Medicolegal Response to Violence Against Women in India

Abstract

This article examines women's experiences in India with health and legal interventions that address domestic violence, dowry-related violence, and rape. By examining the experiences of survivors of abuse with the medicolegal system in New Delhi, it considers the extent to which women are able to access their legal rights within the special protection system constructed specifically for them. The use of primary data highlights the impact of state procedures on women, and it demonstrates how procedures designed to enhance women's access to the law actually inhibit it. Using semistructured interviews with female survivors of abuse, police officers, case workers, NGO leaders, lawyers, physicians, and government officials in a 4-year period, this article examines women's access to state services designed to address violence against women, and raises questions about state tolerance of domestic and sexual violence.