GNLU CENTRE FOR LAW AND SOCIETY
Table of Contents
- Adya Joshi
One of the primary obstacles in achieving women’s empowerment in India, is the entrenched patriarchy that underscores most personal laws in the country. While the Constitution guarantees equal protection to both sexes, the unique nature of Indian secularism has often resulted in ‘freedom of religion’ prevailing over notions of gender justice – particularly in the spheres of marriage, divorce and succession.
- Baisali Bhattacharya
In recent years, the convergence of gender, law, and sexuality has gained significant importance in social, legal, and political discourse. The realisation that gender and sexuality are fundamental components of human identity has fueled campaigns to advance human rights and equality for people of all genders and sexual orientations. In order to illuminate the linkages between gender, law, and sexuality as well as the significance of developing a society that encourages diversity, this article undertakes a thorough analysis of the complex and ever-evolving terrain around these problems
- Mallika Dandekar
Currently, in India, the testimony of a survivor in cases of sexual harassment and rape is admissible as evidence. However, their testimony is only admissible as that of a “witness” to the crime. In cases where the survivor is the only “witness” to the crime, their testimony is subjected to a rigorous test of admissibility called the “sterling witness threshold”. This essay examines the sterling witness threshold, and attempts to make a case for why this test is not laid down with the survivor’s reality kept in mind, and consequently, why the threshold needs to be lowered. Firstly, this essay goes on to examine the importance of sole testimonies of survivors, in light of how no other evidentiary piece can meaningfully conclude the presence or absence of consent during the act of rape. Secondly, the sterling witness test is critiqued in this essay as one that is created in the absence of a holistic understanding of a rape survivor’s experiences and trauma, which can have lasting implications on victims including severe re-traumatization. In order to understand how this test cannot meaningfully provide justice, this essay also delves into the societal barriers acting on a survivor in cases of rape. Lastly, this essay proposes a solution and alternative to the sterling witness test in the form of an affirmative consent standard, in order to take the focus off from victims’ testimonies and displacing it to have the accused prove that they obtained positive consent, which is in line with Article 114A of the Indian Evidence Act.
- Swarna Latha R
The book 'Arguments About Abortion: Personhood, Morality and Law'152 written by Kate Greasley153 (hereinafter referred to as 'the author') offers a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted arguments surrounding abortion, encompassing historical, legal, ethical, philosophical, and social perspectives to offer new angles of the conventional argumentation. She looks into the intricacies of abortion ethics to analyze the divide concerning the contentious issue of abortion. The book aims to address the questions surrounding the morality and legality of abortion through a sensitive and holistic perspective on what the abortion argument should truly encompass. It delves into topics such as the threshold of personhood, the principles and pragmatism that underlie the regulation of abortion. Drawing upon interdisciplinary sources, the author argues that the determination of 'fetal personhood' is of pre-eminent importance in the legal-ethical consideration of abortion, While the author does not propose any novel theory of personhood, the book offers an alternative account to the reputable arguments of Ronald Dworkin and Judith Jarvis Thompson.
- Aashita Sharma
Examining longitudinal data, this paper attempts to highlight the disparities in education between male and female children, and inequalities in access, participation and completion of education experienced by girls in the absence of initiatives that effectively advance access to universal secondary education for them. The complex and specific needs of girls to be equally empowered ‘in’ and ‘by’ education have been demonstrated, that require the immediate intervention of the Government by way of changes in laws and policies relating to education, educational opportunities, financial distribution, infrastructure, and monitoring and tracking mechanisms, so as not to exclude girls from realizing actual access. The author also proposes an informed, gender-specific intervention to universalize secondary and higher secondary education (classes 9thth to 12th) by extending the mandate of the Right to Education Act, 2009 up to the age of 18 years for all female children in India. The need for this amendment and its policy implications draw on evidence of significantly worse educational attainment rates of girls due to gender, socio-religious, economic and power asymmetries, and have been carefully analyzed to advocate that such secondary education be free and not compulsory.
- Anika Bhoot and Yashika Lakhotia
India’s legal framework pertaining to rape is gender-biased and ignorant and disregards rape against males and other genders, as outlined in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. Incidences of male rape often go unrecognised or are mislabelled under the existing legal provisions. This paper seeks to conduct a comparative analysis across jurisdictions in relation to gender-inclusivity in rape laws and the resulting implications, particularly in cementing gender stereotypes. This paper presents Canadian sexual assault laws involving rape as a model to guide potential rape law reforms in India. Japanese rape laws have also been discovered to have made progress in their path towards gender neutrality. An interdisciplinary approach using socio-psychological reasoning has been adopted to put forth the ground realities of the application of the existing laws and the various causes behind the prevalent gender inequalities. Statistical analysis has also been utilised to draw concrete conclusions. Secondary sources have been utilised, primarily from online portals, comprising articles, journals and news pieces. It is a non-empirical study and conclusions have been drawn on the basis of collated facts and expert opinions of persons of authority in the field. Finally, a solution-oriented section has been incorporated which transplants favourable features of rape laws of different legal systems and adopts them to the unique Indian context.
- Tanya Verma and Tejaswini Kaushal
“I would love your eyes sunken in, your lips silenced, your sex frozen, if only you were dead; unfortunately, you have the bad taste to be alive.”312 Necrophilia, characterized by the pursuit of sexual satisfaction through engaging in sexual acts with corpses, has undergone a significant transformation in societal perception.313 Initially, it was subject to literary romanticization, portraying a disturbing manifestation of abnormal and perverse sensuality.314 However, over time, it has evolved into a societal taboo, generating widespread repulsion and condemnation. In his influential work ‘Psychopathia Sexualis,’ Richard von Krafft-Ebing characterized necrophilia as a manifestation of sadism.315 Meanwhile, Abraham A. Brill, in one of the earliest comprehensive studies on necrophilia conducted in 1941, portrayed necrophiles as mentally deficient and psychotic individuals who could not establish a consenting partnership.
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