Categories of Gender-Based Violence: Family, Community, and State-Perpetrated Violence

Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most widespread yet deeply entrenched human rights violations across the world. It cuts across economic classes, geographies, and cultures. To make sense of its many dimensions, the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW), 1993, categorised violence against women into three broad settings: violence within the family, violence in the general community, and violence perpetrated or condoned by the state. These are not airtight compartments – they overlap, reinforce, and feed into each other, creating a cycle that is extremely difficult to break.

The UN framework: why categorisation matters 🔗

Before 1993, violence against women was largely treated as a private matter by governments worldwide. The adoption of DEVAW by the UN General Assembly changed this by formally recognising such violence as a human rights violation. The Declaration provided the most widely accepted definition of violence against women – any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts and coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.

By classifying violence into three categories – family, community, and state – the Declaration made it possible for policymakers, researchers, and activists to identify the specific spaces where violence occurs and design interventions accordingly. It also placed the responsibility squarely on states to act with due diligence, whether the violence was perpetrated by private individuals or by state agents themselves.

Violence within the family 🔗

The family is supposed to be the safest space in a person’s life. But for millions of women, it is where they face the greatest risk of harm. Family-based violence encompasses domestic abuse, dowry-related violence, marital rape, honour crimes, female genital mutilation, and the sexual abuse of female children within the household.

Domestic abuse 🔗

Domestic abuse, also called intimate partner violence, is the most common form of violence against women globally. It includes physical assault, emotional manipulation, economic control, and sexual coercion by a spouse or partner. According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21), around 32% of ever-married women reported having experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence from their husbands at some point in their lives. This figure is staggering, but the real numbers are likely higher because many women never report abuse due to social stigma, fear of retaliation, or economic dependence on their abusers.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 was a landmark piece of legislation that expanded the definition of domestic violence beyond physical harm to include emotional, verbal, sexual, and economic abuse. It also covered violence by in-laws, not just spouses – a critical addition given the Indian family structure. Despite the law’s wide scope, enforcement remains patchy. Many women, especially in rural areas, remain unaware of their legal rights, and police response to domestic violence complaints is often inadequate.

Dowry-related violence 🔗

Dowry-related violence is a form of abuse deeply rooted in patriarchal practices surrounding marriage. When a bride’s family is perceived to have provided an insufficient dowry, the woman may face harassment, torture, and in extreme cases, murder or forced suicide. The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 made the giving and receiving of dowry a criminal offence, yet the practice continues to be widespread. According to NCRB data for 2023, cruelty by husband or relatives – a category that largely captures dowry-related abuse – accounted for the single largest share of reported crimes against women, with over 1.33 lakh cases registered that year.

What makes dowry violence particularly insidious is its normalisation. In many communities, dowry is not seen as extortion but as a social obligation. This makes it harder for victims to seek help and for law enforcement to treat such cases with the urgency they deserve.

Honour crimes 🔗

Honour crimes – sometimes called “honour killings” – are acts of violence committed against women (and sometimes men) who are perceived to have brought shame upon their families. Common triggers include choosing one’s own partner, marrying outside one’s caste or religion, or simply asserting personal autonomy. These crimes are carried out by family members themselves and are often sanctioned, even celebrated, by the wider community.

Though there is no specific central law addressing honour killings, the Supreme Court in the Shakti Vahini v. Union of India (2018) judgment directed states to take preventive measures, including setting up safe houses for couples facing threats. However, khap panchayats and informal caste councils continue to wield power in many parts of the country, and the social pressure to comply with family “honour” remains enormous.

Violence in the community 🔗

The second category in the UN framework covers violence that occurs in the general community – that is, outside the home. This includes rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment in the workplace and public spaces, trafficking, and forced prostitution. Community violence tends to be more visible than family violence, but it is no less damaging to survivors.

Rape and sexual assault 🔗

Rape remains one of the most serious and underreported crimes against women. According to NCRB 2023 data, over 32,000 rapes were reported during the year. That works out to roughly 85 reported cases every single day. Yet researchers and activists consistently point out that these numbers represent only a fraction of the actual incidence, as shame, fear, and distrust of the justice system discourage women from filing complaints.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, passed in the aftermath of the horrific Nirbhaya gang rape case, introduced stricter punishments including the death penalty for rape resulting in death, criminalised stalking, voyeurism, and acid attacks as separate offences, and expanded the definition of sexual assault. While these legal changes were significant, the conviction rate for rape cases remains low, and cases often drag on in courts for years.

Sexual harassment at the workplace 🔗

Sexual harassment in the workplace is an extension of the power imbalances that women navigate in everyday life. The legal framework to address this began with the Supreme Court’s landmark Vishakha judgment in 1997, which arose from the gang rape of social worker Bhanwari Devi in Rajasthan after she tried to prevent a child marriage. The Vishakha Guidelines mandated that employers take proactive steps to prevent harassment and provide a complaints mechanism.

These guidelines were later codified into the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, commonly known as the POSH Act. It requires organisations with ten or more employees to set up Internal Complaints Committees and covers a wide range of workplace settings, including remote work environments. Despite the legal mandate, compliance is far from universal. Many smaller organisations lack functional complaints committees, and awareness of the law among both employers and employees remains limited.

Trafficking and forced prostitution 🔗

Human trafficking is among the most severe forms of community violence against women. It involves the recruitment, transportation, or harbouring of persons through coercion or deception for the purpose of exploitation – including sexual exploitation, forced labour, and domestic servitude. According to NCRB data, over 2,250 trafficking cases were registered in 2022 involving more than 6,000 identified victims, a majority of whom were women and children exploited for sexual purposes.

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, remains the primary legislation addressing trafficking, though it has been widely criticised for its narrow scope and for criminalising victims rather than perpetrators. The Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill was proposed but has yet to be enacted. Meanwhile, cross-border trafficking networks, particularly in the northeastern states and along the India-Nepal and India-Bangladesh borders, continue to operate.

Violence perpetrated or condoned by the state 🔗

The third category – and often the least discussed – is violence that is carried out or tolerated by the state itself. This includes custodial rape, torture, violence during armed conflict, forced sterilisation, and other abuses committed by those in positions of state authority. What makes state-perpetrated violence especially dangerous is that the very institution responsible for protecting citizens becomes the perpetrator.

Custodial rape and violence 🔗

Custodial rape refers to sexual assault committed by state agents – police officers, military personnel, prison officials – against women who are in their custody. Indian law recognises this as an aggravated offence carrying harsher penalties, but accountability remains elusive. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued multiple advisories to state governments urging swift punishment of public servants guilty of custodial violence against women, but ground-level implementation varies dramatically from state to state.

The problem is compounded in conflict zones, where extraordinary powers granted to security forces make women particularly vulnerable. The case of Thangjam Manorama Devi in Manipur (2004) – a young woman taken into military custody and found dead with signs of torture and sexual assault – became a defining moment in the discourse on state violence against women. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which grants immunity to security personnel in “disturbed areas,” has been widely criticised by human rights organisations for creating a climate of impunity that enables such violence.

Violence in conflict zones 🔗

In regions affected by armed conflict or insurgency – parts of the Northeast, Kashmir, and areas with Naxal/Maoist presence – women bear a disproportionate burden of violence. Sexual violence in these settings is often used as a weapon of war, designed not just to harm the individual but to humiliate and control entire communities. Feminist scholars have pointed out that when security forces commit sexual violence in conflict zones, they are communicating that the bodies of women in those communities are unprotected by law.

Despite ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and supporting UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the gap between international commitments and domestic realities remains wide. Independent oversight mechanisms for armed forces operating in conflict zones are either weak or non-existent, and the requirement of prior government sanction for prosecution effectively shields perpetrators.

How these categories interconnect 🔗

It is important to understand that these three categories are not isolated silos. A woman who experiences domestic violence at home may also face sexual harassment at work and have no confidence in the police or justice system to help her – especially if she belongs to a marginalised caste or class. The same patriarchal norms that normalise domestic abuse also create a culture where sexual harassment in public spaces is tolerated and where state institutions respond with indifference.

For example, a trafficking survivor may have initially fled a violent household, only to be exploited by community actors and then re-victimised by the criminal justice system through insensitive treatment, lack of support services, or outright corruption. The categories of violence reinforce each other precisely because they share the same root – the systemic devaluation of women’s autonomy, dignity, and rights.

Data supports this interconnection. The National Family Health Survey-5 found that nearly one in three women experience spousal violence, yet the NCRB records only a fraction of these cases as formal complaints. Under-reporting is driven by the very same power structures – within the family, the community, and the state – that perpetuate violence in the first place.

Towards an integrated response 🔗

Addressing gender-based violence requires more than passing laws. Laws are necessary but not sufficient. Effective responses must work across all three categories simultaneously. This means strengthening family-level interventions through community education and economic empowerment of women. It means making public spaces safer through better policing, functional complaints mechanisms, and genuine accountability for harassers. And it means holding the state itself to account – through independent oversight, judicial activism, and citizen vigilance.

Several institutional mechanisms are already in place. Over 800 One-Stop Centres provide medical aid, legal assistance, counselling, and temporary shelter to women facing violence. The Women Helpline (181) offers round-the-clock support. Fast-track special courts have been set up to expedite trials for crimes against women. But the scale of the problem far exceeds the reach of these services, especially in rural and tribal areas.

The deeper challenge is cultural. Until families stop seeing violence as a private matter, until communities stop blaming women for the violence they suffer, and until state institutions prioritise the safety of women over the protection of powerful perpetrators, the cycle of gender-based violence will continue.

What do you think? Can legal reforms alone dismantle the deeply entrenched structures of gender-based violence, or do we need a fundamental shift in social attitudes alongside institutional change? Given that family, community, and state violence are so deeply interconnected, what would a truly integrated approach to addressing GBV look like in practice?

References

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6. https://www.easyllama.com/blog/india-workplace-harassment-laws
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