ISWAR SARAN PG COLLEGE

(UNIVERSITY OF ALLAHABAD)

BA.LLB (Hons)7th semester

{2021-2022}

SUBMITTED BY :- Ankur Yadav

ROLL NO. :-I1950012
SUBJECT:-Gender justice and feminist jurisprudence
TOPIC:- Gender justice and its relevance in Indian scenario

SUBMITTED TO:- Ms. Niharika singh

1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Ms. Niharika Singh for her valuable guidance
and support in completing my assignment.
I would also like to express my gratitude towards our principal Mr. ANAND SHANKAR
SINGH for giving me this opportunity to do a project on Gender justice and its relevance in
Indian scenario.
Without there support and suggestions, this assignment would not have been completed.

ANKUR YADAV
BA.LLB(hons.)
7th SEMESTER
2021-2022

2
 TABLE OF CONTENT

S.NO. TOPIC PG.NO.

ABSTRAC,INTRODUCTION,GLOBAL VIEW, 4-6
1 RELEVANCE

GENDER JUSTICE & ITS RELEVANCE IN 6-8

2 THE INDIAN SCENARIO

FRAMERS OF CONSTITUTION AND THEIR 8-10

3 CONTRIBUTION

ROLE OF JUDICIARY AND METHODS TO 11-13

4 ELIMINATE GENDER INEQUALITY

CONCLUSION &BIBLIOGRAPHY 13&14

5

3
 Abstract

According to census report of 2011, women constitute around 48% of India’s total
population. India’s emergence as a leading player in international business and politics is
increasingly drawing global attention to the nation’s approach toward redressing and
preventing violations of fundamental human rights, most importantly the rights of Indian
women. However, the success of this endeavour in India is rapidly evolving; yet, still deep
patriarchy will depend upon strategic mobilization by women’s rights advocates and
committed efforts by the Court to enforce the rights of women, independent of mainstream
opinion and within the boundaries of the separation of power doctrine. This work makes an
effort to realize that if India can assume a leading role in advancing gender justice through its
judiciary, by using various mechanisms and could serve as an inspiring model for other
countries and international human rights .

4
 INTRODUCTION

“Though the constitution guarantees gender equality, it has not been

implemented in the country, in spite more than 60 years of
independence.” – Justice V. Gopala Godawa.

The issue of gender justice has been debated over for a long time and is still one of the
biggest human rights challenges. The Constitution of India has given new dimensions of
Indian society in certain sphere. The Constitution does not use the word 'Gender'. It uses the
word 'sex' in articles 15(1), 16 (2) and 325 which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of
sex. Article 14 of the Constitution guarantee quality before the law, Article 15 and 16 remove
prohibition or discrimination on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth etc
and also gives a direction to the state to make provisions for women and children.
Interestingly, our constitution authorizes the state to make special provisions for the
protection and development of women and children. Various special steps have been taken to
remove legal, social and other constraints and disparities to enable them to make use of the
rights and opportunities made available to them yet there are many outdated social customs
and traditions which are still followed.

GLOBAL VIEW ON GENDER JUSTICE

Gender Justice, simply put refers to equality between the sexes. Gender Justice refers to
harmonizing of rights and needs of women into mainstream society. Justice in this sense
means more balanced behavior, an end to violence and equal distribution of social
necessities. The focus on gender equality and gender justice has been there since the
inception of the UN. The Decade for Women (1976-1985) and four world conferences on
women (between 1975 and 1995) contributed significantly to raising awareness and
commitment to gender equality and gender justice. In 1995, The Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action had been framed for guiding work at national level. The UNIFEM is

5
another agency of the UN. It is the development fund for women at the United Nations. It
provides technical and financial assistance to innovative programs to foster women's
empowerment and gender equality

RELEVANCE OF THE TOPIC

Gender justice is a correlation of social, economic, political, environmental, cultural and

educational factors, these preconditions need to be satisfied for achieving gender justice.

Gender justice focuses on the worth of every human being and is concerned with the
distribution of power and resources. In an economy, there is a need to focus on other
functions apart from production and distribution. And opt for a distributional synergy as a
guiding economic development policies and value judgments.

GENDER JUSTICE AND ITS RELEVANCE IN THE INDIAN

SCENARIO:

Traditionally, An Indian girl had four-fold status-role sequences. These were her role as a
girl, wife, homemaker, and mother. The woman, whose standing and role historically were
well outlined and virtually fastened within the society, is currently experiencing sweeping
changes. One of the main issues of Indian society is that the inferior position accorded to
ladies. They don't get equal standing and their condition is much away from satisfactory.
Women command status and position in an earlier period and with time her standing gets
deteriorated. Women’s position within the family much depends upon the amount of their
education. Higher the amount of her education, larger equality she enjoys within the family.
It seems that Indian lady continues to be not treated at par with the man in social and family
life. The educated ladies even nowadays although earning, are in acquiescence with the
school of thought of the male domination. The education could have created them
economically freelance; however, they still lack the required sureness. The reason appears to
be that they need to be been stated below the previous cultural atmosphere and that they
haven't been able to shake off its influence even once the acquisition of contemporary
education. However, in our times, her role has modified. Society has started recognizing her
6
contribution. There’s would like for complete equality among men and ladies. She has all the
rights to command equal standing with men.

It is always said that women enjoyed a position that is equal to men in The Vedic period as
well as in The Epic period nevertheless Women are the focal point of the two classical epics,
Mahabharata and Ramayana. Gender inequality should be understood from that era when the
Hindu sage, Manu said that a woman should remain under eternal bondage. He said that a
woman must be in the custody of her father when she is a child, she must be under the
custody of her husband when married and must be under the custody of her son in old age or
as a widow. Gender inequality means that when a specific gender is regarded as a minority
group and a set of complex images and conceptions are attributed to such gender and is
passed on from generation to generation through customs and practices. It is worthwhile to
mention here that the position of a woman in India has changed from time to time. After the
beginning of The Buddhist period, the condition and status of women started to decline.

Several irrational practices like the practice of child marriage and denying right to freedom,
right to mate selection, right to participate in the religious discourses etc. were imposed on
women. In medieval period the situation was worsened as women had become a common
victim of female infanticide, child marriage, purdah Jauhar, sati and slavery. A woman
throughout her life cycle faces discrimination and violence. She faces emotional and physical
abuse, differential access to food and medical care, genital mutilation, sexual abuse by family
members and outsiders, rape, sexual harassment at workplace, trafficking, forced prostitution,
dowry related violence and what not. Gender inequality should be understood from that era
when the Hindu sage, Manu said that a woman should remain under eternal bondage. He said
that a woman must be in the custody of her father when she is a child, she must be under the
custody of her husband when married and must be under the custody of her son in old age or
as a widow. It is harsh reality that women have been ill-treated in every society for ages,
especially in India. The irony is that in our country where women goddesses are worshipped
on the same hand women in reality have to face such atrocities from the society. Women are
also deprived of economic recourses and are mostly on man for their living. This is also
because women in our country are brought up with the feeling that they are not capable of
anything other than slavery. They seldom are taught to be independent and hence they are
also deprived of good education. The patriarchal system in India made women to live at the
mercy of men, who exercise unlimited power over them. In order to amdiorate the condition
of women in India Legislature enacted the large volume of enactments and many of the

7
legislations were enacted in the colonial period for example 1829,Abolition of sati, 1856
Widow remarriage made legal,1870 Female Infanticide Banned, 1837 Women get special
right to property, 1961 Dowry prohibition act was passed.

FRAMERS OF THE CONSTITUTION AND THEIR NOTION

TOWARDS GENDER JUSTICE
Among the framers of the Constitution the prominent names were Dr Ambedkar, Pandit
Nehru, Dr.Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad, Acharya Kriplani and Pandit
Govind Pant. Dr Ambedkar raised provisions relating to equality of women in the Indian
Constitution. Even before drafting the constitution, Dr Ambedkar through his works
expressed his great concern towards the women mass in India and advocated equality. Dr.
Rajendra Prasad in his book “Correspondence and Select documents” said that the basic
education should be given to girls, including those of backward classes and they should be
encouraged to earn a living both through skilled and unskilled labor. He also said that women
should be included in village council, education councils, local bodies and legislatures in the
country and they must be encouraged to fill up political posts. When the Constitution was
being drafted, Pandit Nehru talked about the liberty of thought, expression, belief, religion
and worship of all citizens of India. He said that women have the right to equality and equity.
These eminent personalities thus made an effort to ensure that the Rights of women under
Indian Constitution are at par with that of men and accordingly they framed the Constitution.

62 Several Acts were passed to ensure equal Rights of women such as

• Child Marriage Restraint Act,

• the Special Marriage Act,
• the Hindu Succession Act,
• Dowry Prohibition Act,
• Equal Remmuneration Act,
• Maternity Benefit Act,
• Muslim Women’s (Protection Of Rights On Divorce) Act,
• National Commision for Women Act,
• Special Marriage Act etc.

The Constitutional Provisions that provide for gender justice in India include Articles 14, 15,
16, 39, and 42.

8
Article 14 provides for equality before the law, or for the equal protection of laws:
equality before the law means that the State shall not discriminate between two citizens –
every person is the same in the eyes of the law.

Article 15 (1) explicitly prohibits any discrimination on the basis of sex; it states, „The
State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex,
place of birth or any of them.‟ This does not prevent the State from taking affirmative action
in favor of women. Under Article 15(3), the State is provided with the power to make special
provision for women and children.

Article 16 provides for equality of opportunity of all in matters relating to public

employment or appointment to any office; it specifically forbids discrimination on the
grounds of sex. Article 16 (2) reads: No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste,
sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated
against in respect or, any employment or office under the State.

Article 39 provides for securing the right to an equal means of livelihood for both men and
women and that both men and women have the right to equal pay.

Article 42 provides for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity
relief.

In order to meet the Constitutional Mandates, the Indian State has in the years following
Independence enacted various laws that provide for equal rights, help counter the results that
have arisen from social discrimination and provide support to women. While there are
various crimes defined under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) of which both men and
women can be victims (robbery, theft, murder, etc.), but there are a few crimes which fall
under the category of crimes against women, defined under the Indian Penal Code (IPC),
1860:

▪ Rape (Sec. 376 IPC)

▪ Kidnapping & Abduction for different purposes ( Sec. 363-373)
▪ Homicide for Dowry, Dowry Deaths or their attempts (Sec. 302/304-B IPC)
▪ Torture, both mental and physical (Sec. 498-A IPC)
▪ Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC)
▪ Sexual Harassment (Sec. 509 IPC)

9
Although all laws are not gender specific, the provisions of law affecting women significantly
have been reviewed periodically and amendments carried out to keep pace with the emerging
requirements. Some acts which have special provisions to safeguard women and their
interests are:

(i) The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948

(ii) The Plantation Labour Act, 1951
(iii) The Family Courts Act, 1954
(iv) The Special Marriage Act, 1954
(v) The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
(vi) The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 with amendment in 2005
(vii) Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
(viii) The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (Amended in 1995)
(ix) Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
(x) The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, etc.
(xi) The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
(xii) The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act,
(xiii) The Transgender Person’s (Protection of Rights) Act 2019
• This Act will benefit a large number of transgender persons, mitigate the
stigma, discrimination and abuse against this marginalized section and bring
them into the mainstream of society. This will lead to inclusiveness and will
make the transgender persons productive members of the society. According
to the new definition, a transgender person is somebody “whose gender does
not match the gender assigned to that person at birth and includes trans-men or
trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons
having sociocultural identities such as kinnar, hijras, aravani, and jogta”

10
SIGNIFICANT ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN ENSURING
GENDER JUSTICE
Fundamental Rights and women: As mentioned earlier, the Constitution of India
guarantees all such rights to women which are given to men. Women thus enjoy the Right to
Equality, the Right to freedom, the Right against exploitation, the Right to freedom of
religion, Cultural and Educational Rights and the Right to Constitutional remedies. Now, let
us throw some light on the attitudes of judiciary on women and whether the judiciary has
been successful in making de jure equality into de facto equality.

It was rightly decided in the landmark case of Nargesh Meerza vs Air India1 that a
woman shall not be denied employment merely on the ground that she is a woman. This
leads to violation of Article-14 of the Constitution. In the present case, an air-hostess of
Air India challenged the service rules of Air India where air hostesses were barred from
getting married within a period of 4 years from the date of their joining. The rule
further stated that the airhostesses shall lose their jobs if they become pregnant and also
that they will retire at the age of 35 years (exception can be made only if managing
director extends the term by 10 years at his own discretion). The Apex Court that even
though the first provision is reasonable, the second and third provisions are cruel,
arbitrary and unconstitutional.

Article 15(3) has been used by the Supreme Court, thus, not only to uphold the laws that treat
women favourably than men, but also to interpret the laws in a manner to extend protection
to women.

The infamous Mathura Rape case2, Nandan Kanan Rape Case3, Raju’s Case4 ,
Soumithri Vishnu Case5 , M. Kishwar vs. State of Bihar6, are profound examples of the
conservative and patriarchal approach taken by the Apex Court. The judgments of the Court
in case of Soumitri Vishnu vs. Union of India, and which was subsequently followed in
Revathi vs. Union of India7 , were actually anti-gender justice decisions. In the pseudo
name of protection, it actually widened further the inequalities faced by women in the

1
1981 AIR 1829 1982 SCR
2
AIR 1979 SC 185
3
AIR 1977 SC 1307
4
1994 AIR 222 1994 SCC
5
1985 AIR 1618,1985 SCR Supl.(1) 741
6
1996 AIR 1864, 1996 SCC (5)
7
1988 AIR 835 , 1988 SCR(3) 73

11
wedlock. With increase in judicial activism Judiciary has always molded itself into the role of
champion for women’s rights. If any adverse discrimination against women, was noted by the
Judiciary in any of the existing laws and State actions, the Judiciary was quick to strike it
down. At the same time, Judiciary has been prompt to uphold the validity of the Legislations
enacted for protection of women’s rights.

In the case of P.B. Vijaykumar and another vs Govt of Andhra Pradesh8, the petitioner
challenged Rule-22A(2) of Andhra Pradesh State And Subordinate Service Rules as violative
of Articles-14 and 16(4) of the Indian Constitution. Sub Rule 2 of rule-22A is read as “In the
matter of direct recruitment to posts for which women and men are equally suited, other
things being equal, preference shall be given to women and they shall be selected to an extent
of at least 30% of the post in each category of O.C, B.C., S.C. and S.T.quota” The petitioner
argued that the State cannot make any reservation in favour of women in relation to
appointments or posts under the State because this would lead to discrimination on the
ground of sex in public employment or appointment to posts under the State and would be
violate Art16(2). The court here held that while dealing with employment under the State
both articles-15 and 16 has to be kept in mind. The court also stated that the power conferred
by Article-15(3) is wide enough to cover the entire range of state activity including
employment under state. The court clearly stated that Rule-22A(2) provides for preference
being given to women to the extent of 30% of the posts, other things being equal and thus it is
not reservation for women in the normal sense of the term. The court held that this rule is
within the ambit of Art-15(3) and hence constitutional.

HOW WE WILL ELIMINATE GENDER INEQUALITY?

The list of legislation likewise as varieties of discriminations or inequalities could prolong
however the modification can solely come back once the mentality of men can change; once
the male species of kinsmen would begin treating ladies as equal and not subordinate or
weaker to them. indeed not solely men however ladies additionally have to be compelled to
modification their outlook as through cultural acquisition they need additionally become a
part of a similar exploitive system of structure and area unit enjoying an auxiliary role in
furthering men’s agenda of dominating ladies. Therefore, what's required is that the
movement for Women’s authorization wherever ladies will become economically freelance
and self-reliant; wherever they'll fight their own fears and withdraw within the world

8
1995 AIR 1648 JT 1995 (7) 489 (3)

12
fearlessly; wherever they'll snatch their rights from the clutches of men and that they don’t
have to be compelled to invite them; wherever ladies have sensible education, sensible career,
possession of property and particularly wherever they need freedom

CONCLUSION

It is evident from the above discussion that the Constitution of India contains various
provisions relating to equality between men and women and there are certain cases where
women have been given special importance. Along with that certain legal provisions for
women have been enacted viz: the Factories Act, Maternity Benefit Act, Dowry Prohibition
Act, Equal Remuneration Act, Child Marriage Restrain act, Medical Termination of
Pregnancy Act, National Commission for Women Act, Protection of woman from domestic
violence Act, Protection of women against sexual harassment at workplace etc. The Verma
Committee Report of Jan 23rd, 2013, gave a detailed over view of the crimes relating to
women and suggested certain reforms. I personally believe that the increase in women-related
violence is the direct result of the fact that differences between men and women are more
highlighted lately and women are provided with certain temporary privileges. Equality should
be brought back to a place where both men and women can embrace it and it needs to be re-
claimed in a way that is inclusive of men. When violence against women is highlighted
through media, violence against men should also be brought into account.

I believe that the present idea of equality is less dynamic in its approach and it must be re-
claimed in a way to which even men can relate. Then only equality in the true sense of the
term would be possible.

13
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

❖ Pen Acclaims (www.penacclaims.com)

❖ https://Law times journal.in
❖ https://www.indianlawsinfo.com
❖ https://www.academia.edu

14