COVER STORY
With the unprecedented number of elevations of women to the Supreme Court of late, the ratio is better than ever before. Nonetheless, a lot needs to be done.
Outlook Magazine - 19 September 2022
Can judicial and legislative interventions, irrespective of how progressive they are, improve the condition of India’s women, in a society deeply rooted in patriarchal social structures? We ask a raft of people, including legal experts, for answers.
While some suggest that reproductive legislation in India is largely empowering, others see it as debilitating, exclusionary and restrictive
India was among the first countries to develop legal frameworks that guaranteed access to abortion and contraception, yet there are impediments in women and girls exercising their complete reproductive rights, like the Surrogacy Act, 2021.
While socio-economic and medical structural barriers continue to pose challenges, criminalisation of abortion through a restrictive legal framework creates a chilling effect on the willingness of medical practitioners to perform even routine and legal abortions, eliminating access to safe abortions.
Despite there being a multitude of alimony and maintenance laws, women are left empty-handed and struggle to make ends meet after a bad marriage, as experts feel that these laws do not give any cover for the women
Why does our legal morality treat marriage between two people as some social welfare institution in whose continuance society at large has a stake?
Due to the social stigma attached to Dalits, tribals, widows and even the unmarried, women from these groups largely have no rights to property, as successive SC judgments and legislations have failed to truly address these problems
Not all marriages are forced. Some women choose to get married, say to get out of abusive paternal homes or financial stress. Making marriage a punitive matter can become a very messy affair, say experts
The latest Outlook edition titled Women-in-law takes stock of significant rulings and legislations in recent times that specifically deal with women’s rights in the country.
Progressive verdicts by courts help the cause of gender justice. But a lot remains to be done. Despite laws like protection of women from domestic violence act, 2005, Indian women continue to suffer violence in a patriarchal society, claim activists and experts
While some suggest that reproductive legislation in India is largely empowering, others see it as debilitating, exclusionary and restrictive
India was among the first countries to develop legal frameworks that guaranteed access to abortion and contraception, yet there are impediments in women and girls exercising their complete reproductive rights, like the Surrogacy Act, 2021.
While socio-economic and medical structural barriers continue to pose challenges, criminalisation of abortion through a restrictive legal framework creates a chilling effect on the willingness of medical practitioners to perform even routine and legal abortions, eliminating access to safe abortions.
Despite there being a multitude of alimony and maintenance laws, women are left empty-handed and struggle to make ends meet after a bad marriage, as experts feel that these laws do not give any cover for the women
Why does our legal morality treat marriage between two people as some social welfare institution in whose continuance society at large has a stake?
Due to the social stigma attached to Dalits, tribals, widows and even the unmarried, women from these groups largely have no rights to property, as successive SC judgments and legislations have failed to truly address these problems
Not all marriages are forced. Some women choose to get married, say to get out of abusive paternal homes or financial stress. Making marriage a punitive matter can become a very messy affair, say experts
The latest Outlook edition titled Women-in-law takes stock of significant rulings and legislations in recent times that specifically deal with women’s rights in the country.
Progressive verdicts by courts help the cause of gender justice. But a lot remains to be done. Despite laws like protection of women from domestic violence act, 2005, Indian women continue to suffer violence in a patriarchal society, claim activists and experts
OTHER STORIES
There are quite a few landmark judgments which, while not resulting in the expected social transformation, have made a beginning simply by acknowledging the wrong
After much strife, the 2018 Supreme Court judgment decriminalised Section 497 of the IPC that criminalised adultery and treated a woman as nothing more than her husband’s property, denudes them from making choices.
An interview with independent journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh from Jharkhand who has been languishing in Seraikela Jail after being arrested on July 17 from his house in Ramgarh by Kharsawan police.
What does one do when one’s family members self-describe themselves as geniuses? Note: women are not allowed into the august company.
How this author and lover of languages has the situational urge to switch from English to Portuguese, Mandarin to Kannada to emote better
The writer, an Indian, talks about the warm familial ties with the lady who she was named after, who happens to be on the other side of the border
