Where Are The Women?

Amidst the cacophony of loud sloganeering, emotive faces of all ages, sharing the same curious look and glimmer of hope – we have been wading through what seemed like two banks of a river formed by engimatic people, with warm eyes and warmer touch, all to behold Rahul Gandhi, and we would like to believe, the Bharat Yatris too (a term used for all those who have walked the entire stretch of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Kanyakumari to Kashmir), from State after State – Tamil Nadu to Kerala, all the way to Punjab, where we are now – via Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. We started walking on 7th September, 2022 from the Southern most tip of India and have covered 3500 kms on foot thus far, with 15 more days to reach Srinagar.

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महिलाओं को क्यों नहीं आने दिया जाता राजनीति में?

अभी हाल ही में गुजरात और हिमाचल प्रदेश विधानसभा चनावों के नतीजे आए और दोनों राज्यों की विधानसभाओं में एक बार फिर से महिलाओं को पुरुषप्रधान समाज ने गायब कर दिया।

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Power impacts consent

With the overarching concern of preventing sexual violence and a much sturdier expectation of navigating the concept of consent in physical relationships and the unavoidable intersection of gender, this piece aims to deconstruct the present understanding of consent.

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“It Is Patriarchal And Sexist To Suggest That A Woman Can Not Be Believed When She States That She Was Raped, Merely For The Reason That She Is Sexually Active”: Hon’ble Supreme Court

On 31st October 2022, in its recent judgement titled The State of Jharkhand versus Shailendra Kumar Rai @ Pandav Raidated (Criminal Appeal No 1441 of 2022), a division bench of the hon’ble Supreme Court comprising of hon’ble Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli has equivocally pointed out that “whether a woman is “habituated to sexual intercourse” or “habitual to sexual intercourse” is irrelevant for the purposes of determining whether the ingredients of Section 375 of the IPC are present in a particular case.” The Hon’ble Bench further objected to the insensitive and unscientific practice of conducting a “two-finger test” and declared that “any person who conducts the “two-finger test” or per vaginum examination while examining a person alleged to have been subjected to a sexual assault shall be guilty of misconduct.” The Hon’ble justices went on to observe that “this so-called test has no scientific basis and neither proves nor disproves allegations of rape. It instead re-victimizes and re-traumatizes women who may have been sexually assaulted, and is an affront to their dignity…….. The so-called test is based on the incorrect assumption that a sexually active woman cannot be raped. Nothing could be further from the truth – a woman’s sexual history is wholly immaterial while adjudicating whether the accused raped her. Further, the probative value of a woman’s testimony does not depend upon her sexual history.”

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Using The Term “Item” To Address Any Girl Is Obviously Insulting In Nature: Special Pocso Court, Mumbai

In its recent judgement the Special POCSO Court at Borivali Division, Dindoshi, Mumbai has observed that “using the term “item” to address any girl is obviously insulting in nature. The accused having addressed her by using the term “item” which is a term used generally by boys to address girls in a derogatory fashion as it sexually objectifies them, the same will indicate his intention of outraging her modesty. Such offences need to be dealt with a heavy hand as a lesson needs to be meted out to such roadside Romeos, to protect the women from their uncalled-for behaviour.” In the course of arguments, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor has also submitted that “a sentence sufficient to send out a proper message to the society at large should be imposed upon the accused as people like him make the lives of the girls miserable, by teasing them and touching them inappropriately when they walk on the road.”

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आधी आबादी की आजादी कहां छुपा दी?

भारत ने हाल ही में अपनी स्वतंत्रता के 75 वर्ष पूर्ण होने पर तिरंगा उत्सव और आजादी का अमृत महोत्सव मनाया है पंरतु आजादी के 75 वर्षों के बाद भी भारत की आधी आबादी सुरक्षित नही है। जब तक महिलाएं असुरक्षित हैं तब तक ऐसे कार्यक्रमों या महोत्सवों का कोई महत्व नहीं रह जाता। हाल ही में राष्ट्रीय अपराध रिकॉर्ड ब्यूरो द्वारा प्रकाशित आंकड़े दर्शा रहे हैं कि उत्तर से दक्षिण, पूर्व से पश्चिम भारत के किसी भी राज्य या शहर या क्षेत्र में महिलाएं सुरक्षित नहीं है। वैसे तो अपने आप को भारत विश्व गुरु और दुनिया का तीसरा सबसे ज्यादा शक्तिशाली राष्ट्र मानता है परंतु यहां महिलाओं पर जुल्मों की सूची दिन प्रतिदिन लंबी होती जा रही है। राष्ट्रीय अपराध रिकॉर्ड ब्यूरो के अनुसार वर्ष 2021 में महिलाओं के साथ होने वाले अत्याचार, हिंसा, कत्ल, बलात्कार आदि घटनाओं की संख्या में पिछले साल के मुकाबले 15.3 फीसदी की बढ़ोतरी हुई है। इस वर्ष 428278 केस दर्ज हुए हैं जबकि वर्ष 2020 में ये संख्या 371503 थी।

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Time To Recognize And Monetize The Services Of Homemakers In India

159.85 million women in India, according to a 2011 census, state “household work” as their primary occupation compared to only 5.9 million men. The same gender disparity in household work is emphasized in a report by the National Statistical Office titled “Time Use in India 2019”. The survey also found that women do 299 minutes of unpaid work per day as opposed to men, who only do 97 minutes.

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Sexually Provocative Dress: Another essential for Sexual Harassment?

As practitioners/students of law and justice, we are all well aware of Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Even those who are from the non-legal areas of society are aware of the term “sexual harassment”. The basic definition of sexual harassment comes from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): “Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.”

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मीडिया संस्थानों में लैंगिक असमानता

विश्व में महिला पत्रकारिता का अध्याय सर्वप्रथम 1831 में अमेरिका से आरंभ हुआ, जब एनी न्यूपार्ट रॉयल ने “प्राल पाई” नामक पत्र प्रकाशित करना शुरू किया I इसके बाद इन्होंने ‘हंटर’ के नाम से एक और पत्र निकाला। इसी प्रकार भारत में मोक्षदायिनी देवी ने वर्ष 1848 में “बांग्ला महिला” नामक पत्र प्रकाशित करना शुरू किया, जो किसी भारतीय महिला द्वारा प्रकाशित होने वाला प्रथम पत्र था। 1857 में चेनम्मा तुमरी ने बेलगांव से कन्नड़ भाषा में “शालामठ” पत्रिका निकाली, इसी दौर में उर्दू भाषा में आसिफ जहां ने “हैदराबाद गजट” और हिंदी में श्रोमिया पूर्णा देवी ने “अबला हितकारक” प्रकाशित किया। इनके अलावा आजादी से पूर्व भारत में उषा मेहता, शांता कुमारी, उर्मिला, मीरा दत्त, फातिमा बेगम, सायरा बेगम आदि महिलाओं ने पत्रकारिता के क्षेत्र में बढ़ चढ़ कर हिस्सा लिया और अपना लोहा मनवाया।

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