A project based on:

Gender, Sexuality and Crime: A Twenty-First Century Trend in India

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION........................................................................................................................I
CERTIFICATE..........................................................................................................................II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.....................................................................................................III
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................IV
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1
REVIEW OF LITERATURE....................................................................................................3
OBJECTIVE..............................................................................................................................5
RESEARCH QUESTION..........................................................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...............................................................................................6
CHAPTERISATION..................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER-I GENDER RELATED CRIMES...........................................................................8
CHAPTER-II SEXUAL OFFENCES IN INDIA....................................................................11
CHAPTER-III CRIMINALISATION IN INDIA....................................................................13
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................15
 INTRODUCTION

Gender:
Gender is derived from the Latin word genus which means kind or type. In this sense gender
maybe defined as type or kind of an organism. However, in social construct gender is defined
as characteristics pertaining to being masculine or feminine. This however, is an age-old
definition which has come along way. The definition of gender was initially considered to be
a static one but as mentioned it has become a more dynamic one in nature. The society in
general considered gender to be limited to the binary genders or the masculine and feminine
only and anyone not conforming to the binary genders was looked down upon and
discriminated and had less rights compared to the people conforming to the binary genders.
However, with changing time more and more people have come to acknowledge the same but
still a stratum of the society sticks on its conventional thinking which still prefers the cis-
genders and denounce the transgenders1. However, there are many more genders which are
yet to be explored.

The official World Health Organisation (WHO) defines gender as follows “Gender refers to
the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes
norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as
relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and
can change over time.”

Sexuality:
Sexuality can be defined as the thoughts, behaviours, attraction and preferences of individuals
as sexual beings. Since it is a very broad subject, many scholars and learners have tried to
define the term in their own sense. However, what was understood after the analysis of many
such definitions was that the term sexuality is not a mere thought but involves a score of
other processes such as expression.

1
Cis-genders are basically individuals who can conform with the genitalia (masculine and feminine) which they
were born with. Transgenders on the other hand are considered to be opposites of cisgenders. Putting it in
another way, individuals born with male genitals and conforming to masculinity are cis-genders while those
who are born with male genitals but conform to feminine gender are called transgenders.

1
Society gives preference to heterosexuality between the binary genders. But with changing
times concepts in a society are bound to change. Now there is considered to be existence of
some 20+ different types/ kinds of sexualities. The concept has gone through many changes
in the previous two or three decades. Renowned authors Anthony Giddens and Philip W.
Sutton in their book on Sociology write “In traditional societies sexuality was tied to the
process of reproduction, but in current age it has been separated from it. Sexuality has
become a dimension of life for each individual to explore and shape.”

Like gender, sexuality is also a dynamic concept, it keeps on changing from time to time.
AN evident example of the same is initially homosexual relations was considered as a sin
however, today it is considered just as any heterosexual relation.

2
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Sex and Society-

The articles published in Sex and Society, Volumes 1 & 2 deals primarily with human
behaviour taking concepts from definition to societal issues and takes a dive into the
world of sexuality and the problems pertaining to the same in society in general and
not specified to only one part of the world. It contains a very detailed study on topics
related to gender, sexual orientation and any topic which has relation to the
aforementioned topics and is recommended for someone who wants to start with a
research work or paper for any scholarly degree.

2. Sociology by Anthony Giddens and Philip W. Sutton, 6th edition-

The book has a considerable influence in my understanding of the concepts required
for the project and some parts have also been quoted directly from the book. The book
deals with sociology as a whole and explains beautifully the core and auxiliary
concepts of sociology. It provides us with a detailed explanation of such complex
concepts with proficiency. For anyone who wants to dive into the world of sociology
this book is a must and highly recommended.

3. Crime, Gender, and Society in India: Insights from Homicide Data-

This article by Jean Dreze and Reetika Khera presents an investigation of between
locale distinctions in homicide rates in India in 1981. Three critical examples arise. In
the first place, murder rates in India bear no critical connection to urbanization or
poverty. Second, there is a negative relationship among education and criminal
brutality. Third, murder rates in India are profoundly corresponded with the female-
male proportion in the populaces: regions with higher female-male proportions have
lower murder rates. Elective theories about the causal connections hidden under this
association between sex proportions and murder rates are examined. One conceivable
clarification is that low female-male proportions and high homicide rates are joint
indications of a male centric climate. This investigation likewise recommends that
sexual orientation relations, when all is said in done, have a vital bearing on criminal
brutality.

3
4. Sex and gender: Meanings, definition, identity, and expression-
This article by Tim Newman gives an insight on the basic concepts related to gender
and sex and the differences between the two terms along suitable citation for reports
and studies used.

5. Crimes against Indian women-

This article written by renowned journalist Sudha Tilak and published by Al-Jazeera
was published at a time when the national capital was rocked by the Nirbhaya rape
case. It analyses and postulates various reasons and causes of crimes against women
in India. It also provides some statistics regarding the same.

6. License to Rape: Sexual Abuse of Housewives-

Written by David Finkelhor and Kersti Yllo, the book contains an insight on the topic
of marital rape worldwide and case studies of people who suffered from the same.
Causes and effects of such offences are also discussed in the book along with a few
cases from India. The legislations of various countries have been examined and at last
recommendations and suggestions are made to reduce such wrongdoings in our
surroundings. For understanding of the various facets of offences committed inside
the institution of marriage, this book is highly recommended.

7. Gender Identity: Definitions, Development of Gender Identity - Usual Patterns,

Development of Gender Identity - Unusual Patterns-
Written by Shuvo Ghosh, this article deals with various patterns in development of
gender identity, its definitions and the traditionally or conventionally unusual patterns
of gender identities. It discusses in detail on the orientation of sexual behaviour of
humans and the concepts/ terms regarding the same. Also, differences between two
often mixed-up terms gender identity and sexual orientation are given in brief. For
anyone who is curious enough and wants to learn more about the aforementioned
topics this article gives a head-start.

4
 OBJECTIVE

 To understand the concept of crimes specially with respect to genders.

 To study sexual offences taking into consideration 21st century statistics.

 To analyse the criminalisation procedure gender related laws in India.

RESEARCH QUESTION

1. What is the prevalent gender-related crimes in India?

2. What are the different types of sexual offences prevalent today in India?

3. What is the approach of the Indian law and justice system to the gender and sexuality
related crimes?

5
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Nature of Research -

This research work is descriptive in nature. It describes the thoughts of the Indian society on
gender and sexuality and the crimes related to the same prevailing in India, however if
needed and necessary certain comments are made. The project is focused on the topics related
with gender and sexuality related crimes.

Sources of Data-

As the topic provided is non-doctrinal which is related to socio-legal research, the

information is collected and submerged. Secondary data is considered for the project. Hence,
the reaserch is completed with the help of secondary data only.

Method of Data Collection-

This secondary information has been obtained from many published sources such as books,
journals, newspapers, official websites, government publications etc.

Mode of Citation-

A uniform mode of citation has been adopted and followed consistently throughout this
paper.

Scope of the study-

The scope of the study is limited to the jurisdiction of Supreme Court of India, making it
limited to the territories of Republic of India only.

6
 CHAPTERISATION

1. Gender related crimes.

 Dowry deaths and Honour Killings.

 Female Foeticide.

 Domestic Violence.

 Child marriage.

 Acid Attack.

 Cruelty.

2. Sexual Offences in India.

 Rape.

o Marital Rapes.

 Insult/Assault to modesty.

3. Criminalisation of gender-related crimes in 21st century India.

4. Conclusion

7
 CHAPTER-I GENDER RELATED CRIMES

Gender related crimes as is evident from the set of words itself are crimes which arise from
the aggrieved being of a particular gender. In India, mostly the gender which is most
oppressed is the feminine. In the National Crime Records Bureau reports published in 2019 it
was observed that between 2017-19 more than eleven lakh crimes were reported to be against
women. Making up the crime rate against women to be 62.4 per one lakh population of
women.

Jean Dreze and Ritika Khera in their study Crime, Gender, and Society in India: Insights
from Homicide Data concluded that “Three significant patterns emerge from the tentative
analysis presented in this study. First, murder rates in India bear no significant relation to
urbanization or poverty. Second, education appears to exercise a moderating influence on
criminal violence. Third, the strongest correlate of the murder rate is the female-male ratio:
districts with higher female-male ratios have lower murder rates.”

The official National Crime Records Bureau in its 2013 report stated “A total of 2,44,270
incidents of crime against women (both under IPC and SLL) were reported in the country
during the year 2012 as compared to 2,28,650 in the year 2011 recording an increase of 6.4%
during the year 2012. These crimes have continuously increased during 2008 - 2012 with
1,95,856 cases in the year 2008, 2,03,804 cases in 2009 and 2,13,585 cases in 2010 and
2,28,650 cases in 2011 and 2,44,270 cases in the year 2012. West Bengal with 7.5% share of
country’s female population has accounted for nearly 12.7% of total crime against women by
reporting 30,942 cases during the year 2012. Andhra Pradesh accounting for nearly 7.3% of
the country’s female population, has accounted for 11.5% of total crimes against women in
the country by reporting 28,171 cases in the year 2012.” This made at an average of nearly
10% crimes under Indian Penal Code (IPC) to be crime against women. Most of these crimes

8
were reported to be gender related and of these many crimes nearly 35% were sexual
offences.

Dowry deaths and Honour Killings

Dowry deaths and Honour Killings are basically related to the social institution of marriage
and love. On one hand, dowry deaths are caused after marriage, generally by the groom’s
family. On the other hand, Honour Killings may happen before or after marriage generally by
the bride’s own family. While in both cases, it is the woman generally who suffers the most.
Dowry deaths can be defined as murder or suicide done by the bride/ married woman caused
due to disagreement over the dowry2. According to the NCRB report in 2019 alone, more
than seven thousand such cases were reported.

Honour killings is defined as murder of any family member (generally female) who has
brought dishonour or stripped the family off its honour in the eyes of the society. Though
rapists (generally male) also bring dishonour to the family but they are not punished in such
ways and murdering someone also won’t bring laurels in the eyes of society. So, there exists
a hypocrisy in the very meaning of this crime. Though there is no official data to prove the
same but the rate of honour killing after the turn of the millennium have estimated to have
increased instead of decreasing.

Female Foeticide

Female foeticide is the chosen slaughtering of an infant female youngster or the end of a
female hatchling through sex-selective early termination. In India, there is motivating force to
have a male child, since they offer security to the family in mature age and can lead customs
for perished guardians and ancestors. conversely, little girls are viewed as a social and
monetary burden. An illustration of this can be dowry. The dread of not having the option to
pay an adequate dowry and turning out to be socially segregated can prompt female child
2
“A dowry is a transfer of parental property, gifts, or money at the marriage of a daughter (bride). Dowry
contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment by
the groom or his family to the bride's parents, dowry is the wealth transferred from the bride's family to the
groom or his family, ostensibly for the bride. Similarly, dower is the property settled on the bride herself, by the
groom at the time of marriage, and which remains under her ownership and control.”

9
murder in more unfortunate families. Though various laws have been brought to eradicate the
social evil, it is still prevalent in various parts of India

Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is abuse by one partner in intimate relation with another. It maybe verbal
abuse, physical assault, emotional or maybe economic. The relation can be any kind of
intimate relation ranging from dating to marriage. In matters of law, this violence is termed as
cruelty by husband or relatives. As per NCRB data, nearly 1.25 lakh such cases were reported
in the 2019 report.
Child marriage
Child marriage as the name itself suggests is the marriage where anyone of the couple getting
married is not of the age of majority or is incompetent to marry according to the laws of the
land. Generally, this crime is also inclined against women as they are married off to older
men, some of the grooms being even older than their fathers. It is especially prevalent in
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Gujrat and Madhya Pradesh. Legally the age of
marriage for girls/ women in India is 18 years from birth child marriage means they are
wedded off even before they turn 18. Even 18 years is not a very mature age and marrying off
even before that when the child cannot understand the institution of marriage is not only a
crime but a human right issue.

Acid Attack
Acid Attack is basically an assault on a woman with the means of an acid or similar natured
substance in order to permanently scar the victim or maybe burn the victim’s skin. This is
justified by the assaulters in the guise of rejection of love proposals or many other reasons
which is simply outrageous to hear to be the least. According to NCRB data, nearly 200 cases
were registered in 2019 under the Sections 326A and 326B of the IPC. In nearly 85% of those
the victim was a woman. Acid attack on married women by husband or relatives in order to
extort more dowry has also come up in certain cases.

Cruelty
Mostly cruelty is dealt with under dowry deaths still if the death or any sort of assault is after
the maturation of 7 years of marriage it cannot be put under dowry death, it has to be dealt

10
with separately under Section 498A of IPC which deals with cruelty by husband or relatives.
Somewhere around 1.26 lakh cases were registered under the same according to NCRB data.

CHAPTER-II SEXUAL OFFENCES IN INDIA

Rape:
Rape is considered as one of the most heinous crime and it in fact is. Thomson Reuters held a
survey for the most dangerous country for women in 2018 and not very surprisingly, India
topped the list leaving behind countries like Afghanistan, North Korea and war-torn Iraq and
Syria. This is disturbing as well as alarming. New laws were enacted as part of Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act, 2013 after the Nirbhaya Rape case which happed in the capital of the
country. India is considered to be the rape capital of the world. Its main reasons lie in the
deep- rooted false sense of patriarchy and the perverted mindset of some people. According
to reports “one rape happens every 30 minutes (approx.)”. As many as 32,000 rape cases
were reported in the year 2019 of which nearly 300 were rape with murder and/or gang rape
cases.

Indian laws have separate sentence for rape of an underage girl which is more than that for an
adult woman. Rape according to me should be uniformly penalised in the highest sentence of
the either laws. Though there are also reports that false rape cases are filed in order to extort
money or coerce a person into marriage. This can be a ground reality as well and laws should
be brought on for that but this can also lead to gross misappropriation of power as those who
are wealthy or influential may tamper with the evidences and/or corrupt the investigating
officials which would lead to gross injustice. Still there is a long way to go for laws in India
to answer this question.

D. Finkelhor and K. Yllo in their book titled “License to Rape: Sexual Abuse of Housewives”
wrote “When a stranger does it, he doesn’t know me, I don’t know him. He’s not doing it to
me as a person, personally. With your husband, it becomes personal. You say, this man

11
knows me. He knows my feelings. He knows me intimately and then to do this to me – it’s
such a personal abuse.” Marital Rape as of the day on which the project is submitted is not a
crime in India, however it has been a hot topic for almost decades now. Consent to have
sexual intercourse is required, if not given when out of wedlock is rape and if not given in
wedlock is not, sounded quite hypocrite didn’t it. A law graduate Anirudh Pratap Singh in his
newspaper article titled “The impunity of marital rape” says “Rape laws in our country
continue with the patriarchal outlook of considering women to be the property of men post
marriage, with no autonomy or agency over their bodies. They deny married women equal
protection of the laws guaranteed by the Indian constitution. Lawmakers fail to understand
that a marriage should not be viewed as a licence for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with
impunity. A married woman has the same right to control her own body as does an unmarried
woman.” The legislators in our country have somewhat not come out of their patriarchal
sugar coating as they even in this century consider women to be the property of men, of
father before marriage and of husband after it. These cases are less likely to be reported even
if laws are made on the subject. Yet, this does not serve as an explanation as to why are they
not being made or if provisions are in discussion why are they not being implemented. Also,
marriage is considered implied consent for sexual relations according to some statements by
renowned politicians.

Insult/Assault to Modesty:
This comes under the broad category of modesty related crimes. Modesty comes from the
Latin word “Modestus” which literally translates to ‘keeping in measure’. It can thus be
inferred that modesty can mean the general respect a person commands in the eyes of the
society. So, any crime related to any harm on modesty means in a way defaming the person.
Though this is much graver than defamation as this takes a dig on something which the
society considers wrong. Such crimes are against both men as well as women but more
prevalent is that against women. In 2019 alone nearly 90,000 such cases were reported which
in itself is a big number keeping aside a score of cases which go unreported.

12
 CHAPTER-III CRIMINALISATION IN INDIA

Michalowski defines criminalisation as “the process by which behaviours and individuals are
transformed into crime and criminals.” Such behaviours can be divided into provoked and
pre-empt. Mostly in crimes against women, pre-empt behaviour is present because of the
seriousness of the crimes.

Starting with the last years of 1900s, when the Supreme Court of India issued Vishaka
Guideline in order to deal with the complaints of sexual harassment at workplace, various
laws have been enacted and many amended to give the judiciary more scope of judging the
cases of crime as a whole and specially those against women. Specially after the Nirbhaya
rape case, the government(s) have been more responsive in making laws regarding crimes
against women.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 increased the minimum sentence for many
crimes. Also, it included a separate part where it was decided that if any one between the age
of 16 to 18 years of age committed the offence of rape or any offence of such brutality and
heinousness, he be treated as adult and not juvenile, meaning that Juvenile Justice Act will
not apply to such person and he will be penalised under relevant sections of the IPC. The act
amended various sections of the IPC to include crimes such as voyeurism, acid attacks,
stalking, sexual harassment and any act with the intent to disrobe a woman under Section 354
of the IPC in subsections. However, a controversial part of the same was that the word

13
“prostitution” was removed from Section 370 of the IPC which dealt with human trafficking.
Marital rape is not a crime in India as yet.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act,2018 amended after the Kathua rape case where a
minor was raped in Kathua village of Jammu and Kashmir, various sections were amended
and sentences once again increased for good. Another subsection was added for the rape of
girls under the age of 16 years, minimum imprisonment was decided to be “twenty years
which maybe extended to life imprisonment”. Also, if the rape of a minor under the age of 12
years was done, the sentence may even extend to include death penalty in it. It also persuaded
for the investigation of such case be completed within two months from the date of reporting
mandatorily and separate fast-track courts to be set up to dispose the appeal in as less time as
possible. Many amendments were made to the CrPC, Indian Evidence Act and PoCSO Act to
incorporate the amendments in IPC under the same.

CONCLUSION

Various offences have been discussed in the flow of the project, while going through which it
was observed that most of the offences related to gender are against women. Such crimes are
result of what I can call the deep-rooted sense of false patriarchy which continues in the
minds of most people in India even today. The whole population is not criminal but is in
some way or the other responsible for these crimes. If we start sensitization within ourselves,
leave this sense of patriarchy which leads to someone else being harmed, nearly half of the
problems relating to gender and discrimination would automatically have a solution.

Coming to the content of the project, gender and sexuality are often mis-understood and
considered taboo in nearly all parts of the world. Yet, today we have people who are
researching on the topic and populations embracing the same and the people who do not
identify with the binary gender system still there is a long way to go. As mentioned in the
above paragraph most of the gender related crimes are those against women though some are
done against men too. The balance of prevalence lies inclined however to be against women
than against men. The reports of independent media houses, the official reports of the NCRB
and the ground report of news channels all tell the same story, as we progress ahead in time,
the crimes against women increases which definitely should not be the case. The frequency of

14
sensitisation programs related to sexual offences, crimes in general and that against women
must be increased to cope up with the growing population. More stringent laws need to be
implemented. The society should help those who need their guidance for the same. New and
uniforms laws are a must as we grow into more modernity and increase our senses to the
things around us. Amendments have been made to laws but still there is a considerable
number of offences (generally related to the institution of marriage like marital rapes) which
need to be addressed.

It is true that we want India’s statistics to increase but definitely not in crimes and that too in
crimes against women. The figures are alarming and need to be taken seriously before it goes
out of hand. The annual increase in crime rate is nearly 5% and may increase even further in
future.

REFERENCES

BOOKS:

1. McBride, K. (2010). Sex and society (pp. 384-389). Marshall Cavendish.

2. Giddens, A., & Sutton, P. (2012). Sociology (pp. 572-600). Polity.

3. Finkelhor, D., & Yllo, K. (1985). License to Rape: Sexual Abuse of Housewives. Free
Press.

REPORTS:

4. Crime in India Table Contents | National Crime Records Bureau. Ncrb.gov.in. (2019).
Retrieved 14 January 2021, from <https://ncrb.gov.in/en/crime-in-india-table-
addtional-table-and-chapter-contents?field_date_value[value]
[year]=2019&field_select_table_title_of_crim_value=All&items_per_page=All>.
5. The world’s five most dangerous countries for women 2018. poll2018.trust.org.
(2018). Retrieved 14 January 2021, from <http://poll2018.trust.org/>.

ARTICLES:

15
6. Drèze, J., & Khera, R. (2000). Crime, Gender, and Society in India: Insights from
Homicide Data. Population and Development Review, 26(2), 335-352. Retrieved
January 14, 2021, from <http://www.jstor.org/stable/172520>.
7. Newman, T. (2018). Sex and gender: Meanings, definition, identity, and expression.
Medicalnewstoday.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021, from
<https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232363>.

8. Ghosh, S. (2020). Gender Identity: Definitions, Development of Gender Identity -

Usual Patterns, Development of Gender Identity - Unusual Patterns.
Emedicine.medscape.com. Retrieved 14 January 2021, from
<https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/917990-overview>.

9. Tilak, S. (2013). Crimes against Indian women. Aljazeera.com. Retrieved 14 January

2021, from
<http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/12/2012122991735307545.html>.

10. Singh, A. (2020). The impunity of marital rape. The Indian Express. Retrieved 14
January 2021, from <https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-impunity-
of-marital-rape/>.

11. Sinha, S. (2018). Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018 - Provision, Analysis, Leading
Cases. iPleaders. Retrieved 14 January 2021, from <https://blog.ipleaders.in/criminal-
law-amendment-act-2018/>.

12. Menon, S., & Allen, N. (2018). The Formal Systems Response to Violence Against
Women in India: A Cultural Lens. American Journal of Community Psychology,
62(2), 51-61. <https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12249>.

13. McNamara, L., Quilter, J., Hogg, R., Loughnan, A., Douglas, H., Brown, D., &
Farmer, L. (2019). Understanding processes of criminalisation: Insights from an
Australian study of criminal law-making. Criminology & Criminal Justice.
<https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895819868519>.

16