-Hindustan Times Bhanwari Devi’s legal battle birthed India’s sexual harassment protection laws for women, and forms the backbone of the Supreme Court’s landmark 1997 Vishakha guidelines for workplaces. Yet, her case has not resulted in convictions Bhateri, Rajasthan: Thin and frail and in her early sixties, Bhanwari Devi sits, an orange ghunghat covering her head, her forehead furrowed. The last year has not been kind to her. As her hands sprinkle water...

-The Hindu PIL plea says it will help check abuse against women The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a PIL petition to extend the Vishakha guidelines against sexual harassment in workplace to ashrams, madrasas and Catholic institutions. The Vishakha guidelines introduced by the apex court in 1997 were evolved into a parliamentary law called the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013. The petition filed by advocate...

-The Hindu The Executive Director of Greenpeace India, Samit Aich, resigned on Wednesday following an internal review of the organisation’s handling of two sexual harassment cases. A note put on the organisation’s website says that along with Mr. Aich, Programme Director Divya Raghunandan has also resigned. The Greenpeace India Board has also decided to commission a full, independent audit of how the NGO dealt with sexual harassment cases to strengthen internal processes...

-Down to Earth Advisory issued by health officials highlights complaints regarding excessive charges and delayed service To make private hospitals and nursing homes in Delhi more patient-friendly, the Aam Adami Party (AAP) government has issued a strict advisory to these establishments. It instructs all such establishments to display charges, compulsorily give primary aid in cases of emergency, and asks them to prescribe generic medicines. In the advisory issued on February 5, health officials...

-The Times of India The outrage over the Delhi gang rape spurred the enactment of two laws relating to gender reforms. The one widening the definition of rape and enhancing penalties for a range of sexual crimes was largely based on the recommendations of the Justice J S Verma Committee, which had been appointed post Nirbhaya. But when it came to the other law, which deals with sexual harassment at the...