AECC

Paper name -Your laws Your

Rights
Topic-Crime Committed Against Women In India

Name-Gracy Khattiya Roll Number-491

Question-There are various crimes committed against women in India. Critically analyse the
legal safeguards provided to women in India against domestic violence, rape, and sexual
harassment?

Introduction
Women constitute roughly 50% of the World’s population still continue be one of the most
vulnerable groups throughout the world. Violence against a woman starts when she is in the
womb of her mother and continues until she dies. Broadly, various studies and researches show
that violence against women in India is the reflection of the structural and institutional
inequality prevailing in the society. Many victims live in family settings that are rooted in
deeply entrenched patriarchal and customary practices that normalize the subordination of
women, objectifying women, and ill-treating them. Further, the fear of social exclusion,
marginalization, and lack of effective responses towards such violence, keeps them in a context
of continuous violence and intimidation. This reflects how historical unequal power relations
that are shared between men and women translate into women being dominated and
discriminated.
Women in India have always been subject to state’s protection right from advent of British
rule. This had led to spate of legislations and reform movements to improve their condition.
This effort continued even after Independence. Despite the constitution guaranteeing, equal
rights to women, they constantly face violence that continues till date. Researches have shown
that women in India face different kinds of violence. My focus shall be on 3 main types of
violence committed against women in India i.e., domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment at
workplace and examining the effectiveness of the various provisions, for protection of women
against such violence.

1. Domestic Violence against Women

Hindu scriptures point to the fact that women and men hold complimentary relations in a family
setup. However, soon this relationship transferred into a hierarchical relationship due to the
nature of work women performed. As a result, they came to occupy subordinate position that
led to a system of violence coming into place. Domestic violence is very well known and most
frequent form of violence practiced against women in India. Domestic violence against
women is understood as a situation where home and its support structures perpetuate

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violence of different kinds like physical, psychological and emotional, thereby taking
away their dignified lives.
Seeing a rising trend of violence against women and an effective women’s movement made
the Government of India enact a special legislation known as Prevention of Domestic
Violence Act, (PDVA) (2005) to counter this menace. Article 498 A of IPC specifically deals
with offence committed against the wife by her husband and relatives that could lead to
punishments. Some of the key provisions of this Act are as follows:

❖ This Act includes physical, sexual, verbal and psychological violence that is constantly
perpetuated against women in the domestic sphere by either use of physical force or
verbal abuse.
❖ This Act has widened the ambit of who all can file the complaint against violence in
the domestic sphere by including mother, sister, wife, widow or partners living in a
shared household.
❖ The complaint can be filed not just against husband only but also against any other male
and female members living in the domestic space.
❖ This act has increased the ambit of the term ‘domestic’ by including those who had
shared their household at some point of time or having a marital relationship. This act
therefore brought live in relationship within the ambit of this law.
❖ The complaint can be filed by aggrieved person or protection officers or relatives.
❖ This act also has provision for providing the aggrieved party with medical aid and
alternate shelter homes if the situation is grim.
❖ The cases when goes for hearing can have directions ranging from counselling to
stopping forced evictions of women to jails and punishments.

1.1 Drawbacks
Despite the act been very holistic that tries to cater to this problem in an institutional and
structural manner, researches and studies show that the Act has not be fully utilized to achieve
its ends. This is mainly due to the following reasons:

• Socialization process: Marriage as an institution in India is considered very sacrosanct.

In this institution ,there exists a structural dependency of women on men-wherein women
are seen as feminine, weak, who needs to be protected and on the other hand Men are
masculine, chauvinist and the protector. This dichotomy causes pastoral power where
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 women willingly accept subordinate status in exchange of security provided to them by
men. This makes them accept men’s unquestionable authority and even violence. This is
largely due to this socialisation process whereby society and family internalise and
normalise the beatings and violence faced by women as their destiny. Any Violence
that a woman faces inside her house is encouraged to be dealt within the 4 walls of the
house so that the name and fame of the family remains intact.
• Lack of awareness of these laws: studies have pointed to the fact that patriarchal value
system of the society has hidden such kind of progressive laws by not imparting
information or making women aware of the prevalence of this act. As a result, many
victims are not able to utilize it for their rights.
• Lack of institutional apathy- It has been seen most of the times victims after gathering
courage to go and report the case, the police officer either does not write the report or
rebukes the victim and says to go back home saying that it is internal problem of your
house) solve it yourself. Even when cases are reported, the investigations are not carried
out properly leading to dismissals of cases as being false.

1.2 Recommendations for making this Act effective

The main barrier to successful implementation of this act is the deeply ingrained
patriarchal mindset of Indian society. The patriarchal mindset does not affect just the
general public but it also affects the very people who are supposed to protect women from
domestic violence. Therefore, the Act will not be effective in reducing overall levels of
violence unless the patriarchal mindset of Indian society is dismantled.
Various studies have recommended the following to make PDVA Act 2005 more effective:
• Socialization process should be initiated in the schools by making it part of the
curriculum.
• Performing gender sensitization training of all protection officers, police, lawyers,
magistrate judges, and all other parties involved in the implementation of the Act.
• Number of attorneys available to provide legal representation to victims of domestic
violence should be increased by the state so that women do not have to struggle with
respect to finding good lawyers or paying huge fees to them.
• Number of shelters home for women should be increased that can provide them with
basic minimum standard of living to them and their children. These shelter homes should

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 also provide them with basic skills that can help them attain some employment to support
their children.

2. Rape
Rape has been rampant in the Indian society. This is largely the result of patriarchal mindset,
which objectifies women’s body, and therefore sees it as a commodity to satisfy men’s lust. As
a result, men have found it easy to breach the modesty of women without their consent. As per
Indian penal code of Article 375 rape is defined as a sexual intercourse without the
consent of the victim either forcefully or deceiving her by intoxicating her. In addition,
there are 4 dimensions to this provision:

❖ Consent-Having sexual intercourse against the consent of the women is considered

rape.
❖ Application of Force in sexual intercourse
❖ Consent is not a criterion in case of minor
❖ Sexual intercourse under False Premise is rape
The punishment for rape under this act was maximum 10 years.

Mathura Case
Tukaram vs The State of Maharashtra is popularly known as the “Mathura Case”. It was the
famous Mathura case in which custodial rape of a 16-year-old tribal girl, the SC acquitted the
accused neglecting the victim’s statement and medical opinion. This sparked a series of law
teachers’ demonstration categorically pointing at the patriarchal laws and mode of investigation
and trials that made the victims go through a humiliating experience. Due to this plea, the
government then set up a law commission that categorically looked at the concerns raised by
the law teachers. The law commission did accept the fact that trials and investigations of rape
has be too sensitive and should be speedy so that police would be compelled to discharge their
duties efficiently and promptly. This led to drastic amendment of the law.
The recommendations categorically stated that the concept of custodial rape as a crime was
more heinous than ordinary rape. This would not be acceptable as protectors of law become
violators than definitely justice system will collapse. The insertion of this clause would ensure
protection of women against sexual abuse in custody. Clause of ‘consent’-The new law
specifically stated that statement by the victims in all types of rapes; be it gang rape, rape of

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pregnant women or custodial rape would solely be admissible on the statement made by
the victim.

Nirbhaya Case
In light of the Nirbhaya case the Govt. setup a bench led by Justice Verma to examine the
existing laws against rape in our country and suggest reforms in it. After much deliberations,
in consonance with the report given by the Justice Verma Committee the Criminal Law
Amendment Act 2013 came into force on the 3rd of February, 2013.

• Under the act, the most important changes were made in the definition of rape laws. Earlier,
the law was restricted to only penile-vaginal intercourse but the new amendment widened
the ambit of the law by including any bodily penetration as rape.
• Further an explanation was added in the section which defined consent as “an unequivocal
voluntary agreement when the woman by words, gestures or any form of verbal or non-
verbal communication, communicates willingness to participate in the specific sexual act”.
• Also, the age of consent was raised from 16 to 18 years. The scope of section 376(2) was
expanded to include rape committed by a member of armed forces deployed in an area by
the Central or a State Government.
• Section 376 A - According to which if rape caused death or persistent vegetative state of
the victim then he shall be punished with rigorous punishment for not less than 20 years
but which may extend to imprisonment for life.
• Section 376 B -sexual intercourse by husband upon his wife during separation punishable
by the term of 2 years which may extend to 7 years and shall also be liable to fine.
• Section 376 C - sexual intercourse by a person in authority like ones in fiduciary
relationship or public servant is made punishable by term of 10 years which may extend to
life imprisonment and shall also be liable to fine.
• Section 376 D - offence of gang rape was made punishable with the rigorous imprisonment
for a term of 20 years which may extend to life imprisonment and also fine.
• Section 376 E -Punishment for repeat offences was made life imprisonment or death.

The amendment was a historical step taken by the government in order to curb violence against
women. Despite the advantages of the amendment, the act was also criticized for not
incorporating certain provisions recommended by the Justice Verma Committee, such as
making rape and sexual assault laws gender-neutral, restriction of politicians facing

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sexual offence charges from contesting elections and the introduction of marital rape as
an offence.

2.1 Drawbacks
Despite the law being amended, the results with regard to convictions in rape case are still very
low. In most of the circumstances, cases of sexual harassment are not registered. Even if they
are, the lack of sensitivity has led to failure of the system. Even today police officers at the
lower rung still operate with a patriarchal mindset. For them rape means, victim is at the
fault. The cross-question and suspicious gaze many a times leads to victims becoming reluctant
to register the case. Even if the case is registered, the investigations are slow and evidences
are manipulated that has created an adverse environment for the women. This was even
observed by session court judges whereby they pointed at the failure of police to carry out
proper investigations that had made criminals free.
Over the years various judgements regarding rape cases have remained very inconsistent
and also sometimes very irresponsible in creating a false illusion that women are using these
provisions to levy false. These kinds of judgments have made women be seen as using this tool
to levy false cases. One of the saddening facts is that marital rape is still not a crime in
India and non-consensual Homosexual sex is still not under the ambit of the rape
provisions in our country and is not considered as a site of rape

2.2 Recommendations for Improving the Conviction Rates

A close look at the cases above and various researches categorically point at the fact that
stringent punishment is not what is required, rather sensitive and speedy investigation holds
the key to deterring such crimes. This requires the following:
❖ There is an urgent need to train police officials to be sensitive to the plight of the victim
who comes to the police station to lodge a complaint for rape.
❖ Amendment to the law so that victim’s statement is seen as evidences and no further
cross-questioning should be entertained.
❖ Marital rape should also be included in rape category thereby freeing the women who
is seen as a property of her husband.
❖ These laws should be made gender neutral and politicians facing sexual assault charges
should not be allowed to contest election as suggested by Justice Verma Committee.
❖ Speedy trials and women investigating officers can further build confidence and make
the victims have faith in the system.
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 3. Sexual Harassment at Workplace

Since ages women’s place is considered to be at home that is private sphere while men occupy
the outside world (public sphere). As a result, women who work outside have always been seen
as outsiders. They were never acceptable to men, this culminated into conduct of various kinds
of harassment that women faced. Sexual harassment does not necessarily include rape but it is
making the environment hostile for women at work. It is a violation of women's rights to
equality (article 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution), right to life and dignity under article
21 and protection against sexual harassment and right to work with dignity are universally
recognized human rights by international convention on elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women ratified by India on 1993.
Faced with constant cases of sexual harassment at workplace that could not be addressed in the
existing laws, sensitive judges in the famous Vishaka vs state of Rajasthan known as
Vishaka Judgement case directed the government to enact a law to specifically deal with such
problems. As result Sexual Harassment at workplaces (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013 was enacted. The aim of this act is that women are protected against
sexual harassment in the workplace be it public or private.Main tenets of the Sexual
Harassment at workplaces (prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013:
❖ The Act defines sexual harassment as unwelcome acts and behaviour that does not
necessarily include physical contacts but are sexually coloured like commenting, asking
for sexual favours at the cost of career advancement of women, sending pornographic
clips or messages.
❖ The definition of aggrieved women who will get protection under this act is wide to
include women in both organised as well as unorganized sector.
❖ Committee under this law is required to complete the enquiry within 90 days and on
the completion of the enquiry the report will be sent to the employer or district officer
and action is supposed to be taken within 60 days.
❖ Every employer is required to constitute an internal complaints committee at each
office or branch with 10 or more employees. The district officer is required to constitute
a local complaints committee at each district and if required block level. The complaints
committee have power of civil courts for gathering evidence

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 ❖ Penalties have been prescribed for employers for non-compliance with the provisions
of the act shall be punishable with fine up to 50,000 Rs and repeated violations may
lead to higher penalties.
❖ This act specifically talks about setting up of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC)
who will entertain such complaints, investigate by hearing both the cases and pronounce
judgments. These judgments could lead to the suspension of the guilty.

3.1 Drawbacks
• Despite this Act coming into being this act is the most underutilized act. This is largely
due to the lack of gender parity in employment opportunities for women. Various
researchers have found out that women resist from filing a complaint due to the fear of
losing their job. Women are not considered as efficient as men so their rising high up in
their careers is largely dependent upon how much ‘available’ they are for men.
• Lack of awareness- A study on the internal complaints committee in 15 government
offices in Kerala was conducted whereby it was found out that neither woman knew about
the Act, nor they were aware that they are members of ICC that investigates such
allegations.
• Rarely have judgments come that punish the guilty, the bias is so much prevalent that it is
often the victims who is punished. For example, in Anita Suresh vs Union of India and
Ors (2019), the case turned out to be false. Court ordered a fine of Rs 50,000 on a woman
for filling a “false” complaint of sexual harassment at her workplace.
• One of the biggest problems of this act is that it is available to organized sector workforce
only. In the present scenario where more than 95% of workforce is employed in
unorganized sector, they are denied the benefits of this act. This is further compounded
with the lack of job security and stigma associated with investigations that makes this
act toothless.

3.2 Recommendations
❖ Scope of the Act must be widened to include women in unorganised sector and
agriculture and women in armed forces and police
❖ While looking into the composition of the internal complaints committee it is
recommended that the committee must contain representation from all sections

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 particularly junior levels of the workplace in order to replicate power structure in
workplace hierarchies.
❖ It is very common to see that after a complaint is filed to the complaints committee
there is tremendous pressure on the victim to withdraw the complaint. Therefore,
legislations should include detail procedure to redress such violations. To prevent such
victimization restraint must be issued to the accused as soon as the complaint is
filed prohibiting all direct or indirect contact with the complainant.

Conclusion
A comprehensive analysis of the three kinds of violence committed against women namely
rape, sexual harassment and domestic violence, points out to the fact that despite India making
gender friendly laws they are still out of reach for many women. As a result, true equality and
freedom of women have not been realized till date. This can be seen when an international
report list Delhi as the most unsafe place for women around the world. In fact, this condition
is further accelerated due to the prevalence of gender biased socialization process that prefers
son over girls and mistreats them. A culture that is imbibed is carried forward that translates
into disrespect of women both inside and outside their homes. For a safe environment apart
from strict laws, a proper gender sensitive institutional mechanism is required to make the
world a better place to live.

References
V. Kumari, (2008) ‘Offences Against Women’, in K, Sankaran and U. Singh (eds.) Towards Legal Literacy,
New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
S. Durrany, (2006) The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, New Delhi: Indian
Social Institute.
M. Sakhrani, (2017), Sexual Harassment: The Conundrum of Law, Due Process, and Justice, Economic
and Political Weekly (Engage), available at https://www.epw.in/engage/article/sexual-harassment-
conundrum-law-due-process-and-justice
P. D. Mathew, (2004) The Measure to Prevent Sexual Harassment of Women in Work Place. New
Delhi: Indian Social Institute

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