-The Hindu By repeatedly setting aside convictions under the PoA Act, courts bolster allegations that the law is misused The horror of the gang rape of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras in 2020 is still fresh in our minds. Activists, academics and lawyers argued that the sexual violence took place on account of the woman’s gender and caste and that the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,...
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Panel to define offences of speech, expression -Vijaita Singh
-The Hindu The committee constituted by Home Ministry on reforms to the IPC may propose a separate Section A panel constituted by the Union Home Ministry to suggest reforms to the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) is likely to propose a separate Section on “offences relating to speech and expression.” As there is no clear definition of what constitutes a “hate speech” in the IPC, the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws is...
More »UNFPA’s population report turns spotlight on bodily autonomy -Jagriti Chandra
-The Hindu The report, ‘My Body is My Own’, shows only 55% of women are fully empowered to make choices. Nearly half the women from 57 developing countries do not have the right to make decisions regarding their bodies, including using contraception, seeking healthcare or even on their sexuality, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) flagship State of World Population Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’ launched on...
More »India’s women and the workforce -Ashwini Deshpande
-Hindustan Times Women are not dropping out. They are being pushed out by the lack of demand for their labour. There has been movement out of agriculture into informal and casual jobs, where the work is sporadic, and often less than 30 days at a stretch. The new modern sector opportunities, especially in high value-added service sectors, mostly accrue to men. Why is women’s employment declining in India? The thrust of the...
More »Study by Project 39A: ‘65% death penalties by trial courts linked to sexual crimes… highest in 5 years’ -Apurva Vishwanath
-The Indian Express Since 2016, the share of sexual crimes in the list of crimes for which trial courts are imposing death penalty has been steadily increasing. From 17.6 per cent in 2016, it jumped to 37.27 per cent in 2017, 41.1 per cent in 2018 and 53.39 per cent in 2019. New Delhi: Corresponding to the legislative expansion of death penalty for sexual crimes against women, more than 65 per cent...
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