Gender & Sexuality
Gender & Sexuality
One of our focus areas is the law prohibiting child marriage. CLPR’s impact litigation included the Independent Thought judgement where the Supreme Court declared sex with a minor wife to be rape.
Single women face daily challenges simply because they are unmarried. Families often pressure them into marriage, ignoring personal goals, aspirations, and choices. Beyond social exclusion, India’s legal and policy frameworks often fail to recognise single women’s rights.
Jayna Kothari, Maya Unnithan and Siri Gloppen note how political parties have been virtually silent on sexual and reproductive rights policy, in the on-going 2019 general election. They urge political parties to “steer the public debate to [often overlooked] crucial issues”.
As part of our collaborative work with Centre for Reproductive Rights, we translated easy-to-understand FAQ Brochures on Child Marriage for our outreach in Karnataka. The brochure contains the relevant legal framework around Child Marriage in India.
As part of our collaborative work with Centre for Reproductive Rights, we translated easy-to-understand Posters on Child Marriage for our outreach in Karnataka. The poster contains the relevant legal framework around Child Marriage in India.
As part of our collaborative work with Centre for Reproductive Rights, we disseminated easy-for-reference Posters on Child Marriage for our outreach. The poster contains the relevant legal framework around Child Marriage in India.
As part of our collaborative work with Centre for Reproductive Rights, we disseminated FAQ Brochures on Child Marriage for our outreach. The brochure contains the relevant legal framework around Child Marriage in India.
What are the key challenges with child marriage law in India? What are the implementation gaps? Read CLPR and CRR’s Policy Brief on Child Marriage to know more about the challenges and policy recommendations.
In this piece, Jayna Kothari and Payal Shah, analyse the Independent Thought judgment. They suggest policy and law reforms to translate this decision into respecting the bodily autonomy of every woman and girl.
A little more than a month ago, on 17th Oct 2017, in the Child Marriage and Marital Rape [Independent Thought vs Union of India] case the Supreme Court ruled that sexual intercourse or sexual acts between a man and his minor wife was marital rape. In legal terms the Supreme Court had read down Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. This exception had deemed that a man could not be accused of marital rape if he had marital intercourse with his minor wife as long as the wife was not below the age of 15. Reading down the exception now meant that this exception would not apply to cases where the wife was between 15yrs and 18yrs.
Disha Chaudhry wrote about the reasoning behind this judgement in the Oxford Human Rights Hub.
The India at LSE Blog has featured a guest post by Jayna Kothari on the Madras High Court judgment of Aysha v Ozir Hassan. This judgment had made headlines for suggesting that couples who have premarital sex can be considered to be married. In her post, Jayna argues that contrary to the popular understanding, this judgment strengthens the position of women in relationships akin to marriage.
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The petitioner, a member of the transgender community, has filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court of India, challenging Sections 2(r) and 2(s) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021. Listed alongside connected matters, the petition contends that the Act prohibits single unmarried women and transgender people to opt for the surrogacy procedure. Claiming that the procedure could only be practiced by an “intending couple” or an “intending woman”, the Act stands violative of the fundamental rights under Article 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution of India.
This Writ Petition was filed by a 24 years old married woman seeking permission of the High Court to terminate her pregnancy of over 30 weeks as the fetus suffered from multiple abnormalities. By order dated 31.10.2019, the Hon’ble High Court permitted the Petitioner to seek termination of her pregnancy, in recognition of her rights under Article 21 of the Constitution and the mental trauma that is likely to be caused to her on account of the fetal abnormalities, if the termination is not permitted.
The present petition has been filed by Saraswati Kumar, a minor aged 15 years seeking annulment of her marriage under Section 3 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA) as it was solemnized when she was a minor and she was forcefully taken away from the custody of her parents.
CLPR appeared on behalf of the Child Rights Trust before the Supreme Court challenging Exception 2 to Section 375 of the IPC to the extent of its applicability in case of minor girls. The court held that the exception violates Article 14, 15 and 21 and is inconsistent with POCSO. The court noted that child marriage is an abhorrent practice that severely impacts the health and well being of children.
14th
Apr 2019
Venue Bangalore International Centre
Time 9.30 AM - 5.00 PM
This conference aims to bring together prominent Sexual & Reproductive Rights (SRR) activists, academics and lawyers to evaluate the past, present and future of SRR work in India. Our objective is to draw attention to the issues that are often implicitly or explicitly excluded from the ambit of SRR.
Read more09th
Mar 2019
Venue Centre for Law and Policy Research, D6, Dona Cynthia Apartments, 35, Primrose Road, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru – 560025
Time 9.30 AM - 5.00 PM
This event brings together activists and organisations to discuss the challenges faced in prohibiting child marriage across the state of Karnataka. The objective of the consultation will be to identify solutions which allow for the realisation of reproductive and related rights of children, especially adolescent girls, who are adversely affected by child marriage.
Read more16th
Feb 2019
Venue NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad -- 500101
Time 9.00 AM - 6.30 PM
On 16th and 17th February 2019, NSLR will hold its 1st Symposium. NSLR is the Student Law Review at NALSAR University of Law. The Symposium aims to improve the visibility and effectiveness of law as a tool to protect and promote public health in India from a human rights perspective.
Read more04th
Jan 2019
Venue NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bengaluru
Time 11.15 AM to 12.15 PM
Saumya Dadoo presented on the legal status of child marriage on behalf of Centre for Law and Policy Research at NIMHANS Symposium on preventing child marriages.
Read moreThe Hindu
In this discussion published by The Hindu, CLPR Executive Director Jayna Kothari commented that law should declare the child marriages void rather than making it a criminal act.
Deccan Herald
Reporting for the Deccan Herald, Akhil Kadidal covered our conference on Sexual and Reproductive Rights in India. In particular, he focused on the right to abortion panel. He interviews Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari and Advocate Meenaz Kakalia.
Radio Active - Cr 90.4 MHz
Shruti Sharada interviews Trinetra Gummaraju, who will speak at our conference on Sexual and Reproductive Rights conference, for RadioActive Cr 90.4 Mhz. Gummaraju will speak on the LGBTI+ panel.
Frontline
In this interview with Frontline Jayna Kothari shares her thoughts on the issue of uniform marriage age for boys and girls, following a proposal in its favour by the National Human Rights Commission.
The lower house of the Parliament passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020 (hereafter Bill) in the current budget session on March 17, 2020. This bill amends the earlier Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971. Some key features of the new Bill include: Extension of the gestation period for termination of pregnancy from 20 weeks to 24 weeks, directions to constitute a Medical Board in every State and protecting the privacy of women whose pregnancy has been terminated.
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.
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.
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.
