Seven dimensions of powerlessness in an inegalitarian marital relationship 

Domestic violence is basically centered on three key elements: violence, domesticity, and structural inequality, where domesticity contextualizes both spatial location and the relationship between the abused and the victim, and structural inequalities work through the paradigm of power and control. 

However, in a patriarchal society, what I construe is that domestic violence is distinguished from all other forms of violence against women because of the ‘seven dimensions of powerlessness in the relationship’. This is in consonance with the Saptapadi or saat phere, or seven steps around the sacred fire, with saat vachan,, or seven promises, taken in every step when a marriage is performed as per Hindu rites and ceremonies, yet it underscores the serious abuse women face in marriage. 

Briefly, these seven dimensions of powerlessness in marital relations are:

First, domestic violence takes place within the confines of ‘home’, a place that assumingly provides safety, security, comfort, and escape from the outside world; 

Second, the perpetrator of the violence is the man, who assumingly is considered as the ‘protector and the provider’ in the general parlance;

Third, an inegalitarian relationship exists between the perpetrator and the victim because of the emotional, material, and economic dependence of a woman on her abuser;

Fourth, the relationship in which violence takes place is not dyadic – other family members also get involved;

Fifth, the volatility of the situation is enhanced because the relationship is adorned with notions of intimacy, sexuality, and romanticism, so any hurt in the ‘realm of emotions’ has a much more drastic impact than may be seen in a situation of custodial violence, where power and authority augment the gravity of the abuse;

Sixth, patrilineal and patrilocal arrangements exist in North India, where a woman is transferred spatially from her parental home to her matrimonial house upon marriage, and this adds to her disadvantage because the shift to a new location enhances her vulnerability while isolating her and putting her in the lowest position within the family hierarchy in her marital household; and

Seventh, the culture of patriarchy and culture of violence co-exist and operate in a manner to deny women their rightful entitlements while upholding the male prerogative to control and chastise women. 

Contextualizing violence within these ‘dimensions of powerlessness’, I see domestic violence as a ‘ daman chakra ’ implying a ‘spiral of oppression’ or oppression intensified due to a situation of powerlessness.

From my book Women and Domestic Violence in India: A Quest for Justice, 2019, Routledge

p 12-13