WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND GENDER JUSTICE UNDER THE INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

Abstract

Gender justice is one of the most timeless areas of concern for the Indian legal system, ranging from constitutional provisions, criminal law, personal law, labour law and political representation. In this paper, the author 'where from' examines the evolution of the legal framework relating to women's rights in India, starting with the equality and non-discrimination provisions of the Constitution and the statutory measures taken to address discrimination in marriage, workplace and the Bill of Rights against violence faced by women. The paper is structured around five short thematic headings, with each one setting out the applicable law in point form: constitutional framework for gender justice, criminal law protections against violence, marriage and succession rights, workplace rights and political rights and emerging challenges. A special chapter then examines ten pivotal cases that have informed the understanding and implementation of these guarantees, such as Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, Shayara Bano v. Union of India and Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma. While the country has a relatively strong stock of gender-justice laws and progressive judicial precedents, the paper identifies the continuing shortcomings in implementation, social opposition, the unfinished debate on uniform personal laws and inadequate political representation as the causes of the lack of substantive equality for women in practice. It ends with suggestions to improve the enforcement system, operationalise the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 and rectify the remaining discriminatory provisions, e.g. marital rape exception.