Should the age of marriage for women be raised to 21?
In this discussion published by The Hindu, Jayna Kothari commented that the law should declare the child marriages void rather than making it a criminal act.
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Our law and policy research, litigation and intervention advances autonomy of women and adolescent girls.
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.
‘A half-written promise’ | Jayna Kothari, Maya Unnithan & Siri Gloppen on Reproductive 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”.
Child Marriage FAQs Brochures: Kannada
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.
Child Marriage Posters: Kannada
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.
Child Marriage Posters: English
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.
Child Marriage FAQs Brochure: English
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.
Policy Brief on Child Marriage – By CLPR and CRR
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.
Law reform is needed to secure greater respect for adolescent sexual and reproductive autonomy
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.
Child Marriage before the Indian Supreme Court
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.
What rights do women in India in relationships akin to marriage have?
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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Nausheen Bano v. State of Karnataka & Ors.
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.
Saraswati Kumar v. Lokesh Kumar
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.
Independent Thought v. Union of India
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
CLPR | Sexual and Reproductive Rights in India | Social Movements and Legal Battles
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
CLPR | Towards a Rights-Based Approach to Child Marriage | Karnataka State-Wide Consultation
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
NSLR | Symposium on Law & Public Health
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
NIMHANS Symposium: “Preventing Child Marriages is Critical to Achieve SDGS”
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 moreDeccan Herald
‘When it comes to sexual health, docs are a problem’ | Deccan Herald covers CLPR’s SRR Conference
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
A Conversation with Trinetra Gummaraju | Radio Active covers our SRR conference
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
Differential age of marriage strikes at the root of equality
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.
ThePrint
Marriageable age should be uniform for women and men, NHRC tells govt
ThePrint’s article discusses NHRC’s recommendation to make the age of marriage uniform for girls and boys as 18. It quotes Jayna Kothari. She argues that there is no logic in also fixing 18 as the marriageable age for men.
Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020
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.
Sexual and Reproductive Rights in India: Social Movements and Legal Battles – DAY 2
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.
Sexual and Reproductive Rights in India: Social Movements and Legal Battles – DAY 1
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.
Implementation of Legislation Addressing Gender Injustice in Tamil Nadu, Pt 2: PCMA
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.