Alliance University is a Private University established in Karnataka State by Act No.34 of year 2010 and is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi.
The mission of the University is to create and sustain a community of lifelong learners in an environment that emphasizes literacy, critical thinking, and humanistic and scientific inquiry.
CSR at the University encourages and propels students to imbibe the qualities of enlightened leadership and thereby instills in them a level of trust and confidence about themselves and the community.
The core strength of Alliance University lies in its intellectual capital of highly accomplished faculty. The expert faculty group at the University is one of the best in management, engineering and law education, and is truly an agent, instrument, or means of accomplishment for our graduates.
On account of International Women’s Day, Alliance University, through the Centre for Criminal Justice Administration organized a webinar on ‘Domestic Violence’. Dr. Aruna Bala – Ph.D. from IIT Madras, an author and researcher specializing in the areas of victimization with over 12 years of experience was invited as the resource person. This year, on this occasion of celebrating women for their accomplishments, sacrifices and multi layered roles, Alliance University only felt apt to organize a thought-provoking session, which would throw light on what constitutes domestic violence and how this can be stopped. Creating greater awareness that would lead to pertinent discussions around this topic was the main purpose behind the webinar and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Aruna for sharing her views and being candid about how perpetrators stand at a larger advantage and how victims just simply get into a silent zone, under the garb of societal, emotional pressures.
With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic there has been a dramatic rise in violence committed against women and this lecture was delivered to spark a discussion amongst academics, students, and staff in different organizational set-ups to create better awareness of the pervasive problem in our society. The pandemic alone has forced everyone to re-evaluate our domestic circumstances and the kind of violence that breeds behind closed doors against many women. The widespread judgement and negativity associated with the discourse around domestic violence was first addressed by the speaker. Violence in private and domestic spaces has evolved in nature and its forms, (Physical, Sexual, Verbal, Emotional, Financial etc.) from its conventional definitions and is now inclusive of any violence that may take place between any persons and/or partners which can include acts like isolation, silent treatment, gaslighting etc.
Dr. Aruna highlighted power dynamics and imbalance between the victim and perpetrator where the person with more power tends to misuse such power and exert influence or command over another, resulting in inequalities and disparities. The victim in a situation of domestic violence is rendered powerless, therefore creating a dynamic which traumatizes the victim, flustering their decision making and rationalizing their own situation. The session also focused on understanding some of the roadblocks faced by women in the legal processes and challenges in court proceedings that are often rooted deeply in stereotypes and bias which results in women becoming more hesitant to pursue a legal course of action.
