-The Times of India The amended anti-rape law does not include prostitution as a form of exploitation unlike the ordinance that criminalized sex work. The Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2013 makes a distinction between sexual exploitation and consensual adult sex work. The move was welcomed by sex workers and activists who had slammed the ordinance that defined prostitution as exploitation. The ordinance cleared by the Cabinet on the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill,...

-The Independent Hardliners defied as historic blueprint to tackle violence against girls and women is agreed at the United Nations A remarkable coalition of Conservative Muslim, Roman Catholic, and liberal Western countries have joined together to approve a historic United Nations blueprint to combat violence against women and girls. In doing so, they ignored strong objections from Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood that it clashed with Islamic principles and sought to destroy the family. But...

-The Hindu Though Bill on protection of women against sexual harassment at workplace has been passed in LS, activists are sceptical about its impact on MNCs They are powerful Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) which hold a clout in the market, but have flouted norms with impunity when it came to their own women staffers complaining of sexual harassment at workplace. Now, even as the country is set to welcome the first law for...

-The Hindu On February 11, the Supreme Court issued notice to the government, seeking its response on making intelligence agencies accountable to Parliament. This question is pertinent and in some ways captures the sentiments expressed by many and best vocalised by two leaders in recent times. Vice-President Hamid Ansari had said in his 2010 speech on this subject “....responsibility to the legislature, and eventually to the electorate, is an essential element...

-The Times of India The government has asked internet service providers to block 55 Facebook pages related to Afzal Guru. The notice by the Department of Telecom was issued a day before internet services were restored in Kashmir Valley after remaining suspended for a week following Afzal's hanging. It was on the same day, February 14, that the notice ordering ISPs to block 73 web pages with content relating to a...