Gender-and-Society-in-India-Contemporary-Debates-and-Emerging-Issues-munotes

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1 UNIT I
1
FAMILY AS A SITE OF VIOLENCE:
INVISIBLE FORMS OF EVERYDAY
VIOLENCE
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Violence within homes – Domestic Violence
1.3 Girl Child Abuse
1.4 Wife Beating
1.5 Reasons for India's high rate of domestic vi olence
1.6 The legal measures to prevent domestic violence
1.7 Conclusion
1.8 Summary
1.9 Questions
1.10 References
1.0 OBJECTIVES • To introduce you to various forms of violence prevalent against
women in the society
• To understand the reasons for India’ s high rate of domestic violence
• To explore legal measures to prevent domestic violence in society
1.1 INTRODUCTION Violence in its multiple forms is an inescapable and all pervasive
constituent of most women’s existence. They either have a firsthand
experience of it or live in conscious or sub -conscious sphere of it. Women
face specific forms of violence that includes rape, sexual abuse, witch
hunting, sati, dowry, wife beating etc. Different forms of violence are
different means of eliminating women and excluding them from equal
participation in the public sphere. It is a reflection of an exploitative
society based on inequalities of caste, class and gender. Violence plays a
major role in keeping women suppressed and economically exploited. The
economic dependence of women and their lack of access over property
makes them weak in standing up and challenging the violence and power
structures that exploit them in society. munotes.in

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2 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
2 1.2 VIOLENCE WITHIN HOMES – DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Violence within homes is a global phenom enon that cuts across culture,
religion class and ethnicity. Hierarchical gender relations perpetuated
through gender socialization and socio -economic inequalities are the root
cause of violence against women. Powerlessness within the home as well
as const raining social and economic factors provides few options to
women outside marriage and is associated with high levels of abuse.
Domestic violence is one of the most common forms of violence. It
involves individuals who have a continuing inter -personal rela tionship that
leads to repeated violence. Theoretically, the feminist perspective explains
violence towards women using the concept of power and coercion (force).
Gender -power relations are maintained through patriarchal expectations
regarding the roles fo r men and women in intimate relationships.
1.3 GIRL CHILD ABUSE The family and the bond between members in the family have always been
glorified in Indian life and culture. Violence and abuse within homes is an
issue that challenges the cultural notion of a safe home and protective
family. Girl child abuse within the home includes sexual or aggressive
beatings as well as forceful work from children who should be in school or
at play. Children are victims of abuse of physical, psychological and
emotional na ture. Research conducted on child abuse have shown that
almost 80% of victims of physical abuse and a large percentage of rapes
are of girl children in the ages of 10 to 16 yrs. These figures are indicated
of sexual vulnerability (unprotected) of girl chil d in and around homes &
also the social environment that encourage her violation. Those
committing the crimes are mostly immediate neighbors & relatives. Many
cases go unreported, surrounded by secrecy and shame. This attitude of
the society increases the problem of sexual violence. Girl child abuse can
be differentiated into the 4 categories - physical abuse, emotional abuse,
neglect and sexual abuse. From not providing required environment for
health and growth combined with physical torture, mental traum a to
sexual ill treatment of a child, girl child abuse is a major problem.
It is also seen that within the household girls too are seen as physically &
mentally weak. The dominant ideology which restricts girls & women to
definite roles & obligations leads to their devaluation & discrimination in
many areas. The basic assumption is that girls are inferior, physical &
mentally weak & sexually vulnerable. The girl’s right to share in the
resources such as healthcare, nutrition, education & material assets as well
as parental interest & attention is limited.
1.4 WIFE BEATING Even though incidences of violence against women in society are being
recognized, silence is maintained with regards to violence at home. An munotes.in

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3 Family as a Site of Violence: Invisible Forms of Everyday Violence increasing number of women are killed or drive n to suicides in cases of
domestic violence. An important reason for this is a patriarchal ideology
that sanctions such behaviors. There are a number of reasons that lead to
wife beating & battering. Anything & everything is used as a justification
for sev erely beating up women. The most frequently stated causes for wife
beating was jealousy, not doing the household work properly,
unfaithfulness, not bringing enough dowry, alcoholism & money matters.
Alcohol is often blamed for violence by men. However, mos t women
argue that this merely provides men with a convenient & acceptable
reason & may not necessarily be a direct cause of violence. Dowry is also
used as a justification for violence. Madhu Kishwar, a feminist writer feels
that oppression of wives due t o rising consumerism & dowry is also an
excuse for using violence. In patriarchal societies based on private
property & male inheritance, a woman is considered not only a husband’s
property but also as a vehicle for producing male children. If a woman’s
loyalty & purity is in doubt, her husband’s absolute rights over his
possession gets violated and therefore there is violence. However adultery
in males is glorified.
Women as victims of violence have been subjected to severe physical &
mental torture. Their self worth & confidence is crushed. The community
& neighborhood offers no support. The police & administration uphold
the structures of violence.
Wife beating has health social legal & economic consequences survey
based studies have indicated that 35 -75% women in India face verbal,
physical or sexual violence from their part or other men known to them.
Majority of women irrespective of their socio -economic backgrounds
accept power differentials based on sex & hence believe that men have a
right to disci pline them. Most women do not ask for help from the
violence that they suffer from & very few approach social service
organizations. The major causes of violence are the husband suspecting
his wife of being unfaithful, dowry, showing disrespect to in -laws,
neglecting the house or children, not cooking food properly. The NFHS
(National family health Survey) indicates that among men and women a
greater proportion of those who were illiterate, poor, young & those in
rural areas, who were divorced or deserted, justified wife beating. This
shows that when women failed to observe accepted norms of behavior in
their married homes they face violence. The societal norms, men’s idea of
self-esteem, their perception of women influenced husband’s behavior.
Husbands exer cised control over their wives by clearly indicating how
they should behave. Talking to other male members that includes cousins,
neighbors or male friends invokes jealousy that justifies wife beating; as it
questions the woman’s character. Women who are b eaten or physically
abused justified their husband behaviour to rationalize the treatment
towards themselves. The experience of violence & controlling behavior
by husbands lowers women’s self -esteem, make them fearful & lowers
their ability to fulfill da ily tasks to the satisfaction of other family
members. Economic empowerment & education of women also does not
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4 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
4 1.5 THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS FOR INDIA'S HIGH RATE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: 1. Patriarchy:
The patriarchal mindset, which s ees women as objects and assigns them
low social standing, is a primary contributor to men's aggressive
behaviour. Patriarchal views of ownership over women's bodies, labour,
reproductive rights, and amount of autonomy give rise to violence.
2. Dowry syste m:
Domestic abuse and dowry are inextricably linked. A 2005 study
published in the World Development report, shows the dangers of
domestic violence if dowry expectations are not met. The Dowry
Prohibition Act has had little influence on dowry -related viol ence, and
several examples of brides being burned for dowry have been
documented.
3. Social culture:
The Indian culture promotes the image of a tolerant and responsive lady,
which is another factor that discourages women from leaving violent
relationships . Furthermore, religion creates a culture in which women are
expected to be submissive to their husbands.
4. Gender inferiority:
According to research conducted in several regions of the world, any
social system that sees women as inherently less valuabl e than men is
favourable to violence against women. The World Economic Forum's
Global Gender Difference Index 2019 -2020 puts India 112th, showing a
significant gender difference. Because men believe they are superior,
resorting to violence reinforces and f eeds their egoistic superiority
complex.
5. Lack of support:
The lack of realistic survival choices, as well as a proper support network,
causes a woman to continue tolerating violent actions. For example,
uneducated women receive little help from their m aternal kin and hence
continue to suffer as a result of economic reliance.
6. Lack of awareness:
Women's low self -image and inferior status are perpetuated by a lack of
awareness of their own rights and a pervasive social belief in women's
subjugation. Wo men are taught that marriage is the ultimate objective they
should strive for. All of this indoctrination gradually becomes an Indian
woman's nature.
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5 Family as a Site of Violence: Invisible Forms of Everyday Violence 7. Other reasons:
Poverty, drunkenness, unemployment, and other factors all lead to
aggressive behaviour . Because of the financial stress, these variables place
women at a higher risk of violence.
1.6 THE LEGAL MEASURES TO PREVENT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 1. Criminal offence:
With the addition of Section 498 -A to the Indian Penal Code in 1983,
domestic violence w as acknowledged as a distinct criminal offence. This
section addresses cruelty committed by a husband or his family against a
married lady.
2. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961:
This Act makes it illegal to give or receive dowry. This is to achieve a
shift in I ndia's dowry culture and attendant violence.
3. Protection of Women from Domestic Abuse Act, 2005:
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 requires
domestic abuse against women to be reported to a Protection Officer. The
purpose of the Ac t was to make justice available to women who may not
always want criminal procedures but would like to have the option of
doing so.
4. Mission Shakti:
Equally concerning is the Centre's umbrella initiative for women's
protection, "Mission Shakti," which c alls for the construction of one -stop
clinics to combat domestic abuse. According to a 2019 study, the majority
of these centres remained closed due to staff shortages.
1.7 CONCLUSION Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees women the right to live in
dignity. There is a considerable amount of information available about the
abysmal incidence of complaint and conviction under Section 498A of the
Indian Penal Code, which is intended to protect married women from
mistreatment by husbands and family. The P rotection of Women from
Domestic Abuse Act of 2005 has done nothing to prevent domestic abuse.
A concerted effort is necessary at both the society and governmental
levels.
1.8 SUMMARY Even after so much of advancement, progress and even constitutional
safeguards, women even today continue to face specific forms of violence
that includes rape, sexual abuse, witch hunting, sati, dowry, wife beating munotes.in

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6 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
6 etc. Different forms of violence are different means of eliminating women
and excluding them from equal particip ation in the public sphere.
Violence plays a major role in keeping women suppressed and
economically exploited. The economic dependence of women and their
lack of access over property makes them weak in standing up and
challenging the violence and power st ructures that exploit them in society.
Women as victims of violence have been subjected to severe physical &
mental torture. Their self worth & confidence is crushed. The community
& neighborhood offers no support. The police & administration uphold
the structures of violence.
1.9 QUESTIONS 1 Explain various forms of Violence against women in society.
2 Explain reasons for domestic violence and also discuss the legal
measures to prevent domestic violence.
1.10 REFERENCES  Claudia García -Moreno et al (2015), Addressing violence against
women: a call to action, Lancet, volume 385, number 9978, pp. 1685 –
95.
 Ghanim, David. 2012. ‘Gender violence: Theoretical overview,’ in
Violence and Abuse in Society: Understanding a Global Crisis,
Angela Browne -Miller, ed., Santa Barbara: Praeger, vol. 1, 57 -67
 Giles, W., & Hyndman, J. (2004). Sites of Violence: Gender and
Conflict Zones : University of California Press.
 Gonsalves, Lina (2001). Women and Human Rights, New Delhi: APH
Publishing Corporation.
 ICRW and INCLEN (2000) Domestic Violence in India: A Summary
Report of a Multi -Site Household Survey. Washington, DC: ICRW.
 Menon, R., & Bhasin, K. (1998). Borders & Boundaries: Women in
India’s Partition: Rutgers University Press.
 Singla, Pamela (2010).Women’s Rights and Gender -based Violence
in India —Issues and Challenges, The Journal of National Women’s
Education Center of Japan, Vol.14, March.

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7 2
WOMEN IN SITUATIONS OF CONFLICT:
COMMUNAL CONFLICT, CASTE
VIOLENCE AND ARMED CONFLICT
Unit Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Gender and Violence
2.3 Communal Violence, Caste -based Gender Violence & Armed
Conflict
2.4 Summary
2.5 Questi ons
2.6 References and Further Readings
2.0 OBJECTIVES  To understand the how power and violence operates within patriarchy
 To familiarize students with some specific forms of gender -based
violence
2.1 INTRODUCTION Patriarchy, the ascendancy of male powe r and the control of women,
emerged together with the rise of the state and the accumulation of wealth.
Thus, the first process of polarization, based on wealth and power, has led
to a second level of social polarization based on gender. Yet, both levels
of social polarization embody repression, exploitation, and control.
The control of women is a process through which women’s power is
deformalized, leaving only one permissible form of dominant, formal
power, male power. This process ensures the supremacy of male power,
and by controlling women, eliminates any challenges to this power.
Because this process elevates one power and at the same time suppresses
another, it is a process of violence.
The UNHCR defines Gender -Based Violence as “ harmful acts directe d at
an individual based on their gender. It is rooted in gender inequality, the
abuse of power and harmful norms. Gender -Based violence (GBV) is a
serious violation of human rights and a life -threatening health and
protection issue .” The repercussions of such forms of violence which
include intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child marriage, female
genital mutilations and honour crimes – are severe and long -lasting. munotes.in

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8 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
8 Gender -based violence in India takes myriad forms which include high
levels of do mestic violence, dowry death, human trafficking, sexual
violence, acid attacks, unnatural offences, and honour killings. These
crimes are a direct result of the hierarchies that underpin the cultural and
social milieu in India based on the ascriptive norms of gender. These
crimes stem from the disparity in power and the resultant inaccessibility
to social, cultural, political resources that are embodied in patriarchal
societies.
2.2 GENDER AND VIOLENCE Violence is strongly connected to power. As an instr ument of power,
violence intimately and inextricably entwines with power. Violence is
simultaneously an instrumental and an expressive act; its instrumentality
rests on the fact that it is a powerful method of social control. In this way,
violence is an ex pression of authority and power aiming to ensure control
and domination. More specifically, violence relates to the domination of
men over women.
Violence connects to patriarchal power, which is a form of domination
that subjugates women by blocking them f rom doing certain things or
thinking in certain ways; women are controlled through demands for
social conformity and obedience. Violence is both an effect of male power
and crucial to the continuance of that power. Violence is a tool that men
can use to ke ep women out or subordinate and thereby maintain male
power and control.
Gender structure cannot by itself account for the entire process of violence
in society. Gender relations are constructed, perceived, enforced,
negotiated, made, and remade through a set of interplaying economic,
political, religious, cultural, and social factors. Yet, there is a strong
linkage between gender and violence. Not underestimating the fact that
women can also be violet, it cannot be negated that there is a widespread
domina nce of male violence in society.
Gender -based violence is violence that targets an individual or a group of
individuals based on their gender, which results in physical, sexual, or
psychological harm. It is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power,
and oppressive gender norms. Gender -based violence is a serious violation
of human rights and is an issue that threatens health, life, protection, and
socio -political security of individuals. In most cases, gender -based
violence disproportionately affects women and other gender minorities.
Gender -based violence is not just limited to physical violence but
encompasses everything from dowry deaths, honour killing, trafficking,
domestic violence, intimate partner violence, sexual and emotional abuse,
online abuse, child abuse, and caste -based violence among others. Further,
one cannot ignore the relationship between violence and the intersectional
identities of individuals while talking about gender -based violence. Caste,
class, gender identity, sexual orient ation, ethnicity, religion, skin colour,
and disability, all play a key role in the perpetration of violence against munotes.in

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9 Women In Situations of Conflict: Communal Conflict, Caste Violence And Armed Conflict individuals. The survivors operate under intersecting oppressions, not just
on account of their gender but also other socio -economic margin alizing
factors. All of this affects one’s exposure to and experiences of violence.
Check Your Progress:
1. Write a note on gender -based violence.
2.3 COMMUNAL VIOLENCE, CASTE -BASED GENDER VIOLENCE & ARMED CONFLICT Women have traditionally been see n as one of the major determinants in
mass violence, rioting and genocide. Taken generally as passive sites of
male dominance and possession, women’s bodies become ‘inscribed’ with
male violence in times of contingency such as war and rioting. However,
paradoxically, women as part of the bourgeois family, perpetrators, and
victims alike, also uphold the ‘honour’ of ‘their’ women as a badge of
chastity to be displayed for public approval. Worse still, they themselves
become co -opted within the reactionary ma chinery of bourgeois patriarchy
to become perpetrators themselves in such rioting.
It is certainly true that in communal rioting, women are seen as indexes to
the perceived ‘honour’ of the victims and perpetrators alike. The riots in
West and East Pakistan during the partition of the Indian subcontinent is
the first that comes to mind. Ethnographic research shows that women are
the first victims of communal violence. Feminist scholars such as Ritu
Menon and Kamla Bhasin write in No Woman’s Land: Women from
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, “[t]he most predictable form of violence
experienced by women, as women, is when the women of one community
are sexually assaulted by the men of the other, in an overt assertion of
their identity and a simultaneous humiliati on of the Other [by]
dishonouring [their women]” (23). Sadat Hassan Manto’s Thanda Gosht
(Cold Meat), Manju Kapur’s A Married Woman and Anita Rau Badami’s
Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? are fictional representations of this very
violence. The 1971 riots in East Pakistan were no exception, nor were the
Godhra riots in 2002.
In religious genocides such as Godhra, it must be acknowledged that the
perpetrators were mostly men who committed violence on women.
However, if we take the Babri mosque riots, there i s evidence to suggest
that women often take part in perpetrating violence on other women. All
of these examples point to the fact that women’s bodies and identities are
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10 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
10 Why is this special type of violence reserved for women and girls during
these conflicts? In the world at large and especially in South Asia, women
are considered the bearers of the honour of their community, and rape is
viewed less as an act of violence in which the woman is assa ulted and
more as an act of staining the woman’s dignity, honour and purity and by
extension that of her community. Her sexual assault is emasculating to the
men of the community to which she belongs, in that they are powerless to
protect her.
Dalit women disproportionately experience violence at home public and
private space of work. The power relationship between dominant caste
men and the Dalit women can be conceptualized to understand the caste -
based violence. Caste -based violence can sometimes be seen as being
much more than gender -based violence where cases of atrocities and the
politics before and after the violence are based on caste. Every case of
atrocities is politicized.
The social and political location between Dalit women and dominant caste
men are opposites. The various agitations and assertions did not bridge
this gap but have isolated Dalit women from the whole village. In some
cases, even their community people have denied to support them, due to
inherent patriarchy. Gender within caste soc iety is thus defined and
structured in such a manner that the ‘manhood’ of the caste is defined both
by the degree of control men exercise over women and the degree of
passivity of the women of the caste. By the same argument, demonstrating
control by humi liating women of another caste is a certain way of
reducing the ‘manhood’ of those castes.
Throughout history, women and girls have often been targeted in wartime
for violence, especially sexual violence. They have also been excluded
from conflict preven tion and resolution efforts. Rape as a tool of war and
oppression during riots, pogroms and genocides is unfortunately not new,
nor is it exclusive to a few countries or regions. Mass rape of women of a
particular community has often been wielded as a weap on against that
community as a whole. This has been true in many international and
national conflicts such as World War II, the Rwandan genocide, the
Bangladeshi struggle for independence and even parts of North Eastern
India where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) gives undue
impunity to the Indian Army.
The women whose rapes would be called “collateral damage” in military
parlance, would never receive statuses of honour for dying or sacrificing
their bodies in the battle. Often, these violent ac ts go unreported,
unregistered, unremembered. There have been some measures taken to
recognize rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war under international
law. However, this has done little to prevent the weaponization of rape and
sexual violence again st women. International law is not enforceable in
most nations’ courts of law, and the taboo nature of sexual violence often
prevents such cases from being filed and fought, or even brought to light.
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11 Women In Situations of Conflict: Communal Conflict, Caste Violence And Armed Conflict Check Your Progress:
1. What is communal violence? How it affects women in particular?
2. How is caste -based gender violence connected to the idea of
‘honour’? Elaborate.
3. Explain the character of gender -based violence during the armed
conflicts.
2.4 SUMMARY India posits a high ly alarming case when confronted with gender -based
violence. The deeply patriarchal structures that characterize it and the
inadequate response of the state in countering its presence within the
country is disquieting. India’s engagement with GBV is often
whimsical and disproportionate. The cultural and social forces of the
country outweigh the legislative and policy framework existing in the
country to address the disproportionate level of violence faced by women.
This violence is further proliferated alon g markers of class, caste, religion,
and ethnicity.
Data pertaining to gender -based violence continues to be of concern. To
enable women to live and enjoy their citizenship rights it’s important that
any attempt to punish women who resist normalization of violence should
be dealt with strictly. No longer can violence against women and children
be treated as social normal. Social workers have a very important role in
generating awareness against these institutionalized wrongs, practices, and
behaviour. whic h see men and women temperamentally different from
each other.
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12 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
12 2.5 QUESTIONS 1. How are power and violence interlinked?
2. What is the nature of gender -based violence in India?
3. What are the locations or sites of violence against women in India?
2.6 REF ERENCES  Claudia García -Moreno et al (2015), Addressing violence against
women: a call to action, Lancet, volume 385, number 9978, pp. 1685 –
95.
 Ghanim, David. 2012. ‘Gender violence: Theoretical overview,’ in
Violence and Abuse in Society: Understanding a Global Crisis,
Angela Browne -Miller, ed., Santa Barbara: Praeger, vol. 1, 57 -67
 Giles, W., & Hyndman, J. (2004). Sites of Violence: Gender and
Conflict Zones : University of California Press.
 Gonsalves, Lina (2001). Women and Human Rights, New Delhi: APH
Publishing Corporation.
 ICRW and INCLEN (2000) Domestic Violence in India: A Summary
Report of a Multi -Site Household Survey. Washington, DC: ICRW.
 Menon, R., & Bhasin, K. (1998). Borders & Boundaries: Women in
India’s Partition: Rutgers University Press.
 Singla, Pamela (2010).Women’s Rights and Gender -based Violence
in India —Issues and Challenges, The Journal of National Women’s
Education Center of Japan, Vol.14, March.


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13 3
SEXUAL HARASSMENT: STREET AND
WORK PLACE (PROTECTION OF
WOMEN FROM SEXUAL HARASSMENT
(PREVENTION AND REDRESSAL
ACT, 2013)
Unit Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Sexual Harassment at the Work Place
3.3 The Sexual Harassment of Women at Wo rkplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal ) Act, 2013
3.4 Summary
3.5 Questions
3.6 References and Further Readings
3.0. OBJECTIVES  To understand the issue of sexual harassment
 To familiarize students with legal aspects of dealing with sexual
harassm ent
3.1 INTRODUCTION The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency
that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and
enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination, has defined
sexual harassment in i ts guidelines as:
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal
or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:
 Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a
term or condition of an individual’s employment, or
 Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as
a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or
 Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering
with an individual’s work performance or creating an in timidating,
hostile, or offensive working environment.
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14 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
14 Sexual harassment includes many things...
 Actual or attempted rape or sexual assault.
 Unwanted pressure for sexual favors.
 Unwanted deliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, or pinching.
 Unwanted s exual looks or gestures.
 Unwanted letters, telephone calls, or materials of a sexual nature.
 Unwanted pressure for dates.
 Unwanted sexual teasing, jokes, remarks, or questions.
 Referring to an adult as a girl, hunk, doll, babe, or honey.
 Whistling at someo ne.
 Cat calls.
 Sexual comments.
 Turning work discussions to sexual topics.
 Sexual innuendos or stories.
 Asking about sexual fantasies, preferences, or history.
 Personal questions about social or sexual life.
 Sexual comments about a person’s clothing, anato my, or looks.
 Kissing sounds, howling, and smacking lips.
 Telling lies or spreading rumors about a person’s personal sex life.
 Neck massage.
 Touching an employee’s clothing, hair, or body.
 Giving personal gifts.
 Hanging around a person.
 Hugging, kissing, p atting, or stroking.
 Touching or rubbing oneself sexually around another person.
 Standing close or brushing up against a person.
 Looking a person up and down (elevator eyes).
 Staring at someone. munotes.in

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15 Sexual Harassment: Street and Work Place (Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment (Prevention and Redressal Act, 2013)  Sexually suggestive signals.
 Facial expressions, winking, thr owing kisses, or licking lips.
 Making sexual gestures with hands or through body movements.
Sexual harassment does not always have to be specifically about sexual
behavior or directed at a specific person. For example, negative comments
about women as a gr oup may be a form of sexual harassment. Sexual
harassment can occur in the workplace or learning environment, like a
school or university. It can happen in many different scenarios, including
after-hours conversations, exchanges in the hallways, and non -office
settings of employees or peers.
In social science research, sexual harassment is defined and measured by
specific behaviors and the victim’s subjective experience of those
behaviors; however, the constructs parallel legal conceptualizations of
sexual harassment.
3.2 SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT THE WORK PLACE Workplace harassment based on sex and gender was once conceptualized
as a sexual problem: coercive or unwanted sexual attention from one
employee to another that stems from natural and/or inevitable feel ings of
sexual desire. Today, this behavior is more appropriately understood as
discriminatory conduct that has little to do with sexual desire and much to
do with hostility. With this progress in understanding sexual harassment
came evolution in the law, research, and preventive and corrective
mechanisms.
The constitution in India prohibits discrimination based on sex and, given
the unwelcomeness of the behaviors and potential for job harms, the courts
defi ne both quid pro quo and hostile environment sexual harassment as
unlawful sex discrimination. Cultural ideals of dignity and womanly
modesty have played a role in sexual harassment cases in India, but
overall, the law has done little to protect women (especially working class
women) due to its limited r each and enforceability.
The gravity of sexual harassment is elucidated by its numerous negative
outcomes, affecting all areas of working women’s lives. Two large meta -
analyses found that all forms of workplace sexual harassment – gender
harassment, unwant ed sexual attention, and sexual coercion – are strong
predictors of psychological impairments. Also, workplace sexual
harassment can lead to mental illness. Researchers have also examined the
effect of sexual harassment on women’s physical health. All form s of this
workplace abuse are associated with decreased satisfaction with one’s
general health and increased somatic complaints.
In addition to mental and physical detriments, sexual harassment takes a
toll on women’s professional wellbeing. Across a wide range of industries,
experiencing sexually harassing conduct at work (i.e., sexual coercion, munotes.in

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16 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
16 unwanted sexual attention, and/or gender harassment) is associated with
decreased job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Check Your Progress:
1. Write a brief note on ‘sexual harassment’.
3.3 THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND
REDRESSAL) ACT, 2013 The Prevention of Workplace Sexual Harassment Act and the Prevention
of Workplace Sexual Harassment Rules have b een enacted 16 years after
the Supreme Court of India’s landmark judgement in Vishaka and others
v. State of Rajasthan (“Vishaka Judgement”). The Supreme Court, in the
Vishaka Judgment, laid down guidelines making it mandatory for every
employer to provide a mechanism to redress grievances pertaining to
workplace sexual harassment and enforce the right to gender equality of
working women.
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition
and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“Prevention of Workplace Sexual Harassment
Act”) was made effective from December 09, 2013 by the Ministry of
Women and Child Development, India. The Government has also notified
rules under the Prevention of Workplace Sexual Harassment Act titled the
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Rules, 2013. The Act and Rules framed thereto have put onus
on the employer to constitute Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) and on
the district officer to constitute Local Complaint Committee (LCC) to
address such complaints.
Provisions under The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013:
Applicability and Scope:
The Prevention of Workplace Sexual Harassment Act extends to the
‘whole of India’ and stipulates that a woman shall not be subjected to
sexual harassment at her workplace. It is pertinent to note that the statute
protects only women and is not intended to be a gender neutral legislation.
Further, the Prevention of Workplace Sexual Harassment Act appl ies to
both the organized and unorganized sectors in India. The statute, inter alia,
applies to government bodies, private and public sector organisations,
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17 Sexual Harassment: Street and Work Place (Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment (Prevention and Redressal Act, 2013) vocational, educational, ente rtainment, industrial, financial activities,
hospitals and nursing homes, educational institutes, sports institutions and
stadiums used for training individuals and a dwelling place or a house.
Sexual Harassment –Definition:
The Prevention of Workplace Sex ual Harassment Act defines ‘sexual
harassment’ in line with the Supreme Court’s definition in the Vishaka
Judgement. As per the statute, ‘sexual harassment’ includes unwelcome
sexually tinted behaviour, whether directly or by implication.
Workplace:
Recog nizing that sexual harassment of women may not necessarily be
limited to the primary place of employment, the Prevention of Workplace
Sexual Harassment Act has introduced the concept of an ‘extended
workplace’. As per the statute, ‘workplace’ includes any place visited by
the employee arising out of or during employment, including
transportation provided by the employer for the purpose of commuting to
and from the place of employment.
Complaints Committee:
An important feature of the Prevention of Workplace Sexual Harassment
Act is that it envisages the setting up of grievance redressal forums for
both organized and unorganized sectors. The Prevention of Workplace
Sexual Harassment Act requires an employer to set up an ‘internal
complaints committee’ (“ICC”) at each office or branch, of an
organization employing 10 or more employees, to hear and redress
grievances pertaining to sexual harassment.
Punishment and Compensation:
The statute prescribes the following punishments that may be imposed by
an employer o n an employee for indulging in an act of sexual harassment:
 Punishment prescribed under the service rules of the organization;
 If the organization does not have service rules, disciplinary action
including written apology, warning, reprimand, censure, with holding
of promotion, withholding of pay rise or increments, terminating the
respondent from service, undergoing a counselling session, or
carrying out community service; and
 Deduction of compensation payable to the aggrieved woman from the
wages of the re spondent. The statute also envisages payment of
compensation to the aggrieved woman.
Confidentiality:
The statute specifically stipulates that information pertaining to workplace
sexual harassment shall not be subject to the provisions of the Right to
Information Act, 2005. The statute further prohibits dissemination of the munotes.in

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18 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
18 contents of the complaint, the identity and addresses of the complainant,
respondent witnesses, any information relating to conciliation and inquiry
proceedings, recommendations of the I CC/LCC and the action taken to the
public, press and media in any manner.
Check Your Progress:
1. What are key features of the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013?
3.4 SUMMARY Experiences in m any countries have shown that effective action against
sexual harassment in the workplace requires a combination of legal
frameworks as well as greater enforcement, adequately funded institutions
and a greater awareness of the issues.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency
that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and
enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination, has defined
sexual harassment in i ts guidelines .
Workplace harassment based on sex and gender was once conceptualized
as a sexual problem: coercive or unwanted sexual attention from one
employee to another that stems from natural and/or inevitable feel ings of
sexual desire. Today, this behavior is more appropriately understood as
discriminatory conduct that has little to do with sexual desire and much to
do with hostility. With this progress in understanding sexual harassment
came evolution in the law, research, and preventive and corrective
mechanisms.
The Prevention of Workplace Sexual Harassment Act and the Prevention
of Workplace Sexual Harassment Rules have b een enacted 16 years after
the Supreme Court of India’s landmark judgement in Vishaka and others
v. State of Rajasthan (“Vishaka Judgement”). The Supreme Court, in the
Vishaka Judgment, laid down guidelines making it mandatory for every
employer to provide a mechanism to redress grievances pertaining to
workplace sexual harassment and enforce the right to gender equality of
working women.
3.5 QUESTIONS 1. What are the implications of sexual harassment at workplace?
2. How do men and women experience sexual harassment at work? munotes.in

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19 Sexual Harassment: Street and Work Place (Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment (Prevention and Redressal Act, 2013) 3. What are the legal aspects of the Prevention of Workplace Sexual
Harassment Act ?
3.6 REFERENCES  Sexual Harassment at Workplace: Ch allenges and Solution. (2021).
Kala Prakashan.
 Stockdale, M. S. (1996). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace:
Perspectives, Frontiers, and Response Strategies: SAGE Publications.
 Tandon, A. (2017). Law of Sexual Harassment at Workplace:
Practice & Procedure : Niyogi Books.
 Publications, C. (2020). The Sexual Harassment of Women At
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013:
Current Publications.

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20 4
VIOLENCE ON WOMEN IN VIRTUAL
SPACES
Unit Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Gender Violence in Virtual Spaces
4.3 Why are women and Girls Targeted?
4.4 What the Law Says
4.5 Solution to the problem
4.6 Summary
4.7 Questions
4.8 Referen ces
4.0 OBJECTIVES • To understand violence against women in virtual spaces
• To explore various laws for protecting women in virtual spaces
• To analyse the situation of women in virtual spaces
4.1 INTRODUCTION Public spaces in the physical sense are shr inking, and we also visit them
less frequently than before due to the increasing influence of electronic
media like computers, TV, internet, mobile phones, etc. However, public
spaces in the virtual sense especially social media platforms have only
been ex panding. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Wordpress, YouTube,
Snapchat and even WhatsApp are all public spaces that offer several
functions to users. And these virtual public spaces are much bigger than
any physical public space can ever be. For example: Face book has almost
150 million Indians on it.
Among the top 20 countries in internet usage worldwide, India has the
highest yearly growth rate of internet users. Easy access to the internet has
enabled many people, especially women and other marginalised gro ups, to
overcome traditional barriers and participate in the public sphere.
4.2 GENDER VIOLENCE IN VIRTUAL SPACES However social media is full of attacks on women on a daily basis. The
number of abusive and unwanted intruders and trolls has increased on
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21 Violence on Women in Virtual Spaces freely. We have seen the growth of misogyny on online platforms such as
4chan and Reddit, that encourage and incite violence against women.
These virtual public spaces are being utilized by the world of connected
individuals. Unlike physical spaces, women don’t always know all our
“friends" and “followers" on social media. So, often —depending upon
what is shared, commented or posted —women may be subjected to some
of the most abusive and viol ent reactions, called “trolls". Mahendra Singh
Dhoni’s wife Sakshi was subjected to filthy remarks and comments on
Twitter recently when she reacted strongly against information that had
been leaked from her husband’s Aadhaar application.
Thus, online viol ence against women violates their human rights and is
thus a barrier to the attainment of gender equality. Amnesty International
India recently launched a campaign to address the issue of online violence
faced by women in the country. It has been interview ing women who
express their opinions online, documenting their experiences of being
active on social media platforms and the violence they regularly face
online. At an event organised in New Delhi on April 24 2018 as part of
this campaign, Rana Ayyub, an a ward -winning writer and journalist,
shared how she had received rape and death threats on platforms like
Twitter and how, more often than not, her complaints to the platform fell
on deaf ears. Similarly student activists like Shehla Rashid and celebrities
like Swara Bhaskar have also faced an increased wave of abusive tweets
and online abuse because they are vocal about issues they feel strongly
about.
Abuse against women on Twitter and other platforms can also include
"doxxing" i.e revealing personal info rmation or details about someone, on
an online platform, without their consent. Rana Ayyub's address, phone
number, and an obscene video with her face morphed on it were shared
online. She feared for her safety and that of her family and filed a police
complaint. Thus, the violence women face in these virtual spaces has left
women feeling vulnerable, not empowered.
Kiruba Munusamy, an advocate in the Supreme Court of India, says that
the abuse and violence faced online is gendered. Especially if a woman is
from a minority religious, racial or ethnic background, disabled, lesbian,
bisexual or transgender. It gets even worse when the abuser finds out that
the person posting her picture or opinion belongs to a 'lower caste'.
Comments on a short dress turn into comments on a woman belonging to a
lower caste wearing them. Inspite of being a practising lawyer at the
Supreme Court, Munusamy was advised by some officials not to file a
case of online abuse that she faced on Facebook, and most of the
comments received on her profile were deleted without her consent.
In 2017, Amnesty International interviewed 4,000 women in eight
countries, including the UK and the US, and found that two -thirds of
women who experienced abuse or harassment on social media platforms
said that they felt a sense of powerlessness after experiencing online
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22 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
22 these online experiences made them feel their physical safety was
threatened.
A lot of times we think about online misog yny as being perpetrated more
by strangers, but people in our lives can and are perpetrators as well – the
stalker from your college, the work colleague who won’t stop calling and
texting, the person who sends you creepy messages on Facebook. These
may see m like tiny or subtle examples, but they add up fast over a
lifetime. They push women back, little by little, in a way that retreat from
the online world and platforms is less visible. The more visible a woman
is, more vicious the online violence.
4.3 WHY ARE WOMEN AND GIRLS TARGETED? Whilst women and girls suffer more offline, this is likely to be reflected
online.
• Technology may have the power to connect and empower, but it also
can reinforce and normalise gender roles and cultural customs. The
online w orld is not just a mirror image, but a “hall of mirrors” of the
offline world, reflecting and amplifying the positive and negative. For
women and girls, this mirror image often reflects a culture of
misogyny, marginalisation, and violence.
• Although digi tal technologies have the ability to empower, connect,
and liberalise, they can also serve as platforms for marginalisation and
exclusion. Constant abuse may cause the victim to opt out of online
use due to serious pressure on their emotional wellbeing, ca using
stress, depression, and anxiety. Online threats of physical abuse of
victims or their families are also common, causing fear for physical
safety.
Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women's
Association, who has been on the receiv ing end of rape threats and
misogyny, says that online violence needs to be taken seriously and it
often end in physical abuse, stalking and harassment and violence.
• In many places there are negative perceptions of women and girls
who use digital techno logies, with many reporting that their family
would feel uncomfortable with them owning a mobile. Women who
use mobile phones in private are often suspected of being unfaithful; a
girl posting a picture of herself on Facebook might be labelled
immoral and be excluded from a highly religious community. For
these reasons, women may not be permitted to use these technologies,
may chose not to due to safety and acceptance concerns, or may be
limited in their use, leading to more digital exclusion.

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23 Violence on Women in Virtual Spaces 4.4 WHAT THE LAW SAYS India already has laws that can be used to deal with online abuse. They
are:
4.4.1 Criminal Amendment Act 2013 :
1. Section 354A: demanding sexual favours/s howing pornography
against will , making sexually coloured remarks .
2. Section 354C: voyeurism and disseminating such informa tion
without consent.
3. Section 354D: cyberstalking, despite clear indication of disinterest, or
monitoring cyber activity.
4.4.2 Information Technology Act, 2008
1. Section 66C: identity theft
2. Section 66E: violation of privacy
3. Section 67: publicati on and transmission of obscene content
4. Section 67A: publication and transmission of sexually explicit
material.
5. Section 67B: publication and transmission of child pornography
6. Section 72: breach of privacy and publication of material without
consen t.
4.4.3 Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Bill, 2012
The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Amendment Bill,
2012 seeks to broaden the scope of the law to cover the audio -visual
media and content in electronic form, prescribing str ingent penalties which
would act as deterrent to violation of the law.
However this is easier said than done. The legal process is very slow and
time consuming. The online platforms also don’t take quick action on
complaints received. For example, a recent case in India showed Facebook
failing to take down photos of children with graphic descriptions of abuse
for over a year. Also reporting of online abuse can lead to victim -blaming
or the case trivialized. Mistrust of online platforms can lead women to
leave it completely.
Therefore, what needs attention is a better implementation of the laws.
This implementation needs to be coupled with non -legal measures to
address the structural inequalities that are part of the patriarchal notions of
morality. But wh at is a clear is that gender -based violence has and will
continue to follow women online as long as long as the world is tilted
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24 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
24 4.5 SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM A starting point to address this gender -based online abuse on online
platforms can be asking these platforms to start following their own
guidelines on "abuse and hateful conduct", which, as research has shown,
are flouted by the platforms themselves!
So are women again going to give up our public spaces to antisocial
elements? Shoul d women continue to behave like mute consumers or
become aware and act like responsible citizens? Just like in a physical
space, social media users should come together to protect other members
of the community. Women should come forward to reclaim and reo ccupy
their virtual public spaces.
In 2016, #Digital Hifazat was started by women as a campaign against
online gender abuse. The internet is a space of violence and also one of
empowerment. They online platform looks at ways in which women use
the internet to fight back against oppressive systems of power that seek to
limit their voice and expression. With this in mind, #Digital Hifazat
launched a series of 4 videos that answered the questions we had about
how women used the internet. The first video was a crowd sourced video
where 6 young women spoke about their experiences of the internet. This
was followed by women with disabilities, Dalit women and finally, queer
women talking about their challenges and victories in the online sphere.
Whilst the world is not free, fair, and equal, neither is online space. The
internet can create social inclusion as well as exclusion for women. Failure
to address online abuse will only serve to further slow down the digital
inclusion of women and girls, putting them at fur ther risk of exclusion
from enjoying digital dividends. In a world where the internet is not
friendly and inclusive, we reduce opportunities for innovation, open
discussion and empowerment. In the end, nobody wins.
4.6 SUMMARY Not only in the physical worl d, in the everyday society, but women
continue to be the victims in online spaces as well. The virtual world has
also not been the space to keep women free from becoming a victim.
social media is full of attacks on women on a daily basis. The number of
abusive and unwanted intruders and trolls has increased on social media
and women are losing their right to express themselves freely. We have
seen the growth of misogyny on online platforms such as 4chan and
Reddit, that encourage and incite violence agains t women.
4.7 QUESTIONS 1. Explain the condition of women in virtual space.
2. Explain the reasons why women are targeted in virtual spaces?
3. Explain the laws protecting women from becoming victims in Virtual
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25 Violence on Women in Virtual Spaces 4.8 REFERENCES  Claudia García -Moreno et al (2015), Addressing violence against
women: a call to action, Lancet, volume 385, number 9978, pp. 1685 –
95.
 Ghanim, David. 2012. ‘Gender violence: Theoretical overview,’ i n
Violence and Abuse in Society: Understanding a Global Crisis,
Angela Browne -Miller, ed., Santa Barbara: Praeger, vol. 1, 57 -67
 Giles, W., & Hyndman, J. (2004). Sites of Violence: Gender and
Conflict Zones: University of California Press.
 Gonsalves, Lina (2001). Women and Human Rights, New Delhi: APH
Publishing Corporation.
 ICRW and INCLEN (2000) Domestic Violence in India: A Summary
Report of a Multi -Site Household Survey. Washington, DC: ICRW.
 Menon, R., & Bhasin, K. (1998). Borders & Boundaries: Women i n
India’s Partition: Rutgers University Press.
 Singla, Pamela (2010).Women’s Rights and Gender -based Violence
in India —Issues and Challenges, The Journal of National Women’s
Education Center of Japan, Vol.14, March.

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26 UNIT II
5
GENDER GALAXY
Unit Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Gender Identities
5.3 Gender Galaxy – Limitless Possibilities
5.4 Summary
5.5 Questions
5.6 References and Further Readings
5.0 OBJECTIVES  To understand the complexities of gender identities
 To understand the inclusive notion of gender galaxy
5.1 INTRODUCTION Gender is often defined as a social construct of norms, behaviors and roles
that varies between societies and over time. Gender identity is one’s own
internal sense of self and their gender, whether that is man, woman,
neither or both. Unlike gender expression, gender identity is not outwardly
visible to others. For most people, gender identity aligns with the sex
assigned at birth, the American Psychological Associatio n notes. For
transgender people, gender identity differs in varying degrees from the sex
assigned at birth.
People tend to use the terms “sex” and “gender” interchangeably. But
while connected, the two terms are not equivalent. Generally, we assign a
newbo rn’s sex as either male or female based on the baby’s genitals. Once
a sex is assigned, we presume the child’s gender. For some people, this is
cause for little, if any, concern or further thought because their gender
aligns with gender -related ideas and a ssumptions associated with their sex.
Nevertheless, while gender may begin with the assignment of our sex, it
does not end there. A person’s gender is the complex interrelationship
between three dimensions: body, identity, and social gender.
While we are o ften taught that bodies have one of two forms of genitalia,
which are classified as “female” or “male,” there are Intersex traits that
demonstrate that sex exists across a continuum of possibilities. The
relationship between a person’s gender and their bod y goes beyond one’s
reproductive functions. Research in neurology, endocrinology, and cellular
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27 Gender Galaxy of gender. In fact, research increasingly points to our brains as playing a
key role in how we each experience our gender.
5.2 GENDER IDENTITIES Bodies themselves are also gendered in the context of cultural
expectations. Masculinity and femininity are equated with certain physical
attributes, labeling us as more or less a man/woman based on the degree to
which those attributes are present. This gendering of our bodies affects
how we feel about ourselves and how others perceive and interact with us.
Thus, gender identity is our internal experience and naming of our gender.
It can correspon d to or differ from the sex we were assigned at birth.
Understanding of our gender comes to most of us early in life. This core
aspect of one’s identity comes from within each of us. Gender identity is
an inherent aspect of a person’s make -up. Individuals do not choose their
gender, nor can they be made to change it. The two gender identities most
people are familiar with are boy and girl (or man and woman), and often
people think that these are the only two gender identities. This idea that
there are only two genders –and that everyone must be either one or the
other –is called the “Gender binary.” However, throughout human history
we know that many societies have seen, and continue to see, gender as a
spectrum, and not limited to just two possibilities.
While gender identity is our internal concept of our own gender, gender
expression is how we present our gender identity through our
appearance —including how we act or talk, what we wear, and how we
style our hair or makeup. How we express our gender may or m ay not
conform to what our families, friends, or society associate with our sex or
gender identity. As we grow up and get to know ourselves, each of us
tends to develop a personal sense and experience of our gender identity.
Some of us fall into a binary g ender category (male or female), while
others of us are somewhere in between (nonbinary) or do not feel
connected to either gender (agender). Those whose gender identities match
their sex assigned at birth are referred to as cisgender, while those whose
identities do not match their sex assigned at birth may identity as
transgender.
Check Your Progress:
1. Write a brief note on gender identities.

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28 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
28 5.3 GENDER GALAXY – LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES The constructed “naturalness” of a world made up of two sexes, two
genders, and heterosexual desire as the only legitimate desire has been
continuously questioned and challenged by those marginalized by these
norms. This forces us to ask some important questions: How is gender
really understood and constructed in the world that we inhabit? How does
it operate through the various socio -political -cultural structures around us?
And, most crucially, how is it lived?
Gender plays out in public and private institutions like the family,
educational institutions, work a nd public spaces. Indeed, there are specific
ways in which binary gender norms are woven into each arena and there
are multiple ways in which interlocking systems of heteronormativity,
casteism, class and ableism are enmeshed within patriarchy to create
exclusion, marginalization, pathologizing and violence.
Gender does not exist by itself. Apart from the gender which is assigned at
birth, it is also largely constructed. The rules for the same are passed on
through social interactions, institutions, situat ions and so on. With the
world around you telling you that you must be either this or that, there is
no space for anyone who does not confirm to this or that. Even with those
who do not contor in to gender binary , there is this constant pressure to
conform with either one of the gender binaries, or live in the constant fear
of repercussions. Gender, should be understood, not as an independently
existing identity but as one which works in tandem with one’s locations on
the basis of caste, class, sexual orientation, race, education and so on.
With evolving interpretations of human rights law suggest that third
gender recognition is gaining momentum. With regional courts in Latin
America and Europe already affirming that countries must allow citizens
to change their gender markers f rom female to male or vice versa, it seems
only a matter of time before an equally strong norm is established around
the right to a gender identity that is neither male nor female, or is both.
Gender markers sit within a field of contestation in which bure aucratic
systems of classification are at odds with the rich tapestry of human
experience.
Check Your Progress:
1. What is a ‘gender galaxy’?
Thus, the gender binary that exists is increasingly seen as being very
constraining and restricting. A m ore inclusive and liberal idea to think
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29 Gender Galaxy 5.6 QUESTIONS 1. Explain the concept of ‘gender binaries’.
2. Elaborate on ‘gender binaries’ and ‘gender non -binaries’.
3. How can gender galaxies be un derstood as being more gender
inclusive? Give examples.
5.6 REFERENCES  Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, February 15). gender
identity . Encyclopedia Britannica .
 Bornstein, K., & Bergman, S. B. (2010). Gender Outlaws: The Next
Generation: Basi c Books.
 Shah, C., Merchant, R., Mahajan, S., & Nevatia, S. (2015). No
Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy: Zubaan.
 Woods, S. (2016). Identifying as Transgender: Rosen Publishing.

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30 6
QUEER ACTIVISM
Unit Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Queer Identity
6.3 Queer Theory
6.4 Queer Activism in India
6.5 Summary
6.6 Questions
6.7 References and Further Readings
6.0 OBJECTIVES  To understand the significance of queer id entities
 To familiarize students with queer activism
6.1 INTRODUCTION Before we proceed to understand queer activism, we need to understand
what exactly in queer and what are the concept’s chief arguments. The
earliest recorded use of the word’ Queer’ as a form of homophobic abuse
is said to be an 1894 letter by John Sholto Douglas, the Marquess of
Queensberry. He was the father of Alfred Douglas and famously accused
Oscar Wilde of having an affair with his son. Queer in to time became a
derogatory term f or same -sex sex or for people with same sex attractions,
particularly ‘effeminate’ or ‘camp’ gay men.
Queer is an identity which stands on the other side of the hetero identity.
Queer was negatively used against those with same -sex desires or
relationship s in the late 19th century. Around late 1980s, queer scholars
and activists started reclaiming their identity as separate from the gay
political identity to establish their own distinct community.
Simultaneously, Queer identities became essential for those who shunned
the traditional gender identities and were looking for a broader, less
conformist, and deliberately ambiguous alternative to the label LGBT that
is lesbian, Gay, Bi -sexual and Transgender population. Now queer
feminism or Queer feminists are m ainly those who identify themselves as
a radical group in opposition to patriarchy.
Not only this they define feminism as an inclusion of queer people and
goes beyond LGBT and other gender/sexuality minorities. The term
‘queer’ is an umbrella term to incl ude both who are closeted and who are
public about their non -heterosexual inclinations to those who prefer to
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31 Queer Activism choose a label and name themselves’. Queer includes activism and protest
through art, literature, academic criticism and included too forge alliance
with any counter hegemonic project.
6.2 QUEER IDENTITY Queer identities are quite complex. Queer includes those who openly wear
sexual identities like lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and those who
use indigenous terms like hijras, kothis, panthis to describe themselves. In
addition to this, there are regional identities of sexual non -conformity,
such as jogappa and jogtas (Karnataka) and ganacharis (South India).
“Queer” o nly recently became a political term, yet people who used it
were very successful in mobilizing various signifiers around this concept.
Although there is a variety of topics and metaphors around which “queer”
was deployed in texts. The first act of redescr iption that informed the
recent history of the term came about when the abusive and diminishing
term “queer” became an empowering word. This act of redescription is a
powerful political act and it occurred on two levels, political praxis, and
theory. “Quee r” was applied to demonstrations that used performance and
play as political tools, and the term was also introduced in academic
discussions that used a new vocabulary of cultural critique that was not yet
present in political debates of the 1980s.
Thus, Q ueer is often used as an umbrella term to denote sexual identity
within a particular community. A queer community may be made up of
people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and so on.
Some find queer an easy way to describe such a large community.
Labeling people whose sexual identities fall outside of heterosexuality
may create solidarity among people based on commonality, which may in
turn encourage them to identify with one another and create a community
in which they find support and organize to initiate a political movement.
Besides sexuality, queer is also used to describe a particular gendered
community. This is a community made up of people who fall outside
society’s prescribed male/female and masculine/feminine dichotomies.
Their gender identities and the way they embody and perform gender do
not coincide with either the fixed biological notion of sex or societal
notions of gender. Queer communities may have political agendas; they
may fight to be accepted by heterosexist mainstrea m society or resist
assimilation into the heteronormative culture.x
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32 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
32 6.3 QUEER THEORY Since its conception, one of the defining characteristics of queer as a
critical scholarly and politica l perspective has been that it resists
definition. On the one hand, this reluctance towards precision reflects the
queer -theoretical position that clear -cut categorizations are problematic as
such. On the other hand, it is a strategy to maintain the dynami sm of the
perspective.
The relationship between queer theory and activism has not been
straightforward. The labelling of the work by Judith Butler, Eve Kosofsky
Sedgwick, and other poststructuralist thinkers on gender and sexuality as
“queer theory” was ap parently originally inspired by the activist
reclamation of the word, and students informed by Foucault’s concept of
power contributed as activists to the often aesthetically and conceptually
innovative forms of demonstrations. Nonetheless, the theorizatio n was
soon to be criticized for being too abstract and esoteric for application in
practical politics.
Women, including queer women remain invisible in our history as if they
never existed. Similarly, feminism too kept away queer feminism for the
longest p eriod as if they did not exist. Like feminism, queer feminism too
has feminisms within and it is not necessary that they match with each
other. Likewise queer theory too has multiple theories, several of which
contradict with each other. In fact, many quee r theorists refused to talk
about any theory as they believed that it is difficult to theorize ‘being
queer’. Queer theory has been criticized for being inaccessible and for
containing difficult words.
Queer theory is a theoretical approach that goes beyon d queer studies to
question the categories and assumptions on which current academic and
popular understandings are based. One of the main tenets of queer theory
is that their understanding of sex and sexuality, sexual identity and pretty
much everything a bout life is contextual - that is all their understanding is a
lived experience in different ways over time and across cultures. Queering
is the process of reversing and destabilizing heterosexuality as a norm.
Queer theory finds its roots in post structura lism and in deconstructionism.
Queer theory is also closely tied to the multicultural theory in sociology
and is integral to the rise of postmodern social theory. Hence in order to
understand the rise and development of the queer theory, one need to refer
to the work of Foucault, Derrida, Lacan and Butler who engaged in the
deep understanding and theorizing of queer theory.
Queer Theory critically examines the way power works to institutionalize
and legitimate certain forms and expressions of sexuality and gender while
stigmatizing others. Queer Theory followed the emergence and popularity
of Gay and Lesbian (now, LGBT or Queer) Studies in the academy. Often
considered the “deconstruction” of LGBT studies, Queer Theory
destabilizes sexual and gender identiti es allowing and encouraging
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33 Queer Activism that all sexual behaviors and gender expressions, all concepts linking such
to prescribed, associated identities, and their categorization into “normal”
or “deviant” sexualities or gender, are constructed socially and generate
modes of social meaning.
Queer theory argues that academics and activists rely on and reinforce
dichotomous notions of sex, gender, and sexuality within their work.
These binaries ma y be male/female, man/woman, masculine/feminine,
heterosexual/homosexual. Queer theory problematizes these binaries by
arguing that they reify difference and hierarchy and, as a consequence,
reinforce the notion of the minority as abnormal and inferior; fo r example,
homosexual desire as inferior to heterosexual desire, acts of femininity as
inferior to acts of masculinity.
Check Your Progress:
1. What is the focus of queer theory?
6.4 QUEER ACTIVISM IN INDIA: The first ever visible queer movement started in the year 1999, with the
gay pride in Kolkata. The queer movement in India focuses on sexual
identity and the rights of lesbian, bisexual, gays, transgender, kothi and
hijras and also work at a structural level whereby they challenge the norms
of heteropatriarchy which dictate the Indian society at large.
In fact, the queer movement in India developed around challenging the
existing laws, which criminalized same sex act and also those who identify
themselves with alternate sexuality. In India, th e entire queer movement
could be understood in two broad perspectives - the academic engagements
and in the activist engagement. Academic world aims to give us a history
of how the movement took shape over the years, developed and the
challenges that ‘queer ness’ as an identity and politics had to experience in
the face of a hetero -normative culture and even a stronger hetero -
normative sexual preferences.
Along with this the academic world flourished in its engagement with the
queer world with the help of va rious academicians, many of whom openly
identified themselves as either, gay, lesbian, and queer and those who
strongly believed in the queer ideology and showed their solidarity in
continuing the queer debate. The activist engagement has been very
vibrant at an organizational level and there are numerous LGBTQ
organizations in different parts of the country who not only provide
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34 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
34 own identity and how they relate to their social world but a lso help in
voicing concern at the state level and impact the decision of the state.
Check Your Progress:
1. Explain how queer theory resulted into queer activism.
6.5 SUMMARY Thus, queer theory is a call to transgress conventional understandings of
gender and sexuality and to disrupt the boundary that separates
heterosexuality from homosexuality. Instead, queer theorists argue that the
heterosexual -homosexual division must be challenged to open space for
the multiple identities, embodiments, and discourses that fall outside
assumed binaries. At this point in history, queer connotes a new meaning
and political commitment. Since the widespread emergence of biological
and social notions linked to sexuality and gender, queer has been used to
challenge the pervasive inequalities that stem from this recent historical
shift in constructions of heterosexuality and homosexuality. Although
queer has opened space for resistance, transnational research and debates
have also challenged it. Despite these challen ges, queer remains a concept,
form of activism, and theorizing that continues to push and disrupt
established boundaries and binaries.
6.6 QUESTIONS 1. How is queer feminism different from feminism?
2. Distinguish between feminist theory and queer theory .
3. Elaborate on queer activism in India.
6.7 REFERENCES  Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of
Identity. New York: Routledge, 1999. Print.
 Dave, N. N. (2012). Queer Activism in India: A Story in the
Anthropology of Ethics . Duke University Press.
 Hidalgo, D. Antoinette and Barber, Kristen (2017, January
23). queer . Encyclopedia Britannica .
 Walters, Suzanna Danuta. “Queer Theory.” World History
Encyclopedia, Alfred J. Andrea, ABC -CLIO, 2011. Credo Reference.
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35 7
SECTION 377
Unit Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 What is Section 377?
7.3 Natural v/s Unnatural Offences – A Debate
7.4 De-criminalization of Section 377 IPC
7.5 Summary
7.6 Questions
7.7 References and Further Readings
7.0. OBJECTI VES  To understand the historical context of Section 377 of IPC
 To familiarize students with its current legal/constitutional status
7.1 INTRODUCTION Some claims pertaining to sexuality need to be critically evaluated. These
claims are as follows:
a) Sex as natural and universal
b) Sex as a private matter
c) Sex as compulsorily heterosexual and linked with heterosexual
marriage
d) Notions of “normal” and “abnormal”/ deviant” sex
The popular belief persists that homosexuality is an aberration importe d
from modern Europe or medieval West Asia, and that it was non -existent
in ancient India. This is partly because same -sex love in South Asia is
seriously under -researched as compared to East Asia and even West Asia.
With a few exceptions, South Asian scho lars by and large ignore materials
on homosexuality or interpret them as heterosexual.
However, same -sex love and romantic friendship have flourished in India
in various forms, without any extended history of overt persecution. These
forms include invisibl e partnerships, highly visible romances, and
institutionalized rituals such as exchanging vows to create lifelong fictive
kinship that is honoured by both partners’ families. Like the erotic temple
sculptures at Khajuraho and Konark, ancient and medieval t exts constitute
irrefutable evidence that the whole range of sexual behaviour was known
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36 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
36 British nineteenth -century administrators and educationists imported their
generally anti -sex and specifically homophobic attitudes into India. U nder
colonial rule, what used to be a minority puritanical and homophobic
voice in India became mainstream. The new homophobia was made
overtly manifest by the British law of 1861, Section 377, Indian Penal
Code, in force in India till 2018, whereas homose xuality between
consenting adults was decriminalized in England in 1967. Section 377
penalizes ‘unnatural’ sexual acts with ‘imprisonment for life, or with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten
years, and shall also be liabl e to fine.’
7.2 WHAT IS SECTION 377? The British Colonial Rulers encircled the Indian Penal Code during the
nineteenth century. The entire code depended on the then existing British
laws and was full of inconveniences, one of which was Section 377. As
such, the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is an act that
criminalizes homosexuality and was introduced in the year 1861; it
referred to ‘unnatural offences’ and says whoever voluntarily has carnal
intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal,
shall be punished with imprisonment for life.
However, in a historic verdict, the Supreme Court of India on September
6, 2018, decriminalized the Section 377 of the IPC and allowed gay sex
among consenting adults in private. The SC ruled that consensual adult
gay sex is not a crime saying sexual orientation is natural and people have
no control over it.
This colonial -era law was first challenged by NGO Naz Foundation and
AIDS Bedhbhav Virodh Andolan, in the Delhi High Court in 2001.
Howev er, both the petitions were dismissed in the court. In July 2009, the
Delhi HC decriminalized sex between consenting adults of the same
gender, holding it in violation of Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution
of India. Article 14 of the IPC guarantees equality before the law, Article
15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place
of birth, and the Article 21 guarantees the protection of life and personal
liberty.
However, the HC’s judgement was overturned in 2013 by the SC who
found it to be “legally unsustainable.” The court also quashed the review
petition filed by Naz Foundation. The SC in 2014 directed the government
to declare transgender a ‘third gender’ and include them in the OBC quota.
In 2016, five petitions were filed in SC by LGBTQ activists claiming that
their “rights to sexuality, sexual autonomy, choice of sexual partner, life,
privacy, dignity and equality, along with the other fundamental rights
guaranteed under Part -III of Constitution, are violated by Sect ion 377.”
In August 2017, the SC had upheld the Right to Privacy as a fundamental
right under the Constitution. It also observed that “sexual orientation is an
essential attribute of privacy”. In July 2018, a five -judge Constitutional munotes.in

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37 Section 377 bench started hearing petitions challenging Section 377. On September 6,
2018, the apex court bench announced that consensual adult gay sex is not
a crime and article 14 and 21 of Indian Constitution contradict the present
view of Section 377.
Check Your Progress:
1. What is Section 377 of IPC?
7.3 NATURAL V/S UNNATURAL OFFENCES – A DEBATE The court’s decision overturned part of a 19th -century law introduced by
the British and known as Section 377 that made sex “against the order of
nature” a crime punishable by life in prison. (The law had been overturned
in 2009 but was reinstated in 2013.) While rarely enforced, Section 377
has had serious consequences for India’s LGBTQ community. The law
had left individuals open to harassment, beatings, and blackmail. Some
have b een forced into loveless, sexless marriages; other couples have run
away together or even died by joint suicide. There were even horrific
cases of what is called ‘corrective rape,’ in which lesbians were raped by
men with the intention of turning them into heterosexuals.
Despite the ruling by the SC in 2018, the society still does not accept the
homosexual sex as well as homosexual behaviour. Even today, being a
homosexual in India can mean being rejected by family, being ostracized
by the community and ev en facing violence.
In the studies done to explore the impact of the law on the mental well -
being of sexual minorities in India, it has always be found that the
perceived impact of Section 377 and the stress of concealing their true
selves led to increase d depressive symptoms and a diminished sense of
belonging. Something that has been so ‘natural’ to some people, was and
continues to be labelled as being ‘unnatural’ in a society obsessed with
gender binaries and heterosexuality.
The validity of heterosex ism is not just shared by the mainstream society,
even the doctors, psychologists, lawyers and law makers, etc. all seem to
be pre -occupied with such ideas and assumptions. Hence, this makes
homosexuality seem abnormal and undesirable, thus supported by th e
‘unnatural offence’ argument.

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38 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
38 Check Your Progress:
1. What is ‘unnatural’ about homosexuality in India?
7.4 DE -CRIMINALIZATION OF SECTION 377 IPC Section 377 was introduced by British India, modelled on the Buggery Act
of 1533. This section o f the Buggery Act was drafted by Thomas
Macaulay in 1838 and was brought into effect in 1860. It defined
‘buggery’ as an unnatural sexual act against the will of God and man, thus,
criminalizing anal penetration, bestiality and homosexuality, in a broader
sense.
Eventually, a five -judge Bench unanimously dismissed Section 377 of the
Indian Penal Code on 6 September 2018 to the extent that it criminalized
same -sex relationships between consenting adults. Now it is legally
permissible for LGBT people to enga ge in consensual intercourse. In
Section 377, the Court upheld provisions that criminalize on animals’ non -
consensual acts or sexual acts.
Issues raised in the case :
1. By engaging in unreasonable classification, does Section 377 infringe
the right to equa lity under Article 14 of the Constitution?
2. Does Section 377 infringe freedom of speech and expression
according to Article 19 of the Constitution?
3. Does Section 377 violate the right to privacy under Article 21 of the
Constitution and the right to lif e with dignity under it?
4. Is Section 377 prohibited by Article 15 of the Constitution in respect
of discrimination?
The judgment order of 6 September 2018 reads :
Section 377 was unanimously declared unconstitutional in so far as it
criminalized two adult s of the same sexual orientation having consensual
sexual intercourse and this is a matter of utmost privacy. The Court
depended on its ruling in the National Legal Services Authority v. Union
of India where it reiterated that “gender identity is intrinsic to one’s
personality and denying the same would violate one’s pride.”
If we segregate between the LGBT dependent on the ground that they
structure a minority of the population, their crucial right to security would
be violated. Something that two people w ith a place with the LGBT munotes.in

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39 Section 377 people group choose to do in private does not in any way hurt the “open
tolerability or ethical quality.” “The affection between consenting like -
minded adults is beyond the accurate interests of the state.”
Check your progress:
1. Why was Section 377 decriminalized?
7.5 SUMMARY Homosexuality refers to the interaction between persons of the same sex.
In many societies, homosexuality has been widely insulted as freak or
corrupt conduct, frames of view derived from philosop hical and religious
emotions about what practices are in keeping with nature and normal law.
Moreover, several cultures have explicit jobs from the beginning of time
for sensual love and sexual articulation between same -sex people.
Criminalizing carnal in tercourse under section 377 Indian penal code was
termed as irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary. Its
decriminalization has been hailed as a big victory and a definite step
towards inclusion of hybrid sexual identities.
7.6 QUESTIONS 1. State the consequences of Section 377.
2. What is the significance of decriminalizing Section 377?
7.7 REFERENCES  Kirpal, S. (2020). Sex and the Supreme Court: How the Law is
Upholding the Dignity of the Indian Citizen: Hachette India.
 Narayan, N. (2014). Fun damental Rights of Sexual Minorities and
Section 377 of IPC: A Need to Revisit the Provision in the Light of
Indeterminacy of the Definition of ‘Against the Order of Nature’: Lap
Lambert Academic Publishing GmbH KG.
 Vanita, Ruth, “Homosexuality in India: P ast and Present” (2002).
Global Humanities and Religions Faculty Publications.

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38 UNIT III
8
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: DEBATES ON
SURROGACY
Unit Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Definition and Meaning
8.3 Types of Surrogacy
8.4 India – A top destination for surrogacy
8.5 Reasons for surrogacy in India
8.6 A free choice under constraints
8.7 Becoming a surrogate
8.8 Surrogacy as labour
8.9 A monitored and closed environment
8.10 Conclusion
8.11 Summary
8.12 Questions
8.13 References
8.0 OBJECTIVES • To introduce you to the concept of Surrogacy
• To Understand the reasons why India is an international leader of
surrogacy
8.1 INTRODUCTION Since the 1980s, medicalization of child birth, advances in medicine have
made possible to overcome the problems of infertility through assisted
reproductive tec hnologies (ART) and since 1990’s through the use of
donors (for sperm, oocyte or embryo donation) and Surrogates. The
political guidance and the medical practices in relation to ART vary from
country to country.
Infertility is considered as a prevalent med ical problem in India. This
social pressure on women to bear children has enabled the rapid growth of
the “ART industry in India”, which has rapidly become an important
lucrative market and business.
Surrogacy as a new reproductive technology is a growing practice and a
burning issue on the transnational scene. The question of its legitimacy munotes.in

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39 Reproductive Health: Debates on Surrogacy gives rise to new controversies since it creates complex relationships
between rich people from the North and vulnerable women from the
South. However, the literature i n this area essentially tackles ethical,
medical, and family issues in Western countries. Very little is known
about Southern countries due to the paucity of empirical studies focusing
on them.
8.2 DEFINITION AND MEANING The word Surrogate is derived fro m the Latin word surrogate means
appointed to act in the place of. The English term surrogacy or surrogate
means Substitute or Replacement. In medical parlance, the term surrogacy
means using of a substitute mother in the place of natural mother. A
surroga te mother is one who lends her uterus to another couple so that
they can have a baby.
Surrogacy is a method of reproduction where by a woman agrees to
become pregnant and delivers a child for a contracted party. She may be
the child genetic mother (the tra ditional form of surrogacy) or she may act
as a gestational carrier to carry the pregnancy delivery often having been
implanted with a legal medical procedure.
8.3 SURROGACY CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO THE FOLLOWING FOUR TYPES 1. In Traditional Surrogacy which is also known as the straight method
the surrogate is pregnant with her own biological child, but this was
conceived with the intention of relinquishing the child to be raised by
others such as the biological father and his spouse. Sperm from the
male par tner of the commissioning couple may be used, or
alternatively sperm from a donor can be used.
2. In Gestational Surrogacy in other word Host Mother the Surrogate
becomes pregnant with embryo transfer with a child of which she is
not the biological mothe r. Because the child was conceived using egg
donation, sperm donation or is the result of donated embryo. The
surrogate mother may be called as gestational carrier.
3. Altruistic Surrogacy is a situation where the surrogate receives no
financial reward for her pregnancy or the relinquishment of the child
although usually all expenses related to the pregnancy and birth are
paid by the intended parents such as medical expenses, maternity and
other related expenses.
4. Commercial Surrogacy is a form of surroga cy in which gestational
carriers are paid to carry a child to maturity in her womb and is
usually restored to by higher income infertile couple who can afford
to cost involved or people who save and borrow in order to complete
their dream of being parents.
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40 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
40 8.4 INDIA – A TOP DESTINATION FOR SURROGACY As an important destination for “medical tourism”, India has become an
important destination in cross -border reproductive care, and an
international destination for surrogacy. Recently, this practice has spread
both locally a nd internationally, facilitated by the context of growing
globalization.
8.5 REASONS FOR SURROGACY IN INDIA • Lower cost of surrogacy arrangements
• High numbers of well -qualified physicians
• The important Indian diasporas all over the world who prefer to use
• Surrogacy in their native home/family country
• Availability of English -speakers
• Significant pool of reproductive workers
• Easy availability of working -class Indian women willing to be
surrogate
• Lack of clarity in Indian law that governs the practice of surrogacy
8.6 A FREE CHOICE UNDER CONSTRAINTS One important component of reproductive rights is the ability to take free
decisions concerning one’s reproductive life and body without suffering
violence and coercio n. This mainly concerns the right to decide whether or
not to have children, when, how and with whom, and the access and
availability of contraception. The act of making one’s body available for
someone else may raise the same issues from the perspective o f
reproductive rights. This may emerge as the right to dispose of one’s
reproductive body to have (bear) a child – or not – even if this child is for
other parents. Do women engage in the surrogacy process freely or are
they forced into doing so by authori ties, men, or family?
8.7 BECOMING A SURROGATE In India, surrogates are generally recruited through word of mouth: they
often have a friend, a family member or a neighbour who previously was
or still herself is a surrogate. Recruitment is also facilitated by formal and
informal surrogacy brokers or agents, employed by the surrogacy clinics
to recruit “desperate mothers”.
India has not escaped the global phenomenon of the feminization of
poverty. Men are considered as the breadwinners of the family, but the y
are no longer able to meet the needs of the family alone. Henceforth,
women have to work to supplement family income. The women who
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41 Reproductive Health: Debates on Surrogacy are generally uneducated and get casual work; they are sometimes
migrants, and they generally live in slum areas. Husbands of surrogates
are generally employed in informal or contract work, or not employed at
all. Therefore, the main motivations of Indian women for becoming
surrogates may be related to im mediate needs, paying debts, or buying a
house. Surrogacy may emerge as a “survival strategy”.
Nevertheless, the sample from the studies highlights that the majority of
the women engaged in surrogacy were not among the poorest women in
the area studied, an d that they had employment before surrogacy. The
“new opportunity” of surrogacy, leading to higher income in comparison
to their previous job, lured them to accept it. With their low level of
education and lack of employment prospects, they couldn’t hope t o find a
better opportunity to earn money.
Agents are generally previous surrogates, egg donors, or candidates who
were not selected to be surrogates. They are paid by the number of
surrogates they “recruit”. Surrogacy for Indian women appears as “the las t
decent resort to earn money”. According to Anne Donchin, becoming a
surrogate is a better option than being a prostitute or unemployed.
Although surrogates appear to be making a subjective free choice, without
coercion and violence, to enter into the sur rogacy process the fact that this
involvement is objectively motivated by financial constraints raises
questions about surrogacy as a free reproductive choice.
Controlled and supervised (reproductive) freedom Surrogacy is a
stigmatized practice in India, e specially for surrogates. Catholicism and
Islam do not permit surrogacy, but Hinduism, the main religion in India,
allows surrogacy. Surrogacy is also permitted according to Buddhist law.
Surrogacy is not accepted in India as work. Some feminists also arg ue that
neither surrogacy (nor prostitution) is a professional activity.
8.8 SURROGACY AS LABOUR Surrogacy is a new kind of labour as it is an activity, a “capacity to
produce and reproduce”, in order to earn money of the complex realities of
women’s expe rience. Further, by identifying commercial surrogacy as
labour, susceptible to exploitation like other forms of labour, and by
simultaneously recognizing the women as critical agents, we can
deconstruct the image of the victim that is inevitably evoked whe never
bodies of third -world women are in focus”
Engaging in what they consider to be a new form of wage labour,
surrogates develop certain strategies of resistance and valorisation of their
work. “These women create a discourse about surrogacy that remedi ates
the stigma attached to it, and they simultaneously resist the subordinate
position to which women are assigned in dominant discourses”
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42 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
42 8.9 A MONITORED AND CLOSED ENVIRONMENT A surrogacy agreement gives no decision -making power to the surrogate.
Its content is wholly decided and negotiated between the clinic and the
intended parents, and clearly indicates the decision -making powers of
physicians and intended parents during the entire surrogacy process. No
negotiation and no discussion are possible from surrogates regarding the
contract. “The surrogacy contract ensures that the decisions related to
pregnancy are made by the intended parents or physicians”.
During the whole surrogacy process and until the act of relinquishment,
surrogates are under the s upervision of someone. First of all, if surrogates
are married, the consent and signature of their husband is required, which
creates a first form of dependence and domination of their reproductive
body. At the same time, during the entirety of the surroga cy process, from
before pregnancy until delivery, they are under the supervision of
physicians or a medical team. Surrogates are “not consulted about their
place of stay, the medical procedures and the compensation appropriate
for this service”
Indeed, du ring the surrogacy process, the majority of surrogates stayed in
special houses, rented by the clinic. In cases where surrogates go home
during the pregnancy, then they are paid less.
Limiting women’s movement and behaviour and putting the woman’s
body und er permanent supervision may appear as a concrete manifestation
of control, as is the fact that there is no separation between work and
home. And the constant supervision exercised by medical staff highlights
a clear bio -power over both women and women’s b odies. The stay of
surrogates in special houses is analysed as a way to perform “perfect
mothers”. This permanent control may be a way to avoid medical
complications.
8.10 CONCLUSION In India, there is still a high rate of maternal mortality. Because of the
permanent domination and control of surrogates there is no decision -
making during the surrogacy process: “The asymmetric power relationship
within surrogacy hardly gives decision -making power to GMs [gestational
mothers”, i.e. surrogates] as compared t o the intended parents and medical
practitioners”. It is important here to highlight however that medical
power and domination is not specific to surrogacy: in India, as elsewhere,
medical power is generally exercised over the economically disadvantaged
and socially marginalized people.
8.11 SUMMARY Infertility is considered as a prevalent medical problem in India. This
social pressure on women to bear children has enabled the rapid growth of
the “ART industry in India”, which has rapidly become an importan t
lucrative market and business. munotes.in

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43 Reproductive Health: Debates on Surrogacy Surrogacy as a new reproductive technology is a growing practice and a
burning issue on the transnational scene. The question of its legitimacy
gives rise to new controversies since it creates complex relationships
between rich people from the North and vulnerable women from the
South. However, the literature in this area essentially tackles ethical,
medical, and family issues in Western countries. Very little is known
about Southern countries due to the paucity of empirica l studies focusing
on them.
8.12 QUESTIONS 1. Explain the concept of Surrogacy in detail.
2. Write a note on Surrogacy in India
8.13 REFERENCES  Surrogacy and legal framework by Akriti Shah.
 Surrogacy – law, Practice and Policy in India by Dr. Rekha Pahuja
 Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 along with the Assisted
Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021
 The surrogate by Ca nlle Millnes


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44 9
LIVELIHOOD STRUGGLES –
LAND & FORESTS
Unit Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Women’s Right to Land and Forests
9.3 Centrality of Women’s rights
9.4 Obstacles for women
9.5 Resistance
9.6 Constructive Changes
9.7 Conclusion
9.8 Summa ry
9.9 Questions
9.10 References
9.0 OBJECTIVES  To understand the livelihood struggles related to land and forests
 To understand the role of women in struggle for saving the
environment
9.1 INTRODUCTION Indian forests, blessed with diversity, were a sto re house of nutritious
foods including exotic fruits, some of which had medicinal value. In
addition, some forests were treasure troves of spice plants like curry
leaves, pepper and cinnamon. ‘But the British had only contempt for these
treasures of forest s. People’s dependence on their forest produce was for
them a nuisance, standing in the way of their design to devote these forest
lands to grow timber for their navy, their gun carriages, their railways,
their urban buildings. So, their laws had turned pe ople’s age -old
dependence on forests into legal offences’.
Forest resources being crucial for survival and central to the upkeep of
families, women predictably became natural stakeholders in regulations
regarding forest land and the area of utilization for forest dwellers. The
then existent survival system was hostile to the British rulers taking over
forest land. Women faced a sudden lack of access to the forest produce
and suffered loss of control over their primary role of feeding their
offsprings, leadi ng to harassment and despair. In the Garhwal Himalayas,
a British official wrote around the year of 1913 that ‘forest administration
consists for the most part in a running fight with the villagers’ munotes.in

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45 Livelihood Struggles – Land & Forests 9.2 WOMEN’S RIGHT TO LAND AND FORESTS There are two kin ds of thought in terms of women rights on natural
resources, one that talks about efficiency and welfare, other thought is the
women’s struggle for equality and social justice.
The first thought is neo liberal agenda whereas the struggle for equality,
dignity and social justice is the real struggle of women that should be the
prime agenda for women’s rights struggle on the natural resources. But the
context of rights of women living in forest area and that of settled
agriculture is not same. In forest, wom en are free, independent, common
linkages are much strong and there is less male domination. There are vast
resources and community control in forest thus social and community
control can be achieved more in the forest.
Women have been denied access to the resources both by state and by the
family since women were considered “property” and they were supposed
to perform only reproductive role to enhance family. The land reform
policies adopted by Indian Government, revenue laws and the personal
laws were bas ed on discrimination against, landless, cultivating women
agricultural force, women collecting Non Timber Forest Produce inside
forest. Women were neither recognized as “cultivators”, nor “gatherers” of
food. Hence no place was given to women in any of the land reform laws
or any other laws of forest to protect their social -political -economic rights
over livelihood resources. However it was for the first time any special
legislation “Forest Rights Act” has been enacted to protect the people and
forest resou rces by granting more control to communities but this
legislation also spells very little for women control at a large in the forest
area.
We have seen that naturally “Forest” is synonymous with “women” and so
as “women” with “forest”. Women spend almost 8 0 per cent of their time
in collecting fuel wood, fodder, grass, NTFP (Non Timber Forest Produce)
etc from the forest. They are more close to nature. We can see that in
various forest regions the sex ratio is higher and must be higher in
previous times als o as women were not totally dependent on families for
their food, they would depend on forest for food and livelihood for their
entire family. Women in forest were more independent as forest acted like
a big reserve of food security for them. But forest wo men also have been
enslaved after these resources were privatized by the state. Ramshakal, a
tribal from village Manbasa, Sonebhadra, UP says, that earlier when we
use to feel hungry our parents use to send us to forest but now when a
tribal child feels hu ngry he runs towards house. This simple statement is
very good analysis of how tribal economy was based on forest.
9.3 CENTRALITY OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS 1) If rights of land are not given:
a) It will create insecurity that can lead to inefficient productivity . munotes.in

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46 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
46 b) There will be restriction on women’s access to input and information.
2) If rights of land are given:
a) It will improve the position of women as farmers. Women will have
direct access to better inputs and information. It would motivate them
to adopt improved technology. All this will increase the agricultural
productivity and would increase the self -confidence of women
farmers.
b) It will improve the position of women as individuals. They will
become more assertive at home as well as outside home. T hey will be
in a better position to make demands in Government programmes of
health -care, education, etc. Owning land will improve support from
the family especially for widows and elderly women. They will be
treated as central and not marginal.
9.4 OBSTAC LES FOR WOMEN There are significant obstacles in giving rights of land to women. They
are as follows:
a) Unequal laws.
b) Discrepancies within laws.
c) Gap between legal rights and actual ownership due to family and
emotional pressure.
d) Illiteracy.
e) Reproductive role.
f) Restrictions on mobility and public interaction.
g) Marriage related mobility.
h) Male bias in Government policy.
9.5 RESISTANCE The depletion of forest has resulted adversely on the health of women and
of the entire tribal and forest people. It was in the forest only that
traditional health healers use to treat the ailments and illnesses with their
traditional knowledge but since the shift of forestry to commercial forestry
the traditional health practitioners also went into oblivion. The state
promoted commercial forestry in last six decades that completely changed
the ecology of the forest, such monocultures prevented the grass, shrubs,
herbs to grow naturally. In other words the monocultures have destroyed
entire biodiversity, flora and fauna of various regions.
For women, the resistance is less for ecological and more for economic
reasons. It is for their survival. The soapstone and magnesite mining in the
Almora and Pithoragarh districts of the Kumaon hills, leading to the munotes.in

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47 Livelihood Struggles – Land & Forests degradat ion of common forest and pasture land, significantly reduced
access of local women to fuel wood, fodder and water. Social activists did
not have to work hard to draw women into the struggle through sangarsh
samitis (resistance committees) in affected areas to protest the activities of
commercial mining. It is because their own domain is most adversely hit
by degradation of forest land that women participated and played a leading
role in sit -ins and hunger strike to persuade the mining labourers to go on
strike. Hill women of Gopeshwar (1978) and Bhyudar Valley in Dongary
Patoli (1980) in Uttarakhand (inspired by the 27 women of Reni village of
Chamoli district who stood their ground, hugging trees for three days in
March 1974, while their menfolk were tricke d into going to Chamoli town
to collect compensation for land acquired by the army) did not merely
protest destruction of forest wealth but staked claim for equal rights in
forest management. The ‘Chipko’ movement of the 1970s, spearheaded by
a 40-year-old widow Gaura Devi of village Reni, Chamoli (Uttarakhand)
and the Narmada controversy of the 1990s over the Sardar Sarovar project
shall only prove to be forerunners of larger movements that are yet to
come.
9.6 CONSTRUCTIVE CHANGES Certain constructive ch anges are essential in order to give women
their rights. They are as follows:
a) Gender perspective in Planning.
b) Change in laws.
c) Legal literacy.
d) Change in social attitudes, norms and perceptions.
e) Institutional changes such as individual owners hip of land or
collaborating with other women such as purchasing land jointly,
owning it individually and farming it collectively.
f) Planting trees on degraded land as a part of waste -land management.
g) Collective action from Government, political partie s and NGOs.
9.7 CONCLUSION The women should be recognized as the ‘collector’, gatherer, peasant,
protector, and producer and accordingly various schemes should be linked
with her development and special programmes should be incorporated for
the developmen t of her children also. One very important component is
education that is based on their knowledge system and enhancement of
their traditional knowledge.
These land reform legislations and forest laws should also incorporate
very important component that s hould be linked with traditional health
system and should be part of these legislation. Women should be specially
trained in this and should encourage becoming para health medical
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48 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
48 9.8 SUMMARY Indian forests, blessed with diversity, were a sto re house of nutritious
foods including exotic fruits, some of which had medicinal value. In
addition, some forests were treasure troves of spice plants like curry
leaves, pepper and cinnamon. ‘But the British had only contempt for these
treasures of forest s. People’s dependence on their forest produce was for
them a nuisance, standing in the way of their design to devote these forest
lands to grow timber for their navy, their gun carriages, their railways,
their urban buildings. So, their laws had turned pe ople’s age -old
dependence on forests into legal offences’.
Forest resources being crucial for survival and cen tral to the upkeep of
families, women predictably became natural stakeholders in regulations
regarding forest land and the area of utilization for forest dwellers. There
are two kinds of thought in terms of women rights on natural resources,
one that talks about efficiency and welfare, other thought is the women’s
struggle for equality and social justice.
9.9 QUESTIONS 1. Explain women struggle for livelihood in saving land and forest.
9.10 REFERENCES  Land, la bour and l ivelihood – Indian women ’s perspectives by
Palgrave macmillan
 Women Reclaimins su stainable livelihoods – spaces lost, spaces
Gained – Palgrave macmillan
 Breakins Paths, sto ries of women who dared by Meera Khanna.


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49 10
LEGISLATION – A FEMINIST CRITIQUE
(RAPE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE)
Unit Structure
10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Feminist critique of rape
10.3 Feminist critique of domestic violence
10.4 Summary
10.5 Questions
10.6 References
10.0 OBJECTIVES  To understand the feminist critique towards the existing rape laws
 To learn about the feminist critique with reference to the domestic
violence acts.
10.1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter the discussion is on understanding the existing laws and re
reading the m from the perspective of feminist. This practice is essential as
it helps to look into the loop holes in the laws. This could improve the
laws and play a role in improving it. This chapter would be very much
useful for you as students of gender studies an d even help you gain some
perspective.
Meaning of Legislation:
Legislation is the formal process of creating laws by a governing body,
like local, state or larger bodies such as a parliament. This process
involves proposing, drafting, discussing, and ena cting laws. It is a crucial
aspect of democratic societies because it enables citizens to participate in
the development of laws that govern their lives. Legislation can take
different forms, such as statutes, regulations, bylaws, and ordinances, and
it ca n cover various topics, including taxes, healthcare, education, the
environment, and civil rights.
Meaning of Feminist Critique:
Examining and evaluating social, cultural, political, and economic issues
from a feminist perspective is known as feminist cri tique. This strategy
aims to pinpoint and combat the ways that patriarchal ideals and gender
inequality are supported in various spheres of society. Analyzing and
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50 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
50 women and other mar ginalised groups are common components of
feminist critique. Several disciplines, including literature, the arts, movies,
politics, and economics, among others, are subject to feminist criticism. It
frequently involves challenging conventional beliefs and values,
investigating the viewpoints and experiences of women, and promoting
changes in society and politics to address the problem of gender
inequality. Generally, feminist critique tries to question gender norms and
stereotypes, advocate for equality, an d bring attention to gender -based
injustices.
10.2 FEMINIST CRITIQUE ON RAPE Before understanding about the feminist critique on rape, firstly let us look
into the basics like the definition of rape.
Definition of Rape according to 375 Indian penal code
Rape — A man is said to commit “rape” if he —
(a) penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or
anus of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person;
or
(b) inserts, to any extent, any object or a part of the body, not being the
penis, into the vagina, the urethra or anus of a woman or makes her to
do so with him or any other person; or
(c) manipulates any part of the body of a woman so as to cause
penetration into the vagina, urethra, anus or any part of body of s uch
woman or makes her to do so with him or any other person; or
(d) applies his mouth to the vagina, anus, urethra of a woman or makes
her to do so with him or any other person,
under the circumstances falling under any of the following seven
description s:
First. Against her will.
Secondly . Without her consent.
Thirdly . With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting
her or any person in whom she is interested, in fear of death or of hurt.
Fourthly. With her consent, when the man knows tha t he is not her
husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is
another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married.
Fifthly. With her consent when, at the time of giving such consent, by
reason of unsoundness of min d or intoxication or the administration by
him personally or through another of any stupefying or unwholesome
substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that
to which she gives consent. munotes.in

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51 Legislation – A Feminist Critique (Rape and Domestic Violence) Sixthly. With or without her consent, when she is under eighteen years of
age.
Seventhly . When she is unable to communicate consent.
Explanation 1. For the purposes of this section, “vagina” shall also
include labia majora.
Explanation 2. Consent means an unequivocal voluntary agreement when
the wo man by words, gestures or any form of verbal or non -verbal
communication, communicates willingness to participate in the specific
sexual act:
Provided that a woman who does not physically resist to the act of
penetration shall not by the reason only of tha t fact, be regarded as
consenting to the sexual activity.
Exception 1. A medical procedure or intervention shall not constitute rape.
Exception 2. Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own
wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, i s not rape. One can
observe that here this line conflicts with the POSCO ACT.
Review of Exception 2 - The IPC provision and the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012, respectively, and claimed that
both provisions were in conflict. A ccording to the POCSO provision,
having a physical relationship with a minor is prohibited it also includes
relationships between a man and his underage wife. Hence, we can
observe that there is a conflict in this case.
Critique of Rape Laws:
According t o the 2019 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act,
crimes committed against transgender people are punishable. For instance,
the person involved is punished with a minimum of six months and a
maximum of two years in prison as well as a fine are the penalties for the
physical and sexual abuse of transgender persons.
On the other hand, Men who are found guilty of raping a woman, face
mandatory minimum prison terms of 10 years and maximum sentences of
life. The death sentence may also be applied when a woman is left in a
vegetative state, when the criminal commits the same crime twice, or
when a girl under the age of 12 is raped.
Lighter sentences, according to transgender activists, send the message to
society that transgender people’s lives aren’t val uable enough to be
protected, making them more susceptible to attack. One of India’s first
transgender judges, Swati Bidhan Baruah, noted that the stark disparity
between the punishment for rape and that for sexually abusing a
transgender person is just an other example their needs to laws made for
them. The argument here is that all genders are human and hence they
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52 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
52 As explained above the current rape law doesn’t take into account the
transgender as the defini tion of rape has the usage of man and woman. For
example the law defines rape as - A man is said to commit “rape” if he —
(a) penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or
anus of a woman or makes her to do so with him or any othe r person.
While the POSCO Act (Act for protection minor i.e., child below the age
of 18) views Children irrespective of gender, i.e., its gender neutral.
Hence, there needs to strict rape laws which focusses on all genders.
Another argument is that the socioeconomic patriarchal mechanisms that
support and sustain violence against women need to be reworked. It is
insufficient to merely impose the death penalty or increase the number of
executions, and lengthen jail terms policies focusing on gender sensit ive.
At the grass root level changing the mindset is important. Let it be in
village level and at home level. Right education and discussion are some
of the paths towards it. The media should also be used constructively so
that they reduce in objectifying the women.
Check Your Progress
1. The POSCO Act is connected to whom?
2. Does the marital rape is recognized by the existing rape laws of 375 –
comment.
The above image is taken from National Crime records bureau of 2020. It
shows the number of cases reported against women and the conviction.
This shows how though the convicted cases by the time it reaches the
courts is less as it reduces due to several factors.
It is observed that there are instances where rape has been committed by
someone who is known often like relatives. Yet, its not reported by the
family due to multiple reasons. In such cases, laws have very limited role
to be applied. Due to social stigma, lack of support from the family.
Hence, just having a law in place is no t often enough to solve the problem.
There is also large number of pending cases. Hence the two -month
window period for solving a rape case is being made. (As the author of munotes.in

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53 Legislation – A Feminist Critique (Rape and Domestic Violence) this chapter could not find any statistics to see how much the
implementation has happened as the 2 -month window has been recently
added). A detailed view of the national statistics data for crime against
women also shows that cases from last year are carry forward which again
portrays the backlog.
Martial rape :
Martial rape is rape wh ich happens within the close doors of the house.
The discussion about marital rape is very minimal. Infact, it has not been
acknowledged by law since long. It is in the recent verdicts one can find
some discussion about it. There are several instances whe re the court has
given verdict like granted divorce when there is martial rape,
(unconsented) or intervened when there is abortion needed by the female
due to unconsent sex from the husband. However, in both the instances the
solution was seen not punishin g but solving the issues (week article).
10.3 FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Before learning about Feminist critique on Domestic violence let us learn
about the domestic Violence Act.
Domestic Violence:
Any act of violence or abuse, including m ental, physical, and sexual
abuse, that takes place in a domestic setting, such as a marriage or
cohabiting relationship, is referred to as “domestic violence.” Another
common word for domestic violence is “intimate partner violence.” This
problem is more prevalent in India than it is in other countries due to
cultural conventions such as dowry, male dominance, and joint family
arrangements. As a result, these factors raise the possibility that women
will experience domestic violence. Women commonly experie nce abuse
from both the husband and his family when dowry is anticipated but not
given, or when the amount given is insufficient or during conflicts and
several other reasons. One of the important acts is the Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 let us look into it in detail.
Some important points related to the Domestic Violence Act has been
discussed here as the Act is itself has lot of sub points. You can read more
about Domestic violence Act at India code website.
Protection of Women fr om Domestic Violence Act, 2005:
(1) This Act may be called the Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005.
(2) It extends to the whole of India .
(3) It shall come into force on such date2 as the Central Government may,
by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
An “aggrieved person” is defined as any woman who is or has been in a
domestic relationship with the respondent and who alleges to have been
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54 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
54 2(a) of the DV Act. As a result, any woman who is or has ever been in a
domestic relationship is qualified to file a complaint under the Act’s
provisions. It is not essential for the petitioner and respondent to have
resided or have lived together for a specific a mount of time in order for
there to have been a relationship. So, a woman’s request for maintenance
from a male she had a close relationship with is maintainable. Palani, v.
Meenakshi, 2008 SCC Online Mad 150.
Section 498A:
Husband or relative of husba nd of a woman subjecting her to cruelty.
1[Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman,
subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a
term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine .
Explanation. —For the purposes of this section, “cruelty means” —
(a) any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the
woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life,
limb or health (whether mental or physical) o f the woman; or
(b) harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to
coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful
demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of
failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.]
Critique:
The Transgender and the LGBTQ community faces violence at home as
well as outside the home. As the definition of the Domestic violence Act
only specifies the aggrieved person as Women, through the act it excludes
the non -binary groups and other genders who are marginalized like
transgender, LGBTQ+ community. This in a way is denial of rights as
human.
There are other problems like when there are reports of domestic abuse,
the police frequently use discretion to avoid makin g an arrest. Policies for
domestic “disputes” in many police stations explicitly discourage arrest,
focusing instead on solutions like inviting the abuser to the station for
“conciliation,” among other tactics.
Another problem is that public prosecutors fr equently give up on cases of
domestic abuse covered by Sec. 498A because the accusing parties
frequently become hostile and agree to withdraw the accusations. For
those found guilty of domestic abuse, sentences are frequently less severe.
As a result of th ese procedures, domestic violence cases have a greater
prosecution dismissal rate than other violence cases, and they also receive
less severe punishments.
In both the Domestic Violence Act 2005 and Sec 498 A. the punishment is
three years or more. Feminis ts feel that the punishment is insufficient. As
the impact in the life of a woman is larger due to the violence upon her. munotes.in

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55 Legislation – A Feminist Critique (Rape and Domestic Violence) The justice system must respond to domestic violence in a coordinated and
systemic manner. Although though Sec. 498A is one of the mos t important
criminal law changes protecting women’s rights, this change is
insufficient. Ultimately, we must keep in mind that criminal legislation is
a blunt instrument because it is very challenging to alter police culture.
Even though domestic violence against women is considered an offence
by the law, the police may still choose not to follow the law and may not
effectively enforce it. Hence, it is essential that we implement a new
model of policing - the victim empowerment - in order to advance towards
the effective operation of Sec. 498A and other criminal law remedies. In
addition to intensifying efforts to improve policing, to have a better civil
law which takes the domestic violence into consideration is needed.
Check Your Progress
1. Explain Domes tic violence
2. List out some of the Acts connected to Domestic Violence?
10.4 SUMMARY In this chapter we learn about how the existing definitions of rape or that
of domestic violence and we saw how these laws exclude the non -binary
groups and there by excluding a large section of people. The data through
the National Crime Bureau of India also shows how the cases reaching till
the court is very less and the time taken to solve the case is also lengthy.
Hence, there needs to measures which needs to work at grass root level too
as viewed by feminists.
10.5 QUESTIONS 1. Discuss the feminist critique on rape
2. Explain the feminist critique on domestic violence.
10.6 REFERENCES  https://www.britannica.com/topic/legislation -politics/The -legislativ e-
process munotes.in

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56 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
56  https://indianexpress.com/article/india/marital -rape-not-penal -
offence -parliament -debated -it-says-supreme -court -4789601/
 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/08/india/india -transgender -rape-laws-
intl-hnk-dst/index.html
 https://www.insightsonindia.com/ 2022/11/08/the -protection -of-
children -from -sexual -offences -pocso -
act/#:~:text=Salient%20features%3A,under%20the%20age%20of%2
018.
 https://ncrb.gov.in/en/search/node/rape National Crime Records
Bureau.
 https://www.hindustantimes.com/india -news/52 -of-gay-men-in-india -
without -peer-support -suffer -violence -survey/story -
HKOutVLK7YbIieafqsTrwL.html
 https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2020/07/27/law -on-domestic -
violence -protection -of-women -from -domestic -violence -act-2005/
 https://www.scmp.com/week -asia/people/artic le/3090851/indias -
lgbtq -community -face-domestic -violence -and-pressure -convert


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57 UNIT IV
11
WHY LOITER?
Unit Structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Understanding Why Loiter movement
11.2 Solution offered by Why Loiter movement
11.3 Summary
11.4 Questions
11.5 References
11.0 OBJECTIVES  To learn about the Why loiter movement
 To un derstand the public spaces and the uses by women.
 To learn the importance of why loiter.
11.1 UNDERSTANDING WHY LOITER MOVEMENT This chapter discusses about the why loiter movement which is based on
the book Why Loiter. The movement emerges through the book; and it
became popular through social media by collective action.
The “Why Loiter?” movement was initiated by Neha Singh in May 2014
who had read the book “Why Loiter? – Women and Risk on Mumbai
Streets” published in 2011 by Shilpa Phadke, Sameera K han, Shilpa
Ranade. Presenting an original take on women’s safety in the cities of
twenty -first century India. The movement operates on the principle of
reclaim the places by loitering on them and aims to normalize the sight of
women “doing nothing” in pub lic spaces by loitering in them during the
day and at night, either on foot or by cycle, in small and large groups. The
movement has spread to other Indian cities such as Jaipur, Delhi, and
Aligarh. The movement has also gained support from large women, wi th
hundreds of photos and posts submitted online. There is also a blog
whyloiter.blogspot.in which has a large viewer from around the world.
The “Why Loiter” movement is a initiative that promotes women’s
entitlement to occupy public areas without any fear or harassment. This
campaign originated in Mumbai, India, and has extended to other cities in
India and around the world. The movement inspires women to reclaim
public areas and take part in activities that are typically considered male -
oriented, such as loitering, strolling, and mingling in public places. The
objective of the campaign is to question the gender -based conventions and munotes.in

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58 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
58 assumptions that limit women’s movement and access to public spaces
and to establish public spaces that are more secure and i nclusive for
everyone.
The Why Loiter campaign is an online movement in India that aims to
challenge the gendered expectations and stereotypes surrounding public
spaces. The campaign encourages women to reclaim their right to public
spaces and engage in ac tivities such as loitering without the fear of
harassment or judgement. It aims to shift the responsibility for safety from
the victim to the perpetrator and promote the idea that women have the
right to enjoy public spaces without being subject to violenc e or
harassment.
The campaign has sparked important conversations about gender relations
and the nature of public space in India, and it has been successful in
creating safe spaces for women to gather and engage in activities. The
movement has also led to policy changes such as the installation of more
streetlights and the establishment of women -only police stations.
However, the campaign faces opposition from those who believe that
women should not challenge traditional gender roles.
The Why Loiter campaig n is an important example of how grassroots
movements can challenge social norms and empower women. It aims to
create a more inclusive and safer public space for all genders, emphasizing
that gendered violence and harassment are not inevitable and should n ot
be accepted as a normal part of life.
The Why Loiter movement in India challenges gendered expectations and
norms regarding public spaces. It advocates for women’s right to occupy
public spaces without fear or judgment, and to engage in activities such as
loitering. The campaign aims to change the dominant narrative that
women should not be in public spaces, especially at night, and to shift the
responsibility for safety from the victim to the perpetrator.
The campaign highlights that safety and enjoymen t of public spaces
should be accessible to all, and that gendered violence and harassment are
not acceptable. It has sparked important conversations about safety,
gender relations, and the nature of public space in India, and has created
safer spaces for w omen to gather and engage in activities.
Even today female continues to face opposition from those who uphold
traditional gender roles. The Why Loiter campaign is an example of how
grassroots movements can challenge social norms and bring about change,
empowering women and creating a more inclusive and safe public space
for all genders.
The Why Loiter campaign has initiated significant changes in public
policies and norms in India. It has helped to create a space for women to
enjoy and inhabit public spaces without fear of harassment, and to
challenge traditional gender roles that restrict women’s mobility and
access to public spaces. The campaign has also been successful in bringing munotes.in

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59 Why Loiter? important issues related to gender, safety, and public space to the forefro nt
of public discourse in India and beyond.
In addition to creating safe spaces for women, the Why Loiter campaign
has also worked to educate and raise awareness about the importance of
women’s right to public space. By highlighting the fact that women hav e a
fundamental right to occupy and enjoy public spaces, the campaign has
helped to challenge the dominant narrative that women are responsible for
their own safety and should therefore avoid public spaces.
Overall, the Why Loiter campaign has made signifi cant strides in creating
a more inclusive and safe public space for women in India, and has
inspired similar movements in other parts of the world. It has
demonstrated the power of grassroots movements in challenging social
norms and bringing about change, and serves as an important example of
the ongoing struggle for gender equality and justice.
The right to loiter is a fundamental and unconditional right for women,
just like it is for men. For far too long, we have been using justifications
like education , employment, and shopping to explain women’s presence in
public spaces. But the right to loiter affirms that women can be in public
spaces, during the day or night, for work or pleasure, alone or with others,
and wearing whatever clothes they choose, with out fear of physical,
sexual, or psychological violence. It is a direct challenge to victim -
blaming, where women are often held responsible for violence against
them in public spaces.
Loitering as a sustained, long -term, and peaceful resistance is also a w ay
to normalize women’s visibility in public spaces and challenge norms of
respectability, safety, and reason. This will create far -reaching effects on
women’s physical safety, social, physical, cognitive, and economic
growth. It will also change societal perceptions of women in public
spaces, eradicating victim -blaming and self -blaming. Additionally, it will
push the state to create infrastructure that supports women’s accessibility
and safety in public spaces, including street lights, public toilets, help lines,
patrolling, and more.
The right to loiter is part of a larger spectrum of rights, including basic
sanitation, reproductive rights, and the fight against domestic violence. All
of these rights seek to ensure that women are treated as individuals with
equal social, economic, and political opportunities. The right to loiter is
based on the pleasure principle, which is the most basic and yet the most
evolved way of achieving equality in society. It forces society to see
women as evolved, creative, free -spirited, inspirational, adventurous, and
productive beings who demand that their cities, villages, and towns belong
to them in every respect, unconditionally, as they belong to men. Through
making women invisible in public spaces, society is not making the m safer
but rather making public spaces even more dangerous for them.
When society views women as wholesome beings occupying 50% of all
spaces, they will also be open and accepting of women’s right to
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60 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
60 tendency to view women’s presence in public spaces as a risk is not a
solution. Rather, it makes women invisible in public spaces, thereby
making those spaces even more dangerous for women.
Check Your Progress
1. Through which book Wh y loiter movement began .
2. Who started the why loiter movement?
11.2 SOLUTION OFFERED BY WHY LOITER The Why Loiter campaign advocates for a different approach to creating
safer public spaces for women. Rather than imposing strict contr ols and
regulations on public spaces in the name of safety, the campaign argues
that the key is to occupy and enliven public spaces with large numbers of
people, including women and other marginalized groups. By doing so, the
campaign contends, these space s can become more welcoming and safer
for everyone, including men, children, transgender individuals, religious
minorities, and people with disabilities.
The campaign points to examples such as Shivaji Park in Mumbai, which
is open, accessible, and always occupied by large numbers of people,
making it one of the safest public spaces in the city for women. In
contrast, spaces that are strictly controlled and privatized, such as Oval
Maidan in Mumbai, tend to be less welcoming to women and other
marginalized groups. As a result, very few women are seen as loitering
there.
Privatization of spaces and denial of access to certain sections of society
makes spaces dangerous for women. Another case in point, after the
hawkers and book sellers were removed from the fort area of South
Bombay, the area became desolate and dangerous for women, who earlier
would stroll around till late browsing through books, eating pani puri and
chatting on the roads, safe because of the sheer numbers of hawkers and
food stalls.
Why Loi ter? believes that the only way to make spaces safe is to access
the right to risk, in large numbers, and occupy these spaces during day and munotes.in

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61 Why Loiter? night, thus making it accessible and safe for the entire society, and
normalize women’s and other minorities’ prese nce in these spaces.
The very act of loitering in public spaces that are free and open to all
creates a gradual change in the minds of all that are watching, irrespective
of class/caste/religion and inspires others to do the same.
The Why Loiter campaign a rgues that creating safer public spaces requires
allowing for risk and promoting the right to loiter in public spaces. By
occupying public spaces in large numbers, women and other marginalized
groups can normalize their presence and gradually change social attitudes
towards their right to be in public spaces. The campaign believes that this
approach is more effective than attempting to regulate or exclude certain
groups from public spaces in the name of safety. A journalist in Pakistan
started similar movem ent called Girls at Dhaba.
Check Your Progress
1. According to you how can we make public spaces more accessible for
women .
2. Discuss oval maidan infra structural complexity for women .
Why Loiter today after the book:
There is growing awareness of the re lationship between women and the
city, but actual action to address systemic issues of exclusion is often
limited to visible projects like hostels for working women. Gender -
sensitive planning is often just a lip service to meet development goals or
for goo d public relations. Furthermore, the author argues that even when
there is a recognition of the need for gender -sensitive planning and
policymaking, the actual implementation of such policies is often
inadequate. This is because there is a lack of politica l will and
commitment to truly address the systemic issues of exclusion faced by
women in the city. Instead, efforts tend to focus on quick -fix solutions that
are easier to implement and can be showcased as achievements, rather
than addressing the root cau ses of gender -based discrimination.
While there is an increasing recognition of the need for gender -sensitive
planning and policymaking in cities, there is still a long way to go in terms munotes.in

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62 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
62 of actual implementation and addressing the systemic issues of exclu sion
faced by women. It is essential that policymakers and planners adopt a
more comprehensive and long -term approach to address these issues,
rather than focusing on quick -fix solutions that do little to address the root
causes of gender -based discriminat ion in cities.
11.3 SUMMARY The Why Loiter movement was started by Neha singh after reading the
book why loiter written by Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan, Shilpa Ranade
which presents a realistic picture of women in cities.
The “Why Loiter” movement aims to challenge societal norms and change
perceptions of women’s right to occupy public spaces. It advocates for
women’s unconditional and uninhibited presence in public spaces, both
during the day and at night, for work or for pleasure, alone or in a group,
regardless of their appearance or behavior. The movement seeks to
normalize women’s visibility in public spaces, break norms of
respectability, and eradicate victim blaming. It also calls for the creation
of infrastructure that supports women’s accessibility and safety in public
spaces, such as street lights, public toilets, helplines, and patrolling. The
movement believes that by pushing the envelope of society and making
women more visible in public spaces, women will be seen as evolved,
creative, free -spirited, inspirational, adventurous, intelligent, and
productive beings, and will be granted equal social, economic, and
political opportunities.
11.4 QUESTIONS 1. Discuss the Why loiter movement?
2. Write a note on the solution provided by the Why Loiter mo vement.
3. Discuss the impact of the Why loiter movement?
11.5 REFERENCES  Phadke, S., Khan, S., & Ranade, S. (2011). Why loiter?: Women and
risk on Mumbai streets . Penguin Books India.
 https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/art -culture/the -team -of-
why-loiter -is-bucking -gender -norms -one-antakshri -session -at-a-time-
101661185500085.html#:~:text=Activist%2Dauthor%20Neha%20Sin
gh%20started,heard%20about%20her%20movement%20online .
 https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/campaign -promotes -a-womans -
right -to-loiter -on-streets/ munotes.in

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63 Why Loiter?  https://www.thehansindia.com/featured/sunday -hans/why -loiter -the-
book -talks -about -women -access -and-their-need -to-reclaim -public -
spaces -587967
 https://lifestyle.livemint.com/news/big -story/are -women -free-to-
loiter -on-the-streets -of-india -in-2021 -111611755118550.html

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64 12
RIGHT TO BLEED
Unit Structure
12.0 Objectives
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Right to bleed
12.3 Menstrual Hygiene Scheme in India
12.4 Happy to bleed campaign
12.5 Summary
12.6 Questions
12.7 References
12.0 OBJECTIVES  To learn about the right to bl eed campaign
 To understand the conditions of female and health
12.1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter we are going to learn about Right to bleed. The “Right to
Bleed” movement is focused on achieving menstrual equity, which means
ensuring that all individuals who menstruate have access to the resources
needed to manage their periods without any problem. The campaign aims
to advocate for policies and practices that make menstrual products
affordable and easily available to everyone, irrespective of their gender,
socioeconomic status, or location.
In addition to this, the campaign aims to create awareness about the
discrimination and stigma that individuals who menstruate face and
encourage acceptance of menstruation as a natural and normal part of life.
The “Righ t to Bleed” campaign is part of a larger effort to promote gender
equality and reproductive justice and to establish a world where everyone
can live with dignity and respect, regardless of their biological sex or
gender identity.
Meaning of Campaign:
A ca mpaign refers to a coordinated and planned series of actions, events
or efforts that are aimed at achieving a specific objective or goal.
Campaigns are generally geared towards creating awareness about an
issue, advocating for a cause, or driving social or political change. The
nature of campaigns can vary depending on the desired outcome. For
example, political campaigns may include rallies, speeches, and
advertisements to promote a candidate or a policy. Social media
campaigns, on the other hand, may invo lve creating hashtags, sharing munotes.in

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65 Right to Bleed posts, or organizing online events to raise awareness about a specific
issue. A fundraising campaign may involve a series of appeals or events to
collect donations for a cause or organization. The primary objective of a
campa ign is to mobilize people around a particular issue or cause and
drive action and change. Successful campaigns are usually well -planned,
strategic, and focused on specific goals and objectives. They may use
various tactics and approaches to reach their tar get audience.
12.2 RIGHT TO BLEED The “Right to Bleed” initiative is an online movement with the purpose of
promoting menstrual equity and ensuring that all females have access to
menstrual products and facilities. The campaign began as a social media
movement with the hashtag #RightToBleed and gained significant
momentum throughout the country.
The initiative involved numerous activities such as online petitions, social
media campaigns, and offline demonstrations and protests. The organizers
utilized vari ous online platforms, including WhatsApp, Twitter, and
Facebook, to mobilize supporters and increase awareness of the
importance of menstrual equity.
The right to bleed encompasses access to adequate menstrual hygiene
products and a nutritious diet. This k nowledge should not be limited to
just girls and women, but should also include boys and other members of
society. The achievement of dignified menstruation requires the
involvement of various members of society. Schools, colleges, and
workplaces should or ganize awareness campaigns to educate people about
menstruation (Dega, 2019).
The “Right to Bleed” movement is an ongoing campaign that aims to
promote the concept of menstrual equity, which advocates that all
individuals who menstruate should have access to the resources they
require to manage their periods with respect and without shame. The
primary focus of the campaign is to push for policies and practices that
would make menstrual products affordable and accessible to everyone,
regardless of their soc ioeconomic status, gender, or location.
Additionally, the campaign aims to increase awareness about the
discrimination and stigma that individuals who menstruate often face and
promote better understanding and acceptance of menstruation as a normal
and nat ural part of life.
In general, the “Right to Bleed” campaign is part of a larger effort to
promote reproductive justice and gender equality and to create a world
where every individual can live with dignity and respect, regardless of
their gender identity or biological sex.
The “Right to Bleed” campaign focuses on providing sustainable
menstrual hygiene solutions for women and girls in rural areas. Since its
inception, the campaign has gained momentum and has played a munotes.in

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66 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
66 significant role in raising awareness a bout the difficulties and obstacles
that women and girls face while managing their periods.
Over the years, there have been significant advancements in menstrual
equity and reproductive justice in India as a result of the “Right to Bleed”
campaign. For exa mple, in 2017, the Menstrual Hygiene Scheme was
introduced, which aims to enhance access to menstrual hygiene products
and facilities for women and girls in rural areas. Additionally, the Goods
and Services Tax (GST) was removed from menstrual products in 2018,
which had previously made these products more costly and less accessible
for many women and girls in India. Yet, there is GST on the raw materials
used in making the feminine products which further the cost is transferred
to the customers by the prod ucing companies.
To raise awareness about the rights related to Menstruation and women’s
health, May 28th is celebrated as the Menstruation Day. The reason for
observing the day on May 28th is that the average menstrual cycle lasts for
28 days and indivi duals typically menstruate for around three to five days
each month. As May happens to be the fifth month of the year, it aligns
with this pattern. The purpose of the movement is to promote menstruation
as a natural bodily function that people can be exper ienced without
experiencing exclusion, fear, shame, or any other negative treatment.
Additionally, it aims to increase understanding of period poverty, which
refers to the lack of access to menstrual products and the resulting inability
to maintain menstru al health and hygiene with dignity (UNPF).
Menstrual activism and discussion on Right to bleed also emerged in the
United States during the 1970s as a response to toxic shock syndrome, a
rare and potentially fatal condition linked to the use of tampons. T his
movement initially focused on improving women’s comfort during
menstruation and has since expanded to include efforts for “menstrual
equality” all genders who also menstruate. The movement has led to
initiatives such as providing free menstrual product s in school bathrooms,
including in restrooms. There are different human rights connected to
human and menstruation. These movements have brought attention to
the connection between menstruation and human rights, including the
right to water and sanitatio n, right to human dignity, right to
adequate health, right to education, right to work, and the right to
informed decisions about hormonal control of periods. Despite some
education about menstruation and menstrual hygiene, more action is
needed to change societal perceptions and promote menstrual equality
worldwide. In addition to education, there are several practical steps that
can be taken to improve menstrual health and hygiene globally. In a way
there needs to be right to education. There are jobs whe re companies’
owner penalize the females when they take bathroom break. This in a way,
creates stress and fearful and hence overall effecting the health of females.
Specially if the work is manual like weight lifting like in construction
industries it turn s out to be more painful. Hence to right to dignity in work
is needed. Hence, a decent workplace and safe work place is needed and
clean toilets are needed whether it be schools or workplace. In terms of
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67 Right to Bleed so that the females know whether they wish to make choices related to
their child birth if they themselves wish to. In other words, body literacy is
needed. In many parts of the world, menstrual products are prohibited and
are expensiv e or simply unavailable. This can lead to girls missing school
or women missing work during their periods. Governments and NGOs can
work to increase access to menstrual products, including reusable options
like menstrual cups and cloth pads.
Another step i s to improve sanitation infrastructure. Access to clean
water, toilets, and handwashing facilities is essential for menstrual
hygiene. In many communities, these facilities are inadequate or non -
existent. Governments and NGOs can invest in sanitation infra structure to
ensure that everyone has access to safe and clean facilities. Here right to
clean water is needed.
It is important to challenge the stigma and shame surrounding
menstruation. As still there is menstruation related exclusion in schools,
houses , workspaces, teasing, guilt which leads violation of human right
to dignity . There is still stigma associated with periods and hence females
are hesitant to take medical help when in pain, they are expected to bear it.
Menstruation should be seen as a no rmal and natural part of life, not
something to be hidden or ashamed of. This requires changing cultural
attitudes and beliefs around menstruation, which can be a slow and
challenging process.
Overall, there is still much work to be done to ensure that men struation is
seen as a human rights issue and that everyone has access to safe and
dignified menstrual health and hygiene. By educating ourselves and
others, advocating for change, and taking practical steps to improve
menstrual health, we can work towards a more equitable and just society
for all.
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is a crucial aspect of the
broader efforts to promote Sexual and Reproductive health and rights.
MHM is an issue that intersects with various human rights, particularly
economic and social rights, such as the right to health, education, and
employment. Ensuring that women and girls can manage their periods
with privacy, safety, and dignity is essential.
Check Your Progress
1. Sanitation infrastructure needs to be developed or not – Comment .
2. What is Menstruation hygiene management ? munotes.in

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68 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
68
12.3 MENSTRUAL HYGIENE SCHEME IN INDIA The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has launched a
program to encourage menstrual hygiene among rural adolescent girls
aged 10-19. The goals of the program is to raise awareness about
menstrual hygiene, increase access to and use of high -quality sanitary
napkins, and ensure that the napkins are disposed of safely and in an eco -
friendly way. In 2011, the program began in 107 sel ected districts in 17
states, providing a pack of six sanitary napkins called “Freedays” to rural
adolescent girls for Rs. 6. From 2014 onwards, funds have been provided
to states and union territories under the National Health Mission to buy
sanitary napk in packs at a subsidized rate of Rs. 6 for six napkins. ASHA
workers will continue to be responsible for distributing the napkins and
will receive an incentive of Rs. 1 per pack sold, as well as a free pack of
napkins every month for their own use. Monthly meetings will be held at
Aanganwadi Centres or other platforms to discuss menstrual hygiene and
other sexual and reproductive health issues, and a range of information,
education, and communication materials will be created to raise awareness
among adoles cent girls.
Period poverty:
Period poverty refers to the absence of menstrual products and education,
along with the social stigma and financial constraints that hinder
individuals from managing their menstrual cycles with respect. The period
poverty camp aign endeavors to increase awareness of the issue and
campaign for policies and programs that combat it. The objective is to
guarantee that everyone has access to cost -effective and safe menstrual
products, in addition to information and guidance required to manage their
periods with dignity, devoid of shame or stigma. The campaign also aims
to promote education and consciousness on menstrual hygiene and health,
and abolish social and economic barriers that hinder access to menstrual
products and services. The period poverty campaign is a crucial initiative
to foster menstrual equity and assure that people can handle their
menstrual cycles with respect, regardless of their gender, income, or
background.
Numerous online and offline campaigns have taken place in the UK to
promote menstrual equity and combat period poverty, which is the
inability to afford or obtain necessary menstrual products. Among these
campaigns, “Free Periods” stands out, initiated by activist Amika George
in 2017. “Bloody Good Period” and “The Homeless Period” are other
campaigns that have concentrated on supplying menstrual products and
assistance to marginalized and vulnerable groups, such as refugees and
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69 Right to Bleed In India one even today period poverty exists where women do heavy
work even during periods out of the fear that they would lose their jobs
and would face stigma from co -workers. For example – Sugar cane
workers. The nature of poverty leads them to do heavy work in addition to
that pregnancy, household work. This le ads to health issues and when they
approach doctors there are cases where they are asked to remove their
uterus and that is seen as the solution though it leads to other new set of
health issues. Hence organizations like Healthians are launching a petition
to ban uterus removal surgeries in rural areas. The disabled girls face
more problem with misguidance both from doctors and parents (Down to
earth).
12.4 HAPPY TO BLEED CAMPAIGN The “Happy to Bleed” campaign is a social media movement that emerged
in India in 2015 as a reaction to the limitations imposed on women’s
access to specific religious places during menstruation. The campaign
encouraged women to openly discuss menstruation and combat the social
stigma and taboos surrounding it. Women shared pict ures of themselves
with menstrual products on social media, along with empowering
messages of solidarity as part of the “Happy to Bleed” campaign. Its aim
was to challenge the notion that menstruation is a not shameful or unclean
thing and promote reproduc tive justice and menstrual equity. The
campaign quickly gained popularity in India and attracted international
attention, leading to a broader conversation about menstrual equity and the
difficulties faced by women and girls in managing their periods. Alth ough
the primary focus of the campaign was to address the issue of menstrual
taboos and restrictions in religious spaces, it has since evolved into a more
extensive movement for menstrual equity and reproductive justice.
Check Your Progress
1. What is the relevance of May 28th?
2. What are the different human rights connected to menstruation.


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70 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
70 12.5 SUMMARY In India, the “Right to Bleed” campaign has been an important movement
to promote menstrual equity and raise awareness about the ch allenges and
barriers that women and girls face when it comes to managing their
periods. In India, as in many other countries, menstruation is often
considered a taboo subject, and women and girls may face discrimination
and stigma as a result.
One of the key issues that the “Right to Bleed” campaign seeks to address
is the lack of access to menstrual products and facilities. Many girls and
women in rural areas of India do not have access to affordable and
hygienic menstrual products, such as pads or tampon s, and may resort to
using unhygienic materials like old cloth or rags during their periods. This
can lead to health problems such as infections and urinary tract infections.
The chapter discusses other concepts like period poverty.
12.6 QUESTIONS 1. Explain the concept period poverty.
2. Discuss in brief the happy bleed campaign .
3. Write a note on Right to bleed .
12.7 REFERENCES  https://nhm.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=3&sublinkid=1021&lid
=391 Menstrual hygiene scheme details by Government of Indi a.
 https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/period -poverty -everything -
you-need -to-know/
 https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/will -the-state-
recognise -women -workers -right -to-bleed -with-dignity -69832
 https://www.unfpa.org/events/menstrual -hygiene -
day#:~:text=The%20day%20is%20observed%20on,fifth%20month%
20of%20the%20year .)
 Unfpa – United nations population fund.
 https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.36019/9780813549538 -
007/pdf The emergence of menstrual activism.

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71 13
PINJRA TOD MOVEMENT
Unit Structure
13.0 Objectives
13.1 Introduction
13.2 History of the movement
13.3 Critique
13.4 Conclusion
13.5 Summary
13.6 Questions
13.7 References
13.0 OBJECTIVES • To introduce you to Pinjra Tod Movement
• To understan d how the social movements play a major role in
bringing about changes in the society
13.1 INTRODUCTION “Pinjra Tod,” or ‘Break the cages,’ is a group founded in August 2015 by
women students of various universities demanding equal rules for men and
wom en in Indian universities. Pinjra Tod, started in 2015 by women
students of various universities in the capital city of New Delhi, has been
demanding equal rules for men and women in Indian universities,
especially university hostels. Over time, the moveme nt gathered
momentum and came to include more ideas and perspectives, from the
issues of accommodation to fighting the general atmosphere of patriarchy
in the campuses.
The Pinjra Tod movement, comprised of women from colleges in Delhi
University, Jamia Mi lia Islamia, Ambedkar Univeristy, National Law
University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, grew out of a simple
Facebook page, where female hostel and PG residents began sharing their
bitter experiences with guards, wardens, principles, landlords and the l ike.
What is clear from all these stories is the need for an all -out rejection of
these restrictive rules and the patriarchal protectionism they are built on.
13.2 HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT In 2015, Jamia Millia Islamia University, a Central University in Delhi,
decided to cancel late night permissions for women students. The hostels
in Indian universities have a curfew time for women ranging from 7:30 pm
to 10:00 pm and it varies for undergraduate women and post -graduate munotes.in

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72 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
72 women, while men’s hostels do not h ave any curfew. In cases where men's
hostels have a curfew, they are just on paper with no real implementation.
The women accommodation authorities allow women to have two to four
“late nights” per month and a similar amount of “nights out” with written
permission from their parents 24 hours before they want to go out. For
night outs, the students have to bring back a signature of their “local
guardian” on a hostel issued permission book which proves that they have
stayed with the guardian and not with anyo ne else.
Jamia Millia University decided to cancel "late nights" for women
students, which angered them. A student then penned an anonymous letter
criticizing the move by the university restricting the mobility of female
students and deems them childish. T he university legitimized their
decision by saying that they are doing this to provide safety for the women
students since Delhi is known as the rape capital of India.
“This reason is ridiculous because if a woman for any reason comes late
and cannot make it to the hostels by the curfew time, they are asked to stay
outside of the hostel without any regard to their safety,” argued Avantika.
“Where is the concern for their safety then?”
After the anonymous letter, women students of various universities came
together and started the movement demanding their respect and autonomy
and an end to the infantilization of adult women.
In 2016, women from educational institutions across the country joined
Pinjra Tod to speak about their suppression, taking the fight aga inst
curfew hours much further, challenging deeply entrenched attitudes about
women’s bodies —be it a ban on wearing shorts in some hostels, or being
forced to wear a dupatta over laboratory coats, or the lack of enough
accommodation.
In 2016, Pinjra Tod c ontinued to walk the streets at night, especially
through the streets in Delhi where most of the hostels are located, shouting
slogans, demanding locks be broken. They documented their processes
through photographs and video and shared them on social media , inspiring
women from lesser -known colleges in other parts of the country to share
their experiences.
Unlike other feminist campaigns and movements, Pinjra Tod has been
attentive to gender -based discrimination and its relation to other forms of
discrimina tion based on caste and class. The reason Pinjra Tod is unique,
says feminist historian Uma Chakravarti, is that it has been responsive to
movements that challenge other forms of discrimination based on caste. Its
participants travelled to Gujarat when Jig nesh Mevani raised the issue of
discrimination against Dalits. “They have localized the movement to
reflect South Asian patriarchy, which ties in with elements of caste, class
and the politics of reproduction," Chakravarti says.
But PinjraTod has spread to other institutions because of their sense of a
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73 Pinjra TOD Movement Their core team intends the movement to be issue -driven rather than
leadership -driven," says Chakravarti.“The metaphor of the cage (pinjra) is
reminiscent of the language used in literature by women since the 19th
century," she adds. “The word evokes the easily recognizable attempt to
continue the patriarchal social order. This evocation has hence travelled
far, and has opened a way of resistance that resonates with a lot of Indian
women."
13.3 CRITIQUE On February 18, 2019, Live Wire reported the release of a statement by 9
ex-members of the popular women’s movement. The statement comes as
an explanation for the members’ decision to quit the organisation, and in
doing so it brings to light the multi -layered problems of race, caste,
religion, etc. that lead to anxiety and unease among members, prompting
them to quit the movement, although no figures were explicitly reported
apart from these 9 undersigned.
The statement accuses Pinjra Tod of being an exclusionary organisation,
run and controlled by their oppressors, “the upper caste Hindu women”
who use the labour of the women belonging to marginalised groups and
include them only for pe rformative purposes, side -lining them when it
comes to actual decision making.
According to the statement, Pinjra Tod only includes the marginalised to
show inclusiveness and diversity while there are hardly any women from
marginalised groups, apart from a few exceptions, in the core committee.
The other issue that was raised was the way in which the upper caste
women in Pinjra Tod try to “organise” and “politicise” the women of
marginalised groups. Another issue that was raised was how the voices
and opini ons of women of marginalised groups either go unheard or do not
get the same consideration as that of the upper caste Hindu women. This
also throws light upon the hegemony of the few Hindu women who lead
and run the organisation, and how there is not enoug h space to put forth
diverse opinions. One major example made this difference apparent. Some
wanted reservation for students of the OBC community in hostels, and to
do away with the merit based system of allocation of seats in the college
accommodation. Bu t, there was no consensus for the demand among other
members of the group.
“And we know in full confidence that if the demand for OBC reservation
had been the central issue of the 2018 protest or to do away with the
admission procedure based on merit, then only a handful (that too
doubtful) would have turned up for the “militant” protest held outside the
LSR gates.”
The statement alleges, pointing how the interests of marginalised sections
are not brought to the forefront. The issue of discrimination and pr oblems
that the women of marginalised groups face at the hands of the upper caste
women in their hostels and colleges was also raised several times but did
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74 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
74 “If Pinjra Tod was a movement led by women from oppres sed
communities or even a movement for social justice in its true sense, then
wouldn’t this come first in their agenda?” they asked.
Finally, the tension that Pinjra Tod is experiencing draws our attention to a
very interesting aspect in the trends of Indi an social movements and
pressure groups. The fact is that India has an added layer of hierarchical
distinction (read the caste system) – along with regional, lingual, religious
and racial differences becomes a hindrance when it comes to mobilising
people for a cause.
13.4 CONCLUSION Even when the goal is common, the rift and tension caused by conflicting
interest often manages to overwhelm the uniting force of a common goal.
If one looks at it from another perspective, it is not the “bringing people of
diverse groups together for a common cause” that leads to problems.
When viewpoints clash even under an umbrella goal, the fight over whose
interest be prioritised takes precedence. This is where toxic hierarchical
distinctions in India puncture solidarity.
In a situation like this, conflicting ideologies and problems arising from
them are inevitable. For any collective to be successful in India what is
needed is proper accommodation of overlapping ideas, a space for each of
them to grow and express.
13.5 SUM MARY “Pinjra Tod,” or ‘Break the cages,’ is a group founded in August 2015 by
women students of various universities demanding equal rules for men and
women in Indian universities. Pinjra Tod, started in 2015 by women
students of various universities in th e capital city of New Delhi, has been
demanding equal rules for men and women in Indian universities,
especially university hostels. Over time, the movement gathered
momentum and came to include more ideas and perspectives, from the
issues of accommodation to fighting the general atmosphere of patriarchy
in the campuses.
The Pinjra Tod movement, comprised of women from colleges in Delhi
University, Jamia Milia Islamia, Ambedkar Univeristy, National Law
University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, grew out of a simple
Facebook page, where female hostel and PG residents began sharing their
bitter experiences with guards, wardens, principles, landlords and the like.
What is clear from all these stories is the need for an all -out rejection of
these restrictive ru les and the patriarchal protectionism they are built on.
13.6 QUESTIONS 1. Write a note on Pinjra Tod movement.
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75 Pinjra TOD Movement 13.7 REFERENCES  https://nhm.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=3&sublinkid=1021&lid
=391 Menstrual hygiene scheme details by Government of India.
 https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/period -poverty -everyt hing-
you-need -to-know/
 https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/will -the-state-
recognise -women -workers -right -to-bleed -with-dignity -69832
 https://www.unfpa.org/events/menstrual -hygiene -
day#:~:text=The%20day%20is%20observed%20on,fifth%20month%
20of%20t he%20year.)
 Unfpa – United nations population fund.
 https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.36019/9780813549538 -
007/pdf The emergence of menstrual activism.

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76 14
ME TOO
Unit Structure
14.0 Objectives
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Understanding the Me too movement
14.3 Me too movement in India
14.4 Summary
14.5 Questions
14.6 References
14.1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter you are going to learn about one of the i mpactful online
movements of the globalization era, i.e., me movement. As students of
sociology studying social movements is very important. Hence, learning
about me too is useful for both awareness and learning about the gaps in
the system and to learn ab out the injustice and problems women face even
today. The uniqueness about this online campaign which is different from
the traditional movement and it cuts across time and space.
The advent of social media has led to significant changes in society, as
online platforms have enabled information to reach larger audiences than
ever before. The Me -too movement, which had a significant global
impact. Women’s voices on social media were able to reach a vast
audience. Given its popularity and impact, it is essent ial to learn more
about this movement.
Before learning about Me too movement let us learn about the background
of it i.e., online movements . Online activism is made possible by social
media in main ways. First, they provide people a platform to share the ir
thoughts and experiences while connecting them to social problems.
Second, they give members of the online community the opportunity to
encourage one another, plan events, and respond to criticism of their
actions. In this context, there is a term used i.e., “digilantism, which means
using the internet to punish those they believe are guilty or corrupt through
monitoring, bad publicity, unwelcome attention, and repression. People
who practice Digilantism take matters into their own hands. This can
promot e activism in -groups and raise awareness. However, it can also lead
to an inter -group backlash and has drawbacks comparable to vigilantism.


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77 Me Too 14.2 UNDERSTANDING THE ME TOO MOVEMENT Origin:
The MeToo movement originated in 2006 through the efforts of Tar ana
Burke, an American community organizer and activist she used me too in
her social media account called Myspace. Nonetheless, the movement
achieved worldwide recognition and gained momentum in 2017 when
actress Alyssa Milano tweeted an invitation to wom en to share their
stories of sexual harassment and assault using the hashtag #MeToo, which
became viral on social media.
The Me -too movement, which originated in 2017, utilized the hashtag
#MeToo to generate widespread awareness about sexual harassment and
assault. Women from different backgrounds used the hashtag to share their
experiences and to call for a shift in societal attitudes towards such
behavior. This movement resulted in significant conversations about the
issue, and high -profile individuals fa ced consequences for their alleged
sexual misconduct.
The Me -too movement has demonstrated the power of social media in
initiating social change. It has emphasized the importance of online
platforms in enabling those who have been silenced or marginalized to
have a voice. Therefore, the Me -too movement serves as a valuable
example for studying the impact of social media on society. By providing
a platform for women to share their stories, the Me -too movement also
helped to reduce the stigma and shame associ ated with reporting instances
of sexual harassment and assault. The movement has led to a shift in
societal attitudes towards these issues, with more people now willing to
speak out against such behaviour and to hold perpetrators accountable for
their acti ons.
Moreover, the Me -too movement has inspired other social media
campaigns aimed at raising awareness about a range of social issues, such
as racial discrimination and gender inequality. These movements have
further demonstrated the potential of social m edia to bring about change
and to empower those who have traditionally been marginalized in
society. The Me -too movement has had a profound impact on society,
initiating important conversations and changes in attitudes towards sexual
harassment and assault . It has demonstrated the power of social media in
creating social change, empowering those who have been marginalized,
and providing a platform for their voices to be heard.
Check Your Progress
1. Explain the concept digilantism . munotes.in

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78 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
78 2. How did the me too movement began explain?
14.3 ME TOO MOVEMENT IN INDIA The Me -too movement gained momentum in India in 2018 after an actress
accused her co -star of sexual harassment on a film set. This led to a wave
of women coming forward on social media t o share their own experiences
of sexual harassment and assault in various industries, including
Bollywood, journalism, and academia.
The movement in India brought attention to the widespread issue of sexual
harassment and assault, and emphasized the need f or change in societal
attitudes towards such behavior. It led to the downfall of several
prominent figures in the Indian entertainment industry, and resulted in the
creation of organizations aimed at supporting survivors of sexual
harassment and assault.
The Me -too movement in India is considered a pivotal moment in the
country’s approach to tackling sexual harassment and assault. It has given
women the courage to speak out against such behavior and prompted
many industries to reassess their practices and p olicies. The movement has
also brought attention to the need for greater education and awareness
around issues of consent and sexual violence, resulting in the
establishment of organizations dedicated to supporting survivors and
driving change.
Overall, th e Me -too movement in India has been a catalyst for change,
creating greater awareness around issues of sexual harassment and assault,
leading to important legislative and social changes, and sparking
conversations around gender equality and human rights in India. Despite
facing opposition and obstacles, the movement has had a significant
impact on Indian society.
The Me -Too campaign in India gained momentum and has been
extensively covered by major media outlets. Victims have been calling out
their abusers, resulting in significant social consequences for the accused,
such as job termination, condemnation and disassociation from their
industry, and backlash from their fans and the public. Despite receiving
support and coverage from the media, accusers have a lso been subject to
countersuits from the accused.
Positive impact of me too:
The MeToo movement has had several positive effects, including the
formation of a supportive community of women who can openly discuss
their experiences of sexual abuse and har assment. This community has munotes.in

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79 Me Too helped victims to feel more integrated into society. The movement has
also increased awareness among women about their rights in the
workplace and beyond, while simultaneously educating men about the
potential consequences of th eir actions. Additionally, the movement has
played an important role in exposing individuals like Harvey Weinstein
who was previously shielded from accountability, and bringing them to
justice. Finally, the movement is inclusive and provides support to
individuals regardless of their gender, race, or religion who are suffering
from sexual abuse and harassment. Due to the me too movement, the
larger debate opened up and thought process that any kind of abuse should
not be tolerated. A strong message was conv eyed to girls and boys that
they can raise the voice against even a powerful person let it be a teacher,
neighbour etc. The discussion with me too brought this space.
In October 2018, journalist Priya Ramani accused former Union minister
MJ Akbar of sexua l harassment while she was working under him at an
Asian Age newspaper in the late 1990s. This led to many other women
coming forward with their own stories of harassment. In January 2019,
Akbar filed a defamation case against Ramani, which the Delhi High
Court began hearing. The National Commission for Women (NCW) also
conducted an inquiry into the allegations against Akbar and concluded in
April 2019 that he was guilty of sexual harassment. Akbar resigned as
Union minister in August 2019 and filed a defam ation case against
Ramani and others who accused him of harassment. However, in February
2021, a Delhi court acquitted Ramani of defamation charges, stating that
she was speaking the truth when she accused Akbar of harassment.
The MeToo movement in India h elped to raise awareness of the issue of
sexual harassment and assault in the country, but progress in holding
perpetrators accountable has been slow. Nevertheless, it prompted
amendments to the POSH Act in 2018 and 2019, which expanded the
definition of s exual harassment to include incidents outside of the
workplace, extended the time limit for filing complaints, and provided
protection for complainants and witnesses, including anonymity and
protection against victimization.
Criticism:
Despite facing crit icism, some argue that the Me -too movement has given
rise to a culture of “cancellation” without verifying the facts. There are
also debates around the effectiveness of social media activism, which may
not always result in concrete outcomes. Some criticize d the movement for
targeting men without due process. Despite this, the movement sparked
crucial conversations about consent, power dynamics, and accountability
in Indian society, and underscored the urgency of addressing the pervasive
problem of sexual ha rassment and assault in the country.
Nonetheless, the movement has brought attention to an issue that has often
been overlooked and normalized in society. It has led to significant
discussions around accountability, power dynamics, and consent.
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80 Gender and Society in India: Contemporary Debates and Emerging Issues
80 movements aimed at generating social change, such as Black Lives Matter
and climate activism.
Overall, the Me -too movement stands as a powerful instance of the
potential for social media to create socie tal change. Despite its
shortcomings and criticisms, it has managed to amplify the voices of those
who have been marginalized and silenced. It highlights the importance of
continuing to have open conversations and taking action to address issues
surroundin g sexual harassment and assault. Additionally, it emphasizes the
role that social media can play in bringing about changes in society.
The Me Too movement has been criticized for lacking a clear purpose,
with questions raised about whether it aims to inspi re change in all men or
just a certain percentage, and what specific actions it aims to achieve.
Additionally, the movement’s publicizing of victims’ experiences could
potentially cause trauma by triggering memories of their assault and
harassment. The mov ement has also been criticized for not acknowledging
the sexual assault and harassment experienced by sex workers.
Furthermore, the movement’s lack of fact -checking could result in false
rape accusations.
With the Me too movement becoming popular several o ther Acts which
protect women’s rights became known to lay person like Vishaka
Guidelines, (Posh Act), Sexual harassment of Women at Work place,
Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act, 2013, She box. Let us look
more into the she box.
Check Your Progre ss
1. What changes was brought in the Posh Act?
2. Did me too movement inspire social media campaigns – comment.
She box:
The Government of India with the Ministry of Women and Child is
making an effort with the Sexual Harassment Ele ctronic Box (SHe -Box)
to give every woman, regardless of her employment status —whether
employed in the organised or unorganized, private or public sectors —a
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81 Me Too Through this platform, any wo man who has experienced sexual
harassment at work can file a complaint. When a complaint is made using
the “SHe-Box,” it is immediately forwarded to the relevant authority with
the authority to investigate the situation.
14.4 SUMMARY The MeToo movement, w hich originated in the United States and gained
global momentum, has had a significant impact on society and culture. By
bringing allegations of sexual harassment and assault to the forefront, it
has raised awareness and empowered women to speak out. Howev er, the
movement has also faced criticism regarding issues like false accusations
and the re -traumatization of victims. Despite these challenges, the
movement has resulted in legal and social reforms related to workplace
safety and harassment. It has spark ed essential discussions around power
dynamics, gender inequality, and consent. In conclusion, the MeToo
movement has brought about important changes and will continue to
influence society’s response to sexual harassment and assault.
14.5 QUESTIONS 1. Write a note on the post impact of me -too movement
2. Discuss in brief the me -too movement
3. Write a note on the she box
4. Discuss some of the criticism of me -too movement.
14.6 REFERENCES  http://www.shebox.nic.in/user/about_shebox
 https://www.bbc.co m/news/entertainment -arts-41594672
 https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/defamation -case-delhi -
high-court -admits -mj-akbars -appeal -over-priya -ramanis -acquittal -
7722171/
 https://www.outlookindia.com/national/metoo -movement -in-india -a-
timeline -of-key-events -news -276260
 Wexler, L., Robbennolt, J. K., & Murphy, C. (2019). # MeToo,
Time’s up, and Theories of Justice. U. Ill. L. Rev. , 45.
 Rodino -Colocino, M. (2018). Me too,# MeToo: Countering cruelty
with empathy. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studi es, 15(1),
96-100.
 Tambe, A. (2018). Reckoning with the Silences of# MeToo. Feminist
studies , 44(1), 197 -203.
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Faculty of Humanities
TYBA
(Choice Based Credit System, CBCS) Semester V and Semester VI Question Paper Pattern for T.Y.B.A
(CBCS) applicable to all the papers from Paper IV to Paper IX.
As per University rules and guidelines With Effect From 2018 -2019 (Time: 3 Hours)
Note: 1. Attempt all questions
2. All questions carry equal marks
(Total = 100 marks)

Q.1 (Based on Module I) (20 marks)
a.
or
b.
Q.2 (Based on Module II) (20 marks)
a.
or
b.
Q.3 (Based on Module III) (20 marks)
a.
or
b.
Q.4 (Based on Module IV) (20 marks)
a.
or
b.
Q.5 Attempt any two short notes. (Based on Module I, II, III and IV)
(20 marks)
a.
b.
c.
d.
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