News & Media
Reporting for the Bangalore Mirror, Shyam Prasad S covers Justice S. Sujatha’s judgement in the Jeeva M. vs State of Karnataka & Anr. case. Describing it as a “significant trendsetter”, he quotes Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari on similar circumstances in 2013.
Blog
We analyse the implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 in Andhra Pradesh. We perform both a quantitative and qualitative analysis. It is the first post in a three-part series on legislation addressing gender injustices in the State.
Blog
We analyse the implementation of the POSH Act in Tamil Nadu. The Act aims to prevent the sexual harassment of women in the workplace. The Social Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu reports that only 1317 of the several lakh workplaces have established mandatory Internal Complaints Committees.
Blog
Is the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) being successfully implemented in Tamil Nadu? In 2009, the State framed rules regarding the monitoring and reporting of instances of child marriage by detailing the responsibilities of CMPOs and appointing ‘Panchayat Level Core Committees’ to assist CMPOs.
Blog
We analyse the implementation of the POCSO Act in the State of Tamil Nadu. There appear to be various issues with its implementation in Tamil Nadu, such as the frequent use of the two-finger test by doctors examining the victims of sexual offences. The Supreme Court has established that the test violates the right to privacy, nevertheless it is frequently used in Tamil Nadu.
Blog
The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 [“2014 Bill”] was passed as the first private member Bill in four decades in April 2015. Subsequently, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018 [“2018 Bill”] was passed on 17 December 2018 despite fervent objections from the transgender community regarding its problematic provisions. The 2018 Bill, which is currently before the Rajya Sabha, is a volte face on the rights that were guaranteed in the 2014 Bill.
News & Media
Erwin Fernandes interviews Jayna Kothari for Bloomberg Quint on The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018. The Lok Sabha passed the Bill in December 2018. In reaction, the trans community led nation-wide protests, criticising the Bill for failing to protect their interests.
Publications
Jayna Kothari criticizes the Transgender Persons Bill 2018, stating that it is “a law that defeats its purpose”. She emphasizes that it does not provide transgender and intersex persons with positive rights and ignores the protections provided by the Supreme Court in NALSA, 2014.
Blog
On 21 December 2018, CLPR released its policy brief ‘Making Rights Real: Implementing Reservations for Transgender and Intersex Persons’ at the Bangalore International Centre. The policy brief was released by Hon’ble Mr. Justice L Narayana Swamy of the Karnataka High Court.
News & Media
About 50 per cent of the members of the State Gender Welfare Board should be our community. If we have it, we will help the government get the issues we are experiencing. Society should not look at us badly.
Events
CLPR’s policy brief on reservations for transgender and intersex persons proposes the manner of implementation of reservations for the community. The policy brief suggests the way forward in implementing horizontal reservations.
News & Media
Friedrich Neumann Foundation for Freedom shares its views on CLPR’s work on transgender rights. This includes a transgender rights course taught at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, as well as the Trans Law cell headed by CLPR.
Events
CLPR is holding a consultation with community members about reservation for transgender persons in public employment and education according to the mandates in NALSA, as well as presenting its preliminary findings on an intersectionality research on gender, caste, gender identity and disability
Events
Jayna Kothari participated in the Interdisciplinary Workshop held on 11 – 13 October 2018 at Humboldt University of Berlin. She was one of the panelists in ‘Systems of Inequality’ and presented her paper titled ‘Is the Supreme Court Cherry Picking its Gender Battles?’
Events
Chitra Balakrishnan has been working with Gender and Law issues for about 20 years now, both as trainer, litigator and researcher. She was a part of the founding member group of ALF.
News & Media
This post records initial response of the community to the Section 377 verdict. It carried Jayna Kothari’s views on what the judgment holds for the transgender community.
News & Media
This is a video response of Jayna Kothari on the Section 377 verdict.
While the transgender community is fighting their own separate legal battle in recognition of their rights, the decriminalisation of homosexuality by the Supreme Court today will aid the fight for transgender rights, says Jayna Kothari.
Events
On 14th and 15th April 2018, CLPR is organizing 2nd International Conference on Transgender
Publications
In an article i n Orinam, Jayna Kothari examines the unexpected and far-reaching impact of the Right to Privacy verdict by the Supreme Court in the Aadhaar case, on gender identity, transgender rights and women’s rights.
Pages
COURSE OUTLINE The Centre for Law and Policy Research recently taught an elective course on…
Blog
The Parliament of Pakistan passed The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act on May 8th 2018 marking a historic victory for the trans community in Pakistan. The Act, which protects the rights of gender non-conforming persons and outlaws discrimination both by the State as well as private entities and persons, grants an individual the right to self identity their gender.
Blog
The effects of caste-based discrimination in India have been documented extensively. However, studies on the role caste plays for women, sexual minorities, and persons with disabilities have not found any voice.
Blog
On 14th and 15th April 2018, Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) is organizing Transform – 2nd International Conference on Transgender Rights and the Law. On 4th April 2018, CLPR had called for Student Journalists for the Conference.
In a short span of 2 days the CLPR team received over 30 applications from students across the nation. We carefully assessed the applications and are happy to announce the following students who we have selected to as Student Journalists for the upcoming Conference.
Blog
On 14th and 15th April 2018, CLPR is organizing 2nd International Conference on Transgender Rights and the Law. We are looking for candidates who are deeply interested in transgender rights and law and have excellent journalistic capabilities.
Blog
On October 27, 2017, the Karnataka Government introduced a State Policy for Transgender Persons, a…
Blog
IFIM Law College hosted panel discussions on Uniform Civil Code in India. Satya Prasoon, an associate at CLPR was a panelist at the IFIM law school where he presented a paper titled ‘Of Constitutional Mythos and Nervous Nationalism: The Pathologies of UCC.’ The discussion was spilt into two panels, the first discussing the topic: “Constitutional Perspectives of the Uniform Civil Code” and the second, “The conflict of the UCC and personal laws in India”.
Blog
CLPR has launched a number transgender rights initiatives this year. In this podcast, Aashima Panikar…
News & Media
The Deccan Herald’s issue dated 12.10.2017 offered an in-depth coverage of the efforts undertaken by the Centre for Law & Policy Research towards empowering the Transgender community by setting up a free weekly legal aid cell for their assistance.
Events
Jessica Lynn will speak on Transgender rights and family law, through her personal journey. She is the president of Your True Gender, a non-profit organisation dedicated to informing the public on transgender issues
News & Media
The Times of India covered CLPR’s course on transgender Identity & the Law. The course consisting of seven sessions was designed by Jayna Kothari, Executive Director of CLPR and introduced at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore on 30.08.2017.
Blog
The Centre for Law and Policy Research is offering an elective course this…
Blog
Three years down the line however, the Board seems to be languishing in bureaucratic lethargy. This is not because of the lack of initiative on the part of its members. The Board comprises of well-known and respected members of the trans community. Rather, the disenchantment with the Board stems from the lack of transparency in its creation, non-inclusiveness, internal divisions within the community and lack of a steady funding supply
Blog
On December 14-15, 2016, the Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) organised ‘Transform: A…
Publications
In an article published in the Oxford Human Rights Hub, Jayna Kothari and Diksha Sanyal discussed the legal landscape of transgender rights in India, referring in particular to the recent amendment of Section 36A of the Karnataka Police Act.
Events
On the 14th and 15th of December 2016, the Centre for Law and Policy Research,…
Blog
CLPR invites students to submit an essay on the topic “Taking Transgender Rights Seriously: Making Authentic Lives Possible”.
Blog
With utmost respect to the Supreme Court, it is absolutely incorrect to state that domestic violence is gender-neutral. It is not. The world over, a vast majority of domestic violence is experienced by women at the hands of men. It is not a random event of violence but is a consequence and a cause of women’s inequality and is linked to the discrimination and devaluing of women. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, reported cases of domestic violence in India went up from 50,703 in 2003 to 1,18,866 in 2013. These are all cases of domestic violence against men. The U.K. Violent Crime and Sexual Offences study of 2011-2012 reported that 80 per cent of offenders in domestic or sexual violence were male.
Blog
Introduction The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016 was drafted by the Ministry of…
Blog
The National Legal Services Authority v Union of India has the potential to play a…
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On the 8th of November 2013, CLPR hosted Chitra Balakrishnan who presented her research paper titled “Understanding gender and judging through residence orders in Karnataka Trial Courts – A discourse analysis”.
Blog
Her research seeks to answer three main questions: Are judges in the lower courts in India making reasoned feminists judgments? Can the Hunter framework apply to trial court orders? What are the additional criteria one needs to look at to call a judgment feminist?
Blog
A brief of the most important international rules in the matter of male/female equality.
Blog
On April 14th and 15th, we hosted the ‘Sexual and Reproductive Rights: Social Movements and Legal Battles’ conference, in collaboration with the University of Bergen, Norway and the University of Sussex at the Bangalore International Centre (see the full agenda here). The conference aimed to bring together prominent activists, academics and lawyers to discuss important issues and approaches that have developed in sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) advocacy in India. One of the key objectives of the conference was to shed light on issues and marginalised communities that are at the margins of SRR discourse and action.This blog post presents the key points raised on day 2 of the conference.
Blog
On April 14th and 15th, we hosted the ‘Sexual and Reproductive Rights: Social Movements and Legal Battles’ conference, in collaboration with the University of Bergen, Norway and the University of Sussex at the Bangalore International Centre (see the full agenda here). The conference aimed to bring together prominent activists, academics and lawyers to discuss important issues and approaches that have developed in sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) advocacy in India. One of the key objectives of the conference was to shed light on issues and marginalised communities that are at the margins of SRR discourse and action.This blog post presents the key points raised on day 1 of the conference.
Blog
In the run up to the 17th Lok Sabha Elections 2019, India’s major political parties have released their manifestos to woo the Indian electorates. In this blog post, Avinash Shahi critically explores the pledges committed by national political parties for the upliftment of marginalized groups, which routinely confronts deprivations and indignities.
Litigation
CLPR represented a transgender person seeking change of name and gender in school certificates and pre-university records before the Karnataka High Court.
Litigation
This Public Interest Litigation filed by Grace Banu, a transgender rights activist, seeks the implementation of horizontal reservations for transgender and intersex persons in admission into educational institutions and public appointment in the State of Tamil Nadu.
Blog
On 9th March, 2019, Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) organised a one-day consultation with Centre for Reproductive Rights (CRR), to discuss the implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) and the 2016 Karnataka Amendment to the PCMA.
Litigation
In 2018, CLPR filed a Public Interest Litigation before the High Court of Telangana on behalf of transgender rights activists seeking implementation of the Supreme Court’s directions in NALSA v. Union of India.
Blog
From 18th February to 2nd March, we are conducting a two-week ‘Induction Programme’ for…
Blog
The South Asian Translaw Database is a database to collate and present case laws, legislation, policies, and reports pertaining to transgender rights in the South Asian region. The beta version of our database is ready and we are very keen to receive comments and feedback!
Blog
On 8th February 2019, the Indian Institute of Human Settlements held a panel on major 2018 Supreme Court judgments, titled “Dignity and Law: Judgments as Public Texts”. CLPR Managing Trustee, Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy, moderated the panel. The panel comprised advocates Aarti Mundkur and Arvind Narrain, and feminist activist Madhu Bhushan.
News & Media
In celebrating Kala Ghoda turning 20 this year, Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari describes some of the highlights of this year’s festival, including the panel on the Supreme Court’s Section 377 judgment. The Section 377 panel will feature Honourable Justice DY Chandrachud in conversation with Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari.
Events
At the Kala Ghoda Festival 2019, Honourable Justice Dr. D Y Chandrachud will be in conversation with Senior Advocate and CLPR Executive Director Jayna Kothari. They will discuss the recent Section 377 judgment, where the Supreme Court decriminalised sexual relations between same-sex and between transgender consenting adults.
Blog
On the occasion of the 70th Republic Day celebrations, elementary school students at Mallya Aditi International School gathered together for a session on the Indian Constitution by Jayna Kothari, Senior Advocate in the Karnataka High Court, and Priya Rao, a lawyer turned academician.
Blog
CLPR has selected the following five Equality Fellows: Krithika Balu, Itla Ragiri Jayalakshmi, Anima Muyarath, C Prabhu.
Equality Fellows will will dedicate the next 2 years to the better implementation of equality and non-discrimination law in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Blog
On 12th and 13th January 2019 we will conduct interviews to select up to 6 Equality Fellows who will dedicate the next 2 years to the better implementation of equality and non-discrimination law in India. 13 talented candidates will appear before a 4 member panel of prominent activists and human rights advocates: Mihir Desai, Martin Macwan, Anindya Hajra and Jayna Kothari.
News & Media
Nikita Puri describes how the trans community is furious with the new Transgender Persons Bill 2018. She interviews CLPR Executive Director and Senior Counsel, Jayna Kothari for a closer analysis of how the Bill fails the community.
Publications
CLPR’s policy brief develops a comprehensive and functional strategy for the implementation of reservations for transgender and intersex persons in educational institutions and public employment. In order to implement reservations, we must address three principal issues: identification of beneficiaries of reservations, legal basis for reservations and the appropriate form of reservations.
News & Media
In order to take the first step to address the problem of implementing reservation for transgender and intersex persons in education and public employment, the Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR released a policy brief. The event, organised by CLPR, held a panel discussion by Senior Advocate and Executive Director of CLPR Jayna Kothari; Director of the Trans Rights Now Collective Grace Banu; and Assistant Professor of Law at National Law University, Delhi, Dr Anup Surendranath.
Blog
On 23rd November 2018, the Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) organised the National Constitution Society (NCS) Convention 2018. The one-day Convention took place at the Indian Institute of Human Settlements, Bangalore.
Blog
Centre for Law and Policy Research organised a consultation to discuss policy brief on reservation for transgender persons in employment and education, as directed by NALSA. It also discussed preliminary findings of a research on caste discrimination CLPR worked on.
Publications
CLPR has conducted qualitative and quantitative research on discrimination faced by persons at the intersection of caste with gender, gender identity and disability. We presented the preliminary findings of the study on 21 November 2018 at a consultation organised with community members and other stakeholders. CLPR intends to prepare and publish a detailed report on the methodology and results of the study shortly.
Blog
The Centre for Law and Policy Research has selected 32 students to be Student Delegates at the NCS Convention 2018. Thank you to all those who applied.
Blog
Agenda for the National Constitution Society Convention 2018. The National Constitution Society is a network of Constitution societies in colleges/universities across India, initiated by the Centre for Law and Policy Research.
Blog
We invite applications for The CLPR Equality Fellowship. The CLPR Equality Fellowship is a paid, two-year opportunity which will be awarded to 6 young lawyers keen to pursue the practice of public interest law on a full-time basis. Application Deadline: December 30, 2018, 5PM IST
Blog
The recent gruesome report of the beheading of a minor SC girl in Tamil Nadu for rejecting the advances of an upper caste male once again throws the issue of caste discrimination into sharp focus. Women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are particularly vulnerable to discrimination and violence due to the intersection caste and gender. Despite this, we note that crimes against SC and ST women are viewed as either caste based crimes or sex based crimes. Further, while data on caste based crimes is readily available in the NCRB reports, which we have analysed in our previous posts I, II and III, disaggregated data on crimes against women is not presented.
News & Media
The beheading of a 13 year old girl in Tamil Nadu is another example of caste based violence perpetuated against women. In this article CNN quotes Jayna Kothari who argues for looking at these crimes in an intersectional way: as caste and gender based violence.
News & Media
This article looks at the judgments of the Supreme Court in Section 377, adultery, and Sabarimala cases. It quotes Jayna Kothari on Akkai Padmashali, transgender rights activist, who was one of the Petitioners in Section 377 case. Jayna says ““Akkai insisted on telling her story”.
Litigation
CLPR represented the intervenor Vimochana in the Supreme Court and challenged the constitutionality of the offence of adultery under Section 497 of the IPC. We argued against adultery as an offence by invoking the fundamental right to privacy and argued that the right to intimate association is a facet of privacy which is protected under the Constitution. The Supreme Court unanimously struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code as being violative of Articles 14. 15 & 21 of the Constitution.
Blog
The Convention will be an opportunity to critically engage with the Indian constitution and develop a plan to preserve, protect and promote constitutional values in the 21st century. The Convention will facilitate collaboration and engagement between student members of the NCS along with eminent lawyers, civil society leaders and retired Judges who will be patrons and will be the first step towards the establishing the NCS as an independent Society.
Posts
Jayna Kothari, Executive Director at CLPR and Advocate, Supreme Court of India, writes in The…
Litigation
On behalf of three transgender activists, CLPR, represented by Jayna Kothari and Disha Chaudhari, filed a Public Interest Litigation challenging the constitutional validity of the Telangana Eunuchs Act, 1919 in the Andhra Pradesh High Court at Hyderabad.
Publications
Jayna Kothari, Executive Director at CLPR and Advocate, Supreme Court of India, writes in The Hindu. In this article, she examines Navtej Johar judgment’s special relevance for transgender rights: the contributions of the trans community to this outcome and how the judgment takes transgender rights forward.
Publications
Jayna Kothari, Executive Director of CLPR and Advocate, Supreme Court, had represented transgender rights activists, Dr. Akkai Padmashali, Sanaa and Umi Umesh, in the Supreme Court on Section 377 challenge case. Deccan Herald carried Jayna’s piece today where she analyses the key themes the Court relied on to read down Section 377
Blog
Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to making the…
Litigation
CLPR represented Dr. Akkai Padmashali, Uma Umesh, and Suma M in the Supreme Court to challenge Section 377 of the IPC. The Supreme Court held Section 377 as unconstitutional to the extent that it criminalised consensual sexual activity of any kind between adults. It was further held that the provision was manifestly arbitrary and violative of an individuals right to autonomy.
News & Media
“TRANSformation of courts” throws light on the drastic conditions of the transgender community. Jayna feels that it is important that stories of the daily lives and experiences of trans people must be told in the court.In a world full of muffled silences, she made sure their voices were heard. By fighting these cases, she hopes that the courts, the State, public authorities, and society see trans persons not as criminals, but as citizens, with equal constitutional rights. Watch this video to understand the burning need to make our society inclusive of all the marginalised communities.
Blog
The media rarely portrays a transgender woman accurately. In fact, they are consistently shown in a negative light. However, “Njan Marykutty” released in June 2018 is a Malayalam movie which delivered a pleasant surprise during Pride month.
News & Media
Ms. Jayna Kothari, Executive Director of CLPR, represented Dr. Akkai Padmashali, a trans-rights activist, in Section 377 challenge. Ms. Kothari argued for scrapping Section 377 and cited several state laws which target transgender community and classify them as ‘criminals’. Her arguments were covered by The Hindu.
Blog
CLPR hosted Dr. Usha Ramanathan for a talk on “Identity, Privacy, Data and our lives” on 27th June. She spoke about the genesis of the Aadhaar scheme and the casual brazenness with which Aadhaar was made mandatory without statutory backing and despite numerous court orders.
Blog
On 21 May 2018, The Wire reported the death of a Dalit man in Gujarat who was allegedly beaten to death when he protested the fact that his wife was asked to clean filth, free of charge. This reporting comes only two months after the decision of Subhash Kashinath Mahajan, where the Supreme Court diluted some of the protections under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (‘Act’). The incident is a striking example of the pervasiveness of caste bias and the prevalence of atrocities in India.
Blog
CLPR: The Centre for Law and Policy Research has recently taken up a new project…
Blog
Marking the fourth anniversary of the NALSA judgment recognizing the right to self-identify one’s gender,…
Blog
As a debater, I’ve been exposed to stories of transgender people, and have spoken on…
Blog
Here is a summary of last week, 8th-14th April 2018, at the Centre for Law & Policy Research, including work done by the Supreme Court Observer and CADIndia
Blog
Expanding on TransForm 2016, we hosted TransForm 2018 on 14th and 15th of April 2018, at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore. It marked the fourth anniversary of the National Legal Services Authority v Union of India judgment, as well as the 127th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. At a time when transgender rights had been gaining attention globally, this conference involved international speakers such as Prof. Stephen Whittle (United Kingdom), Prof. Carlos Zelada (Peru), Busisiwe Deyi (South Africa), and Audrey Mbugua (Kenya). Together, they broadened our understanding on the trans-law movements in other parts of the world.
Publications
In this article published in The Hindu on the 4th anniversary of NALSA judgment , Jayna Kothari argues that it is time to push for reforms to give transgender persons their rights.
Blog
CLPR: Students from St.Joseph’s College of Law attended a workshop on Religion and Personal Lawsthat delved…
Posts
CLPR: Students from St.Joseph’s College of Law attended a workshop on Religion and Personal Lawsthat delved…
Blog
Two days before the International Women’s Day, UNICEF reported on 6th March 2018 that there had been a downward trend in child marriages globally and in the past decade the number of underage marriages in India had nearly halved.
Litigation
The Petitioner, a transgender person, has challenged the inaction of the Respondent authorities in issuing to her new, rectified education certificates bearing her changed name and gender identity.
Events
Prof Maya Unnithan is a Professor Of Social And Medical Anthropology (Anthropology, Sussex Centre for Migration Research, International Development). Maya is a Member of Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth and Director of the Centre for Cultures of Reproduction, Technologies and Health. Her research expertise and interests include: caste and kinship, childbirth and infertility, gender and development, health and migration, human rights and reproductive health, maternal health inequalities, reproductive technologies, social anthropology.
Blog
The CLPR team celebrated Republic Day on 26th January 2018 with the students and staff of Mallya Aditi International School, Bengaluru. We created an immersive experience for students from the 1st to the 12th grade, educating them on the Indian Constitutition and the significance of Republic Day through quizzes, debates and puzzles.
Litigation
The Petitioner in the instant case has challenged Section 15 of the Registration of Births…
Blog
Weekly roundup of the last week at CLPR. The Supreme Court verdict in the Child Marriage and Marital Rape case, Karnataka State Policy for Transgender Persons, Children’s Day and hearings in the Special Status for Delhi case were discussed this past week.
Blog
In the last week, CLPR continued it’s efforts to introduce students to the Indian Constitution and traveled to Meghalaya and Assam to conduct workshops.
Blog
Last week at CLPR – a round-up of the analyses, research and reporting in the week 29th Oct-4th Nov.
Blog
The last week at CLPR was a busy one with Courts resuming work post the Diwali Break and a variety of events being scheduled in the past week.
Blog
The term intersex refers to a variety of anatomical conditions where a person is born…
Blog
The festive season made the last week at CLPR a short week. The Supreme Court was also closed for the whole week.
Blog
The Centre for Law and Policy Research encourages and facilitates civic engagement with India’s Constitution through the CADIndia project and Supreme Court Observer. CADIndia promotes an understanding of the Indian Constitution by enabling easy and intelligent access to the Constituent Assembly Debates and the Indian Constitution at the centre of discussions on contemporary political and economic issues. The SCObserver website endeavors to make the workings of the Supreme Court accessible and understandable to the citizenry by translating the hearings and judgments of a few constitutionally relevant cases into everyday language.
Publications
Jayna Kothari wrote in the Oxford Human Rights Hub about the recent unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to declare the Right to Privacy as a Constitutional Right. She details how the Right to Dignity formed the core of the reasoning that led to the definition of the Right to Privacy. The acknowledgment by the Court of the importance of the principles of autonomy, the individual’s right to choose, the right to move freely, right to self-identify one’s gender, right to bodily integrity and reproductive makes this one of the most progressive verdicts passed by the Supreme Court of India.
Blog
The transgender community remains one of the most marginalized communities, discriminated against on a daily…
Blog
As a part of CLPR Occassional Talks, CLPR hosted TransRights Activist Jessica Lynn on 27th September…
Blog
hile the NALSA judgment recognises the ancillary rights to vote, marriage, adoption, hold property etc., transphobia and the limited perceptions of society prevents equal access to education and employment. Prejudiced societal norms that manifest in biased behaviours have forced the transgender community to take up begging and enter the sex trade to make a livelihood. While the judgment is progressive and promising, there is much work pending at the ground level.
Publications
A government hospital in West Bengal almost refused admission to a trans woman injured in an accident because there were no protocols in place to handle admission of such patients.
Blog
The Centre for Law and Policy Research is pleased to announce the winners of…
Publications
In this Article published in the Kannada Daily, Prajaavaani, Jayna Kothari critiques the decision of the Supreme Court holding Section 2(q) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, to be unconstitutional. The impugned section defines “respondents” under the Act to only include “adult males”, thus allowing aggrieved persons under the Act to file a case only against adult male relatives.
Jayna Kothari argues that provisions of the Domestic Violence Act are not meant to be construed as gender neutral. She elaborates how it is necessary and intentional that legal provisions on violence against women should apply only to males as perpetrators of such violence.
Litigation
This petition was filed by the Karnataka Sexual Minorities Forum challenging the constitutional validity of…
Blog
This post is authored by Aishwarya Suresh Nair, IIIrd Year Student of the National Law Institute University, Bhopal. She is currently interning with CLPR.
Blog
The gruesome gang rape in Delhi in December 2012 re-ignited popular demands for fast-track courts to be established to conduct speedy trials in cases of sexual violence against women and on August 13, 2013, the Government of Karnataka passed an order (G.O. No.74 LCE 2013, dated 13.08. 2013) directing 10 fast track courts to be set up in Karnataka solely to try cases of rape and sexual assault against women. CLPR conducted a detailed study of the setup and working of these fast track courts.
Publications
The Centre for Law and Policy Research presents its working paper on “Recasting the Judicial Appointments Debate: The Constitutional (120th Amendment) Bill, 2013 and Judicial Appointments Commissioner Bill, 2013”
Litigation
The right to seek a divorce by mutual consent is provided under the Hindu Marriage…
Publications
This article is a review of the book ‘Disability Studies in India: Global Discourses, Local Realities’ , edited by Renu Addlakha, Routledge, New Delhi, 2013. Vol., 38 No. 1, January 2014
Publications
SINCE 1996, when the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PWD Act), came into force, by far the majority of cases taken to court have been about equal opportunity in public employment, that is, reservation of jobs for persons with disabilities and related matters such as promotions, identification of posts and eligibility. This struggle is in many ways not that different from the caste and gender battles for affirmative action in government employment.
Blog
In the Vishakha Judgment the petitioner sought to enforce the fundamental rights of working women. The said…
Blog
The Justice Verma Committee has attempted to explain how different sexual orientations have been historically…
Blog
On 23rd, January 2013 the Justice Verma Committee on amendments to Criminal Law, was constituted to look into possible amendments of the Criminal Law to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals committing sexual assault of extreme nature against women. It was constituted a few days after the brutal gang rape in Dehli on December 16, 2012. The urgency of the matter impelled the Committee to undertake the performance of the assigned task within the short span of 30 days, so the Committee has been facilitated in the task by an overwhelming response to the Public Notice, an oral consultation with the women’s social action groups and experts in the field.
Events
ainmaker has recently released a report on the challenges faced by women lawyers in India. The report looks into the presence of women in law firms, litigation practice, and the legal departments of companies contains data on work-life balance, gender bias in the legal workspace, parental leave policies, transition from maternity leave to work, and the rating of employers on their policies and practices. The report also offers solutions to aid employers in retaining talent and making the workspace conducive for working mothers.
