observed and make a report to Court on the day specified for the inquiry (Interim order) and every 3 months (Protection Order) S.5 (2)(b) 12 (1)(e). Legislation in other countries like India appoint a cadre of protection officers to perform this task. 3. Where financial support is ordered and not paid by a person with a duty of support, the Magistrate can direct the employer of the person to pay this amount from remuneration due “as financial relief that the Court has ordered.” S. 12 (3). 4. The court can make an order compelling the respondent and any witnesses for the applicant to appear before the court (S. 15, and Code of Criminal Procedure Act) (1979) or for the production of any document. Punishment Punishment is a last resort to ensure implementation. This is why these proceedings are civil in nature. Where an Interim Protection Order or a Protection Order has been issued and violated, an offence is committed. The offender can be tried for this offence in a summery trial before the Magistrate, and on conviction fined Rs. 10,000/- and or to imprisonment of 1 year. (S. 18). Privacy The Act adopts a concept of privacy which aims to encourage parties especially women to access the relief available for GBV. Consequently publishing the name or any matter which can identify the applicant or the respondent in the case is prohibited. (S. 20). Printing or publishing any other matter relating to these proceedings, except a judgment of the superior courts of appeal, is also prohibited (S. 20). c. Mediation The Mediation Boards Act of 1988 provides for settlement of certain minor criminal offences and also civil disputes that involve GBV. The police may in these cases require the parties to settle these disputes before a Mediation Board established for their respective area of residence. The police will prosecute only if there is a failure to come to a settlement. Even grave offences such as hurt and grievous hurt can be “mediated” in this way, though the usual criminal offences that the police forward to the Mediation Boards are cases of assault and use of criminal force referred to in the section on Non-Fatal Assault. Civil Courts may also divert disputes to the Mediation Boards. The whole purpose of mediation is to help parties to come to an amicable settlement and relieve the law enforcement authorities and the justice system from being burdened by what are considered “minor” infractions of the law. Lawyers and the police cannot participate and the police is present to merely bring the case to the attention of the Mediation Board, and record that a complaint has been registered. The atmosphere is informal and encourages the parties to avoid seeking legal remedies through amicable settlement. [See Annex]. While mediation can be a constructive alternative dispute resolution mechanism, it can also undermine the value system of the law on serious bodily harm and GBV, creating an environment of impunity for infringement of a woman’s right to freedom from bodily harm. This can help to legitimize this violence as a trivial and minor violation of the law when legislation like the Domestic Violence Act and the Penal Code amendments of 1995, 1998 and 2006 seek to promote zero tolerance for this violence. 34 COMPENDIUM ON LAW, GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS