On 10th December, the Centre for Law and Policy Research held a Writers’ Workshop as…
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Tag: Gender
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Transgender Lives, Identity and Community in India: A Report on TransForm 2022
The Centre for Law and Policy Research, in collaboration with Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit, held…
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A Queer-Trans Critique on Marriage Equality in India
On 14th December, the Supreme Court asked the Union to respond to a plea by an Indian and…
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School Policies on Gender and Sexuality
While there have some been some legal developments regarding LGBTQI+ rights in India, we are miles away in terms of societal acceptance. The first step towards this goal is for awareness and sensitisation to start in schools. In this blog, Nayantara interviews students and a teacher of Mallya Aditi International School, Bangalore, to discuss how the school deals with issues relating to gender and sexuality, and the way forward.
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Is it possible to be Trans, Legal, and Free?
The NALSA Judgment (2014) and the Navtej Johar Judgment (2018) both produced a subject of gender and sexuality in a present-in-history. Both judgments presumably did not announce the recognition of new identities but traced histories of identities built on sexual and gendered differences from ancient India onwards.
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Status of implementation of POSH Act in Chennai’s Collectorate and its subordinate offices
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) which is considered to be of the better piece of legislation protecting women’s rights and dignity, seems to be so only on paper in the Chennai, especially in the Collectorate and its subordinate offices. The executive authorities appear uninterested in implementing this progressive law and awareness about this law is lacking among employers, employees, and workplaces including companies, shops, households, and government organizations alike. This scenario does not only hold for rural areas but also to the metropolitan city like Chennai.
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An Overview of the Equality Bill, 2019
– Aadhirai S, Deekshitha Ganesan and Jayna Kothari India has a robust Constitution and…
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Five Years Since NALSA: How Have the High Courts Fared?
Five years after the NALSA judgement, how have courts and government bodies fared in complying with the right to self-identify? This piece presents an analysis of cases in the High Courts which have dealt with self-identification of gender in employment, inclusion in the police force, and identification changes in educational certificates.
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Equality Bill 2019 | May 15th Consultation
On 15th May, we organised a consultation on our Equality Bill 2019 (“Bill”) in Hyderabad. The CLPR team presented the provisions of the Bill and sought suggestions, inputs and feedback from the participants, which included various academics and members of civil society organisations working with marginalised groups. This blog post presents the key points of the consultation.
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Implementation of Legislation Addressing Gender Injustice in Andhra Pradesh, Pt 1: POCSO Act
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.
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Implementation of Legislation Addressing Gender Injustice in Tamil Nadu, Pt 1: POCSO
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.
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CLPR & CRR | Karnataka State Consultation | Towards a Rights-Based Approach to Child Marriage
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.
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TISS and CRR Roundtable on Imprisoned Women’s Right to Safe Abortions
On 19.09.2016, a Division Bench of the High Court of Bombay delivered a landmark verdict in a suo motu Public Interest Litigation recognizing that imprisoned women, like other women, have the right to make choices with regard to motherhood and right to facilities to undergo safe abortions.
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Violence that is Not Gender Neutral
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.
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Panel Discussion on Diversity, Identity and the Law
This post is authored by Aishwarya Suresh Nair, IIIrd Year Student of the National Law Institute University, Bhopal. She is currently interning with CLPR.
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Courts and Women’s Rights in India in 2015
The Supreme Court has been predominantly lauded in 2015 for its far-reaching judgment in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India that expansively interpreted the freedom of speech. But we must not forget that the Supreme Court and some of the High Courts have rendered a few prominent judgments that have upheld women’s rights significantly in 2015.
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Two Finger Test in Rape Cases: Adding Insult to Injury
While conducting a study of the Fast Track Courts that have been instituted in Bangalore to try cases of rape and sexual assault, it was startling to discover that out of the 12 cases that have been disposed of by the FTCs since their establishment, 11 resulted in acquittals. The only case which resulted in the conviction of the accused was for the offence of “attempt to rape” and not rape. In this case, the court heavily relied on the medical reports which stated that the victim was “used to having sexual intercourse.”1 This conclusion was drawn by the Medical Officer upon conducting the two-finger test”.
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Fast Track only in Name
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.
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Chitra Balakrishnan’s Talk on Understanding Gender and Judging through Residence Orders
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”.
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Chitra Balakrishnan’s Talk on Understanding Gender and Judging through Residence Orders
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?
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Constitutional Principles in US v Windsor in the Indian Context
The US Supreme Court’s decision last month in US v Windsor has been celebrated around the world as a progressive step in gay rights and legalizing same-sex marriages. Even in India, it is anticipated that this judgment will be able to leave an impact on the pending Naz appeal decision in the Supreme Court. Although Naz and Windsor deal with different issues (decriminalization of homosexual acts in Naz and, recognition of same-sex marriages in Windsor), the fundamental concern is to stop discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
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Gender Justice and India’s Obligations Under International Conventions
A brief of the most important international rules in the matter of male/female equality.
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“A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women” – IWD, 2013
The 2013 United Nations theme for International Women’s Day fits into the theme of the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women being held at the United Nations Headquarters, New York. Making the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls its major theme, the session seeks to focus on two key areas – (1) the prevention of violence and (2) the provision of support systems and rehabilitative measures to victims of violence.