Upcoming Laws That Will Further Empower Indian

Women

Introduction
Cases under ‘crime against women’ category reported an increase of 2.9
percent in 2016 over 2015. Majority of these cases are regarding “cruelty by
husband or his relatives” (32.6 percent) followed by “assault on women with
intent to outrage her modesty" (25.0 percent), “kidnapping and abduction of
women” (19.0 percent) and “rape” (11.5 percent).

Rape cases have reported an increase of 12.4 percent from 34,651 cases in
2015 to 38,947 in 2016. Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh reported the
highest incidents of rape with 4,882 (12.5 percent) and 4,816 (12.4 percent)
respectively, followed by Maharashtra 4,189 (10.7 percent) during 2016.
Uttar Pradesh reported 14.5 percent (49,262) of the total cases of crimes
against women followed by West Bengal (9.6 percent) (32,513 cases), during
2016. Delhi reported the highest crime rate (160.4) compared to the national
average of 55.2.

The above facts are a reflective of the horrific condition of women in a

patriarchal society like ours.

Constitutional provisions
Our Constitution provides the articles for gender equality and empowerment
of women. Some of the articles mentioned below are:
1. Equality before law which is defined under A​rticle 14 of the Indian
Constitution.
2. ​Article 15(1)​ and ​Article 15(3)​ of Indian Constitution.
3. Protection of personal life and liberty which is defined under ​article 21
of the Indian Constitution.
4. Article 39(a)​ of the Indian Constitution.
5. Provision of just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief
which is defined in ​article 42 ​of the Indian Constitution.

What acts are considered as a crime against women?

1. Kidnapping Under section ​359​, ​360 and ​366 of
Indian Penal Code, 1860.

2. Eve teasing Under section ​509 of Indian Penal

Code,1860.

3. Chain Snatching Under section ​378 of Indian Penal

Code,1860.

4. Rape Under section ​376 of Indian Penal

Code, 1860.

5. Sexual Harassment Under section ​354A of Indian Penal

Code,1860.

6. Honour Killing Under section ​299​, ​300​, 301​, ​302​,

303​, ​304​, ​307​, ​308​, ​120A​, ​120B​,
34​, ​35​.

7. Domestic Violence under section ​498A of Indian Penal

Code,1860.

9. Cyber Crime Under section ​354A of Indian Penal

Code, Section ​66E​, ​67A Information
Technology Act,2008.

10. Dowry Death Under section ​304B of Indian Penal

Code,1860, ​section 4 of Dowry
Prohibition Act,1961

11. Acid Attacks under sections ​326A and ​326B of

Indian Penal Code,1860.

12. Stalking under section ​354D of Indian Penal

Code,1860.

13. Assault to outrage modesty of a under section ​354 and ​354B of

woman Indian Penal Code,1860.

Upcoming Laws that will further empower Indian

Women

Women’s Reservation Bill, 2008

The main objective of this bill is to represent females in Lok Sabha and state
legislative due to lack of their representation in these areas.
The main features are of this bill are mentioned below:
● 108th Amendment bill of the Constitution reserves one- third of the
seats reserved in the Lok Sabha and state legislative for women.
● One-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Caste
and Scheduled Tribe reserved shall be reserved for the women of those
groups.
● Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies.

The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Bill, 2012

The main objective of the bill is to protect the indecent representation of
women which is growing faster with the new technology.
The main focus of the bill are as follows:
● Indecent Representation of a Woman means derogating a woman in
such a way which is opposed to public policy.
● The bill widens the scope of Indecent Representation of Women Act,
1986 to cover under this bill new forms of technologies like internet,
cable television etc.
● The bill forbids the publication of any material which makes the
indecent representation of women provided it has been used in the field
of science, literature or for bonafide religious purposes.
● For representing women indecently the punishment provided is
imprisonment for 3 years and fine ranging from Rs.50,000 to Rs. 1
Lakh.

The Muslim Women ( Protection of Rights ) Bill, 2017

This bill makes triple talaq, a punishable offence which was decided by
Supreme Court in ​Shayara Bano v. Union of India,​ 22​nd​ August, 2017.
It makes triple talaq as “void and illegal”.

● Clause 3 of the Bill says: "​Any pronouncement of talaq by a person

upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form
or in any other manner whatsoever, shall be void and illegal​."
● Clause 4 of the Bill states, "​Whoever pronounces talaq referred to in
section 3 upon his wife shall be punished with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to three years and fine​."
● Clause 7 says, "​an offense punishable under this Act shall be cognizable
and non-bailable within the meaning of the Code​." (The Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973).
Surrogacy Regulation Bill, 2016
The main objective to introduce this bill is to protect women from being
exploited. It has become a practice for women of lower sections of the societal
structure to rent their wombs for money. A venture where the rich exploit the
women stricken from poverty.
The main objectives of the Bill are:
● The intending couples should be the Citizen of India, they should
complete at least 5 years of marriage and the female must be infertile.
● Only medical expenses shall be provided to surrogate mother and she
will be called as the biological mother of the child.
● Central & State Government shall appoint authorities to grant eligibility
certificates and also regulate surrogacy clinics.
● Exploiting the surrogate mother shall be punishable for an
imprisonment of 10 years & fine up to 10 Lakh.
● Surrogate mother must be a ‘close relative’ of the child in order to save
women from exploitation.

The Menstruation Benefit Bill, 2017

The main objective of the bill is to understand the problems faced by the
women in day to day life and also to provide menstrual leave of 2 days to
every working woman in order to give them a healthy work environment.
The main features of the act are:
● Women working in a private and public sector should be given 2 days of
menstrual leave in a month.
● Better facilities at the workplace during the menstrual cycle of a
woman.

Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection, and

Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018
The main objective of the bill is to protect women from being exploited in the
name of human trafficking.
The bill focuses on the following lines:
● It mainly focuses on the aggravated forms of trafficking such as forced
labor, begging, trafficking woman or child for the purpose of marriage
and child abuse, injecting chemical substance for the purpose of sexual
maturity. Punishment prescribed for these offenses are of minimum 10
years or life imprisonment.
● The Punishment is prescribed for a person who has encouraged
trafficking by means of promoting or facilitating it.
 ● The Identity of victims & witnesses shall remain confidential.
● Victims shall be entitled to relief within 30 days and time-bound trial
within a period of 30 days from taking into consideration.
● The bill has created “Rehabilitation Fund” for the first time which will be
used for the physical, mental and social well being of the victim which
includes education, skills, health, support and legal assistance.
● Punishment prescribed ranges from 10 years to life imprisonment & fine
up to 10 lakh.

Conclusion
So many bills are still pending in the parliament and the upcoming laws are
definitely going to help women alot but the problem is that in the 70 years of
Independence only the minuscule population of the women are ready to
discuss their issues. To overcome this problem we need to spread the legal
education in different sectors of the society through various means like street
plays, door to door campaigns. So that people should be aware of their rights
and we really need to work towards the gender sensitization.

References
● https://www.expertily.com/blog/5-Upcoming-Laws-That-Will-Empower-
Indian-Women
● http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-surrogacy-regulation-bill-2016-44
70/
● https://www.hindustantimes.com/brandstories/tatateajaagore/crimes-a
gainst-women-are-rising.html
● https://www.dailyo.in/variety/ncrb-data-2016-crimes-against-women-h
uman-trafficking-cyber-crime/story/1/20867.html
● https://www.indianbarassociation.org/crimes-against-women-a-legal-p
erspective/
● http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=176878​.
● https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/what-is-the-instant-triple-tal
aq-bill/article22296008.ece
● http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-surrogacy-regulation-bill-2016-44
70/
● http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/womens-reservation-bill-the-constitut
ion-108th-amendment-bill-2008-45/