ABSTRACT
Despite women's limited presence in formal politics, women's movements have always played a critical role in promoting gender equity in India. This chapter investigates the politics behind the adoption and implementation of domestic violence policy in India. The chapter finds that the informal relations that existed between women's movement actors and members of the National Commission of Women (NCW), and later the links women MPs had with women's movement, played a key role in placing the adoption of the law on the political agenda and then placing demands and influencing debates within parliament. Moreover, shifts in political settlement dynamics brought new coalitions into being that included actors in favour of the domestic violence bill. The analysis shows how even within competitive-institutionalized contexts, women's groups may have little to offer to political elites in terms of their incentives to remain in power. Despite the relative ease with which the Indian government introduced the legislation, there was limited political commitment towards ensuring effective legal implementation. The failure to allocate adequate funding has been cited to be a major impediment in the implementation of the act.
