Crime against Women in India

Abstract

Crime against women in this recent day are growing day by day which are
unbearable in every possible need. The women are being come under the vulnerable
group of society, and they are being exploited in every corner. They were exploited
in major point of time in the area of sexuality. The domestic violence are also a
another area of their weakness. Though there are so many laws are present in the
statute but this are kept in Pen & paper. The authoritative value to protect them i.e.
The enforcement agency for the prohibition of the crime against women are failure
on this regard. Every day in newspaper we can found that “girls are sexually
harassed or raped and also cause to death. Hence the empowerment which are
being given by the grace of democracy or so called constitutional aspect are in
danger. The beast of our society done this crime very rampant way. The recent
amendment1 of the criminal law may be a stringent one but the statistic says that the
quantity of the crime also cannot be stopped. This paper is related to the present
position or status of women against the women in India and also to carry with some
suggestions to protect the vulnerable group of our society.

Introduction

"0 Lord why you have not given woman the right to conquer
her destiny Why does she have to wait head bowed, By the
Roadside, waiting with tired patience, hoping for a miracle in
the morrow?"

- Rabindranath Tagore2

Our societies continue to experience crime against women in India despite the
efforts of the government to toughen bills that prosecute men who attempt to rape
women and also criminalize offenses like stalking and voyeurism. In this article I
1
http://indiacode.nic.in/acts-in-pdf/132013.pdf
2
Cited by Justice J.N. Bhatt, "Gender Justice Turmoil or triumph", Indian Bar Review Vol. XXV (2), 1998,
37

P.18
have explore the idea of crimes which are against the women in India. From the very
beginning of our society women are being exploited in every nock and corner of our
society. Now in recent era of our country this crime against women are being
extended up to the level of unbearable. The creator of our society are in danger. 3

Although women may be victims of any of the general crimes such as ‘murder’,
‘robbery’, ‘cheating’, etc, only the crimes which are directed specifically against
women are characterised as ‘crimes against women’. Various new legislations have
been brought and amendments have been made in existing laws with a view to
handle these crimes effectively. Crimes against women are of various natures. It
include crimes involving sexual exploitation for economic gains like prostitution &
trafficking, adultery, abduction, rape, wrongful confinement, and murder etc. On the
one hand and crimes related to women's property like dishonest misappropriation,
criminal breach of trust, domestic violence, dowry extortion and outraging the
modesty of women etc. on the other. These crimes are not only injurious and
immoral for the women but for the society as a whole. We are classifying the crime
against women in to some categories namely

(a) Sexual crimes

(b) Matrimonial offences
(c) Offences relating to dowry
(d) Offences relating to miscarriage
(e) Offences relating to trafficking.

Background of Crime

In previous times, the status of women in India was inferior to men in the practical
life. However, they had a higher status in scriptures. They are considered as the
perfect home maker in the world. With their incomparable quality of calmness of their
mind, they can easily handle even toughest situation. Indian women are completely
devoted to their families. They’re preached in the names of Goddess Saraswati,
Goddess Durga, Parvati & Goddess Kali. Their condition remains unchanged even
during the modern times with only little changes. In India, women were never given
any right of liberty &equality. Their condition becomes even worse when they gave
37

3
Id
birth to girls. Men treated them in a humiliated manner. They were not only permitted
not to step outside their house but also abstained from being educated.

They were also supposed to eat after their husbands or even sometimes to eat their
husband’s leftovers. Women were prohibited from prohibited from taking external
matters as well as domestic matters. They were under the influence of their parents
before marriage & their husband after marriage. However, their status varied a lot
depending on the period which they were living us illustrated below:

WOMEN STATUS IN THE ANCIENT INDIA

It’s said during the ancient India, women enjoyed equivalent status & rights like their
males counterparts. In addition they were properly educated in the early Vedic
period. These references are available from the works of Grammarians such as
Katyayana and Patanjali. Women also had the freedom to select their husbands.
This system was known as ‘Swayamvar.’ In fact during this time, women had
superior position than the males.

WOMEN STATUS IN MEDIEVAL INDIA

The status of women in India deteriorated during the medieval period with the
entrance of the Muslims. Several evil practices such as female infanticide, sati and
child marriage were practiced during this period. ‘Purdah’ was introduced to the
society. Women were also forced to practice ‘zenana.’ Polygamy was also common
during this period. Women also excelled in literature, music and arts. They were also
rulers during this period. Some great-women rulers were Razia Sultana who was the
only women-monarch to-rule-the throne of Delhi, Nur Jahan, Gond queen Durgavati
who ruled for fifteen years before she was defeated in a battle by Ali emperor
Akbar’s. Nur Jahan is still considered as the most effective ruler by the society. In
spite of these powerful women, the condition of poor women remained the same. At
this time girl were forced to get married at a very tender age. The society also
practiced Sati where women were forced to jump over the burning bodies of their
37
husbands during funerals. The southern India also practiced Devdasi tradition where
girls were forced get married to trees or deity. 4

WOMEN STATUS IN MODERN INDIA

During this time there was a little development in the women status. There were
many women reformers in India who worked for the uplift & betterment of their
female counterparts. The begun of Bhopal discarded the ‘purdah’ & fought in the
revolt of 1857. Their education was elevated and English was introduced during this
period. Various female writers emerged in the society.

Concept of Crime

crime5 n. a violation of a law in which there is injury to the public or a member of the
public and a term in jail or prison, and/or a fine as possible penalties. There is some
sentiment for excluding from the "crime" category crimes without victims, such as
consensual acts, or violations in which only the perpetrator is hurt or involved such
as personal use of illegal drugs6.

Crime7 has also been defined in social or non-legal terms. The social definition of
crime is that it is behaviour or an activity that offends the social code of a particular
community. Mower (1959) has defined it as "an anti-social act".

Caldwell (1956: 114) has explained it as "an act or a failure to act that is considered
to be so detrimental to the well-being of a society, as judged by its prevailing
standards, that action against it cannot be entrusted to private initiative or to
haphazard methods but must be taken by an organised society in accordance with
tested procedures."

Thorsten Sellin (1970: 6) has described crime as "violation of conduct norms of the
normative groups". Marshall Clinard (1957: 22) has, however, maintained that all
deviations from social norms are not crimes. He talks of three types of deviation: (i)

4
id
5
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/crime
6
id
37

7
http://www.preservearticles.com/2012050131509/what-is-the-social-definition-of-crime.html
tolerated deviation, (ii) deviation which is mildly disapproved, and (iii) deviation which
is strongly disapproved. He perceives the third type of deviation as crime.

Let us take an example. Gandhiji not only himself deviated from caste norms but
also prompted others not to follow them. Yet, Gandhiji was not considered a deviant
because his deviation was for the good of the society. The deviation that harms the
society is strongly disapproved8

crime9, the intentional commission of an act usually deemed socially harmful or

dangerous and specifically defined, prohibited, and punishable under criminal law.

Categories of Crime against Women

A. sexual crimes

Every animal on the earth is attracted by the opposite sex; it is not limited to human
beings. But to the given legality to the sex between the human being in the society,
the concept of marriage was created. The object of marriage are to legitimize the
sexual relations, between the two opposite sexes of healthy bodies. In India other
kind of illegal sexual relations are there namely rape, act against the nature, illegal
intercourse, adultery etc....now i discuss all the illegal sexual relations which are
crime against women in India10.

Rape is the fastest growing crime in India compared to murder, robbery and
kidnapping. According to the report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB),
every 60 minutes, two women are raped in this country. A total of 20,737 cases of
rape were reported in the year 2007, registering a 7.2 percent increase over the
previous year. According to NCRB, 19,348 rape cases were reported in the year
2006. The biggest number of such crimes was reported from Madhya Pradesh. One-
quarter of the victims were minors, 75 percent of culprits were known to victims and
10 percent were relatives. These figures are underestimations as many incidents go
unreported due to fear of stigma and non-awareness of rights. There are also the

8
id
9
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/142953/crime
37

10
id
countless cases of eve teasing, indecent gazes, pinching, brushes and comments
that infringe upon the rights of women, especially in overcrowded spaces and public
transport buses and trains. Major cities in the country have become the hub of
misdemeanour because of technological reach. Mobile, cyber café, car, beach, mall,
restaurant, hotel have become popular apparatus for the criminals. 11

What precipitates the problem is that the incidents of rape, sexual molestation and
harassment have been followed by dubious attempts by perpetrators and law
enforcers to arm-twist the course of justice.  There is a need for a drastic change in
attitudes and mind-sets towards such incidents. Poor investigations, harsh cross
examination of victims, senseless adjournment of cases and faulty assessment of
evidence and furnishing of evidence by victims in presence of culprits are areas that
need reforms.

Despite the increasing cases of crime against women, they would appear to be not in
priority list of the investigating agencies. The NCRB data shows that investigation
starts within the same year in only one out of 10 sexual harassment cases and only
two out of ten cases of molestation or cruelty by husband and relatives. Similarly,
only three out of ten rapes and dowry deaths are investigated within the same year. 12

A comparative study of the data available about these crimes suggest that there
were rise in the crimes against women in 2008 compared to the previous year. While
a total of 1,012 cases were registered for kidnap of women in 2007, the number went
up to 1,494 in 2008. Similarly, the number of incidents related to dowry death rose
from 1,226 in 2007 to 1,233 in 2008. Similarly, cases of atrocities perpetrated for
dowry rose to 2,230 in 2008 from 1,493 in 2007. Cases related to eye-teasing and
molestation shot up to 188 during 2008, 20 more than those recorded in the previous
year. Also incidents related to kidnapping of women increased from 1,012 in 2007 to
1,494 in 2008. The fact remains that there is sufficient information about crime
against women that calls for appropriate remedial actions.

Again, there has been a sharp increase in the number of rape case recorded each
year. The National Crime Record Bureau recorded 24,206 case of rape in 2011
11
id
37

12
id
alone, which indicated a rise of 9% from the previous year. It still indicated that more
than half of the victims of such rape incidences appeared to fall between 18-30 years
of age. These figures continued to point out that 10.6% of the victims of rape were
young girls under the age of 14, while 19% were teenagers between 14 and 18.
Shockingly, in the 94.2% of the cases reported, offenders were known to the victims.
They included their family members, relatives and neighbours 13.

On 16 of December 2012, a 23 years old paramedic student in India’s capital-New

Delhi was brutally assaulted and gang-raped, shading a spotlight on crimes against
women in the country. For the first time, there was a furious outrage, emotional
outburst as the general public, both men and women demanded safety and
protection of women in the country. They were demanding changes to be made, a
change in attitude towards women and a change in the demeaning gender laws that
have not favoured women for decades, plus they wanted a speedy justice to be
executed on rapists so that they could be brought to book as soonest. Yet still, other
protesters wanted offenders of this nature punished through a death penalty.

A young woman based in Bengaluru was quoted saying “that rapists in India are
certain that they can always get away with such crimes” (which is evidence that there
are no strict laws that protect women), and unless laws are put in place to bring
wrong-doers to book and deliver justice speedily, crimes of that nature will continue
to escalate.14

What’s worse, the maximum sentence of a rapist continues to remain unclear under
the prevailing laws. It’s a challenge because there’s a huge debate on whether or not
to introduce death sentence for rape offenders. One side argues that it could bring
down the rate of rape crime against women in India, while the other side says this
will lead to massive killings of rape victims in an attempt to escape the death penalty.
However, protesters all over the country are demanding that the government should
amends the archaic laws.

13
id
37

14
id
There are several kind of rape,
a) Custodial rape
This kind rape was made more punishable than rape committed by other person not
having any custody of woman. This is based on the theory that “agar bad hi khet ko
khate, to usko kaon bachaye” if the protector himself eats the crops of field, then
no one can protect the those crops. Section 376 of IPC, describes the several
punishment for the custodial rape.
b) Rape on a pregnant woman
Rape on a pregnant woman is heinous kind of rape. Where rape committed by a
man. On a pregnant woman of any age, it is serious in nature, so it is put in several
category of rape.
c) Rape on a girl under twelve years
Rape of a girl under twelve years is a heinous kind of rape and is against the whole
society. It should not occur in the defeat of humanitarian. It is duty of every member
of society to stop such kind of abuse.
d) Gang rape
Gang rape is also heinous kind of rape. Where a women is raped by one or more in
a group of persons acting in furtherance of their common intention, each of the
persons shall be deemed to have committed gang rape.
e) Rape by husband
Sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, is not rape, if the wife is above 15 years
age. Where the wife is below 15 years but above the age of 12 years, and sexual
intercourse is made by her husband it amounts to rape.

B. MATRIMONIAL OFFENCES

The provision for the offence relating to the marriage are described under section
493 to 498 of IPC, which may be explained as follows.
a) Mock marriage
Every man who by deceit, causes any woman who is not lawfully married to him, to
belief that she is lawfully married to him and to cohabit or have sexual intercourse
with him in that belief, commits the offences of mock marriage. It is punishable with
imprisonment up to 10 years and fine.
37
 b) Bigamy
Whoever, having a wife living, marriage in any case in which such marriage is void
by reason of its taking place during the life of such wife, shall be punished with
imprisonment up to 7 years and fine.
c) Dishonest or fraudulent marriage
Whoever, dishonestly or with a fraudulent intention, goes through, the ceremony of
being marriage, knowing that he is not there by lawfully married, shall be punished
with imprisonment up to 7 years and fine.
d) Adultery
Adultery means mutual sexual intercourse with a wife of another man, without
consent or connivance of husband, and such sexual intercourse not amounting to
the offence of rape. it is punishable with imprisonment up to 5 years, or with fine, or
with both.
e) Hiding of HIV+ve status by either party, at the time of marriage
This offence does not follow from the matrimonial offence, find that place in the
offence affecting the public health, where any negligence or malignant act, which is
likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, is punishable.

C. OFFENCES RELATING TO DOWRY

a) Dowry

Dowry remains the major reason for discrimination and injustice towards women in
India. When dowry demands are not met, it precipitates into serious consequence for
the young bride. The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 marks the first attempt by the
Government of India to recognize dowry as a social evil and to curb its practice. The
act was modified with the Dowry Prohibition Amendment Act of 1984, which has
again been modified with Dowry Prohibition Bill 1986. Women's organization have
played key role in this process of change. The 1961 Act define dowry and makes the
practice of dowry- giving and taking, a punishable offence. However, i t is ridiculous
to see that even among highly educated sections, the articles of dowry are proudly
exhibited in the marriage as a status symbol. The dowry abuse is increasing in
India. The most severe is ‘bride burning', the burning of women whose dowries were
not considered sufficient by their husband or in-laws. Most of these incidents are
37
reported as accidental burns in the kitchen or are disguised as suicide.  Dowry is one
of those social evils that no educated woman will own up with pride, still many are
adhering to it. Practices of dowry tend to subordinate women in the society. Women
should be more economically empowered and should be educated properly
regarding the various legal provisions such as Section 498A Cr.PC, protection from
domestic violence etc., only then this evil menace could possibly be eradicated from
Indian social system15.

b) Cruelty to woman by her husband and his relatives

According to section 498A of IPC, whoever, being the husband or the relative
of the husband of the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such
woman, subject such woman to cruelty, shall be punished with imprisonment
up to three years and fine.

D. OFFENCES RELATING TO MISCARRIAGE

Offences of this category are having some provisions under IPC as well as under
special laws, e.g, the medical termination of pregnancy act 1971; and the pre-
conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques act 1994; the combined study of all
the provisions relating to the offence of miscarriage are as follows:

a) Voluntarily causing miscarriage

Whoever voluntary cause a women with child to miscarry, or a women who
cause herself to miscarry; except such miscarriage has been done in good
faith for the purpose of saving the life of the women, shall be punished with
imprisonment up to 3 years or with fine or with both.
b) Causing miscarriage without women consent
Whoever, commits the offences of miscarriage without the consent of the
women, weather the women is quick with child or not, shall be punished with
imprisonment for life, or imprisonment for 10 years and fine?
c) Death caused by act done with intent to cause miscarriage
37

15
id
 Whoever, with intent to cause the miscarriage of women with child, does any
act which cause the death of such women, shall be punished with
imprisonment up to 10 years and fine?
d) Act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after
birth. Whoever before the birth of any child does any act with the intention of
thereby preventing that child from being alive or causing in to die after its
birth; shall be punished with imprisonment up to 10 years, or with fine or with
both.

E. OFFENCES RELATING TO TRAFFICKING.

According to UN, “the illicit and clandestine movements of persons across national
borders, largely from developing countries and some countries with economically in
transition, with the end goal of forcing women and girl children into sexually or
economically oppressive and exploited situation for profit of recruiters ,traffickers and
crime syndicates, as well as other legal activity related to trafficking such as forced
domestic labour, false marriage clandestine employment and false adoption.

The offences relating to trafficking under IPC

a) kidnapping from lawful guardianship

whoever takes or entices any minor under 16 years of age if a mail, or under
18 years of age if a female, or any person of unsound mind, out of the lawful
guardian of such minor person of unsound mind, without the consent of such
guardian, is said to kidnap such minor or person from lawful guardianship.
b) kidnapping, abduction or inducing women to compel her to merry
whoever kidnaps or abducts any women with intent she may be compelled, or
knowing to be likely that she will be compelled, to marry any person against
her will, or in order that she may be forced or seduced to illicit intercourse, or
knowing it to be likely that she will be forced or seduced to illicit intercourse.
c) procuration of minor girl
whoever by any means whatsoever, induces any minor girl under the age of
18 years to go from any place or to do any act with intent that such girl may
37
 be, or knowing that it is likely that she will be, forced or seduces to illicit
intercourse with another person shall be punishable with imprisonment up to
10 years, and fine.
d) importation of girl from foreign country
According to section 366B of IPC, whoever imports into India from any
country outside India and from the state of Jammu and Kashmir any girl under
the age of 21 years with intent that she may be, or knowing it to be likely that
she will be, forced or seduced to illicit intercourse with imprisonment up to 10
years and fine.

According to the Indian Penal Code, crimes against women include rape, kidnapping
and abduction, homicide for dowry, molestation, torture, sexual harassment and
importation of girls. In 2011, over 200,000 cases of crimes against women were
reported. At the time, the North Eastern city of Tripura recorded the highest number
of these crimes at 37%, compared to the national average crime rate of only 18.9%.
During the same period, both kidnappings and trafficking rose by 19 and 122 percent
respectively. And how about those crimes against women that go unreported? One
might ask. It’s not a surprise that ‘eve teasing’ or harassment, heckling and sexual
innuendos against Indian women in public places like cinema halls, public transport,
alongside rape of women and minors in the villages go unrecorded. Going by the
records, Madhya Pradesh, a state in India with a large population of tribes recorded
over 3000 rape cases, which was considered the highest number of such offence in
2011. Generally, what has been happening in India has attracted the attention of the
world as a whole, and only strict measures implemented by both the government and
external forces can bring the change that women have yearned for. It’s a fact that
many rape incidences go unreported, and that’s according to legal experts in the
country. Due to what is called “family honour”, several complaint files are
withdrawn and in most cases, the police don’t give a fair hearing. Again, medical
evidences go unrecorded making it easy for criminals to pass scot free under the
prevailing conditions. But it’s quite alarming that outside the legal rooms of India, it is
very common for Kangaroo courts to advise victims to marry off the criminals in an
attempt to ”preserve them” honour. And in some cases, rape is used to settle local
disputes and caste issues16.
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16
id
In the modern time, women in India were given freedom & right such as freedom of
expression & equality as well as the right to be educated. Various prestigious
positions at this period were held by women. They’re enjoying the ‘ladies first’ facility
in different fields. However, some problems such as dowry, domestic violence, sex
selective abortion, female infanticide are still prevalent. Preventive measures needs
to be taken to ensure that women are empowered in India.

Crime is one of the main reasons that hinders women empowerment in India.

The negative effects of the oppressive societal values are as follows:

 Women are forced to get married at a tender Age.

 They are expected to fend for themselves while taking charge of the domestic
chores.

 They become malnourished since they are always expected to serve

themselves last, after every member of household has received their potion.

 They suffer from unfair and biased inheritance and divorce laws.

 Women are not able to accumulate any substantial amount of asset, making it
pretty difficult for them to establish their own financia security.

 And worse still, studies conducted as from the year 2010 show that crimes
against women have risen in the recent past by 7.1%.

HOW CAN WOMEN BE EMPOWERED?

In the simplest of words it is basically the creation of an environment where women
can make independent decisions on their personal development as well as shine as
equals in society. Women want to be treated as equals so much so that if a woman
rises to the top of her field it should be a commonplace occurrence that draws
nothing more than a raised eyebrow at the gender. This can only happen if there is
a channelized route for the empowerment of women. Thus it is no real surprise that
women empowerment in India is a hotly discussed topic with no real solution looming
in the horizon except to doubly redouble our efforts and continue to target the
sources of all the violence and ill-will towards women.
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CHALLENGES
There are several challenges that are currently plaguing the issues of women’s rights
in India. A few of these challenges are presented below. While a lot of these are
redundant and quite basic issues faced across the country, these are contributory
causes to the overarching status of women in India. Targeting these issues will
directly benefit the empowerment of women in India.

EDUCATION
While the country has grown from leaps and bounds since its independence where
education is concerned, the gap between women and men is severe. While 82.14%
of adult men are educated, only 65.46% of adult women are known to be literate in
India. Not only is an illiterate women at the mercy of her husband or father, she also
does not know that this is not the way of life for women across the world.
Additionally, the norms of culture that state that the man of the family is the be-all
and end-all of family decisions is slowly spoiling the society of the country. As said in
a study conducted by the Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism. In spite of
the UN Charter of Human Rights and the provisions of the Indian Constitution,
women continue to be victims of exploitation. The view that the future generation of a
family is carried on and preserved by boys-only has degraded the position of women
in society. Similarly, it is noticed that majority of the women are lacking in the spirit of
rebellion. If careful attention is not paid and major steps are not taken, the situation
will become extremely critical17.

Eradicating this gap and educating women about their real place in the world is a
step that will largely set this entire movement rolling down the hill to crash and break
the wall of intolerance, negligence and exploitation.

POVERTY IN THE COUNTRY

About a third of the country’s population lives on less than 1.25USD per day. The
GINI18 index keeps rising slowly over the years, indicating that the inequality in the

17
id
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18
http://data.worldbank.org/country/india
distribution of wealth in the country is increasing, currently hovering a little close to
33.9. Poverty is considered the greatest threat to peace in the world, and eradication
of poverty should be a national goal as important as the eradication of illiteracy. Due
to abject poverty, women are exploited as domestic helps and wives whose incomes
are usurped by the man of the house. Additionally, sex slaves are a direct outcome
of poverty.19

Andhra Pradesh accounts for nearly half of all sex trafficking cases in India, the
majority involving adolescent girls. According to police estimates, a shocking
300,000 women and girls have been trafficked for exploitative sex work from Andhra
Pradesh; of these just 3,000 have been rescued so far.

The state is relatively prosperous, ranking fourth in terms of per capita GDP in India,
but it is also home to some of the poorest people in the country. If poverty were not a
concern, then the girl child will be able to follow her dreams without concerns of
sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and no education or work.

HEALTH & SAFETY

The health and safety concerns of women are paramount for the wellbeing of a
country, and is an important factor in gauging the empowerment of women in a
country. However there are alarming concerns where maternal healthcare is
concerned. In its 2009 report, UNICEF came up with shocking figures on the status
of new mothers in India. The maternal mortality report of India stands at 301 per
1000, with as many as 78,000 women in India dying of childbirth complications in
that year. Today, due to the burgeoning population of the country, that number is
sure to have multiplied considerably. The main causes of maternal mortality are:-

 Haemorrhage: 30%
 Anaemia: 19%
 Sepsis: 16%
 Obstructed Labour: 10%
 Abortion: 8%
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, as unearthed by Davinder Kumar
  Toxaemia: 8%

While there are several programmes that have been set into motion by the
Government and several NGOs in the country, there is still a wide gap that exists
between those under protection and those not. Poverty and illiteracy add to these
complications with local quacks giving ineffective and downright harmful remedies to
problems that women have. The empowerment of women begins with a guarantee of
their health and safety.
Proportion of Crime against women (IPC) towards total IPC crimes 20.

S.no Year Total IPC crime Crime against women (IPC % to total IPC
cases) cases.
1. 2008 20,93,379 1,86,617 8.9
2. 2009 21,21,345 2,03,804 9.2
3. 2010 22,24,831 2,13,585 9.6
3. 2011 2,19,142 9.4
23,25,575
4. 2012 23,87,188 2,44,270 10.2

Source- Crimes in India, 2011, National Crime Record Bureau.

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Position of Women in India to eradicate the societal heinous Crime

A. Government Steps

Actions Taken To Empower Women Millennium Development

The United Nations Development Programme constituted eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) for ensuring equity and peace across the world. The
third MDG is directly related to the empowerment of women in India. The MDGs
are agreed-upon goals to reduce certain indicators of disparity across the world
by the year 2015. The third MDG is centred towards promoting gender equality
and empowering women: “Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary
education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education by no later than 2015
While India’s progress in this front has been brave, there are quite a few corners
that it needs to cut before it can be called as being truly revolutionary in its quest
for understanding what is women empowerment. As UNDP says:-

India missed the 2005 deadline of eliminating gender disparity in primary and
secondary education. However, the country has hastened progress and the
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratios (GER) in primary and
secondary education has risen. Given current trends, India is moderately or
almost nearly on track. However, as the Government of India MDG Report 2009
notes, “participation of women in employment and decision making remains far
less than that of men, and the disparity is not likely to be eliminated by 2015.”
37
 Achieving GPI in tertiary education also remains a challenge. In addition, the
labour market openness to women in industry and services has only marginally
increased from 13-18 percent between 1990-91 and 2004-05.

MINISTRY FOR WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The Ministry for Women & Child Development was established as a department
of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in the year 1985 to drive the
holistic development of women and children in the country. In 2006 this
department was given the status of a Ministry, with the powers to formulate plans,
policies and programmes; enacts amends legislation, guiding and coordinating
the efforts of both governmental and non-governmental organisations working in
the field of Women and Child Development. It delivers such initiatives such as the
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) which is a package of services
such as supplementary nutrition, health check-ups and immunisation. As
mentioned earlier, the empowerment of women begins with their safety and
health and this Ministry is committed to providing them 21.

Swayamsidha Programme
Additionally, the Ministry is also implementing the Swayamsidha programme –
an integrated scheme for the empowerment of women at a total cost of
Rs.116.30 Crores. Core to this programme will be the establishment of women’s
self-help groups which will empower women to have increased access to all kinds
of resources that they are denied, in addition to increasing their awareness and
skills. This programme will benefit about 9,30,000 women with the setting up of
53,000 self-help groups, 26,500 village societies and 650 block societies 22.

National Commission for Women

The National Commission for Women is a Department within the Ministry of
Women and Child Development. It was set up exclusively to help women via the
Constitution – by reviewing Legal and Constitutional safeguards for women,
recommending remedial legislative measures, by facilitating quick reressal of
grievances and by advising the Government of India on all policy matters

21
id
37

22
id
 affecting women. The website allows for online submission of complaints and fast
redressal exclusively for women. Additionally it is also a good resource of
information for women and the Commission is committed to helping out women in
need.

SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT
Women are educated about the social benefits including awareness about the
existing social problems in the society, good recognition & image in the family &
community, role in making important decision in their family, plan & promote
better education for their children, taking care of health of the aged and the
children just to mention a few. Women are also allowed to participate in political
and public life. Therefore, they are given a chance to serve the community
including fighting for the basics amenities & welfare needs of the village
community such as: Safe drinking water Public sanitation Street light Chance to
help the weaker people like disable and the aged 23.

EMPOWERING INDIAN WOMEN BY EDUCATION

While illiteracy levels in India continue to stand at about 54% for women and 76%
for men, school enrolment, attendance and quality of education, especially for the
girl-child threatens to deteriorate even further if appropriate measures are not put
in place and mostly this is due to the lack of women education in India. Illiteracy
is one of the main obstacles in women empowerment in India. Let’s sample 3
case studies below:

CASE STUDY 1
Amla (not her real name) didn’t tell her parents when the older boys started to
harass her on the one hour- long walk to school from their apartment in
Madanpur Khadar, south of Delhi. They occasionally grabbed her hands and
demanded that the little girl kiss them. She knew that the blame would be placed
on her, as if she was some-what encouraging them to do so. But she was pretty
right when her family found out. They literally ”banned” her from ever going back
to school again, worried about the effects on their ”honor” in the event that she
37

23
id
was sexually assaulted. Guess what, now the plan is to marry her off once she
reaches 16 years of age.

CASE STUDY 2
Amita is luckier, her mother is determined to take her to school so that one day
she would become a doctor. However, in her class, there are 70 pupils and the
teacher (one teacher) never shows most parts of the lessons. The facilities at the
school are poor, the drinking water is so filthy that pupils have to bring along their
own water to school. And what’s more, Amita confesses that the toilets are very
dirty that she has never used them since she got enrolled in that school. Though
she doesn’t understand, her mother saves at least 900 rupees so that she can
get coached in 3 subjects where she is not doing well.

CASE STUDY 3
Sumen, a woman who is 35 years old is battling with her daughter’s future. The
little girl who is only 9 years has learning disabilities and her mother has tried
every year to enroll him in schools but with very little success. Luckily, the
authorities have agreed that the little girls should get some education, but it’s only
once in 7 days. Sumen, who is a house wife wonders if she should try to teach
her daughter herself. The question is this; how will she teach her when she never
went to school herself? It’s sad how she was quoted speaking—”But if I haven’t
studied myself, how much value will I add to her life?” Just 4 years ago, the World
Bank upgraded India from ”poor” to middle income country. The UK, on the other
hand announced that it would end its financial aid to India come 2015, citing
unclear reasons. Under the Rights to Education Act that was passed in the year
2009, every child between ages 6 and 14 was guaranteed a free and compulsory
education, which saw enrolment figures at an all-time impressive-sounding of
98%.

Most women are given a chance of finishing their education to the degree level.
They are discouraged from getting married and raising a family when they are
young. There are number of women education grants that offer help to women
from poor background in order to give them a chance to be educated. There’re
various scholarships that benefits women in India to achieve their career by going
37
 back to school or various training institutions where they can further their
education. Also, many NGO‘s in India offer support to women in order to benefit
them in education. The government of India is also setting aside funds that are
used to empower women & other initiatives that will empower them. Women who
have the desire to improve their lives are allowed to take these grants from the
government and NGO’s to empower themselves with the help of their spouses or
without for single mothers to get education to the degree level, post graduates,
PHD just to mention a few. These grants for women get most supports from
different companies after realizing that women can perform better than men if
they are well educated and equipped.

National Policy objectives

The goal of this Policy is to bring about the advancement, development and
empowerment of women. The Policy will be widely disseminated so as to encourage
active participation of all stakeholders for achieving its goals. Specifically, the
objectives of this Policy include

(i) Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for
full development of women to enable them to realize their full potential.
(ii) The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres – political,
economic, social, cultural and civil.
(iii) Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social,
political and economic life of the nation.
(iv) Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels,
career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration,
occupational health and safety, social security and public office etc.
(v) Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women.
(vi) Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active
participation and involvement of both men and women.
(vii) Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.
37
 (viii) Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and
the girl child; and
(ix) Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly
women’s organizations.

Judicial Contribution

Hereunder Some landmark cases are discuss with its case note which were
directly deal with the matter of crime against women and also the empowerment
of women. On the part of judicial contribution, these are the Oditer Dicta:

Xavier ' s Institute of Management vs . State of Orissa & Ors . ( 24 . 11 . 2011 -

ORIHC )

Case Note: A. Income Tax Act, 1961 (Act No. 43 of 1961 ) - S. 10 (23-C) (vi).The
word "solely" means exclusively--The expression "solely" makes it clear that only
the income of the institution established solely for educational purposes and not
for commercial activities is entitled for exemption--In deciding the character of the
recipient of the income, it is necessary to consider the nature of the activities
undertaken--If the activity has no co-relation to education, exemption has to be
denied--The recipient of the income must have the character of an educational
institution to be ascertained from its objects. B. Income Tax Act, 1961 (Act No. 43
of 1961)--S. 10 (23-C) (vi).In order to be eligible for exemption U/s. 10 (23 C) (vi)
of the I. T. Act, the following conditions are to be satisfied (i) there must be an
educational institution,(ii) such University or other educational institution must
exist solely for educational purposes,(iii) it should not exist for the purposes of
profit and(iv) approval by the prescribed authority.

Jyotsna Singh @ Kumari Jyotsna Singh vs . State of Bihar & Ors . ( 31 . 08 .

2007 - PATNAHC )

Case Note: Commercial - Dealership - Resettlement of Location - Petition filed

for direction to Respondents to re site/re position HP Gas dealership allotted to
Petitioner from earlier place to place as prayed for - Held, Petitioner was earlier
37
 selected as candidate for distributorship because of policy decision of
Government but her selection was not given priority though her selection itself
was in priority category - Respondent could not refuse resettlement stating that
application of Petitioner was only for earlier place - Respondents had refused to
consider this aspect that at that time there were no other distributor functioning at
earlier place and other applicant was appointed after issuance of Letter Of Intent
in favour of Petitioner - Case of Petitioner should have also been considered
compassionately by Respondents considering that she was a women -
Empowerment of women was policy of Government and special obligation of
Corporation like Respondents - Her case for resettlement should not have been
rejected by Respondents on grounds, as mentioned in counter affidavit - Letter of
withdrawal of distributorship and letter cancelling letter of restoration for allotment
of LPG distributorship in favour of Petitioner under open women category were
quashed - Court directed Respondents to restore letter of intent and consider
Petitioner's request for resettlement of location for LPG distributorship - Petition
allowed

C . V . Manoj , S / o C . S . Vaidhyanathan vs . Vidhya , D / o N . Raman , 23 / 44 (

10 . 12 . 2009 - KERHC )

Case Note: Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (Central Act 25 of 1955)--Section 13--

Irretrievable break down of marriage, by itself, is not a ground for divorce--In a
claim for divorce on the ground of cruelty, if it is proved that certain pieces of
conduct have made it impossible for the parties to resume co-habitation and
revive the marriage and the marriage is dead de facto, such piece of conduct can
certainly be reckoned as amounting to contumacious matrimonial cruelty to justify
the plea for divorce. The appeals were filed by the Appellant/husband challenging
the common order passed by the family court. The wife filed the petition for
divorce and the husband filed the petition for restitution of conjugal right. The
Family Court found the husband guilty of matrimonial cruelty, but granted only the
lesser relief of judicial separation. The prayer for restitution of conjugal right filed
by the husband was rejected. The wife filed cross objection contending that the
Family Court, having found the Appellant guilty of matrimonial cruelty, ought to
37
 have granted the divorce sought for by the wife. The Division Bench of the High
Court, on a novel and fairly exhaustive judicial evaluation of the case dismissed
the appeal filed by the husband and allowed the cross objection by the
wife;Held:We make it clear again that irretrievable break down of marriage is by
itself not yet a ground in law to order divorce. But in a claim for divorce on the
ground of cruelty, if it is proved that certain pieces of conduct have made it
impossible for the parties to resume co-habitation and revive the marriage and
the marriage is dead de facto, such piece of conduct can certainly be reckoned
as amounting to contumacious matrimonial cruelty to justify the plea for divorce. It
is in that view of the matter that we look at the evidence of irretrievable break
down of marriage available in this case.

Alisha Kour vs . State of J & K & Ors . ( 10 . 02 . 2011 - JKHC )

Case Note: Education - Cancellation of Admission - Challenge thereto - Rule 3 of

Jammu & Kashmir Certification of Outstanding Proficiency in Sports Rules 2008,
Rule 16 of Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005, Regulation 5 (ii) MCI
Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, Section 9 of Jammu & Kashmir
Reservation Act, 2004 - Appellant questioned Writ Court Judgment, whereby Writ
Court had set aside admission of Appellant to MBBS Course and directed
Respondent to consider case of Respondent no. 3 for change of course from
BBS to MBBS - Whether BOPEE was competent to grant admission to Appellant
in breach of para 4 page 15 of Information Brochure under which both candidates
sought admission to MBBS course - Held, in terms of Rule 3 of Rules 2008, merit
of an aspirant for admission in Sports category was to be assessed on a scale of
100 units and out of 100 units 60 units were to be set apart for merit in Common
Entrance Test and 40 units for performance in Sports - Marks obtained by
candidate in Common Entrance Test were to be evaluated on scale of 60 points
and percentage worked out, as if, marks obtained were out of total of 60 marks -
Marks/points awarded to a candidate on basis of his performance in
National/International events as individual or team participation were to be
assessed on scale of 40 points - Section 9 of Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act,
2004 was intended to achieve an important object and was a step towards
empowerment of women, admittedly an insular, un-represented and
37
 disempowered section of society - But notwithstanding its object, provision could
not be pressed into service, to selectively commit breach of a condition that
governed admission of aspirants to a professional course, and had been followed
and acted upon in case of other categories or to resort to arbitrariness - BOPEE
had arbitrarily decided to pick up Sports category with "Children of Defense
Personnel" category for allotment of odd seat on basis of gender, irrespective of
merit - Writ Court thus was right in observing that method adopted by BOPEE in
picking up one or two categories selectively for allotment of odd seat irrespective
of merit was totally arbitrary - BOPEE action could not be justified in name of
carrying out object of Section 9 of Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 

Shruti Singh Advocate vs. Press Council of India & Ors . ( 30 . 07 . 2008 -
PATNAHC )

Case Note: Criminal - Implementation of provisions - Sections 8, 9 and 10 of

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 - Samajik Punervas
Kosh had been created to provide support to victims of domestic violence whose
rehabilitation requirements were not met by other schemes for that an amount
had been sanctioned to provide rehabilitation services to victims of domestic
violence and exploitation and to raise awareness with regard to Act - Hence, this
Petition - Whether, Act had been properly implemented by Government - Held, it
was found that Protection Officers were required to assist Magistrate in discharge
of his functions under Act and to made a domestic incident report to Magistrate -
Appointment of Protection Officers was not an empty formality - Further role of
Service Providers under Act was no less as he had power to record domestic
incident report to ensure that aggrieved person was medically examined and that
victim woman was provided shelter in a shelter home - Section 10 of Act provides
for registration of voluntary association but in none of affidavits filed by
Government anything had been said about registration of service providers -
Further availability of shelter homes for an effective implementation of Act was a
must and without that aggrieved persons might continue to suffer domestic
violence - Therefore protecting women from such violence was main objective of
Act - Moreover there had to be sensitization and awareness training on issues
37
 addressed by Act needed no emphasis as without that objective sought to be
achieved by Act might not be achieved - It was true that State Government had
referred to a few schemes with regard to women development and empowerment
and also budget sanction for rehabilitation services to victim of violence -
However such schemes might not have any meaning unless benefits percolated
down needy victim of domestic violence - It should not be reminded to State
Government that talk of women development and empowerment might remain
hollow unless there was sincere implementation of Act - Thus taking all said
aspects into consideration Act had to be effectively implemented for protection of
rights of women - Petition disposed of Ratio Decidendi "Government shall
implement provisions of statute in proper manner so as to avail relief to aggrieved
person."

The State of Gujarat vs . Chaturbhuj Maganlal ( 07 . 04 . 1976 - SC )

Case Note: Criminal - suppression - Sections 32 and 39 of Criminal Procedure

Code, 1973 and Sections 2 (c) of Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and
Girls Act, 1956 - issue related to interpretation of words "specially empowered"
appearing in Section 2 (c) - empowerment of all Magistrates of first class in State
under one notification by virtue of their office to try offence under Act in area held
to be "special" and not "general" - held, by virtue of State Government notification
Judicial Magistrate First Class at 'X' has jurisdiction to try offences under Act of
1956.

Uthuppan , P . P . vs . K . S . Girija and Ors . ( 27 . 08 . 2008 - KERHC )

Case Note: Constitution of India - Articles 14, 15 and 16--The guidelines issued

by the Supreme Court in MANU/SC/0786/1997 : A.I.R. 1997 S.C. 3011 (Vishaka
v. State of Rajasthan) with regard to the norms to be observed in all work places
for the preservation and enforcement of the right to gender equality of working
women are applicable to all Co-operative Societies and private establishments in
the State. #The 1st Respondent filed a complaint before the Kerala Women's
Commission alleging that her claim for appointment to the post of Secretary was
overlooked and that there was an intention to harass her as she had resisted the
37
 sexual advances made on her by the Petitioner, who was the President of the
Co-operative Society. The Women's Commission heard the first Respondent and
the Petitioner regarding the complaint and drew up a report to the effect that after
the initial appointment of the first Respondent she was promoted as an
Accountant. However, her claim for the post of Secretary was overlooked on
account of harassment by the Petitioner. The Commission also opined that the
proper method is to expeditiously constitute an independent grievance redressal
cell according to the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court. The report of the
Women's Commission was forwarded to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.
The said report was challenged by the Petitioner. The High Court observed that
the entitlement to promotion would depend on the provisions in the Co-operative
Societies Act and Rules and directed the Registrar to look into the grievance of
the first Respondent. The High Court referred to the decisions of the Supreme
Court in Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan laying down the guidelines regarding to
the rights of working women in all work place and held that the said guidelines
are also applicable to all Co-operative Societies and private
establishments;#Held: The rights sought to be protected by the issuance of
guidelines in Vishaka's case (supra) have been essentially enunciated as
referable to human rights to be protected and human rights as defined in Section
2(d) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. Those guidelines were issued
taking note of the fact that the existing civil and penal laws do not adequately
provide for specific protection for women in work places and that it is necessary
and expedient for employers in work places as well as other responsible persons
or institutions to pre-observe certain guidelines to ensure the prevention of sexual
harassment of women.

R.K. Shivdasani vs. Export Inspection Agency (Delhi) & Anr. (20.04.1999 -

DELHC)

Case Note: Constitution - transfer - Article 226 of Constitution of India - transfer

Order of petitioner passed on basis of complaint of sexual harassment - petition
for quashing such Order of transfer - petitioner also made complaint against
complainant for refusing to attend work - respondents did not file any counter to
37
 writ petition - employer concerned should be satisfied that there is prima facie
case against employee concerned before Order of transfer is passed - Order of
transfer issued on extraneous considerations - respondents directed to file
counter to petition.

The State of Gujarat vs . Chaturbhuj Maganlal ( 07 . 04 . 1976 - SC )

Case Note: Criminal - suppression - Sections 32 and 39 of Criminal Procedure

Code, 1973 and Sections 2 (c) of Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and
Girls Act, 1956 - issue related to interpretation of words "specially empowered"
appearing in Section 2 (c) - empowerment of all Magistrates of first class in State
under one notification by virtue of their office to try offence under Act in area held
to be "special" and not "general" - held, by virtue of State Government notification
Judicial Magistrate First Class at 'X' has jurisdiction to try offences under Act of
1956.

Dr . K . Krishna Murthy and Ors . vs . Union of India ( UOI ) and Anr . ( 11 . 05 .

2010 - SC )

Case Note: (1) Constitution of India - Articles 243D (4), 243D (6), 243T (4), 243T
(6), 15 (4) and 16 (4)--Reservation of Chairperson positions in panchayats under
Article 243D (4) and Municipalities under Article 243T (4)--Reservation for
backward classes for seats and chairperson positions in panchayats under Article
243D (6) and Municipalities under Article 243T (6)--Constitutional validity of these
Articles--Constitutional validity of these Articles upheld. #The Constitution Bench
speaking through K. G. Balakrishnan, C.J., recorded its conclusions as follows
:#(i) The nature and purpose of reservations in the context of local self-
Government is considerably different from that of higher education and public
employment. In this sense, Article 243D and Article 243T of the Constitution of
India form a distinct and independent constitutional basis for affirmative action
and the principles that have been evolved in relation to the reservation policies
enabled by Articles 15 (4) and 16(4) cannot be readily applied in the context of
local self-Government. Even when made, they need not be for a period
corresponding to the period of reservation for purposes of Articles 15 (4) and 16
37
 (4), but can be much shorter.#(ii) Article 243D (6) and Article 243T (6) are
constitutionally valid since they are in the nature of provisions which merely
enable State Legislatures to reserve seats and chairperson posts in favour of
backward classes. Concerns about disproportionate reservations should be
raised by way of specific challenges against the State Legislations.#(iii) The
Court is not in a position to examine the claims about over breadth in the
quantum of reservations provided for O.B.Cs. Under the impugned State
Legislations since there is no contemporaneous empirical data. The onus is on
the executive to conduct a rigorous investigation into the patterns of
backwardness that act as barriers to political participation which are indeed quite
different from the patterns of disadvantages in the matter of access to education
and employment. As the Court has considered and decided only the
constitutional validity of Articles 243D (6) and 243T (6), it will be open to the
petitioners or any aggrieved party to challenge any State legislation enacted in
pursuance of the said constitutional provisions before the High Court. However,
the identification of ‘backward classes’ under Article 243D (6) and Article 243T (6)
should be distinct from the identification of S.E.B.Cs. for the purpose of Article 15
(4) and that of backward classes for the purpose of Article 16 (4).#(iv) The upper
ceiling of 50% vertical reservations in favour of S.C./S.T./O.B.Cs. Should not be
breached in the context of local self-Government. Exceptions can only be made
in order to safeguard the interests of Scheduled Tribes in the matter of their
representation in panchayats located in the Scheduled Areas.#(v) The
reservation of chairperson posts in the manner contemplated by Articles 243D (4)
and 243T (4) is constitutionally valid. These chairperson posts cannot be equated
with solitary posts in the context of public employment.#(2) Democracy--Exercise
of electoral franchise--Is essential component of liberal democracy--But right to
vote and contest elections--Does not have status of fundamental rights--It is in
nature of legal right controllable through legislative means.#(3) Panchayats and
Municipalities -- Office of Chairpersons--Reservation is as measure of protective
discrimination.

Voluntary Health Association of Punjab vs . Union of India ( UOI ) and Ors . ( 04

. 03 . 2013 - SC )
37
Case Note: Dipak Misra, J.Constitution - Implementation of provisions - Pre
Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition on Sex-Selection)
Act, 1994 - Supreme Court directed personal appearance of Health Secretaries
of States of Punjab, Haryana, NCT Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
Maharashtra to examine what steps they have taken for proper and effective
implementation of provisions of Act as well as various directions issued by Court -
Hence, this Petition - Whether, Supreme Court rightly directed Health Secretaries
of different States - Held, various directions were given which were that Central
Supervisory Board and State and Union Territories Supervisory Boards would
meet at least once in six months, so as to supervise and oversee how effective
was implementation of Act - State Advisory Committees and District Advisory
Committees should gather information relating to breach of provisions of Act and
Rules and take steps to seize records, seal machines and institute legal
proceedings, if they notice violation of provisions of Act - Committees should
reported details of charges framed and conviction of persons who have
committed offence to State Medical Councils for proper action, including
suspension of registration of unit and cancellation of licence to practice -
Authorities should ensure that all Genetic Counselling Centres, Genetic
Laboratories and Genetic Clinics, Infertility Clinics, Scan Centres etc. using
preconception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques and procedures should
maintain all records and all forms, required to be maintained under Act and Rules
and duplicate copies of same be sent to concerned District Authorities in
accordance with Rule 9(8) of Rules - Further States and District Advisory Boards
should ensure that all manufacturers and sellers of ultra-sonography machines
do not sell any machine to any unregistered centre, as provided under Rule 3-A
and disclose, on a quarterly basis, to the concerned State/Union Territory and
Central Government, a list of persons to whom the machines have been sold, in
accordance with Rule 3-A(2) of the Act. - There would be direction to all Genetic
Counselling Centres, Genetic Laboratories, Clinics etc. to maintain forms A, E, H
and other Statutory forms provided under Rules and if these forms were not
properly maintained, appropriate action should be taken by Authorities concerned
- Steps should also be taken by State Government and Authorities under Act for
mapping of all registered and unregistered ultra-sonography clinics in three
months’ time - Moreover Steps should be taken by State Governments and Union
37
Territories to educate people of necessity of implementing provisions of Act by
conducting workshops as well as awareness camps at State and District levels -
Special Cell be constituted by State Governments and Union Territories to
monitor progress of various cases pending in Courts under Act and take steps for
their early disposal - Authorities concerned should take steps to seize machines
which have been used illegally and contrary to provisions of Act and Rules
thereunder - Various Courts in country should take steps to dispose of all pending
cases under Act within period of six months and communicated order to
Registrars of various High Courts, who would take appropriate follow up action
with due intimation to concerned Courts - Thus, all State Governments were
directed to file status report within period of three months - Petition disposed
of.Dipak Misra, J.Constitution - Implementation of provisions - Pre Conception
and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition on Sex-Selection) Act, 1994 -
Whether, Supreme Court rightly directed that steps should be taken by State
Governments and Union Territories to educate people of necessity of
implementing provisions of Act by conducting workshops as well as awareness
camps at State and District levels - Held, it was requisite that people were made
aware that it was obligatory to treat women with respect and dignity so that
humanism in its conceptual essentiality remained alive - Each member of society
was required to develop scientific temper in modern context because that was
social need - Authorities of Government, Non-Governmental Organisations and
other volunteers were required to remember that there had to be awareness
camps which were really effective - People involved with same must take it up as
service, crusade and they must understand and accepted that it was an art as
well as science and not simple arithmetic - If awareness campaigns were not
appositely conducted, needed guidance for people would be without meaning
and things shall fall apart and everyone would try to take shelter in cynical
escapism - It was difficult to precisely state how an awareness camp was to be
conducted and it will depend upon what kind and strata of people were being
addressed to - Further documentary films could be shown to highlight need of
awareness campaign and install idea in mind of public at large for when mind
becomes strong, mountains do melt - People involved in awareness campaigns
should have boldness and courage and there should not be any iota of confusion
or perplexity in their thought or action and they should treat it as problem and
37
 think that problem had to be understood in proper manner to afford a solution -
Moreover people involved in awareness campaigns should bear in mind that they
were required to change mind-set of people, grammar of society and
unacceptable beliefs inherent in populace and it should be clearly spelt out that
female foeticide was worst type of dehumanisation of human race - Thus, when
awareness campaigns were held, they were kept in view for that was object and
purpose to have real awareness - Petition disposed of.Ratio Decidendi" Actions
shall be taken in place, where woman are not treated with proper respect and
dignity in society."

Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika vs . State of Gujarat and Ors . ( 18 . 01 . 2012 - SC )

Case Note: Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 15(4) & 16(4) - Inter-caste

marriages - In an inter-caste marriage, the woman need not in all cases take her
caste from her husband. The caste of a person born in an inter-caste marriage or
a marriage between a tribal and non-tribal is to be decided on the basis of the
facts adduced in each case. The presumption that the cast of a child born in an
inter-caste marriage is the caste of its father can be rebutted by leading evidence
to show that the child was brought up by its mother.

Gaurav Jain vs . Union of India and others ( 09 . 07 . 1997 - SC )

Case Note: Criminal - prostitution - Constitution of India, Immoral Traffic

(Prevention) Act, 1956 and Sections 4 and 5 of Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 -
matter pertaining to right of children of fallen women and scheme to be evolved to
eradicate prostitution - direction given to Government to rehabilitate children and
child prostitutes after conducting in depth study of matter - rescue and
rehabilitation has to be kept under nodal department - suitable schemes has to
be formulated for proper implementation - juvenile homes should be used for
rehabilitating child prostitutes and neglected children - if they have crossed age
limit prescribed under Act of 1986 Government has to make arrangements for
their safety and protection with help of NGO's.
37
Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs . Union of India ( UOI ) and Ors . ( OBC Judgment )
( 10 . 04 . 2008 - SC )
Case Note: K.G. Balakrishnan, C.J. Constitution - Reservation for Admission
in educational institutions or for public employment - Challenge thereto - Validity of
Constitution (Ninety-Third) Amendment Act, 2005 and the enactment of Act 5 of
2007 giving reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes
(SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) questioned as being destructive of basic structure
of the Constitution and were sought to be declared ultra vires the Constitution -
Whether the Constitution (Ninety-Third Amendment) Act, 2005 against the basic
structure of the Constitution itself and abridging the equality principles guaranteed
under Article 15 and other provisions of the Constitution - Whether Ninety-Third
Amendment of the Constitution is against the basic structure of the Constitution -
Held, No, the Constitution (Ninety-Third Amendment) Act, 2005 does not violate the
basic structure of the Constitution so far as it relates to the state maintained
institutions and aided educational institutions - Incase of private unaided educational
institutions, the issue left open to be decided in an appropriate case - Clause (5) of
Article 15 of the Constitution inserted by the amending act is an enabling provision
which states that nothing in Article 15 or in Sub-clause (g) of Clause (1) of Article 19
would prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of
any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled
Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their
admission to the educational institutions including private educational institutions,
whether aided or unaided by the State - Minority educational institutions referred to
in Clause (1) of Article 30 to be excluded - Act 5 of 2007 was enacted to provide
reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and SEBCs of citizens
in Central Educational Institutions - Central Educational Institution are the one as
defined under Section 2(d) of the Act - Act 5 of 2007 does not intend to provide
reservation in private unaided educational institutions - Kesavananda Bharati's case
clearly indicated about what is the basic structure of the Constitution - Basic
structure of the Constitution is to be taken as a larger principle on which the
Constitution itself is framed - If any Constitutional amendment is made which
moderately abridges or alters the equality principle or the principles under Article
19(1)(g), it cannot be said that it violates the basic structure of the Constitution - If
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such a principle is accepted, the Constitution would not be able to adapt itself to the
changing conditions of a dynamic human society

Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika vs . State of Gujarat and Ors . ( 18 . 01 . 2012 - SC )

Case Note: Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 15(4) & 16(4) - Inter-caste marriages
- In an inter-caste marriage, the woman need not in all cases take her caste from her
husband. The caste of a person born in an inter-caste marriage or a marriage
between a tribal and non-tribal is to be decided on the basis of the facts adduced in
each case. The presumption that the cast of a child born in an inter-caste marriage is
the caste of its father can be rebutted by leading evidence to show that the child was
brought up by its mother.

Guidelines and norms laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vishaka and
Others Vs. State of Rajasthan and Others(JT 1997 (7) SC 384)

All employers or persons in charge of work place whether in public or private

sector should take appropriate steps to prevent sexual harassment. Without
prejudice to the generality of this obligation they should take the following

steps:

A. Express prohibition of sexual harassment as defined above at the work place

should be notified, published and circulated in appropriate ways.

B. The Rules/Regulations of Government and Public Sector bodies relating to

conduct and discipline should include rules/regulations prohibiting sexual
harassment and provide for appropriate penalties in such rules against the
offender.

C. As regards private employers, steps should be taken to include the aforesaid

prohibitions in the standing orders under the Industrial Employment (Standing
Orders) Act, 1946.
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 D. Appropriate work conditions should be provided in respect of work, leisure,
health and hygiene to further ensure that there is no hostile environment towards
women at work places and no employee woman should have reasonable
grounds to believe that she is disadvantaged in connection with her employment.

Enforcement agencies Contribution

Law enforcement agencies (police) implement the legal orders of protecting violence
against women. Police take cases of violence against women and investigate the
matter. They sometimes provide suggestions to the victim and her family. Police are
the ultimate institution where the victim complains. Most of the incidents of violence
are not reported in the police station. Only 10-20% incidents are reported. And the
plaintiff sometimes faces problems while complaining in the police station. She faces
threat to withdraw cases. And sometimes the police officials demand bribe from the
victim and her family. And there is political pressure upon the police officials, which
restricts them from taking further action to help the victim. However, in recent days
police strictly investigates the cases of violence and take effective steps.

Roles and Contribution of Schools

In most of the cases people identified illiteracy as the most important catalyst behind
violence against women. It is observed that uneducated women become more victim
of violence than the educated women. And educated women can establish mutual
understanding in the family more than the uneducated women. Educated women
don‘t get married at an early age. They are aware about their rights, about the legal
aids provided by the government for women and have more power in the family. So
educating women can both empower them and ensure their safety from violence. So,
educational institutions especially schools have a lot of opportunities and
responsibilities to contribute in the empowerment of women. GoB provides stipends
for female students both in the primary and secondary levels. This program should
be extended throughout the whole country. And the number of beneficiaries should
be increased. Achieving gender parity in education is also mentioned in the MDG.
And Bangladesh has achieved considerable advancement on this point. Texts of
schools should be modified so as to make the students conscious about the
importance and benefits of women empowerment. School teachers should be aware
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to stop the dropping out of students, both male and female. Dropped out school boys
often tease the girls and dropped out girls are married at an early age. School
teachers are respected in the society. These people need to attend the activities of
various organizations and institutions to empower women. School standing
committees often gather the guardians and suggest them to send their children to
school. Besides, schools also arrange cultural functions on several occasions.
School authorities should encourage students to make others aware about women
empowerment by showing drama, presenting songs, poems etc.

Roles and contribution of Socio-political leaders

Socio political leaders have the utmost role to play, for empowering women, which
can‘t be ensured by any legal system. Only these people need to come willingly.
Government can‘t make these people bound to stop violence. And if these people
oppose the activities of NGOs, then people will support them. The people in the rural
areas often follow the orders of their political leaders. So, political leaders can
insinuate their supporters to stop violence against women and empower them. It is
reported that everywhere, like police station, local government, Salish, the political
leaders have some influence. They sometimes go against the victim due to political
reasons. Sometimes police faces pressures from the political leaders. But political
leaders can batter the government about the condition of women empowerment in
their localities. They can communicate with the media about it. People follow their
leaders. So, if leaders don‘t deviate, the followers also remain normal. They can help
GOs and NGOs to work for women empowerment. Political leaders can control the
influence of local rural elites or religious leaders. They can easily convince people.
Only a positive response from the socio political leaders can change the backdrop of
women empowerment.

Need for Women’s Empowerment in India

In this contemporary world, women need to gain the same amount of power
that men have. Now, it is time to forget that men are the only holders of power. In
India, women are still facing different obstacles in male-dominated cultures. The
things are related to women’s status and their future. However, I believe that Indian
women are slowly getting empowerment in the sectors like education, politics, the
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work force and even more power within their own households. The worth of
civilization can be arbitrated by the place given to women in the society.

Today, women are busy running in the presidential campaign. The work force is
covered with intellectual women who currently hold the CEO positions at large
companies which were never held by Indian women in long ago. In our country,
women have reached a long way eventually and have discovered a new path for
them to come. Women rights are human rights. The concept of feminism is very
vogue. Feminist usually deals out balky attention. Women’s right and changes effort
to win equality for women have containing women's suffrage, feminism, women's
property rights, equal opportunity in work and education, and equal pay. Now, the
future of women is seeking out.

More, we have come across a more image of gender differences. Each year, we
notice that the headline as “Girls outshine boys” in CBSE, ICSE and State Board
results as well. It arrests us showing that girls are now more confident of getting
better-paid professional jobs than their flagging male counterparts. Clearly, there is
an excellent amount of reason for the girls to be more confident than boys and this is
because of their remarkable academic feat around the nation. This achievement of
girls is an absolute reversal of what would have been expected a generation ago.
This is likely to steer to higher-income jobs.  

But, an upsetting place still remains for Indian women is the negative sexual
attention that women often receive. Indian societies have received notoriety for being
unsafe for women. Whereby the fair sex is not only being hassled, stalked and raped
but incidents of immoral trafficking also are very high. Add to this the heinous
practice of female feticide and infanticide wherein nearly 10 million baby girls have
been killed in the last twenty years alone. In fact, the level of atrocities against
women is an indicator of the coercion of our society and underscores that we are a
suppressed society. Clearly, safety is an obsolete word in today’s India.

It is the duty of law enforcement agencies to prevent crimes against women but they
fail to solve this scourge alone. Teamwork by people is the key to eradicating this
menace. People must come forward to help in rooting out such social evils. Law
enforcing agencies cannot work alone. When the people are dynamic in their drive
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against crimes, the police cannot remain a mute spectator though they are supposed
to be the protectors of citizens. They will be forced to dispense their bounden duties.
Youth should be motivated to be socially responsible and protect women. This is the
need of the hour. Everyone must think of changing society. If we all abide by the
rules, women in our cities will surely be safer.

In India, women are devalued traditionally and the men are normative reified.
According to Hindu mythology, the word ‘Ardhanarishvara’ meaning "The Lord
whose half is a woman". What is the value of a man without a woman? We shouldn’t
forget that there are many temples in our country devoted to the Goddesses and
men also use to visit the temples for worshiping them. We need both male and
female each other. We must work all together and both needs each other to survive
and flourish.

I do think that women should also be in place of man in today’s society. As they are
now highly qualified, make remarkable contributions to the economy through their
paid work. They work in a wide variety of professions around the country from
teachers and secretaries to welders and doctors to machine operators and child care
workers too.

Conclusion

Only legislation and law enforcement agencies cannot prevent the incident of crime
against women. There is need of social awakening and change in the attitude of
masses, so that due respect and equal status is given to women. It’s a time when the
women need to be given her due. This awakening can be brought by education
campaign among youth making them aware of existing social evils and the means to
eradicate same. Mass media can play an active role here as in the present days it
has reached every corner of the nation. Various NGOs can hold a responsible
position here by assigning them with the task of highlighting socio-economic causes
leading to such crimes and by disseminating information about their catastrophic
effect on the womanhood and the society at large.
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Findings of the present study strongly indicate that women in the studied Upozilla are
being subject to violence that is systematically embedded to a traditional socio-
cultural and religious setting. Changes that have been attempted or experimented by
civil society organizations, new laws, and government initiatives have been
producing some impact but that are far from creating any significant result. As
poverty forces women to participate more in economically gainful activities, the
control over asset and economic decisions remain still in the hand of males.
Attitudes prevail that identify young and adult women as sex objects and encourages
women‘s restraining behaviour. When violence (particularly sex abuse) incurs the
victim is blamed than the violator24.
Whatever the scale of impact, the factors that have been contributing towards
women empowerment include awareness raising campaign by NGOs, spread of girls
education (attainment of parity in primary education and greater enrolment in
secondary education), women‘s greater participation in economic activities,
provisions for skill training and financial support, new legal provisions protecting
women‘s interest and promoting their participation in local governance, training on
gender issues particularly to LEA etc. It is recommended that future actions for
bringing in further changes should emphasize on these aspects more. Impregnation
of law, particularly regarding dowry and early marriage should be prioritized by both
NGO and GO sectors immediately as these two still remain as two most perilous
evils in rural women‘s life. Also, organizing women‘s action group should bring in a
new dimension in initiatives directed toward women empowerment in project
locations. As it has been reported, when a women becomes victim, few in the
community raise voice against this violation. Women‘s action group (WAG) can
come forward to fill in this gap. If such groups engage in persistent voice raising and
advocacy it may contribute towards expediting cases. Bringing in changes in general
socio-cultural and religious setting is obviously a longer run agenda that can‘t be fully
entertained within the limited time and spatial dimension of title of the work. While
awareness on rights based approach should be raised on every walk of community
life, certain factors that are of critical importance should be identified through further
research. This is needed to provide rights based approach get rationalized and
accepted within the prevailing framework of beliefs and perceptions. As such how
people like teachers and religious leaders - who exert considerable influence on
37

24
id
formation of popular mind-set through their teaching, preaching and sermons - could
be mainstreamed into the struggle against VAW should be carefully investigated.

Suggestion

There are a growing number of promising examples that demonstrate pathways to

advancing women’s empowerment and gender equality. Greater investments in
testing and scaling up these practices offer great potential. A study of successful
‘scaling up’ efforts to reduce crime rate identified four dimensions for learning from
change:
(i) Institutional change – change in the rules, norms, behaviours, and organizations;
(ii) Experimentation and learning – how change is learned from and adapted to
different contexts;
(iii) Political leadership and commitment – how different interest groups and
coalitions support change; and
(iv) Supportive external environments – how external environments can catalyse and
sustain change.
‘Scaling up’, therefore, should be viewed in terms of enabling and supporting change
in a way that maximizes the potential of resources to achieve impact. For this
reason, simple replication of successful projects or activities in new locations is
unlikely to be effective unless it is accompanied by a conducive enabling
environment.
Based on the review in this paper, and on many of the key convening’s and analyses
generated over the action taken for the eradication of the crime against women I
have cited some suggestions hereunder:
1. My first & foremost suggestion on this regard are that, complete banned on
alcohol and other similar intoxicant. If we see the statistics the criminal of this
crime are in drug addict at the time of commission of crime.
2. Criminalize acts which people could not do without such as bribing,
prostitution, p*rn movie, domestic violence, cheating, black money etc. rather
make these acts civil offence.
3. The judiciary has the primary responsibility of enforcing fundamental rights,
through constitutional remedies. The judiciary can take suo-motu cognizance
of such issues being deeply concerned with them both in the Supreme Court
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 and the High Court. An all India strategy to deal with this issue would be
advisable. The Chief Justice of India could be approached to commence
appropriate proceedings on the judicial side. The Chief Justice may consider
making appropriate orders relating to the issue of crime against women.
4. The use of the sophisticated electronic devise to trace criminals and every
university, Colleges and other public places must be come under the CCTV
footage.
5. Improve national level capacity to track and report on progress, gaps and
opportunities through better generation and use of sex-disaggregated data
and statistics, including on time use.

Bibliography:-
1. Constitution of India ........................................... , V.N. Shukla.
2. Constututional law of India..........................., Dr. J. N. Pandey.
3. Law & Social Transformation..........................., Malik & Raval.
4. Law & Justice....................................................., Soli J. Sorabjee.
5. Rule of Law in a free Society..............., N.R. Madhava Menon.
6. Women & Law………………………….. Mamta Rao
7. Treaties on Administrative Law..............................., M.P. Jain.

& SOURCE OF INTERNET.

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