman, but men are also victims of violence in the domestic and marriage relations. Violence against men, physical, psychological, emotional and economic is a subject that has been largely ignored in Indian society. The current law system in India is mainly aimed for the protection of women in the form of legislations as the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 that have laid out the remedies to the female victims. As a result, male victims of domestic violence are usually impeded in accessing justice and protection by legal, social, and psychological means. Many fundamental rights in the Constitution of India include equality before the law, protection of life and personal liberty, and the right to life with dignity. Such constitutional guarantees are supposed to be offered equally to all persons irrespective of gender. Nevertheless, the lack of gender-neutral legislation on domestic violence is a cause of the concern about the safeguarding of human rights of men in India. This study critically focuses the legal context of domestic violence in India and determine whether it provides sufficient protection of the human rights of male victims. The research also emphasizes the social stigma, culture, and institutional issues that deny men the chance to report domestic abuse. The methodology of the research is the doctrinal and analytical approach. The research provides the legal challenges and human rights considerations of domestic violence against men and contributes in advancing the current and new perspective of gender-neutral laws.