Subject: Socio-Legal Dimensions of Gender BALLB/ BBALLB Paper Code: 509

Unit-I

1. Gender as a social construct:

Society and culture create gender roles, and these roles are prescribed as ideal or appropriate
behavior for a person of that specific sex. Some supporters of this idea argue that the differences
in behavior between men and women are entirely social conventions, whereas others believe that
behavior is influenced by universal biological factors to varying degrees, with social conventions
having a major effect on gendered behavior.
Social constructionism is a theory of knowledge. Social constructionism focuses on how meaning
is created. Emerging from the criticism of objectivity, social constructionism challenges concepts
of knowledge put forward by positivism, which postulates the externality of reality and that
empirically-proved truths are mind-independent. According to Marecek, Crawford & Popp,
knowledge is an "account of reality produced collaboratively by a community of knowers" Thus,
social constructionism focuses on how meaning is created.
The roots of the social constructionist movement in psychology are related to the criticism of the
objectivism assumed by positivist/empiricist concepts of knowledge. Among the most popular
variations of the social constructionist theories is the gender role theory, considered by Alsop,
Fitzsimons and Lennon (2002) as an early form of social constructionism. The focus on power
and hierarchy reveals inspiration stemming from a Marxist framework, utilized for instance by
materialist feminism, and Foucault's writings on discourse. Social constructionism, briefly, is the
concept that there are many things that people "know" or take to be "reality" that are at least
partially, if not completely, socially situated. For example, Harvard psychologist Steven
Pinker writes that "some categories really are social constructions: they exist only because
people tacitly agree to act as if they exist. Examples include money, tenure, citizenship,
decorations for bravery, and the presidency of the United States."
The basic assumptions of social constructionism, as described by Marecek, Crawford &
Popp, are:

1. Social constructionism is a theory of knowledge. Social constructionism focuses on how

meaning is created. Emerging from the criticism of objectivity, social constructionism
challenges concepts of knowledge put forward by positivism, which postulates the
externality of reality and that empirically-proved truths are mind-independent. According
to Marecek, Crawford & Popp, knowledge is an "account of reality produced
collaboratively by a community of knowers" Thus, social constructionism focuses on
how meaning is created.

2. Knowledge is a social product. According to Marecek, Crawford & Popp, knowledge is

an "account of reality produced collaboratively by a community of knowers". Thus,
social constructionists focus on how meaning is created and suggest that knowledge is
not only a social product, but a product of a specifically situated society; various
accounts of reality depend on place and time – in order to study knowledge as a social
product, one has to historicize and contextualize the given description of reality.
 3. Power and hierarchy underlie social construction. This focus results in showing how
individuals differ in status, entitlement, efficacy, self-respect and other traits based on the
kind of interactions one is involved in and subjected to.

4. Language is at the core of knowledge. Language is considered the building block of

culture; it conveys meaning and creates the system of knowledge humans participate in.
Ultimately, language has a huge influence on how humans perceive reality and, as a
result, is the creator of this reality.

5. Social construction is a dynamic process. Social constructionists emphasize the

complexity of how knowledge is created in social interactions. Knowledge and meanings
are not stable or constant; they are co-constructed in interactions with others, negotiated,
modified and shifted. People are active in their perception, understanding and sharing of
knowledge acquired from their social milieu. It is prudent therefore to consider this
process when explaining the social construction of knowledge, including knowledge
concerning gender.

6. The individual and society are indissoluble. Social constructionists question the Western
idea of an autonomous individual who can draw a clear line between the self and the
society. According to social constructionism, individuals can create meaning only in
relation to what they are exposed to in their environment. Paradoxically, the same
individuals co-create the meanings that are available in this environment. Marecek et al.
conclude therefore that the society and the individual are indissoluble and mutually
constitutive.
Alsop, Fitzsimmons & Lennon also note that the constructionist accounts of gender creation can
be divided into two main streams.

1. Materialist theories, which underline the structural aspects of the social environment that
are responsible for perpetuating certain gender roles;

2. Discursive theories, which stress the creation, through language and culture, of meanings
that are associated with gender.
They also argue that both the materialist and discursive theories of social construction of gender
can be either essentialist or non-essentialist. This means that some of these theories assume a
clear biological division between women and men when considering the social creation of
masculinity and femininity, while other contest the assumption of the biological division between
the sexes as independent of social construction.
Gender, according to West and Zimmerman, is not a personal trait; it is "an emergent feature of
social situations: both as an outcome of and a rationale for various social arrangements, and as a
means of legitimating one of the most fundamental divisions of society. Historically, the
term gender was adopted as means of distinguishing between biological sex and socialized
aspects of femininity and masculinity. Moreover, gender was considered achieved and more or
less stable after it is acquired in early childhood. Contemporary constructionist perspective, as
proposed by Fenstermaker and West, proposes treating gender as an activity ("doing") of
utilizing normative prescriptions and beliefs about sex categories based on situational variables.
These "gender activities" constitute our belonging to a sex as based on the socially accepted
dichotomy of "women" and "men". It is noted, however, that these activities are not always
perceived (by the audience) as being either "masculine" or "feminine", they are at constant risk
of being assessed as more or less "womanly" or "manly"; ultimately, any behavior may be judged
based upon its "manly" or "womanly" nature. "Doing gender" is in fact based on these
interactions that are constituted of ongoing assessments in various situations. This in turn points
to the situational nature of gender rather than its inherent, essentialist and individual nature.
Gender role
Gender roles are often centred around the conceptions of femininity or masculinity. In our
society today, women are socialized as being the caretakers of the house, nurture the children,
cook and clean. With men, they "should" be the workhorse, the provider, protector, a leader, and
a teacher to his family.
Empirical investigations suggest that gender roles are "social constructs that vary significantly
across time, context, and culture". Ronald F. Levant and Kathleen Alto write:
A recent synthesis of meta-analytic studies of gender differences provides strong evidence for a
social construct understanding of gender. Ethan Zell and colleagues examined more than 20,000
findings from 12 million participants comparing men and women on topics ranging from risk-
taking to body image. The authors found that the majority of effects were very small to small,
indicating far more similarities than differences between genders.
Gender roles, according to Berkowitz, are an acceptance of social construction as it pertains to
gender and the roles we perform. "The gender order is hierarchical in that, overall, men dominate
women in terms of power and privilege; yet multiple and conflicting sources of power and
oppression are intertwined, and not all men dominate all women. Intersectionality theorizes how
gender intersects with race, ethnicity, social class, sexuality, and nation in variegated and
situationally contingent ways".
The constructionism of gender and stereotyped roles can be examined through a given
environment. A certain gendered patriarchy turns abstraction into material reality. This reality is
negotiated into each interaction we have. For example, based on a simulation discussed in “Walk
Like a Man, Talk Like a Woman”, the simulation used “demonstrates the social constructiveness
of gender, maintaining that gender should be conceptualized and portrayed as a process, system
of stratification, and social structure”. The perceptions of the social world in which these
students view the world around them is as an “objective reality rather than as a product of human
interaction and interpretation that is institutionalized and transformed over time”. One of the
most powerful notions that this simulation encourages is teaching from a constructionist
perspective that requires instructors to “challenge perceptions by requiring students to unpack the
“hows and whys” of sociological phenomena”.
Lisa M. Diamond argues that gender identity is not a stable, fixed trait – rather, it is socially
constructed and may vary over time for an individual. A study by Bandura and Bussey shows
that kids want to be like others of their sex. Social conformity has been widely studied on
adolescents. Results showed that 6-year-old children tend to conform to choices that their peers
find more popular. They begin labeling objects as "for girls" or "for boys" and conform to what is
expected of them. West and Zimmerman argue that the notion of womanhood or femininity is
accomplished through an active process of creating gender through interacting with others in a
particular social context. Society typically only recognizes two genders. Therefore, when
transgender individuals want to have a sex change operation, they must prove that they can
"pass" as a man or woman– so even the choice of changing one's gender is socially constructed.
Diamond and Butterworth argue that gender identity and sexual identity are fluid and do not
always fall into two essentialist categories (man or woman and gay or straight); they came to this
conclusion via interviews with sexual minority women over the course of ten years. One woman
had a relatively normal early childhood but around adolescence questioned her sexuality and
remained stable in her gender and sexual identity until she started working with men and
assumed a masculine "stance" and started to question her gender identity. When 'she' became a
'he' he began to find men attractive and gradually identified as homosexual as a man.
The perception of sexuality by others is an extension of others' perceptions of one's gender.
Heterosexuality is assumed for those individuals who appear to act appropriately masculine or
appropriately feminine. If one wants to be perceived as a lesbian, one must first be perceived as a
woman; if one wants to be seen as a gay man, one has to be seen as a man.
Core gender identity
The sense of one's gender identity is acquired through the internalization of external
knowledge.] However, it is in fact never fully acquired – it has to be constantly performed and
reenacted in social interactions.] According to Alsop, Fitzsimmons & Lennon, "Gender is part of
an identity woven from a complex and specific social whole, and requiring very specific and
local readings" Thus, gender identity can be defined as part of socially situated understanding of
gender. LaFrance, Paluck and Brescoll note that as a term, "gender identity" allows individuals to
express their attitude towards and stance in relation to their current status as either women or
men. Turning the scope of gender from a social consensus to objectivity to one's self-
identification with a certain gender expression leaves much more space for describing variation
among individuals.
Intersections of gender identity with other identities
The way gender is constructed for an individual depends on gendered interactions the individual
has with others as well as other identities or roles he or she may have. Gender, race, class, and
other oppressions are all potential omnirelevant categories, though they are not ALL identically
salient in every set of social relationships in which inequality is done. Multiple oppressions are
not seen as having "additive" or "multiplicative" effects but are seen as simultaneously
depending on each other to create a unique form of oppression. Although West and Fenstermaker
do not elaborate on exactly how intersectionality can be incorporated into social constructionist
theory, they do say that intersecting social identities are constant "interactional
accomplishments".
While men and women are held accountable for normative conceptions of gender, this
accountability can differ in content based on ethnicity, race, age, class, etc. Hurtado argues that
white women and women of color experience gender differently because of their relationship to
males of different races and that both groups of women have traditionally been used to
substantiate male power in different ways. Some women of color are subordinated through
rejection, or denial of the "patriarchal invitation to privilege". For instance, some white men may
see women of color as workers and objects of sexual aggression; this would allow the men to
display power and sexual aggression without the emotional attachment that they have with white
women. White women are accountable for their gendered display as traditionally subservient to
white men while women of color may be held accountable for their gendered performance as
sexual objects and as recalcitrant and bawdy women in relations with white men. West and
Fenstermaker conclude that doing gender involves different versions of accountability,
depending on women's "relational position" to white men.
Gender as accomplishment
Gender, according to West and Zimmerman, is not simply what one is, but what one does – it is
actively produced within social interactions. Gender is an accomplishment : "the activity of
managing situated conduct in light of normative conceptions of attitudes and activities
appropriate for one's sex category". People do not have to be in mixed gender groups or in
groups at all for the performance of gender to occur; the production of gender occurs with others
and is even performed alone, in the imagined presence of others. "Doing" gender is not just about
conforming to stereotypical gender roles – it is the active engagement in any behavior that is
gendered, or behavior that may be evaluated as gendered.
The performance of gender varies given the context: time, space, social interaction, etc. The
enactment of gender roles is context dependent – roles are "situated identities" instead of "master
identities". The sociology of knowledge must first of all concern itself with what people "know"
as "reality" in their everyday, non- or pre-theoretical lives. In other words, individual perceptions
of ""knowledge" or reality...must be the central focus."
These performances normalize the essentialism of sex categories. In other words, by doing
gender, we reinforce the essential categories of gender – that there are only two categories that
are mutually exclusive. The idea that men and women are essentially different is what makes
men and women behave in ways that appear essentially different. Though sex categorization is
based on biological sex, it is maintained as a category through socially constructed displays of
gender (for example, you could identify a transgender person as female when in fact she is
assigned male at birth).
Institutions also create normative conceptions of gender. In other words, gender is
simultaneously created and maintained – "both a process and a product, medium and outcome of
such power relations". In his examination of blue and white-collar workers, Mumby argued that
hegemonic or dominant masculinity provides a standard of acceptable behavior for men, and at
the same time, is the product of men's behavior. This can be said for constructions of any identity
in certain contexts (e.g. femininity, race, Black femininity, etc.).
Accountability
People hold themselves and each other accountable for their presentations of gender (how they
'measure up'). They are aware that others may evaluate and characterize their behavior. This is an
interactional process (not just an individual one). Social constructionism asserts that gender is a
category that people evaluate as omnirelevant to social life. Gender as omnirelevant means that
people can always be judged by what they do as a man or as a woman. This is the basis for the
reasoning that people are always performing gender and that gender is always relevant in social
situations.
Accountability can apply to behaviors that do conform to cultural conceptions as well as those
behaviors that deviate – it is the possibility of being held accountable that is important in social
constructionism. For example, Stobbe examined the rationale that people gave for why there
were small numbers of women in the auto industry. Men cited the idea that such dirty work was
unsuitable for women and women were unable to train because of family duties. Stobbe argues
that the male workers created a machismo masculinity to distinguish themselves from women
who might have been qualified to work in the auto shop. Women who do work in male-
dominated professions have to carefully maintain and simultaneously balance their femininity
and professional credibility.
Even though gender seems more salient in some situations – for instance, when a woman enters a
male-dominated profession – gender categories also become salient in contexts in which gender
is less obvious. For instance, gender is maintained before the woman enters the male-dominated
group through conceptions of masculinity.
Race, class, and other oppressions can also be omnirelevant categories, though they are
not all identically salient in every set of social relationships in which inequality is done. People
have preconceived notions about what particular racial groups look like (although there is no
biological component to this categorization). Accountability is interactional because it does not
occur solely within the individual. It is also institutional because individuals may be held
accountable for their behaviors by institutions or by others in social situations, as a member of
any social group (gender, race, class, etc.). This notion of accountability makes gender dynamic
because what is considered appropriate behavior for men and women changes and is reproduced
over time and is reproduced differently depending on context. Gender is created in different ways
among uneducated and educated African Americans.
Sex and sex category
West and Zimmerman give this definition for sex in their paper Doing Gender: "Sex is a
determination made through the application of socially agreed upon biological criteria for
classifying persons as females and males. The criteria for classification can be genitalia at birth
or chromosomal typing before birth, and they do not necessarily agree with one another". The
differentiation between gender and sex did not arise until the late 1970s, when researchers began
using "gender" and "sex" as two separate terms, with "gender" referring to one's self-identity and
"sex" referring to one's chromosomal makeup and sex organs. The binary of male and female
leaves out everyone who does not fit into these categories because of genital make up,
chromosomes, or hormone levels. Anne Fausto-Sterling addresses the issues facing intersex
people in her article The Five Sexes. She claims that there is at minimum five sexes but probably
more; this is based on the vast range of ways bodies show up in nature. She points out that,
"recent advances in physiology and surgical technology now enable physicians to catch most
intersexuals at birth...infants are entered into a program of hormonal and surgical
management..." This highlights the intense adherence to the binary instead of allowing bodies to
present in the world without intervention.
West and Zimmerman also give a definition for sex category: "achieved through application of
the sex criteria, but in everyday life, categorization is established and sustained by the socially
required identificatory displays that proclaim one's membership in one or the other
category". Sex category is applied to a person in everyday life through commonly recognized
cues that are not necessarily fulfilling biological criteria of sex.

Applications of gender performance

The term "gender performativity" was first coined in American philosopher and gender
theorist Judith Butler's 1990 book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity.
In Gender Trouble, Butler sets out to criticize what she considers to be an outdated perception of
gender. This outdated perception, according to Butler, is limiting in that it adheres to the
dominant societal constraints that label gender as binary. In scrutinizing gender, Butler
introduces a nuanced perception in which she unites the concepts of performativity and gender.
In chapter one of the text, Butler introduces the unification of the terms gender and
performativity in stating that "gender proves to be performance—that is, constituting the identity
it is purported to be. In this sense, gender is always a doing, though not a doing by a subject who
might be said to pre-exist the deed". In demystifying this concept, Butler sets out to clarify that
there is indeed a difference in the terms gender performance and gender performativity. In doing
so, Butler states in an interview: "When we say that gender is performed, we usually mean that
we've taken on a role; we're acting in some way…To say that gender is performative is a little
different…For something to be performative means that it produces a series of effects. We act
and walk and speak and talk that consolidate an impression of being a man or being a woman…
we act as if that being of a man or that being of a woman is actually an internal reality or simply
something that is true about us. Actually, it is a phenomenon that is being produced all the time
and reproduced all the time." Thus, Butler perceives gender as being constructed through a set of
acts that are said to be in compliance with dominant societal norms. Butler is, however, not
stating that gender is a sort of performance in which an individual can terminate the act; instead,
what Butler is stating is that this performance is ongoing and out of an individual's control. In
fact, rather than an individual producing the performance, the opposite is true. The performance
is what produces the individual. Specifically, Butler states that "there is no 'being' behind
doing… 'the doer' is merely a fiction added to the deed – the deed is everything." Thus, the
emphasis is placed not on the individual producing the deed but on the deed itself. Although a
seemingly difficult concept to grasp, gender performativity is realized throughout many aspects
of our lives, specifically in our infancy and young childhood, our teen years, and finally our adult
lives.

On Butler's hypothesis, the socially constructed aspect of gender performativity is perhaps most
obvious in drag performance, which offers a rudimentary understanding of gender binaries in its
emphasis on gender performance. Butler understands drag cannot be regarded as an example of
subjective or singular identity, where "there is a 'one' who is prior to gender, a one who goes to
the wardrobe of gender decides with deliberation which gender it will be today". Consequently,
drag should not be considered the honest expression of its performer's intent. Rather, Butler
suggests that what is performed "can only be understood through reference to what is barred
from the signifier within the domain of corporeal legibility".

Amelia Jones proposes that this mode of viewing gender offered a way to move beyond the
theories of the gaze and sexual fetishism, which had attained much prominence in academic
feminism, but which by the 1980s Jones viewed as outdated methods of understanding women's
societal status. Jones believes the performative power to act out gender is extremely useful as a
framework, offering new ways to consider images as enactments with embodied subjects rather
than inanimate objects for men's viewing pleasure.

Infancy and young childhood-The idea around gender performativity, when applied to infancy
and young childhood, deals with the idea that from the moment one is conceived, arguably even
before that, who they are and who they will become is predetermined. Children learn at a very
young age what it means to be a boy or girl in our society. Individuals are either given masculine
or feminine names based on their sex, are assigned colors that are deemed appropriate only when
utilized by a particular sex and are even given toys that will aid them in recognizing their proper
places in society. According to Barbara Kerr and Karen Multon, many parents would be puzzled
to know "the tendency of little children to think that it is their clothing or toys that make them
boy or girl". Parents are going as far as coordinating their daughter with the color pink because
it's feminine, or blue for their son because it's masculine. In discussing these points, Penelope
Eckert, in her text titled Language and Gender, states: "the first thing people want to know about
a baby is its sex, and social convention provides a myriad of props to reduce the necessity of
asking". Thus, this reinforces the importance and emphasis that society places not only on sex
but also on ways in which to point towards one's sex without implicitly doing so. Eckert furthers
this in stating that determining sex at one's birth is also vital of how one presents themselves in
society at an older age because "sex determination sets the stage for a lifelong process of
gendering". Eckert's statement points to Judith Butler's view of gender as being performative.
Similar to Butler, Eckert is hinting to the fact that gender is not an internal reality that cannot be
changed. What Eckert is instead stating is that this is a common misconception that a majority of
the population unknowingly reinforces, which sees its emergence during infancy.

Butler suggests in both "Critically Queer" and "Melancholy Gender", that the child/subject's
ability to grieve the loss of the same-sex parent as a viable love object is barred. Following
from Sigmund Freud's notion of melancholia, such a repudiation results in a heightened
identification with the Other that cannot be loved, resulting in gender performances which create
allegories of, and internalize the lost love that the subject is subsequently unable to acknowledge
or grieve. Butler explains that "a masculine gender is formed from the refusal to grieve the
masculine as a possibility of love; a feminine gender is formed (taken on, assumed) through the
fantasy which the feminine is excluded as a possible object of love, an exclusion never grieved,
but 'preserved' through the heightening of feminine identification itself".

Teen years

One's teen years are the prime time in which socialization occurs as well as the time in which
how one presents themselves in society is of high concern. Often, this is the time in which one's
ability to master their gender performance labels them as successful, and thus normal, or
unsuccessful, and thus strange and unfitting. One of the sources that demonstrate how successful
performance is acted out is magazines, specifically magazines targeting young girls. According
to Eckert, "When we are teenagers, the teen magazines told girls how to make conversation with
boys…". This not only emphasizes the fact that gender is something that is taught to us and is
continuously being shaped by society's expectations, but it also points to one of the ways in
which individuals are being subconsciously trained to be ideal participants in the gender binary.
Thus calling back to Butler's perception that gender is not a fact about us but is something that is
taught to us and is being constantly reinforced.

Political potential and limits

Butler suggests that "[t]he critical promise of drag does not have to do with the proliferation of
genders…but rather with the exposure of the failure of heterosexual regimes ever fully to
legislate or contain their own ideals", although such remarks fail to indicate how the
inadequacies of heterosexual regimes might be explicitly exposed. According to Butler, gender
performance is only subversive because it is "the kind of effect that resists calculation", which is
to say that signification is multiplicitous, that the subject is unable to control it, and so
subversion is always occurring and always unpredictable. Moya Lloyd suggests that the political
potential of gender performances can be evaluated relative to similar past acts in similar contexts
in order to assess their transgressive potential: "Even if we accept that there are incalculable
effects to all (or most) statements or activities, this does not mean that we need to concede that
there are no calculable effects." Conversely, Rosalyn Diprose lends a
hardline Foucauldian interpretation to her understanding of gender performance's political reach,
as one's identity "is built on the invasion of the self by the gestures of others, who, by referring to
other others, are already social beings". Diprose implies that the individual's will, and the
individual performance, is always subject to the dominant discourse of an Other (or Others), so
as to restrict the transgressive potential of performance to the inscription of simply another
dominant discourse.

Martha Nussbaum criticizes Butler's concepts of gender performativity as a misguided retreat

from engaging with real-world concerns: "Butler suggests to her readers that this sly send-up of
the status quo is the only script for resistance that life offers [...] Butlerian feminism is in many
ways easier than the old feminism. It tells scores of talented young women that they need not
work on changing the law, or feeding the hungry, or assailing power through theory harnessed to
material politics. They can do politics in safety of their campuses, remaining on the symbolic
level, making subversive gestures at power through speech and gesture. This, the theory says, is
pretty much all that is available to us anyway, by way of political action, and isn't it exciting and
sexy?"

During development Gender features strongly in most societies and is a significant aspect of self-
definition for most people. One way to analyze the social influences that affect the development
of gender is through the perspective of the social cognitive theory. According to Kay Bussey,
social cognitive theory describes "how gender conceptions are developed and transformed across
the life span". The social cognitive theory views gender roles as socially constructed ideas that
are obtained over one's entire lifetime. These gender roles are "repeatedly reinforced through
socialization". Hackman verifies that these gender roles are instilled in us from "the moment we
are born". For the individual, gender construction starts with assignments to a sex category on
the basis of biological genitalia at birth. Following this sexual assignment, parents begin to
influence gender identity by dressing children in ways that clearly display this biological
category. Therefore, biological sex becomes associated with a gender through naming, dress, and
the use of other gender markers. Gender development continues to be affected by the outlooks of
others, education institutions, parenting, media, etc. These variations of social interactions force
individuals to "learn what is expected, see what is expected, act and react in expected ways, and
thus simultaneously construct and maintain the gender order".

Gender-based harassment

In high schools, gender-based harassment serves as a form of gender boundary policing. Girls are
expected to conform to stereotypical gendered appearances, as are boys. Both male and female
students regularly take part in policing gender boundaries through bullying. Male students
frequently harass male and female students, while female students generally only harass other
female students. The practice of male students bullying other male students is explicitly linked
to machismo that boys are expected to subscribe to in order to be constructed and related to as
'normal' boys. Many girls report that boys tease and ridicule them on the basis of their
appearance, which is linked to boys asserting masculine power through sexist practices of
denigrating girls. This also serves to perpetuate the idea that appearance is a female's most
important asset. The way in which girls harass other girls is through gossiping, instead of
confronting the other girls directly. Unique appearances and attempts to stand out among girls
are regarded very negatively. This type of female on female bullying sets the standard for
appearance norms and the importance of appearance for females. Overall, gender-based
harassment serves to define and enforce gender boundaries of high school students by high
school students.

Adolescent view of adulthood

Gender is a cultural construction which creates an environment where an adolescent's

performance in high school is related to their life goals and expectations. Because some young
women believe that they want to be mothers and wives, the choice of professions and future
goals can be inherently flawed by the gender constraints. Because a girl may want to be a mother
later, her academics in high school can create clear gender differences because "higher
occupational expectations, educational expectations, and academic grades were more strongly
associated with the expected age of parenthood for girls than for boys". With "young women
recognizing potential conflicts between the demands of work and family", they will not try as
hard in high school allowing males to achieve higher academic achievement then girls. Crocket
and Beal in their article "The Life Course in the Making: Gender and the Development of
Adolescents", "gender differences in the anticipated timing of future role transitions, the impact
of expectations and values on these expected timings, and the extent to which expectations
foreshadow actual behavior". The actions of a youth in high school greatly impact the choices
the individual will have over a lifetime. Women especially are constrained in the way they view
their adulthood even at a young age because of motherhood.

Males can also be subject to gender construction due to social expectations of masculinity.
According to Jack Halberstam (under the name Judith), people correlate masculinity with
"maleness and to power to domination”, something that he believes is a result of patriarchy. In a
2015 study published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers stated that gender
construct can differ depending on the man's race or ethnicity and stated that for white men there
was an emphasis on "education, employment, and socioeconomic status" whereas the
expectations for black men focused on "sexual prowess, physical dominance, and
gamesmanship”. These expectations can make it harder for males to display emotions without
receiving criticism and being seen as less of a man.

Body image

High school is a major transitional period for girls and boys as their bodies transition into men
and women. The end of high school is usually marked by the 18th birthday, a major milestone in
an individual's life. Boys and girls go through this transformation within high school where each
gender faces body satisfaction differently. There are many different factors that affect body
image, "including sex, media, parental relationship, and puberty as well as weight and
popularity". The intersectionality of these factors causes unique experiences for adolescents
during this period within their lives. As their body changes, so does the environment in which
they live in. Body image is closely linked to psychological well-being during adolescence and
can cause harmful effects when a child has body dissatisfaction. [58] Helen Winfield in her article
"Body Image and Psychological Well-Being in Adolescents: The Relationship between Gender
and School Type" explains an adolescences high school experience is closely linked to their
perceived body image. She analyzed over 336 teenagers and found "ratings of physical
attractiveness and body image remain relatively stable across the early teenage years, but become
increasingly negative around age 15–18 years because of pubertal changes". This shift during the
high school years can cause serious psychological problems for adolescence. These
psychological problems can manifest as bulimia and anorexia causing serious lifelong
problems. These body image issues are especially prevalent in girls but as boys
enter puberty expectations of height and muscle mass change as well. Geoffrey H. Cohane,
Harrison G. Pope Jr. in their article "Body image in boys: A review of the literature" argue "girls
typically wanted to be thinner, boys frequently wanted to be bigger". This, they argue, shows the
gender difference in body image cause different beauty ideals. An adolescent's gender affects
their body image and their high school experience.

Education

Due to the amount of time that children spend in school, "teachers are influential role models for
many aspects of children's educational experiences, including gender socialization". Teachers
who endorse the culturally dominant gender-role stereotype regarding the distribution of talent
between males and females distort their perception of their students' mathematical abilities and
effort resources in mathematics, in a manner that is consistent with their gender-role stereotype
and to a greater extent than teachers who do not endorse the stereotype. According to the 1994
report "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns" by the American Psychological Association, "Most
standard tests of intelligence have been constructed so that there are no overall score differences
between females and males." Differences have been found, however, in specific areas such as
mathematics and verbal measures. Even within mathematics, it is noted that significant
differences in performance as a result of gender do not occur until late in high school, a result
of biological differences, the exhibition of stereotypes by teachers, and the difference in chosen
coursework between individual students. While, on average, boys and girls perform similarly in
math, boys are over represented among the very best performers as well as the very
worst. Teachers have found that when certain types of teaching (such as experiments that reflect
daily life), work for girls, they generally work for boys as well. Overall, differences in student
performance that arise from gender tend to be smaller than that of other demographic differences,
such as race or socioeconomic class.

Speech

Anatomical studies have shown that the larynx of a child, and by extension the fundamental
frequency, is likely to vary directly as a result of size and height, rather than sex. Sachs et al.
suggest that if there is no difference between the size of the articulatory mechanism in children,
differences in formant production between boys and girls may be a result of "culturally
determined patterns that are viewed as appropriate for each sex" and a result of the speaker's
deliberate phonetic variation in vowel production or changing the configuration of the lips.

Inclusiveness and acceptance play significant roles in social constructionist practice – examples
include sharing work with others in a cooperative manner, including a diverse sample, being
open to other interpretations of data, and blurring the lines between scientific research,
participatory research and social activism. The blurring of scientific research also means
incorporating other disciplines into psychological work (e.g. performative psychology includes
artistic expression or humor) and thinking in terms that go beyond traditional scientific
language. These methods are not currently valued in psychology because they are not seen as
"scientific."

A social constructionist psychologist can make it explicit that his or her perspective is not
universally true in all contexts across historical periods. Social constructionists recognize that
every researcher has an opinion and is biased in some way. They acknowledge that their own
views and findings/results of a study are open to deconstructive critique – no grand truth can be
found because everything is context-specific and has potential to change across time periods and
different situations. Related to this is the idea that social constructionists must constantly
question their own work because their work can be constantly reinterpreted and have different
meanings at different times.

The gender dichotomy is so ingrained that it is impossible for research findings to remain
unaffected by it. People are often convinced that there are inherent differences between men and
women, which skews both studies and their findings. That is, research questions are framed in
ways that look for a difference between genders, and thus their methods will be constrained by
this framework as well. Moreover, the actual outcome of the study, even if the claims are dubious
or modest at best, often come to be accepted as facts if they support the gender discourse
narrative and are often cited and discussed. This phenomenon is labeled the "hall of mirrors"
effect.

Social change

Gender often means adhering to gender normative behavior and roles. The performance of
gender reinforces the essentialism of gender categories. Essentialism argues that there are
essential differences between genders which manifest themselves in differences in gender
performance. Gender performance consists of a stylized practice involving gestures, language,
and speech and serves to form and build an identity. When an individual performs their gender to
the standards set by societal norms, this bolsters the argument of gender
essentialism. Historically, men have assumed a dominant gender role, and women have been
prescribed a role submissive to men. In order for subordination to go unquestioned, the structure
must not appear as a cultural product – it must seem natural. Social movements can challenge the
categories that appear "natural." Certain legislation can promote equality for men and women,
which could call into question whether there needs to be two categories of gender at all (if both
are treated equally). Social change relies on an understanding of how inequality is rooted in
gender accomplishment.
Throughout history, women have fought for their rights regarding various issues. One of the most
significant revolutions of this century is the feminist movement. The first wave, which began in
1854, was a fight for women's rights to education and to the vote by the suffragettes. This
movement was then followed by Second-wave feminism and Third-wave feminism which
furthered the feminist cause. The feminist movement was not only about fighting for women's
rights, but more essentially about earning recognition and respect from the general public
acknowledging the fact that they are not inferior than men and thus deserving to be treated
equally and granted fair opportunities. Feminism emerged and started to challenge the idea that a
woman's appropriate place was confined to that of the domestic and private sphere. Over time,
men and women's attitudes have been becoming more liberalized with regard to gender roles.
Men and women are agreeing on a more egalitarian responsibility distribution within the family
sphere. They are also in agreement that women should and can have roles in the public sphere,
especially in leadership positions and that men can have and involved role in the private and
domestic sphere. These markers of increasingly liberalized attitudes toward gender roles indicate
the trajectory of social change in terms of what is deemed normative.

Criticism and opportunities to "undo" gender

Because the theory says that one can "do" gender whether they conform to gender norms or not
(and is always held accountable for behaving in accordance with gender norms), change seems
impossible. If essential differences between the sexes are problematic, a society where gender is
omnirelevant could be argued to always uphold gender inequality. The language of "doing"
gender implies doing difference instead of unraveling it. Most studies that rely on social
constructionism explore the ways in which gender is constructed but nevertheless demonstrate
how those gender constructions uphold gender as a construct and gender inequality.

However, because gender is "done" or constructed, it can also be "undone" or deconstructed. The
study of the interactional level could expand beyond simply documenting the persistence of
inequality to examine: (1) when and how social interactions become less gendered, not just
differently gendered, (2) the conditions under which gender is irrelevant in social interactions,
(3) whether all gendered interactions reinforce inequality, (4) how the structural (institutional)
and interactional levels might work together to produce change, and (5) interaction as the site of
change.

Nature versus nurture-Gender role § Biological factors-Theories that imply that gendered
behavior is totally or mostly due to social conventions and culture fall into the nurture end of
the nature versus nurture debate. Much empirical research has been done on to what extent
gendered behavior stems from biological factors.

Social constructivists propose that there is no inherent truth to gender; it is constructed by social
expectations and gender performance. Social constructionism proposes that everything people
“know” or see as “reality” is partially, if not entirely, socially situated. To say that something
is socially constructed does not mitigate the power of the concept. Take, for example, money.
Money is a socially constructed reality. Paper bills are worth nothing independent of
the value individuals ascribe to them. The dollar is only worth as much as value as Americans
are willing to ascribe to it. Note that the dollar only works in its own currency market; it holds no
value in areas that don’t use the dollar. Nevertheless, the dollar is extremely powerful within its
own domain.

These basic theories of social constructionism can be applied to any issue of study pertaining to
human life, including gender. Is gender an essential category or a social construct? If it is a
social construct, how does it function? Who benefits from the way that gender is constructed? A
social constructionist view of gender looks beyond categories and examines the intersections of
multiple identities and the blurring of the boundaries between essentialist categories. This is
especially true with regards to categories of male and female, which are viewed typically as
binary and opposite. Social constructionism seeks to blur the binary and muddle these two
categories, which are so frequently presumed to be essential.

Next time she would like to have a ‘boys’ cut’. And once she had explained to others what ‘boys’
cut’ really is, Other boy asked “But, didu, you are a girl and girls do not cut their hair like boys
do.” His view of gender segregation didn’t really surprise, because he’s seen the family asking
her why I had pierced my ears like ‘girls’ do.How many of us ever wondered where all these
stereotypes had come from? The answer lies in ‘gender,’ or more precisely, the social
construction of gender.

How Gender Is Socially Constructed:

A social construct is a concept which cannot exist independently in the natural world and
everything we know or perceive as reality, is entirely, or at least partially, socially situated. For
an instance, ‘money’ is a socially constructed reality. The paper bills we use in India, i.e. Indian
Rupee, are only worth as much as value as the Reserve Bank of India assigns to it. Without our
practices of assigning values to those paper bills, can money exist independently in nature? The
answer is no. And while being part of this socially constructed reality it will be pretty foolish of
us if we go to El Tizoncito in Mexico City and pay in Indian Rupee after enjoying a yummy plate
of steak or pulled pork tacos. This is because being part of the same social construct (money),
Indians built few norms which are different than its Mexican counterpart.
But we must understand that by reminding everyone about how socially constructed a particular
concept is, we cannot diminish the power of that concept. Neither does it make the concept an
imaginary one. It only demonstrates that the existence of that particular concept depends upon
our practices and cultures, and changes from one time-period and culture to another.
Most of these sociological theories of social constructionism apply to gender as well. However,
while understanding the implications of a social construction theory of gender, it is also
indispensable to keep ‘gender’ separate from ‘gender identity’ and ‘biological sex’ of an
individual.
Gender, as we know it, is predominantly defined (imposed) based on what external genitalia one
is born with. The practice of looking at a baby’s genitals and assigning a gender to them at their
birth is later followed by an extensive training program based on only two available scripts, i.e.
‘boy’ (man or masculinity) and ‘girl’ (woman or femininity). We slowly learn which emotions we
are supposed to express, which colours we should like, what kind of hobbies we are supposed to
have, what toys to play with, what songs we should listen to, whether to like sports or not,
whether to learn cooking or not. We also learn how to talk to each other, what body language to
use, what occupations to pursue, what kind of wages we are expected to have, whom to fall in
love with, whom to be sexually attracted to, and much more. Someone born with a penis is
literally bombarded with toys like G. I. Joe action figures and cricket bats; they are always
reminded that, unlike girls, ‘boys do not cry’; they will also be told to get married and ‘take care’
of their wife and kids. And if someone seems to deviate from the script assigned to them, we try
our best to ‘correct’ them. We keep them on track with question and statements like, “Are you a
boy?” “Do not act like a girl”, “That makes you look like a girl”, or “Are you homo?”

But Do We Need Scripts At All?

Gender is a social construct where behaviours or traits of two norms, i.e. ‘masculinity’ and
‘femininity’ differ drastically from one time-period and culture to another. For an instance, unlike
traditional Indian culture, in Chinese culture girls are expected not to wear make-ups or any such
ornaments. In Indian culture, drivers of a public transportation system are predominantly male,
whereas in Western culture both males and females are hired for the same job. In non-Western
cultures, boys, irrespective of their sexual orientation, are allowed to hold hands or hug, while in
the West these acts of showing emotions are strictly prohibited until they are between
homosexual males – and even that is frowned on! The varied norm based on societal imposition
reinforces the idea that gender is nothing but a social construct. Think about it for a moment –
had gender been some sort of essence emerging from one’s biological sex, it probably would
have remained constant across space and time.
To understand the need for scripts, we need to comprehend the need for ‘gender’ in the first
place. ‘Gender’ was created to build up a hierarchy solely based on power. But to give the
hierarchy a more ‘natural’ or ‘scientific’ look, a few physical differences, like genitalia or
secondary sexual characteristics, were adopted as the basic building block of the same. This
made two distinct groups which are presumed to be essentially different. That’s why we are
asked to believe that femininity is weaker than masculinity. If someone is confused about how
power structure plays its role in gender, please try to answer these few questions. How many
men are comfortable in marrying women who are taller or more ‘masculine’ than them? While
females wear jeans and shirts, how many males are encouraged to wear skirts and sarees? Or
why is society fine with masculine women but ridicules feminine men?
This runs counter to the popular narrative that gender differences expressed in childhood play are
determined entirely by social expectations. Social factors certainly do have influence, and the
paper found evidence of this: For example, as boys got older they were increasingly likely to
play with conventionally male toys, reflecting the impact of environmental rather than biological
causes. But overall, the data reflect broader findings in psychology, which show that biology and
society interact to cause gendered behavior. In other words, contrary to the popular progressive
belief, gender is partly socially constructed—but it’s not just a social construct.

“The ‘nature versus nurture’ idea is a false dichotomy,” says Sean Stevens, social psychologist
and research director at Heterodox Academy, an organization of professors focused on promoting
political diversity in academia. “I don’t know any real researcher of human behavior who would
say it’s all nature or all nurture,” he adds.

Despite this empirical truth, researchers who study the biological basis of gender often face
political pushback. “Many people are uncomfortable with the idea that gender is not purely a
social construct,” says Todd, who notes that her work has faced “very critical attention.” There’s
a political preference—especially on the left—Todd believes, for gender to be only a reflection
of social factors and so entirely malleable.

Evidence that gender has some basis in biology, though, in no way implies a strict gender binary,
nor negates the existence of transgender and non-binary identities. Many biology-based gender
differences originate from the hormonal environment within the womb, which is very different
on average for boys compared to girls. But there’s a huge variation in these environments, says
Alice Eagly, psychology professor at Northwestern University. “Within boys there will be a
range and within girls there will be a range. To say it’s biological doesn’t mean it’s perfectly
binary,” she says.

The findings of this and other studies suggest biology influences gendered behavior. It remains
unclear how large these differences are—regardless of whether they’re caused by social or
biological factors. Janet Hyde, a psychology and women’s studies professor at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, has conducted several meta-analyses on the subject, and found relatively
small behavioral, intelligence, and personality differences between gendersCertainly the
differences are not as stark as those reinforced by gendered cultural norms, and do not reinforce
old-fashioned stereotypes about men being inherently better at math and more angry or arrogant
than women. Differences that do exist, though, whether caused by social or biological factors,
deserved to be studied from a scientific perspective rather than ignored for the sake of a political
narrative.

Broadly speaking, there’s far too little specific evidence on what gender differences are
influenced by biology to extrapolate into justified policy for any company or industry. And, the
evidence for a biological basis for gender certainly doesn’t mean we should be complacent in the
face of sexism; society and culture, too have a massive effect on gender. Neurogeneticist Kevin
Mitchell neatly sums up this argument in a tweet:

Eagly argues that policy should not influence science. “Science strives for valid findings, the
truth of the findings, regardless of whether you like them or I like them. We strive to find out
how the biology of people works. Would we close our minds as scientists because it might be
politically incorrect?,” she says. How the evidence could influence policy is not up to her, she
adds. “I’m not a social policy expert,” says Eagly. That said, these scientific findings can
certainly be used to positive effect. “If we have a better understanding of how biology impacts
the developing brain, we might be better able to tailor educational practices to specific students,”
says Stevens. In other words, nurture can be manipulated so that it more effectively interacts with
nature to develop particular skills. If we ignore biology, says Stevens, “we’re not acknowledging
that there might be another factor impacting things and then we wonder why things aren’t as
effective.”

So what does the biology of gender mean for parents deciding whether or not to encourage their
kids to play with less gender-conforming toys? Corinne’s daughter is now seven and loves Lego,
science, space, fashion, art, makeup, and singing. Regardless of which of those preferences are
influenced by biology and which by social factors, she’s clearly an individual rather than a
reflection of a tired gender stereotype. Corinne says she’s noticed her 18-month-old son loves
wrestling and climbing more than his sister did. But these differences do not affect equality in
her household.

“The toys, clothes, colors, and games my kids like are their business,” she says. “What I will
insist is that everyone in the house does chores equally. Everyone in the house will be raised with
respect for other people and their boundaries. Both kids will be raised to be self-sufficient adults
who can advocate for themselves.”

Gender may not be an entirely social construct. But the effects of biology do not confine us to
traditional gender norms. And there’s no science that counters the value of gender equality.
If gender were truly a social construct, then it would be malleable and clearly affected by cultural
and societal norms. Numerous irrefutable and indisputable facts prove otherwise:

 If gender were a social construct, no one would be transgendered because everyone

would conform to the gender roles expected of them due to biological sex. The most
authoritative example of this lies with David Reimer - who, due to a botched
circumcision, was surgically altered to a female form and raised as ‘Brenda’ alongside
his identical twin brother Brian. If gender were malleable, he would have spent a long
and happy life as a woman.
 If gender were a social construct, gender norms would not remain utterly consistent
across a spectrum which encompasses every culture and society on the planet. Why
Can’t a Man Be More Like a Woman? is one of several worldwide meta-studies which
finds innate gender traits in egalitarian nations such as Norway and Sweden to be
virtually identical to those in truly patriarchal societies such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
If gender were a social construct, these norms would differ substantially.
 If gender were a social construct, human behavior could not be artificially
manipulated through the use of medicines. Store shelves abound with all manner of
hormonal treatments, more often for psychological reasons than for physiological.
Anti-depressants are a prime example, as are several variants of sleep aids and most
every PMS remedy on the market. (The latter often include physical remedy, though
are still primarily psychological.) Human beings most certainly wouldn’t become
uninhibited from the consumption of alcohol if behavior was controlled by society.
This is closely associated with queries as to why some jobs are female-dominated and others are
male-dominated. As conclusively documented by the his is closely associated with queries as to
why some jobs are female-dominated and others are male-dominated. As conclusively
documented by the above (and numerous other meta studies):

Ironically, the more egalitarian a society is, the more innate factors will matter. In a world where
everybody gets the same food, the heritability of height and weight will be high; in a world
where some live in luxury and others starve, the heritability of weight will be low. Likewise, in a
world where everybody gets the same education, the best jobs will go to those with the most
native talent. That’s what the word meritocracy means. (Ridley, 2003, p. 262)

Nursing, for example, is a female-dominated profession because women generally possess both
greater aptitude for occupation-related tasks and greater inclination to perform them.
Engineering, for example, is a male-dominated profession because men generally possess both
greater aptitude for occupation-related tasks and a greater inclination to perform them. This is in
no way suggests any general trend of one gender/sex being superior to the other, but a differing
of strengths which are related directly to our dimorphic roles in procreation.

In an age before abortion, birth control, and Similac, a child’s survival was 100% reliant upon a
lactating adult female - usually the child’s biological mother. Women who were the most
nurturing and avoided danger had more children survive to adulthood and bear children of their
own, passing these psychological traits to their lineage the same as biological traits.

In an age of hand-to-mouth sustenance, a family’s survival was heavily reliant upon the hunting
skills of an adult male. Men who were the best fighters (to protect their families) and best hunters
(to provide for their families) had more children survive to adulthood and bear children of their
own, passing these psychological traits to their lineage the same as biological traits.

The only way one might even remotely argue gender to be a ‘social construct’ would be that
certain societal norms (even though rooted in biology) resulted in the most grandchildren. But, of
course, it wasn’t so horribly long ago that ‘learned people’ believed that sexual orientation was a
‘social construct’ and that homosexuality was both a ‘disease’ and ‘curable’.

Judith Butler and Gender Performativity

Judith Butler is one of the most prominent social theorists currently working on issues pertaining
to the social construction of gender. Butler is a trained philosopher and has oriented her work
towards feminism and queer theory. Butler’s most known work is Gender Trouble: Feminism
and the Subversion of Identity, published in 1991, which argues for gender performativity. This
means that gender is not an essential category. The repetitious performances of “male” and
“female” in accordance with social norms reifies the categories, creating the appearance of a
naturalized and essential binary. Gender is never a stable descriptor of an individual, but an
individual is always “doing” gender, performing or deviating from the socially accepted
performance of gender stereotypes. Doing gender is not just about acting in a particular way. It
is about embodying and believing certain gender norms and engaging in practices that map on to
those norms. These performances normalize the essentialism of gender categories. In other
words, by doing gender, we reinforce the notion that there are only two mutually exclusive
categories of gender. The internalized belief that men and women are essentially different is what
makes men and women behave in ways that appear essentially different. Gender is maintained as
a category through socially constructed displays of gender.

Doing gender is fundamentally a social relationship. One does gender in order to be perceived
by others in a particular way, either as male, female, or as troubling those categories. Certainly,
gender is internalized and acquires significance for the individual; some individuals want to feel
feminine or masculine. Social constructionists might argue that because categories are only
formed within a social context, even the affect of gender is in some ways a social relation.
Moreover, we hold ourselves and each other for our presentation of gender, or how we “measure
up.” We are aware that others evaluate and characterize our behavior on the parameter of gender.
Social constructionists would say that gender is interactional rather than individual—it is
developed through social interactions. Gender is also said to be omnirelevant, meaning that
people are always judging our behavior to be either male or female.

Scientifically speaking, you can't really switch genders. You have an X -and depending on the
genes your father passed down to you - an X or Y chromosome, that dictate your gender.

If someone thinks that they are a male, but are not one – they have a serious mental problem. If
you’re born a boy – XY – nothing changes. You’re a boy. If you’re born female – XX – you are
one. No exceptions.

Considering gender has historically from the 1960's on (from what I've seen) been used as means
for a social construct, it must be. Sex is used biologically (male, female, trans male, trans female,
intersex.) Because of this, really the idea of gender doesn't make any sense at all. Gender is such
a tangled mess of ideas that would actually make sense is to say that someone is a feminine or
masculine then their [sex]. Masculine and feminine are the social constructs that make the most
sense, as they've developed over history and are widely accepted. Either that or gender should be
changed to properly become a synonym with sex, as they generally are in our everyday lives.
Let's Clarify some misconceptions here . . .

Many people on the "NO" side would be surprised to see just how much their arguments align
with ours. Many studies have shown that men and women's brains are constructed the same.
While there are some differences, in some than others, you also have to understand that many
socially influenced things CAN in fact change the structure of the brain. For instance, many
would argue that men and women have different white matter in the brain, but there is also
compelling research that the white matter of the brain is different from those who have practiced
meditation than those who have not, which is a completely different angle to look at the structure
of the brain. This being the case, if we can change the white matter in our brain by meditation
and other activities (it's also been shown to increase grey matter), then who's to say that other
activities can't change the structure of the brain. I would argue that socially constructed brains
can look different depending on the way they are socialized. Another example to look at. We
observe many trans children who say that they were born in the wrong bodies. They say they
want to be this gender, but what is it that makes them want to be that gender? Is it because they
see certain behaviors with one particular gender and thus feel more comfortable with those
behaviors? Does that thus make them innately the opposite gender of that which they were born
into? The idea that men are "supposed" to be masculine and women are "supposed" to be
feminine is more of a social construction. Another thing to mention is that yes, gender and sex
are in fact different. Scientists measure sex by the production of gametes (large or small),
contrary to popular belief that an organisms sex is determined by its genitalia. Males produce
small gametes (in mammals, sperm) and females produce large gametes (in mammals, eggs).
That is not changeable. You cannot change the gamete production of your body (at least not yet).
That being said, you CAN determine whether you decide to live your life as feminine or
masculine. You can live, culturally speaking as a woman, in spite of the fact that you are a male,
and vice versa. Male is NOT synonymous with masculine, and female is NOT synonymous with
feminine. White cross culturally people tend to fill gender roles, there's always exceptions to the
rules. Therefore, conservative minded people should stop with this hate rhetoric of people having
to act in one such way based on their SEX (not gender)
Anthropologists that have studied cultures around the world know that a lot of the traditional
gender roles we see in the west are just products of culture and not necessarily innate. For the
most part, culture forces people into behaving in certain ways. That said, almost all cultures do
end up having gender roles that, whatever they are, align with physical sex in some way.

Gender is constructed as evident through the cross cultural differences both temporal and
spatial.

'There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; ... Identity is performatively
constituted by the very "expressions" that are said to be its results.' In other words, gender is a
performance; it's what you do at particular times, rather than a universal who you are. Judith
Butler argues that we all put on a gender performance, whether traditional or not, anyway, and so
it is not a question of whether to do a gender performance, but what form that performance will
take. By choosing to be different about it, we might work to change gender norms and the binary
understanding of masculinity and femininity. This idea of identity as free-floating, as not
connected to an 'essence', but instead a performance, is one of the key ideas in queer theory. Seen
in this way, our identities, gendered and otherwise, do not express some authentic inner "core"
self but are the dramatic effect (rather than the cause) of our performances. While this is not to
negate biological categorizations of sex. Sex is not gender and as most people confuse. Our
identity is not to be equated with gender. Additionally, these are categories that are culturally
constructed since they are fluid. What it means to be a "man" and "woman" have changed in the
last 50 years alone. There is no denying gender roles changed and thus accept that these are
things that societies construct. While sex is pre-determined, even though that can change, gender
changes.

Gender as social construct.

I think that gender is socially constructed. I understand why people would think the opposite
because of their biological sex but from reading the article ' it's time for people to stop using the
social construct of biological sex to defend their transmisogyny ' I saw a quote that I liked and it
supports my idea. “gender is what’s between your ears, sex is what’s between your legs” sex and
gender are two completely different things, in my opinion. I believe that biological sex shows an
outside appearance of ''what you are'' but it's only to that extent. Gender is what a person
identifies them self as. If your sex is a male but you don't identify your self as a male gender,
then that makes sense. Sadly, when we are first born, we are taught that we should behave certain
ways as boys and girls. You can't do certain things because of your sex. You're expected to do
certain things because of your sex. Girls are expected to be quiet and to be shy. Guys are
expected to be tough. It's all about what we decide is expected from you based on your sex.

I mean I've seen the comments on the "no" side and it's pretty extreme. If a biological male wants
to wear a skirt, are you going to pelt him with stones? Well, the answer is yes in some cultures
but that's the kind of cultures we're trying to differentiate ourselves from. I don't think it matters
that it's a social construct or not; and if you think it isn't, don't make fun or belittle people that
don't agree and want to be trans of non binary or anything else.
Gender is entirely a social construct. There is nothing inherently masculine or feminine about the
colors pink or blue. There is nothing inherently masculine or feminine about cooking or sports or
theatre or rom coms or video games or jewelry or makeup or skirts or pants or crying or pretty
much anything we associate more with one gender than the other. There were times when women
wore pants and the color blue, and when men wore skirts and dresses and makeup and wigs.
Then the ideas of gender that we forced on our children changed because society said they
should. Some are arguing that women naturally spend more time with children, but that practice
only came about after the Neolithic revolution. Even biology doesn't always stick to our concept
of binary gender. Intersex people exist. Gender roles only exist because for some reason, despite
how unnesssecary and toxic they are, a lot of people want to force everyone on earth into one of
two boxes that no one fits perfectly into. The point is, gender roles can die in flames.

Social construction is more important for human beings.

I think that one should not forget that, even though we are born as males or females or
transgender, that does not limit in an way the potential for assuming a role within our society that
we have reasoned out is better. It is, in reality, far more useful to be open-minded and choose by
your own will what you want to be than be restricted by current norms. If you just look at
history, you will see that expectations of people radically change and so, there is no reason
whatsoever to accept any divisions that contemporary world has brought us in the field of
sexuality, for example. In Ancient Greece or Rome, you would be surprised by what is
considered "normal". And it isn't the case that they are inferior than us. They were comparably
much more open towards homosexuality or bisexuality than we are today (homosexuality was
widespread, since women weren't seen as perfect). I think, that when we say the word "gender"
we usually associate it with responsibilities that come with being male or female rather than just
having a "right kind" of genital. And you would be a pretty bad human being if you judged a
person by their genitals, either way, right? Nature is not perfect and you should not live your life
reducing yourself to it's standards but try to perfect yourself in a human way.

Gender is socially constructed and a result of sociocultural influences throughout an

individual's development (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). Gender identity can be affected
by, and is different from one society to another depending on the way the members of society
evaluate the role of females and males. Our gender identity can be influenced from the ethnicity
of the group, their historical and cultural background, family values and religion. Often people
confuse or misuse the terms gender and sex. The term sex refers to the biological distinction of
being male and female (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). To make the distinction clearer one
could consider that we inherit the sex but we learn our gender (Boss, 2008). Gender is a
structural feature of society and the sociological significance of gender is that it is a devise by
which society controls its members (Henslin, 2006). Gender like social class and race can be
used to socially categorize people and even lead to prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice is a
set of attitudes, more likely unfavorable, towards members of a group
(Pennsylvania State University, 2011). Discrimination is overt negative behaviors towards a
person based on his or her membership in a group (Pennsylvania State University, 2011). When
there is differential treatment of people based on their sex the term sexism defines this behavior.
Sexism refers to any bias against an individual or group based on the individual's or group's sex
(Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005, p.340). Gender discrimination is another way one could
define sexism and in particular this is associated with discrimination and stereotyped beliefs
against women. Stereotypes are beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of
members of certain groups and most of them are socio-culturally based (Schneider, Gruman &
Coutts, 2005). Stereotype ideas and beliefs regarding women, although they have been changed
and improved, are still evident in our country and in other modern cultures. Unfortunately in
several countries around the world such as Arabian courtiers, Africa and India things have not
changed much and women are still considered a minority and do not have equal access and rights
in their societies as do males (Henslin, 2006). This variation regarding gender around the world
makes prominent that gender identity is influenced by social variables and has little to do with
biological variables.
The idea of social construction of gender sees society, not biological sex differences, as
the basis for gender identity (Anderson, Logio & Taylor, 2005). There are many different
processes by which the expectations associated with being a boy or a girl is passed on through
society. For instance one could see this from the moment a child comes into the world and from
the fact that he/she has to face a "blue" or "pink" reality. I recently attended a baby shower party
and I was shocked first by the amount of items a baby needs and even more about the color
choice of each item. Everything was pink, as a baby girl was expected, and honestly I never
imaged how many different shades of pink actually exist for products such as baby clothes. The
house decoration was pink, people were wearing pink or pastel colors, all the gift wrappers pink
as well as the gifts themselves. My gift was one of the few items of a different color, as I chose
yellow and light purple items, which was actually a challenging task to find as most of the items
in the store I shopped were blue or pink. The social construction of gender could be further been
seen by the way parents behave to their children, by their expectations about how their children
should behave and act, and by the toys they buy for them. For example girls are supposed to play
with dolls and be sweet and emotional and boys are supposed to play with action figures and be
aggressive and rational. Therefore clothes, toys, and even the language used with young children
follow the trend of stereotyping gender. Children learn by modeling and the messages they
receive and act accordingly. An example similar to the dress code we having for children can
also be seen with adults, particularly in the colors, fabrics and designs specific to each gender.
Another example is the situation of a female working in the business field that is expected to
dress in masculine way in order to be considered successful and to be taken more seriously. This
could demonstrate again how social influences affect gender expectations and shape behaviors
and norm regarding gender.
Apart from the family, which is the first agent of socialization and learning gender
identity, children learn from other sources such as school. Starting from the first years of school,
including day care center years, children learn their gender identity from playing and interacting
with other children and care providers. By visiting a child care program one may notice that the
environment is arranged in ways to promote gender identity. Most likely there will be an area
staged as the housekeeping corner where girls the play and there will be another area with
building blocks and tool kit items where the boys play. However it is believed by several that the
kind of toys and roles children play affect their future and the skills they learn. Playing with
blocks is considered giving experience in spatial relations and in mathematical concepts, where
playing with dolls and dramatic role playing is associated with learning to be a nurturer
(Conzalez-Mena, 2006). As children grow more stereotype ideas are involve regarding which
subjects are favorable and suitable for each gender. For instance the most obvious example is
math and probably all of us have heard the notion that boys are better in math than girls.
Therefore one could see that again social influence affects perception about gender identity and
roles. However perceptions such as this can lead to stereotype threads which are the fear or
nervousness that one's behavior will exemplify a negative stereotype about his in-group and
thereby in essence confirming the accuracy of the stereotype.
Furthermore the media also affects and influences gender identity. For instance children
are constantly bombarded with shows depicting gender stereotype models from toys marketed as
for boys or girls, to children's TV programs and shows. It is common for the children's programs
to emphasize the role of the male "hero" who saves the weak female. Children interpret these
messages as "real life" which shapes their reality, behavior, and expectations of their gender role.
However, the social construction of gender does not happen only once and does not stop with
children. It continues throughout the rest of our lives and influences our perspective and the way
we view things and situations. Regarding the media one is able to see an example of gender
stereotyping by observing the messages of advertisements. Recently I had conversation with my
husband relating to the issue of sexism regarding a car show he was watching on TV where
standing next to the new cars were beautiful female models. My comment was that is an example
of benevolent sexism. Benevolent sexism involves the attribution of typically positive traits or
qualities towards women but these traits are derive from stereotypes that see women in limited
ways and often stem from male-centered perspectives (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). My
husband did not want to accept this and he argued that male models are sometimes used as well.
We end up watching the car show for over an hour in order to find a male model next to a car but
we did not see any.
Additionally cultural and religious beliefs and attitudes have a serious impact on gender
identity and in many cases promote stereotype beliefs against women and lead to gender
discrimination. When it comes to culture and religious influences in a society regarding the view
of gender I believe the concept of institutionalized sexism is appropriate to describe this
situation. Institutionalized sexism is the sexist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of
people living in a society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm (Aronson, Wilson,
& Akert, 2011). When a society has specific norms people living within the society will adapt to
them and they will do the same even for discriminatory norms. For instance when a society, due
to religious and cultural reasons, view women as weak or inferior people living within the
society will develop the same views and will act accordingly. One can see this for example in
many Muslim countries and also with different religious groups, even in our own
country. People tend to conform to their group and will do the same even when they engage in
discriminatory behaviors as they want to fit in and be accepted by their group which is known as
normative conformity (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2011).
Society constructs our gender and categorizes its members similar as it does with age,
ethnicity, race, social class and status. However the categorization according to gender is another
way of manipulating members of a society and to promote inequalities. There are obvious
biological and anthropological differences between the two sexes but we cannot use these
differences to infer conclusions and provide stereotyped models about gender. As mentioned in
the beginning sexism is the term that accounts for gender discrimination and has different forms.
One of them already mentioned is benevolent sexism characterized by positive but stereotyped
views of women. Contrarily another form is hostile sexism which is characterized by negative
stereotypical views towards women. For instance hostile sexism views of women are centered on
beliefs that women are inferior to men due to superficial views that one can hold again women.
Lastly another form of sexism is ambivalent sexism which holds views of both hostile and
benevolent sexist attitudes simultaneously (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). However no
matter the form, sexism has overall negative consequences and results in stereotyping women,
and even prejudice and discrimination. The United States of America and other developed
countries have come a long way in trying to eliminate discrimination against women but there is
still a room for improvement. Gender as mentioned above results from sociocultural influences.
Research and theory derived from social psychology could be able to develop appropriate
interventions that could target a vast range of individuals and institutions in order to promote
equality of genders and eliminate gender discriminations.

Saying that “gender is a social construct” has somehow become a thing that sometimes people say
to imply that gender doesn’t exist, that gender isn’t real. But as many of us trans folks can tell
you, gender impacts our lives in very realways.

How can we reconcile those ideas? Let’s break it down.

Gender refers to your innate sense of being — whether that matches what you were assigned at
birth or not. It refers to any combination of how you express yourself, the roles you take on in
society, and most importantly how you identify yourself.

A social construct is something that was shaped by society, by cultural norms — as opposed to
having been shaped by biology.

So what “gender is a social construct” truly means is that the idea of being a man, woman or
another gender is not innately biological. Rather, the idea of gender was created by society.

I don’t think anyone can deny that parts of gender are socially constructed. It’s society that
prevents women from having equal rights in many respects. It’s society that lets women wear
pants, but not men wear dresses. And it’s society that largely ignores nonbinary genders and
intersex conditions that challenge our simple two box categorizing system.

But some people would argue: is it really society that has made men feel less free to express their
emotions or are men biologically less emotional? Did society create the idea that women are less
sexual beings or do they really en masse have less of a biological sex drive than men?
And where do trans people fit into all of this?

In those ways gender is a social construct, but being a social construct doesn’t preclude it from
having very real impacts on our lives — like impacting what people call you, how you’re treated,
what you’re supposed to wear, what kind of future you’re expected to have, and more. Those are
societally-created elements of gender.

Let’s imagine some utopian alternate universe where gender distinctions never became a thing.
No one is assigned anything based on their external genitalia when they’re born. There are no girl
names or boy names. There are no gendered pronouns. We don’t distinguish people in those ways.
Everyone just is.
The problem is that it’s never going to happen in our lifetimes or maybe ever on planet Earth. We
have spent far too much time as humans categorizing ourselves based on gender. That’s not the
world we live in or probably ever will, no matter how gender-defiant and fluid post-millennials
are.

So in the world we do live in now, these distinctions are real. As socially-constructed as they are,
they are real experiences and pressures that we all face.

Trans people face these pressures to an extreme degree. The gender dysphoria we experience is
often tied to the social constructs of gender. It’s tied to the ways that different genders get treated
in society, the ways that different genders are typically expected to look and behave — and even
for people who philosophically believe in completely smashing the gender binary, parts of their
dysphoria are probably going to manifest in ways that conform to that binary.

As a trans guy, I used to get super dysphoric when I was made to wear dresses as a kid. And
nowadays, I feel super affirmed in my identity when I get to wear suits and when someone calls
me sir or mister.

Am I perpetuating the gender binary by engaging in those distinctions? Yeah, a little bit. But
they’re also very important elements of affirming my gender. And hey, I can also kick back on the
binary by saying that I’m a dude who likes Downton Abbey and glitter and really sucks at sports.

There’s something else beyond all the constructs of gender, something that we don’t quite
understand from science yet, which determines that innate sense of gender. It’s gotta be something
biological that makes us trans to begin with, but many of the feelings we experience in the day-to-
day, especially with regard to gender attribution — or, how people perceive our gender — does
have to do with social constructs.

So yes, being trans is a real thing even if gender is completely socially-constructed because those
social constructs are part of what causes you to feel out of place in the gender you were assigned.
Or, if not cause, at least exemplify the pressure.

And if all of that is still in doubt, the one thing that is not is that your feelings are always valid.
Just be the best you that you can be

I’ve been involved in a number of conversations lately about the social construction of gender,
and it occurs to me that what it means for gender to be a social construct, along with the
implications of a social construction theory of gender, is not clear to a lot of people. So here’s an
explanation that may clarify things a bit. A social construction is something that doesn’t exist
independently in the “natural” world, but is instead an invention of society. Cultural practices
and norms give rise to the existence of social constructs and govern the practices, customs, and
rules concerning the way we use/view/understand them. In other words, we all act as if they
exist, and because of our intersubjective agreement, they do. The classic example of a social
construct is money. Various cultures utilize paper, gold, silver, or other items as a medium for
trade. To do this, we invest the object with value that we all acknowledge (we act as if it has
value), and this informs our practices when it comes to money. But money is not a thing that
occurs independently of human activity in the natural world. Thus it is a social construction. It’s
very real – calling it a social construct does not amount to calling it imaginary or non-existent.
But its existence is dependent on our culture and our practices. This means that its definition,
use, meaning, value, etc. is entirely contingent on culture. As our culture changes, so do our
constructs. Some constructs come into being and then fall into disuse and thus go out of
existence. Others remain but change from one culture and historical period to another. Gender is
one such construct. The traits and behaviors that are thought to be “masculine” and “feminine”
differ dramatically from one culture and time period to another. Appropriate ways of behaving,
the labor that’s assigned to gender groups, beliefs about natural abilities and propensities, etc.
change significantly. And this variation and adaptation to conditions and social pressures
reinforces the idea that gender is a social construction rather than some sort of essence that arises
from biology. Because if gender was determined by physical sex, then it wouldn’t vary in this
way, but would remain constant, just as other biologically determined attributes remain constant.
Instead, gender varies with cultural change.

Generally speaking, gender is assigned at birth according to physical sex. Medical professionals
look at the baby’s genitals and announce that the baby is a boy or a girl (unless the child
is intersex, in which case much work is done to force the child into one camp or the other). And
then the work begins to socialize the child and teach them the script that goes with the gender
they’ve been assigned. And most of us get to be pretty darn good at acting out the appropriate
script. We learn which emotions we’re supposed to display, which activities we’re supposed to
enjoy and excel at, and which ones we’re supposed to avoid or suck at, to each other, how to
manage our body language, which kind of work and hobbies we’re supposed to pursue, etc. And
for many of us it’s not a great fit, but we manage, or we learn how to make those features of
ourselves that don’t fit the script less conspicuous (i.e., we pass). But for some of us, it feels
wrong enough that we can’t just fit in or pass. For transgender and genderqueer individuals,
performing the other script, or a different script altogether, is the only way to make life livable.
(For transsexuals, the issue encompasses more than gender, so they will have other issues, except
insofar as they often also learn to perform “the other” gender script.)
So this description raises a number of questions. Why are there only two scripts, when bodies
seem to come in more than two shapes? Why do we need these scripts at all? Why are we so
committed to the idea that there must be a one-to-one correspondence between the two scripts we
have and the two kinds of bodies we insist on believing people are born into? These are all good
questions, and all things that feminists should be pushing on and tugging at the loose strings. A
few brief answers: We need the scripts and the clearly delineated categorical distinctions,
because you can’t build hierarchy without difference. Hierarchy depends on difference, so you
choose some physical differences, like genitalia and skin color, and invest them with
significance. Once you have groups which are thought to be essentially different, you can build
up and justify your hierarchy on the basis of them. Making them essential, or biologically
grounded, gives them immutability and God-ordainedness. So then we need to maintain the one-
to-one correspondence in order to maintain the stability and essential nature of the distinctions.
We can’t allow people to go around determining their own identity and position in the hierarchy
will-nilly, or everything will fall apart. And we especially must maintain the gender-sex link
because of heteronormativity. After all, one function of gender is to indicate to the world what
kind of bidness you’ve got going on under your clothes. As an outward marker of physical sex,
gender allows us to identify which individuals are potential mates for us, and avoid the oh-so-
horrifying experience of being attracted to someone with (gasp!) the wrong set of genitalia.
So what follows from the view of gender as a social construction? First, it reveals that gender is
not immutable or set in stone. Harmful aspects of our construction of gender can and should be
discarded. But beyond that, if gender exists to support hierarchy, then gender, as it is viewed and
practiced in our culture, is not only uncomfortable for many people, but a tool of oppression. So
at the very least, driving a wedge between sex and gender, and putting pressure on the notion that
everyone has to fit into some kind of neat binary or follow some kind of carefully delineated
script, benefits everyone and serves to weaken patriarchal structures. And allowing every
individual to navigate their own identity formation and locate their own spot on the gender
continuum would lead to a lot less disonnance and uncomfortable performances, not to mention
physical danger and stigma for those who don’t adhere to the script to which they were assigned.
However, one thing that the social construction view of gender does not get you is a
condemnation of trans people for “reifying gender.” First, this view (espoused by some very
vocal radical feminists, to the horror and dismay of other radical feminists) is based on a
profound misunderstanding of social constructionism and reification. Second, the view is
inconsistent in that it condemns one group (trans folk) for performing gender, but ignores the fact
that all of us are performing gender all the time. If trans people reify gender by adhering to a
script, then so do cis people. And even if this view was coherent, it shows a profound lack of
compassion and understanding of the individuals. We are all of us born into a system that is
already gendered, and our social survival depends on our learning how to perform the script. This
is not an individual decision that’s ours to make. So this is an instance where we ought to hate
the game, but not the player. And one thing’s for sure: we all benefit by discourses and practices
which drive a wedge between sex and gender. The loosening of these strict categories and
binaries can at least result in a view of sex and gender which is far more fluid and flexible,
allowing more breathing room for everyone.

2.Production of masculinity and femininity

If you view masculinity from an integral perspective then there a four distinct forces that shape
your masculinity:

 Your biology

 Your psychology

 The cultures you inhabit

 The society you live in

These four distinct forces interact at every stage of masculinity to shape your experience of being
a man. In simple terms biology and psychology represent the forces of nature while society and
culture represent the forces of nurture. The importance your place on each of these four forces
will be governed by the side you take in the nature vs nurture debate? Or maybe you don’t take
sides, maybe you believe that masculinity is a bio-psycho-socio-cultural construct…….!?
THE BIOLOGY OF MASCULINITY

Maleness is formed at a biological level in the XY sex chromosomes found in every cell of our
bodies. The small proportion of men born with an XXY chromosome are less masculine in a
variety of ways—they have less testosterone, smaller testes, less public hair, less facial hair, a
lower sex drive, are less muscular, may have man boobs and can be shy and lack confidence in
childhood.

By contrast, children with the condition congenital adrenal hyperplasia are exposed to higher
levels of male sex hormones such as testosterone. Boys with the condition can enter puberty
early leading to increased body hair and an enlarged penis at an early age, while girls with the
condition may have unusual looking genitalia (such as an enlarged clitoris) and a tendency
towards more masculine behaviours such as a preference for playing with “boys’ toys”.

The impact of biological factors like chromosomes and hormones on our masculinity has been
observed by researchers studying the journals of men undergoing testosterone replacement. What
they discovered was that as men’s testosterone levels rose they used fewer words in their journals
and wrote less about people and more about objects.

The apparent masculine interest in objects, more than people, has also been observed at a
neurological level. According to Simon Baron-Cohen’s Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S)
Theory the female brain is more often hard-wired for empathy while the male brain is more often
hard-wired for understanding and building systems.

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY

The nature of masculinity changes over time in parallel with the common social systems that
define a culture or historical era. In the agricultural age, for example, the invention of the plough
revolutionized food production. The plough relied heavily on male upper body strength and
required men to work away from their family while women stayed close to home. To this day the
hard-working dad and the stay-at-home are still recognized as archetypal masculine and feminine
roles.

As countries evolve from agrarian to industrial to post-industrial systems of economic

production, the nature of masculinity and femininity also evolves. In modern industrial nations,
women can reach the top of their field by adopting masculine traits. As post-modern, post-
industrial nations emerge, feminine skills become more valued.

The laws that govern sex and gender are also part of the social systems that shape our
masculinity. In countries where men and women have generous and equal parental leave rights,
women earn more and men do more childcare.

Is this because the men in these countries are more feminine, nurturing and caring naturally, or is
their masculinity being nurtured in a new direction by the country’s parental leave laws?

THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY

The values and beliefs of the communities we are born into play a huge role in defining our
masculinity.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MASCULINITY

The psychology of masculinity is perhaps the most interesting aspect to explore as it is in our
own psychological world that we experience being a man, being manly and being masculine. Our
psychological world is where our gender identity is formed and where we personally experience
the influence that biology, society and culture have in shaping our masculinity.

Some biological determinists see gender differences in society as being the result of men’s and
women’s psychological preferences and choices. For social and cultural determinists, the choices
and preferences men and women express at the micro level are the result of coercion at a macro
level. For example, If we don’t give fathers equal rights and opportunities as parents through
laws and policies at a macro level, then this will effect the preferences and choices that
individual fathers make at the micro level.

So is our masculinity shaped entirely from the outside by the social norms and cultural values
that surround us? Or is it our nature that makes us masculine with our male hormones and
choromosomes and neuro-biology simply triggering characteristics that have evolved over
millennia and are now deeply embedded in the male psyche?

According to the Psychologist Martin Seager who chaired the UK’s first male psychology
conference , there are three ancient rules of masculinity that create the “male script” that shapes
and informs our experience of being a man. These rules are:

 Men should be fighters and winners

 Men should be protectors and providers

 Men should retain mastery and control

It has also been argued that men and women evolve psychologically through three similar stages
of development (ie egocentric, ethnocentric and worldcentric), albeit in a different masculine or
feminine voice.

Masculine psychological development is driven by rights: i.e. my rights, our rights, everyone’s
rights. Feminine psychological development is driven by care: i.e. my care, our care, everyone’s
care.

As you consider whether your masculinity is shaped by nature or nurture you may also reflect on
your own masculine and feminine development.

From a masculine perspective do you assert your own rights? Do you take a stand for the rights
of people in the groups you belong to, e.g. your family, your country, your gender? Do you
recognize the rights of all human beings?
From a feminine perspective do you make sure your needs are taken care of? Are you mindful of
the needs of people in groups you belong to, e.g. your family, your country, your gender? Do you
recognize the value in taking care of the needs of all human beings?

Is femininity and masculinity a social or biological construct?

In answering this question, it is important to keep evolution in mind. How we as humans evolved
and survived, is what created the concept of masculinity and femininity.

All animals most basic and primal desire is to survive and reproduce. If this weren’t the case, life
would never have evolved from a single cell organism into sophisticated multi-cellular organisms.
Once the need of security is met, reproduction can then take place.

So it makes sense that we evolved to become supremely efficient at surviving and reproducing. It
is not a coincidence the male and female sex came into existence, rather than a unisex being.
Evolution decided this was the best way to ensure the success of our species. Almost all other
animals evolved exactly the same way.

In our hunter and gatherer days, different jobs and tasks were given to people who excelled at
them. Many males were given the task of hunting and protecting. Males being pumped full of
testosterone, are naturally suited for the task.

What sort of behavioral and psychological traits would evolution create in a hunter and protector?
He/she would need some of the traits our culture defines as masculine traits.

A male needs physical strength for defense and to kill his prey for food and he needs valor
because there will be risk while hunting in the wild; dangerous predators will threaten him.

Males are known as aggressive, competitive and risky. To attract a mate, males have to prove
themselves worthy in some way. Females try to prove themselves as well, but for now I’ll talk
about males. What would attract a woman?

Women have evolved to be attracted to a male who will protect her offspring. Our most
primordial instinct is survival and reproduction, so naturally women will want a male who can
help her survive and reproduce.

To prove himself to the female, a male will compete/fight with other males to show he is the
strongest and most capable protector. He will need to be aggressive and assertive while fighting,
otherwise he will be overpowered. He can’t be overly concerned about the feelings and emotions
of his competitor because then he won’t want to hurt his competitor and this hesitation would give
his opponent the upper hand; thus, he tends to be insensitive when fighting.

The male who is the strongest and smartest will win fights with other males and will attract a
female. Testosterone helps with muscle growth, so the strongest male will likely have high
testosterone levels. Also, after winning a competition, males receive a boost in testosterone and
dopamine. Males will seek this high even if it means risky behavior. In this way, nature uses the
concept of survival of the fittest to reward men with these traits.

Now when the tribe gets large enough, someone is chosen as an arbiter to settle disputes that
spring up. The arbiter needs to be fair and just so that he correctly settles disputes and confident
so people believe what he’s says is right. An arbiter who is fair, just and confident will be adept in
ensuring the survival of the tribe. Without an arbiter, the tribe would grow fractious. Unsolved
arguments would cause bitterness and eventually the tribe would be left in fragments.

People will look to the arbiter as a leader and he/she will be put in a position of power. Men with
power can ensure the safety of a wife and children, so women will be attracted to a person who is
confident, fair and just.

Now the tribe people respect the leader because he/she is fair and just and doesn’t act with malice.
The leader has influence in deciding where the tribe goes and what the tribe does. The leader isn’t
overly aggressive or risky, because these traits might cause him to initiate an unnecessary war
with another tribe.

In history, it is more common to see a male tribe leader than a female tribe leader probably
because men tend to be more aggressive and assertive. They will fight for a position of power
harder than a female will in general. It doesn’t mean a female is less capable of being a leader, it
just means men are more likely to want to be a leader because of their competitive spirit.

War heroes are often put in power because men are willing to be led by a man with physical
prowess and valor. Since women didn’t fight very often, women didn’t ascend to a position of
leadership this way. Men and women want to survive and reproduce, and people who are capable
of providing security are given power. Thus, a war hero is given a leadership role.

Just as men have evolved to have the advantage of physical strength, women have evolved to be
more emotionally aware, empathetic, patient and gentle. This is a generalization, but for the
majority of people it holds true.

Why would a woman evolve to be more gentle, emotionally aware and empathetic? Women are
given the task of child bearing and since the men are often out hunting, women spend more time
raising children. Naturally, men will be attracted to women with these traits because these type of
women will raise children capable of success.

For the first couple years of life, an infant can’t speak. The most capable mother has evolved to
know exactly what’s wrong with her child without being explicitly told. She understands the
child’s emotions and can guess what the child is thinking. She needs to be gentle and patient with
the child while it develops and learns. If the mother is quick to anger, the child won’t feel loved
and won’t develop properly.
Females have evolved to have traits that make them naturally better at nurturing a child. It is
beneficial, however, for the child to have a female and male role model because there are positive
traits that are learned from both men and women.

The role of mother should not be looked down upon. It is an incredibly difficult job and some
mothers do it better than others. It is the duty of the father to help the mother as much as needed
and perhaps the job should be split equally.

Rather than look at having children as oppressive, mothers should ask the fathers for help. If both
parents worked part time, the stress would be more evenly distributed and their efficiency at work
would rise. Most people can’t produce high quality work for 8 hours a day, so working less would
allow them to raise better children and work less.

Although society has drastically changed, the traits that are considered masculine and feminine
have not because nature takes a lot of time to be undone. Our society has fabricated gender roles
based on how men and women have biologically evolved.

In this sense, gender and sex are not the same. Sex is biological. Gender is a set of traits we expect
men and women to display. Although these traits are grounded in biology and evolution, it
shouldn’t limit men and women into certain behaviors. Men who are sensitive and empathetic
should not be looked down upon and women who are assertive and competitive shouldn’t either.
At the same time, we should accept how nature has created us. Men and women have a proclivity
to excel at different skills, but we can both learn from each other.

There are some people who claim sex is not biological. They say society has decided men are men
and women are women. Nature doesn’t decide. They say doctors have decided men have an ‘x’
and ‘y’ chromosome and women have two ‘x’ chromosomes. And doctors have decided men and
women have certain genitalia.

I would ask them, how do we as humans, properly give names to anything? Why did we give a
basketball a different name than a soccer ball? Each ball has different characteristics. To make
communication easier, we gave the same name to all balls with a certain set of characteristics.

The term “female” and “male” refer to a person’s sex. When we invented the alphabet, we
attributed the term “male” to all people who contain a certain set of biological characteristics.
Nature produced people with two fundamentally different sets of biological characteristics. We
classified and named them for ease of communication.

Society has defined masculinity and femininity, but these definitions were inevitable because of
how we evolved. The way we defined male and female gender one hundred years ago might be
much different than the way we define them 500 years from now. Some people think our current
definition of masculinity and femininity is outdated and injurious. This may be partly true, but in
general, women still make better mothers then men.
Evolution will dictate how gender stereotypes change and that will take many years. The best
option for us now is to become aware of why we are wired to act in a certain way.

Part of the reason our definitions of gender seem outdated is because with recent technological
advances, the workplace is rapidly changing.

Mechanized systems are quickly making human labor obsolete. This has sparked a paradigm shift
in the type of skills that are necessary for success in the workplace; creativity is much more
integral to success now than it was one hundred years ago and strength and valor are no longer as
valuable in the workplace.

We aren’t out hunting everyday, and have no chance to even display valor. Valor implies danger.
Insurance companies and the threat of workers compensation have scared employers into making
jobs extremely safe for the most part. Law enforcement agents, fire fighters and soldiers are an
exception. They bravely work jobs that may require them to risk their lives.

Strength is still valuable in many blue-collar jobs like construction. But even in construction,
strength isn’t as crucial. Giant mechanical diggers have practically replaced the shovel. Although
strength isn’t as necessary in the workplace, it is definitely still a masculine trait. No one can say
more strength makes you less masculine.

Our biology has not caught up with the way we currently live. Men and women evolved to have
masculine and feminine traits because these traits made us more effective in our traditional roles.
Our traditional roles have changed, but we still feel the need to fit into our old roles because
nature can’t respond quickly enough to the rapid changes in our society.

The sex / gender differences raises the issues of male – female; masculine and feminine, male
associated with masculinity and female with femininity. With each constructions the biological
differences between men and women get translated into social terms and descriptions. Feminist
writers argue that biological differences get heightened through social descriptions of
masculinity and femininity. Patters of differences by gender is seen when the character is either
masculine or feminine. For example, pink and blue are gendered colours, former regarded as
„feminine‟ and the latter as masculine. Further to be „strong‟ and „tough‟ is masculine. Being
„weak‟ and „soft‟ are associated with feminine character. There are several other traits that are
categorized as masculine and feminine. Masculinity and femininity are concepts which signify
the social outcomes of being male or female the traits and characteristics which describe men
and women give men advantage over women. Moira Gatens points masculinity is not valued
unless performed by biological male. Hence the male body is imbued in our culture with certain
traits that characterize maleness or masculinity. Hence, the human norm of male supremacy.
Similarly femininity is performed by the biological female. The female body is in our culture is
imbued with certain traits that characterize female or femininity. According to Judith Butler any
theorization about gender introduces the notion or idea of performance of gender in terms of
masculinity and femininity. Thus performance of gender becomes involuntary as gender gets
internalized through the socialization process within the dominant discourses of patriarchy
gender is performed at different levels within the family and in the society. We socially enter into
our gendered categories of masculine and feminine right from birth. The concepts of masculinity
and femininity as need in feminist discourses and writing to explain the differences between men
and women. Some argue that these differences are based in their biology while others reject this
argument and emphasize that the differences are socially constructed. Therefore, the construction
of men and masculinity will accrue exclusive expectations have changed, women lives and roles
have broadened. This explain just how malleable the category of femininity is.

PATRIARCHY : Patriarchy is a often used term in everyday conversation. The question here is
“what is patriarchy?” In casual conversation, whether in English or any other language the term
implies “male domination”, “male prejudice (against women)”, or more simply “male power”.
Put simply, the term means “the absolute rule of the father or the eldest male member over his
family”. Patriarchy is thus the rule of the father over all women in the family and also over
younger socially and economically subordinate males. Literally, patriarchy means rule by the
male head of a social unit (like family, tribe). The patriarch is typically a societal elder who has
legitimate power over others in the social unit. However, since the early twentieth century,
feminist writers have used the term patriarchy as a concept to refer to the social system of
masculine domination over women. Patriarchy has been a fundamentally important concept in
gender studies. Feminist writers have developed a number of theories that aim to understand the
bases of women‟s subordination to men. The term patriarchy is not only a descriptive term that
explains how different societies construct male authority and power, but also become an
analytical category. This changes of the use of the term patriarchy from a descriptive to an
analytical category took place in the 1970s, in a specific global historical context of feminist
political and intellectual culture. In the course of time this later led to the development of the
discipline of women‟s studies or gender studies, when women agitated for their rights. At the
Universities women demanded that their experiences and points of view be taken seriously that
patriarchy emerged as a way of both describing and explaining the world. Since this time,
patriarchy has been used critically to explain the main components of authority and power in any
social system. Patriarchy automatically privileges men over women such that women have little
or no claims to material, sexual and intellectual resources of the society. That is, in a patriarchal
society women have to struggle to be educated, to have property or to make choices regarding
marriage and other aspects of life. For men, these resources are a matter of right and can make
choices that affect their lives. Let us take some examples to clarify the way in which patriarchy is
evident in our daily life. When a man raises his voice in the course of an argument and insects on
his point of view, without letting others especially women get to utter a single word, his actions
are likely to be described as “aggressively patriarchal”. If a women complains of sexual
harassment at her work place, and all the men in her office deny that this could ever happen. The
reasoning of men can be described as being “typically patriarchal”. In public speeches that
disclaim the subordination of women, this decimal is described by the term „patriarchy‟. In a
very general way “patriarchy” is a „catch‟ word that describes the different ways in which
society discriminates against women. These examples explain the many different and subtle
ways through which patriarchy is expressed in the society. Anglo – European anthropologists,
writing in the nineteenth century, used the term widely. In their writings, „patriarchy‟, usually
referred to a social system where men were family heads, descent was through the father. Men
alone were priests, and all laws and norms were dictated by the male elders in the community.
When used in this sense, the term „patriarchy‟ is often contrasted with the term „matriarchy‟,
which referred to social system where women exercised political authority over men, or
possessed decisive power and exercised a measure of control over social relationships and
everyday life. In the evolution of society, matriarchy was usually considered and earlier and
more primitive stage of society, and patriarchy on later and more advanced stage of society. In
contemporary discourses on gender, patriarchy is a central concept that feminist writers have
been grappling with to explain differential positions of men and women in the society. These
writings view patriarchy as the subordination of women. The patriarchal system provides self –
definitions and norms for women. These social norms restrict the social roles of women as
mothers and wives. The patriarchal system also amply rewards all those women who learn to
passively their defined roles. Both wifehood and motherhood become glorified in the patriarchal
system. These roles are granted social sanctions and at the same time are also eulogized in local
folk lore, in literature, and religion so that women do actively engage themselves in playing their
social roles and thus themselves contributes and perpetuate the patriarchal social order.
Patriarchy has both productive and punitive aspects. Thus women who wish to remain single and
refuse marriage and treated with disdain by the society. Similarly women who are not fertile or
those who cannot bear children especially male are ridiculed and held in contempt and their
position in the family is a non-existent one. The position of widow, especially upper caste
widows under the patriarchal system was even pitiable. Widow remarriage was prohibited. The
widow was excluded from also social and religious functions of the family, confined to the house
and household chores. Those women who did not fall into this pattern of society, that is those
women who refused to be invisible, and did not conform to their civic identity on their fertility
and domestic status were ridiculed, and criticized for being stubborn and even as unnatural to
their basic biology. In some countries women who did not marry, or were not fertile, or who
became widows at a young age were deforminised in some ways. For example in India, upper
caste widows were required to slave their heads, wear no ornaments, or colour garments as they
were viewed with suspicion. They were women who had deviated from the conventional norms
of reproduction and had to be relegated to a lowly status and position. Women who appeared as a
threat to the larger society because they did not conform to the norms that governed feminine
behaviour were accused of practicing magic and sorcery. They were identified as witches. Witch-
hunting by men was expressed through violence against these women who were severely
punished, publicly humiliated and ever killed. Patriarchy has been viewed as more than just the
subordination of women. It has been pointed out that not all men are powerful in a patriarchal
system. For example younger men in the family have less authority and power than older men.
They have to defer to older men till their turn to exercise power comes. The lower class and
underprivileged men, and in the Indian context the „dalit men‟ have lesser or no authority as
compared to the upper class, more privileged and upper caste men. Such men who are oppressed
and exploited by powerful men are denied access to resources of the society as well as their own
masculine identity. Inspite of this, that certain classes and category of men are the targets of
patriarchal authority, the fact remains that all men can claim resources and power more easily
than women in their families or communities. In the lower caste lower class families male
children get to eat better food and are more likely to be sent to school and receive health care
than the female children. Another example is that of the hirjas (enuchs) in India. They actively
renounce and refuse their masculinity. They are often the object or ridicule and derision.
Moreover, many of them are from lower castes and lower classes. The above discussion clearly
brings out the way in which patriarchy differentiates between men and women. And through such
differential treatment women are denied access to resources of the society and to positions of
power and authority both in the family and in the community.
 What do men control in the Patriarchal System : Different areas of women‟s lives are said to be
under patriarchal control.

1. Women’s productive or labour power : Men control women‟s productivity both within the
household and outside, in paid work. Within the household women provide all kinds of services
to their husbands, children and other members of the family throughout their lives. Feminist
writer Sylvia Walby calls this as the “patriarchal mode of production” where women‟s labour is
expropriated by then husbands and others who live there. She calls housewives as the „producing
class‟ and husbands are the „expropriating class‟. The work done by housewives is not
considered as work at all and housewives become dependent on their husbands. Men also control
women‟s labour outside the home. They make women to sell their labour or they may prevent
their women from working. They may appropriate what women earn often women are excluded
from better paid work. They are usually working in jobs with low wages; or work within the
home in what is called home based production, which is itself an exploitative system. This
control over and exploitation of women‟s labour mean that men benefit materially from
patriarchy. They benefit economically from the subordination of women. This is the material or
economic basis of patriarchy.

2. Women’s Reproduction : Men also control women‟s reproductive power. In many societies
women have no control over then reproduction capacities. They cannot decide how many
children they want, whether to use contraceptives, or a decision to terminate pregnancy. In
addition men control social institutions like religion and politics which are male dominated.
Control is institutionalized by laying down rules regarding women‟s reproduction capacity. For
example, in the Catholic Church, the male religious hierarchy decides whether men and women
can use birth control contraceptives. In modern times, the patriarchal state tries to control
women‟s reproduction through its family planning programmes. The state decides the optimum
size of the country‟s population. In India for example the birth control programme limits the
family size and discourages women from having more than two children. On the other hand, in
Europe, where birth rates are low, women are lured through various incentives have more
children. Women are given long paid maternity leave, child care facilities and opportunities for
part-time jobs. Patriarchy idealises motherhood and thereby forces women to be mothers. It also
determines the conditions of their motherhood. This ideology of motherhood is considered one of
the bases of women‟s oppression. It also creates feminine and masculine character types and
perpetuates patriarchy. It restricts women‟s mobility and it reproduces male dominance.

3. Control over Women’s Sexuality : Women are obliged to provide sexual services to their
husbands according to their needs and desires. Moral and legal regulations exist to restrict the
expression of women‟s sexuality outside marriage in every society, while male promiscuity is
often condoned. Another way of exercising control over women‟s sexuality is when men force
their wives, daughters or other women in their control into prostitution. Rape and threat of rape is
another way in which women‟s sexuality is controlled through notions of „shame‟ and „honour‟,
family honour. Lastly, women‟s sexuality is controlled through their dress, behaviour and
mobility which are carefully monitored by the family and through social, cultural and religions
codes of behaviour.
4. Women’s Mobility : Besides control of women‟s sexuality, production and reproduction, men
also control women‟s mobility. The imposition of purdah restriction on leaving the house, limit
on interaction between the sexes are some of the ways by which the patriarchal society controls
women‟s mobility and freedom of movement. Such restriction are unique to women, while men
are not subject to such restrictions.

5. Property and other Economic Resources : most property and other productive resources are
controlled by men and are passed on from father to son. Even in societies where women have
legal rights to inherit property, customary practices, social sanctions and emotional pressures that
prevents them from acquiring control over them. According to UN statistics, “Women do more
than 60% of the hours of work done in the world, but they get 10% of the world‟s income and
own 1% of the world‟s property”. We have seen how men control different areas of women‟s
lives through the patriarchal order of the society.
Reehai: The film highlights the independence and identity of women in a rural set-up. We can
see the movie on internet on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCqkOPG78RA

The problems faced by rural women in a deeply patriarchal society, is reminiscent of Aruna
Raje's 1988 film, Rihaee, made at a time when heroine-centred films were few and far between.

Two of the top stars of that era, Hema Malini and Vinod Khanna, agreed to act in a small budget
film; Naseeruddin Shah, Neena Gupta, Ila Arun, were regulars in the art cinema circuit.

Set in a village in Gujarat, where the women are left to fend for themselves while the men go to
cities to make a living, the film spoke of the loneliness and sexual frustration of these grass
widows.

The only males left behind are children and old men, so when Mansukh (Naseeruddin Shah)
returns to the village from Dubai, he has a field day seducing the women. Only Taku (Hema
Malini), the hard-working wife of Amarji (Vinod Khanna), a carpenter working in the city, seems
to be immune to Mansukh's charms.

It was bold of a female director to speak of the longing of women who have husbands, but are
still alone. In rural India, where poverty is unemployment is rampant, there are so many men
who are forced to abandon their families.

It is typical of the hypocrisy of a male-dominated society that the men can meet their sexual
needs outside of the marriage, but the women are expected to be chaste. They are also expected
to work in the fields and take care of their children and in-laws. Theirs is a strange lot - they are
independent, yet tied up to their homes.

Eventually even Taku succumbs to Mansukh and when she finds herself pregnant, refuses to
abort the child. She confesses to her husband, who is expectedly shocked and angry, but like his
friend Roopji (Mohan Agashe), he cannot bring himself to beat his wife or force her to have an
abortion against her will. The hypocritical Roopji, who sleeps around unashamedly but drove his
pregnant wife to suicide, calls for a panchayat to punish Taku.

He and the other men are afraid that if Taku is allowed to get away, then all the women will
follow suit. They all know that their wives have affairs when they are away, but as long as it is
kept under wraps and pregnancies from such liaisons quietly terminated, the maryada of their
society can be preserved. It is this duplicity that Takubai challenges, with her stubborn refusal to
kill her unborn child.

She is willing to face the village panchayat to be judged, and the men decide to banish her from
the village. Then, the women who had tried to get her to get rid of the foetus now stand up for
her in a stunning show of female solidarity.

They threaten to leave the village too if Taku is evicted. The older women question the male
order that dares punish women for the same "crime" that men get away with.

"If you want us to be Sita, then you must become Ram," they say. One of the women, Motibai,
exposes the misdeeds of some the respected village elders - one of them rapes his daughter-in-
law; another 70-year-old is about to marry a 13-year-old child.

The flustered men leave Amarji to deal with his "personal matter". When Roopji tries to act
tough and throw out Taku, Amarji comes to her defence; then with a look of great dignity and
tenderness, takes Taku back into the house, leaving Roopji fuming with rage.

Even if it is a small step, one woman's strength changes the macho attitude of one man, and
perhaps that of the entire village.

Like Parched, Aruna Raje's Rihaee tends to veer towards sloganeering, however, it remains one
of the handful films about the power of female bonding, disproving the myth that women are
their own worst enemy.

Shakti Vahini-A NGO https://shaktivahini.org

SHAKTI VAHINI is located in NEW DELHI Delhi . SHAKTI VAHINI is registered as a

Society at NEW DELHI of state Delhi with Ngo. Address
H-11,2ND FLOOR HUDSON LINES KINGSWAY CAMP NEW DELHI 110009
Email
shaktivahini@yahoo.co.in
Website
http://www.shaktivahini.org
This SHAKTI VAHINI NGO charity is working on Key Issues of Children, Civic Issues,
Education & Literacy, Environment & Forests, Health & Family Welfare, HIV/AIDS, Human
Rights, Legal Awareness & Aid, Right to Information & Advocacy, Urban Development &
Poverty Alleviation, Women's Development & Empowerment, Youth Affairs
Operational States
Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
SHAKTI VAHINI Major Activities and Achivements
SHAKTI VAHINI WORKS IN THE FIELD OF ANTI HUMAN TRAFFICKING, HIV/AIDS ,
HEALTH ISSUES , HUMAN RIGHTS , ENVIRONMENT , CHILD RIGHTS etc.SHAKTI
VAHINI TAKES UP PRO BONO LEGAL CASES IN THE SUPREME COURT AND
DIFFERENT HIGH COURTS. IT ALSO SPECIALISES IN LEGAL TRAINING
PROGRAMMES. SHAKTI VAHINI HAS EMERGED AS KEY ORGANIZATION WORKING
IN CHILD RIGHTS AND ANTI TRAFFICKING. IT ALSO UNDERTAKES POLICE
SENSITIZATION PROGRAMES ON SOCIAL LEGISLATION . IT WORKS VERY CLOSELY
WITH GOVT AGENCIES AND THE UN AGENCIES. SHAKTI VAHINI IS THE NON
OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE CENTRAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO COMBAT
TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUION . IT ALSO IS A MEMBER OF THE DELHI STATE
AIDS COUNCIL. IT ALSO HAS DONE RESEARCH WORK ON WOMEN AND CHILD
RIGHTS AND WAS MENTIONED AS THE INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE IN THE
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT BROUGHT OUT BY US STATE DEPARTMENT IN
2005

It aspires and strives for Just, Free and Equitable society. NGO considers it a duty of every
citizen to have social concerns and strive for the progress and development of society. In its
efforts and struggle to achieve the above, it draw its inspirations from our rich civilization,
plurality of culture, spirit of our Democratic Constitution, National Movement for freedom
struggle, lives and teachings of our great leaders.

Shakti Vahini, since the last 17 years has been conducting intervention programs for young boys,
rescuing trafficking victims, have covered twelve states in Northern and Eastern India and have
an office in New Delhi. They work closely with various government agencies for enforcement of
new legislations. Addressing the legal, working with law enforcement, advocacy for enforcement
of laws and rescue mission to help trafficked victims, Shakti Vahini is a testament to how a group
of men can work on women’s issue. Shakti Vahini is part of the Central Advisory Committee to
combat trafficking and prostitution created by the Government of India. It has been appointed by
the Supreme Court of India in 2011 as a member of the expert panel to guide the court in
the rehabilitation of women.

It has also been involved in the training of more than 15,000 policemen across the country on
issues related to sexual assault cases and anti-trafficking.

For their selfless devotion towards the society, the three brothers have been conferred with the
Solidarity Award during the 2013 Vital Voices Global Awards in Washington, United States.

Unit-II

1. Power and Subordination:

 Although any general definition of feminism would no doubt be controversial, it seems
undeniable that much work in feminist theory is devoted to the tasks of critiquing women’s
subordination, analyzing the intersections between sexism and other forms of subordination such
as racism, heterosexism, and class oppression, and envisioning the possibilities for both
individual and collective resistance to such subordination. Insofar as the concept of power is
central to each of these theoretical tasks, power is clearly a central concept for feminist theory as
well. And yet, curiously, it is one that is not often explicitly discussed in feminist work
(exceptions include Allen 1998, 1999, Caputi 2013, Hartsock 1983 and 1996, Yeatmann 1997,
and Young 1992). This poses a challenge for assessing feminist perspectives on power, as those
perspectives must first be reconstructed from discussions of other topics. Nevertheless, it is
possible to identify three main ways in which feminists have conceptualized power: as a resource
to be (re)distributed, as domination, and as empowerment. After a brief discussion of theoretical
debates amongst social and political theorists over how to define the concept of power, this entry
will survey each of these feminist conceptions.

1. Defining power
In social and political theory, power is often regarded as an essentially contested concept (see
Lukes 1974 and 2005, and Connolly 1983). Although this claim is itself contested (see Haugaard
2010; Morriss 2002, 199–206 and Wartenberg 1990, 12–17), there is no doubt that the literature
on power is marked by deep, widespread, and seemingly intractable disagreements over how the
term power should be understood.
One such disagreement pits those who define power as getting someone else to do what you want
them to do, that is, as an exercise of power-over, against those who define it as an ability or a
capacity to act, that is, as a power-to do something. The classic formulation of the former
definition is offered by Max Weber, who defines power as “the probability that one actor within a
social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance…” (1978, 53).
The social structure of the family has always been in the state of transformation. These changes
in turn have led to alterations in the hierarchies of power at work in the deep structure of the
communities. Men desire to obtain social power, their being privileged is undeniable. This is due
to the fact that men need to have power in order to boost their self-esteem. Nonetheless, as power
asymmetry has been changed during recent decades, remarkably with the first and the second
wave of feminism, women have consequently achieved more responsibilities, both economically
and politically, in society. Since the change is not only inevitable but also often desirable,
conflict is consequently unavoidable (Francis, 2000). Through an overview to the family
structure proposed by Lawrence Stone, one would easily figure out that three major family
transformations had happened in the meantime of 300 years from the beginning of sixteenth
century to the end of eighteenth century. In the earlier years of this period, our society was
structured upon nuclear family, living in small houses but being surrounded by other family
members, relatives and perhaps people from the community. Apparently the family was not
separated from the society. Choosing partner was not a personal choice and usually elder
members like grandparents or parents had the privilege to select partners for their children. At
that time romance and love was considered as a disorder. There was no secret in the family and
the society had the right to know everything happening within the private sphere of the family.
As a result, family design was open, dominated and unemotional. Then, later on, the nuclear
family was replaced with a limited Patriarchy Family which lasted for two centuries from 16th to
the beginning of 18th century. In this new structure of the family, privileging men to be the head
of the family and subordinating the women, i.e. diminishing the role of women merely to house
works and taking care of children and their husbands and at the same time focusing on love and
internal relationship, was increasingly highlighted. The third transformation, however, happened
when the power of patriarchy became limited to nuclear family in which individualism emerged
and women found their new role in workplace once again and decreased the power of the
patriarch (Stone, 1977). These changes in family structure has initiated new conflicts. Despite
their primary function of serving as sex partners, there are some more emotional and
psychological issues happening between them and men. The mission of domination is to
establish power asymmetry and it is dependent on that. It is a relationship that most people, in
most cultures, most readily associate with the word power (Francis, 2000). The world of power
means the world of men which is dominated by men as well. This is a power relation which
makes men realize their masculinity by means of practicing it. The power is a main core of
economy, politics and society; it plays a significant role in religion, family and the intellectual
life. On individual level, what we assume as masculinity is mixed with men`s ability to represent
power and control. It implies having power over people and things and the ability to do
something or taking the responsibility of doing and acting on behalf of others (Boulding, 1978).
It can be seen in the culture of the dominant which had been wide speared for thousands of years,
oppressive male/female relationships (Francis, 2000). Patriarchy is a system in which power
relations are unequal and men control women’s production, reproduction and sexuality. The
mixture of sex and power in oedipal psychology demands men to be bigger and stronger and
central oriented in comparison with their partners, mostly in relation with young girls and
daughters and not bigger and more powerful mothers (Kaschak, 1992). The feeling of power and
the ability to do things on behalf of women makes men feel satisfied. However, since the power
distribution within the families and inside societies had recently been changed, men`s power has
decreased in comparison to past decades and it seems that this fact has become quite challenging
and intolerable for some of those men who have not overcome their oedipal complex, yet. In his
brief analysis of the Freudian concept of Oedipus complex, Pourya and Mehrvand note that
according to Freud, in the psychic development of a person there is a process of transition from
one phase to the other. He believes that child’s sexual life has one significant phase, called a
masculine one. During the masculine phase, which Freud calls it the pre-Oedipus phase, the
child's love-object is her mother. Freud argues that the primary conditions for a choice of objects
are the same for all children. Therefore, the little child, initially develops an intense attachment
to the mother and a simultaneous hatred for the father as a rival. The woman’s identity is
extremely linked with her appearance. A woman's perception of self (which is based in large part
on appearance) incorporates the male perspective. From the masculine perspective, women are
defined by their bodies. Everything about a woman is both grounded in and defined by her
female body and, in particular, its sexuality, defined in masculine society as the ability to arouse,
rather than to experience, desire (Kaschak, 1992). Thus man is the one who defines and gives the
identity to the women and also this theory shows the perspective of men towards women as they
only value the appearance of the women. Sometimes finding partners for some men with low
self-esteem is impossible. The experts on the field, furthermore, declare that problems of the
young men in an on-going romantic relationship may also be linked to their poor emotional well-
being, because they may be threatening their identity and feelings of selfworth. Another major
reason that has initiated this conflict is the men’s fear of being heart-broken and feeling rejected.
The common belief that women are more vulnerable when it comes to emotional ups and downs
of romantic relationships has been challenged in a study from Wake Forest University. According
to the Professor of Sociology, Robin Simon, unhappy romances take a greater emotional toll on
the mental health of young men than women, even though men sometimes try to appear tough.
Simon maintains that guys just express their distress and vulnerability differently than women.
As a proof, the study in which more than 1,000 unmarried young individuals between the ages of
18 and 23 years, came to the conclusion that young women have a harder time dealing with a
breakup, but men are the ones who experience more stress and strain during the emotional
rollercoaster of relationships. In other words, while women's mental health is based on their
relationship status, single men's mental health is more related to the quality of their romantic
relationships. Furthermore, not only men experienced much more stress during rocky
relationships, they were also found to get greater emotional and psychological benefits when the
relationship is healthy. Researchers claim that these findings contradict the stereotypic image of
tough guys who cannot be affected by what happens in their intimate relationships. Simon, along
with a co-author Anne Barrett, associate professor of sociology at Florida State University,
suggest a possible explanation for their findings: for young men, their romantic partners are often
their primary source of intimacy, while young ladies tend to have more close social ties and are
more likely to be closely connected with family and friends (Health and Social Behavior, 2011).
The findings of the study reveal that abusive men were likely to view stressful circumstances as
personally threatening, while trying to avoid the situation or repress emotional responses. The in-
depth interviews also showed that “violent men are more likely to perceive their partner’s
behaviour as threatening, regardless of the objective qualities of the behaviour,” Williams stated.
The situation was even worse for men who tended to avoid or withdraw from conflicts with their
partners. Men who felt threatened and who avoided conflict were eight times more likely than
others to commit domestic violence (Williams, 2012). Through an evaluation of the behaviour of
men towards women and their hidden fear towards losing their partner, the researchers conclude
that men are looking for long-lasting relationships with their partners. In the BBC documentary
of the guys and the dolls, we see that these men are looking for long-lasting relationships.
Referring to one of these guys who still suffers from the death of his mother and by reviewing
the myth of Oedipus as representative of the sexual development of the universal male child and
his incestuous desires toward the universal mother, which is indeed a cornerstone of Freudian
theory, (Kaschak, 1992), one would easily conclude that men are afraid of losing their partners.
And this issue proves that men are more emotional than women. 3.4 Stereotyping of masculinity
and feminists Another factor to be taken into consideration is that society trains boys not to
expose their emotions, particularly the moments of their crying, and hence not to reveal their
vulnerability. In fact, researchers have noted that the only formally approved emotion for men to
express publicly is proved to be anger. Perhaps, that is why it is not a surprise that men drown
their sadness, vulnerability and emotional pain in alcohol and sometimes even drugs and human
replacement objects as dolls (Simon and Barret). The media and society ideologically display
and dictate men to be powerful, supportive and tough even though some may not be so.
Nowadays, within this new structure of the families women also do not accept men`s
domination. Some men say that they are not powerful and muscular enough that the media
propagates and makes them to strive for. And from stereotypical point of view and considering
the politics of media, if one does not have enough power, one will definitely be not considered as
a qualified masculine. These controversies sometimes make men prefer having dolls as their life
partners, for acting as a hero for a doll is much easier than being one for a real person.
Furthermore, the dolls would not have the chance of rejecting their male companions. Violence,
the harmful and destructive exercise of power over others, is both the means and the outcome of
domination. A culture of domination is a culture of violence. In the words of Johan Galtung,
“cultural violence makes direct and structural violence look, even feel, right – or at least not
wrong” (Galtung, 1990: p291). Therefore, having a doll, being its master as well as its hero
seems to be one significant solution to satisfy the desire of men or the desire that the society
might want from them. Another key issue is a common worry that men generally encounter in
their sexual relationships. In this regard, Gorden, a user of one of the dolls, has stated, “I’d say
for me the sex with real dolls is better because in the back of my mind when I’m having sex with
a real woman, it’s like ‘damn I hope I don’t get her pregnant’ or ‘I hope she does not have any
disease”. After all, it’s true that sex with dolls offers limited opportunities for contracting
sexually transmitted diseases, but as Loren has confirmed, their rubber vaginas do require regular
cleaning to prevent the festering of bacteria. This key issue also reflects the fact that that these
men are not able to take the responsibility of their own action.

Conclusion- The results show that women can hardly accept the fact of using dolls as
replacement to real partners in comparison with men. For four of these women, this issue was
unbelievable and not logical and only one of them claimed that she respects the choice. On the
contrary, for men, the results were different. Despite two of them who rejected the idea and
considered it as an illogical deed, two of them claimed that they can understand the situation yet
in turn it would also imply men’s weakness. One of the male participants also believed that this
issue can be acceptable since these guys are happy with the dolls and they need a relationship so
they do have it now. Both parts’ assumption is, the need of men to have power leads them to
want to have relationship with dolls since they cannot achieve it, in their willing in real life.
From a psychoanalytic point of view, no one is able to fully resolve the oedipal complex
incorporated in the unconscious of the individual from the very stages of early childhood. In
addition, the civilization and the culture in which the individuals live not only does not demand
or require its resolution but it also, on the contrary, rewards and perpetuates it. If men are called
upon to resolve the issue, it is merely through women, who have taken the lead in this phase of
psychological-cultural development. For a man in the oedipal phase of development to allow a
woman, or women collectively, the prerogative of taking this initiative is not a psychologically
simple task. Even if the masculine is intellectually able to comprehend and realize that women
are treated unfairly, he must cut off access to his own unresolved oedipal conflicts, access to
which would thrust him into the experience of his own relative powerlessness, his own mortality,
in sum, his own mundane humanity. He turns into an object of being, no more and no less than a
woman. The male subject would be compelled to see for himself, to discontinue placing women
between himself and his own experience of himself (Kascha, 43). Breaking the stereotypes of
men should be dominating and aggressive and women should be caring, loving and submissive.
These stereotypes of masculinity and femininity are not only social constructs but also have been
internalized by both men and women. While the pressure to earn and look after the family is
more on the man, the women are supposed to do the menial jobs and take care of their children
and even other members of the family. It is because of these gender stereotypes that women are
at a disadvantage and are vulnerable to violence and other kinds of discriminations and injustice
(Ray, 71). Laws of Manu insist that since women are disloyal by their very nature, they must be
made dependent on men. The husband should be constantly worshiped as a god, which
symbolized that man is a lord, master, owner, or provider and women were the subordinates. It
legitimized that a woman should never be made independent, as a daughter, she should be under
the surveillance of her father, as a wife, of her husband and as a widow, of her son (Chakravarti,
2006: 75). All these stereotypes empower men to demand for the worship and subordination of
women, but the society has dramatically transformed in recent decades and the need for an
eradication or alteration of these stereotypes to suit the new design of relationship has been
highlighted. The belief of “Civilized Man says: I am Self, I am Master, all the rest is other —
outside, below, underneath, subservient. I own, I use, I explore, I exploit, I control. What I do is
what matters? What I want is what matter is for. I am that I am, and the resits women and
wilderness, to be used as I see fit” should be altered in the mind-set of men for their acceptance
of women as the people who have the right to refuse them and say no or make a choice (Zerzan,
43).

2. Socio-legal dimensions of Honour Killings

There is neither any statutory definition for Honour killing nor stands any precise definition
otherwise for honour killing which can be said to be universally recognized. however most
prevalent meaning is, "the murder and forced suicide in the name of imposing certain moral
values, the transgression of which are professed as intolerable are honour killings". An honour
killing (also called a customary killing) is the murder of a family or clan member by one or more
fellow family members, where the murderers believe the victim to have brought dishonour upon
the family, clan or community. Honour killing dealt with a barbaric custom of murdering women
for immoral activities, at the hands of male family members, including fathers, brothers and even
husbands, to maintain the purity of honour or restore the family honour. the daughters who
disobey their parents and decide to marry with a man of her choice, consider to bring dishonour
upon her family and commit an offence that could be purified only with blood. Relatives, usually
male, commit acts of violence against wives, sisters, daughters and mothers to reclaim their
family honour from real or suspected actions that are perceived to have compromised it.

Meaning And Definition Of Honour Killing:

An honour killing, or honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by
other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonour upon
the family or community. The perceived dishonour is normally the result of one of the following
behaviours, or the suspicion of such behaviours: dressing in a manner unacceptable to the family
or community, wanting to terminate or prevent an arranged marriage or desiring to marry by own
choice, especially if to a member of a social group deemed inappropriate, engaging in
heterosexual acts outside marriage and engaging in homosexual acts.
Human Rights Watch Defines "Honour Killings" As Follows:
Honour killings are acts of vengeance, usually death, committed by male family members
against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonour upon the family. A
woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including:
refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a
divorce—even from an abusive husband—or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere
perception that a woman has behaved in a way that "dishonours" her family is sufficient to
trigger an attack on her life.

Men can also be the victims of honour killings by members of the family of a woman with whom
they are perceived to have an inappropriate relationship. The loose term "honour killing" applies
to killing of both men and women in cultures that practice it. Sharif Kanaana, professor of
anthropology at Birzeit University, says that honour killing is: A complicated issue that cuts deep
into the history of Arab society. .. What the men of the family, clan, or tribe seek control of in a
patrilineal society is reproductive power. Women for the tribe were considered a factory for
making men. The honour killing is not a means to control sexual power or behaviour. What's
behind it is the issue of fertility, or reproductive power.
Causes For Honour Killing:
The main reason for commitment of an ‘honour killing’ is belief that any member of family had
brought dishonour to the family. The dishonour can be of different types for different families.
The perceived dishonour is normally the result of the following behaviours, or the suspicion of
such behaviours, which are dress codes unacceptable to the family/community; or wanting to
terminate or prevent an arranged marriage or desiring to marry by own choice; or engaging in
certain sexual acts, including those with the opposite or same sex, etc.
Also the most obvious reason for this practice to continue in India is because of the fact that the
caste system continues to be at its rigid best and also because people from the rural areas refuse
to change their attitude to marriage. Also in our country the society is mainly the patriarchal.
Men are expected to enforce such norms and traditions and protect family and male honour from
shame. Women are expected to conduct themselves honourably. This understanding of the notion
gives legitimacy to all forms of social regulation of women’s behaviour and to violence
committed against them.
So far, there is no specific law to deal with honour killings. The murders come under the general
categories of homicide or manslaughter. Sometimes the honour killings are also done by a mob
and so when a mob has carried out such attacks, it becomes difficult to pinpoint a culprit. The
collection of evidence becomes tricky and eyewitnesses are never forthcoming. But ‘Honour
Killings’ are against International Law on Human Rights and against United Nation agendas. But
still even though we don’t have any law to deal with it specifically in India but we have judicial
precedence over it. There are also some bills which are in the latent stage against the honour
killings, which are planned to be introduced in the parliament sooner.

Some other causes of Honour Killing:

• Allegation of pre-marital or extra-marital sex.

• Refusal for an arranged marriage.

• Inter-caste or inter-religious marriage.

• Pregnancy not related with legally married husband.

• Homosexuality.

• Live-in-relationship.

Reasons For Increasing Incidents Of Honour Killings : Religionalization of laws such Hindu
personal law,muslim personal law,christan personal law etc.Women’s are forced to consider
every aspect of their life from the perspective of their "honour "as a quality which is felt to
reflect both the entirety of their social worth and reputations of male members of their family.
male reputation is depend upon female "honour". female "honour" is passive in nature cantering
on qualities such as subordinacy , modesty ,and patience, whereas male "honour" is active and
dynamic, centring on qualities such as self-assertion, dominance and social status. once female
honour is lost through any act which is considered dishonouring in her society, there is no way it
can be regained. Other members of her family may face pressure to take violent action which
will restore their position in society.
Historical Perspective Of Honour Killing:
As noted by Christian Arab writer, Norma Khouri, honour killings originate from the belief that a
woman’s chastity is the property of her families, a cultural norm that comes "from our ancient
tribal days, from the Hammurabi and Assyrian tribes of 1200 B.C (Matthew A. Goldstein, J.D.
(Arizona), has also noted that honour killings were encouraged in ancient Rome, where male
family members who did not take actions against the female adulterers in their family
were"actively persecuted". The origin of honour killings and the control of women is evidenced
throughout history in the culture and tradition of many regions. The Roman law of Pater families
gave complete control to the men of the family for both their children and wives. Under these
laws, the lives of children and wives were at the sole discretion of the men in their family.
Ancient Roman Law also established historical roots of honour killings through the law stating
that women found guilty of adultery could be killed by their husband in whatever manner the
husband desired. In ancient Rome, being raped was seen as dishonourable to the point of
destroying a woman's life and reputation, and honour killing was supposed to be a "merciful" act.
In Greece also, the lives of women were dictated by their husbands as women were considered
socially below males.
Honour Killing In India:
Honour killings have been reported in northern regions of India, mainly in the Indian states of
Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, as a result of people marrying without their family's
acceptance, and sometimes for marrying outside their caste or religion. In contrast, honour
killings are rare to non-existent in South India and the western Indian states of Maharashtra and
Gujarat. In some other parts of India, notably West Bengal, honour killings ceased about a
century ago, largely due to the activism and influence of reformists such as Vivekananda,
Ramakrishna, Vidyasagar and Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Among Rajputs, marriages with members
of other castes can provoke the killing of the married couple and immediate family members.
This form of honour killing is attributed to Raj put culture and traditional views on the perceived
"purity" of a lineage. The Indian state of Punjab has a large number of honour killings.
According to data compiled by the Punjab Police, 34 honour killings were reported in the state
between 2008 and 2010: 10 in 2008, 20 in 2009, and four in 2010.12 Haryana is also notorious
for incidents of honour killing, mainly in the upper caste of society, among raj puts and jaats.
Bhagalpur in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has also been notorious for honour killings. Recent
cases include a 16-year-old girl, Imrana, from Bhojpur who was set on fire inside her house in a
case of what the police called 'moral vigilantism'. The victim had screamed for help for about 20
minutes before neighbours arrived, only to find her smoldering body. She was admitted to a local
hospital, where she later died from her injuries. In 1990 the National Commission for Women set
up a statutory body in order to address the issues of honour killings among some ethnic groups in
North India. This body reviewed constitutional, legal and other provisions as well as challenges
women face. The NCW's activism has contributed significantly towards the reduction of honour
killings in rural areas of North India. According to Pakistani activists Hina Jilani and Eman M.
Ahmed, Indian women are considerably better protected against honour killings by Indian law
and government than Pakistani women, and they have suggested that governments of countries
affected by honour killings use Indian law as a model in order to prevent honour killings in their
respective societies.
Legal Provisions Regarding Honour Killing:
Legislation on this issues varies, but today the vast majority of countries no longer allow a
husband to legally kill a wife for adultery (although adultery itself continues to be punishable by
death in some countries) or to commit other forms of honour killings. However, in many places,
adultery and other "immoral" sexual behaviours by female family members can be considered
mitigating circumstances in case when they are killed, leading to significantly shorter sentences.

In the Western World, a country that is often associated with "crimes of passion" and adultery
related violence is France, and indeed, recent surveys have shown French public to be more
accepting of these practices than the public in other countries. One 2008 Gallup survey compared
the views of the French, German and British public and those of French, German and British
Muslims on several social issues: 4% of French public said "honor killings" were "morally
acceptable" and 8% of French public said "crimes of passion" were "morally acceptable"; honour
killings were seen as acceptable by 1% of German public and also 1% of British public; crimes
of passion were seen as acceptable by 1% of German public and 2% of British public. Among
Muslims 5% in Paris, 3% in Berlin and 3% in London saw honour killings as acceptable, and 4%
in Paris (less than French public), 1% in Berlin and 3% in London saw crimes of passion as
acceptable.
According to the report of the United Nations Special Reporter submitted to the 58th session of
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 2002 concerning cultural practices in the
family that reflect violence against women: The Special Rapporteur indicated that there had been
contradictory decisions with regard to the honour defense in Brazil, and that legislative
provisions allowing for partial or complete defense in that context could be found in the penal
codes of Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Peru, Syria, Venezuela and
the Palestinian National Authority.
The Hindu Successions Act And Property Issues:
The Hindu Succession Act amended in 2005 which mandated inheritance rights to daughters has
led to greater insecurity among the land holding communities. This has led to a situation where
the community feels that their daughters can bring in new stakeholders like a husband from
another caste who can claim the right to the wife’s claim. In an arranged marriage social
pressures exist and the parents are assured that no such claim will come. In cases of contentious
marriage there is always a lurking danger that the daughter can exercise the right of inheritance.
This has led to the landed communities like the jats to devise means to negate the law on
daughter inheritance by having very strict guidelines for the marriage.
Lack of Education Among Females:
The education among the girls which is slowly but steadily percolating at the grass roots must be
supported by laws which enable them to exercise their fundamental rights. The education and
awareness among the women and girls need to be supported by laws which protect them from a
rigid and stubborn society which just doesn’t want to let go its hold over women
Laws Presently On The Honour Killing:
Cultural crimes are basically the crimes that seek to place within the context of culture or under
the head of it. As we all know recently; there has been a spate of honour killings which has
shocked the country. Honour killing is one of the types of cultural crime present in the country.
An honour killing (also called a customary killing) is the murder of a (typically female) family or
clan member by one or more fellow (mostly male) family members, in which the perpetrators
(and potentially the wider community) believe the victim to have brought dishonour upon the
family, clan, or community. The aim of the present essay is two-fold. Firstly we intend to show
that what actually an ‘honour killing’ means and what are the reasons behind its occurrence. Also
we will discuss about the position of International Law over ‘Honour Killing’. Secondly, we will
be going to see that what are the various laws are present instantly in the country against the
‘honour killing’ and will try to find what more laws ought to be there to stop such a heinous
crime.
Reasons For Honour Killing:
The main reason for commitment of an ‘honour killing’ is belief that any member of family had
brought dishonour to the family. The dishonour can be of different types for different families.
The perceived dishonour is normally the result of the following behaviours, or the suspicion of
such behaviours, which are dress codes unacceptable to the family/community; or wanting to
terminate or prevent an arranged marriage or desiring to marry by own choice; or engaging in
certain sexual acts, including those with the opposite or same sex, etc.

Also the most obvious reason for this practice to continue in India is because of the fact that the
caste system continues to be at its rigid best and also because people from the rural areas refuse
to change their attitude to marriage. Also in our country the society is mainly the patriarchal.
Men are expected to enforce such norms and traditions and protect family and male honour from
shame. Women are expected to conduct themselves honourably. This understanding of the notion
gives legitimacy to all forms of social regulation of women’s behaviour and to violence
committed against them.
So far, there is no specific law to deal with honour killings. The murders come under the general
categories of homicide or manslaughter. Sometimes the honour killings are also done by a mob
and so when a mob has carried out such attacks, it becomes difficult to pinpoint a culprit. The
collection of evidence becomes tricky and eyewitnesses are never forthcoming. But ‘Honour
Killings’ are against International Law on Human Rights and against United Nation agendas. But
still even though we don’t have any law to deal with it specifically in India but we have judicial
precedence over it. There are also some bills which are in the latent stage against the honour
killings, which are planned to be introduced in the parliament sooner. Let us discuss them under
the following heads.
International Laws Regarding Honour Killing:
"Honour killings" are a recognized form of violence against women in international human rights
law because they violate women's rights to life and security of the person. International law
obligates states to protect women from gender-based violence, including by family members, and
to disqualify "honour" as a legal defence for acts of violence against women. ‘Honour killings’
are an extreme and brutal abuse of human rights, violating the most basic of human rights—the
right to life—as well as every other article in the International Convention on Human Rights
(1948). The presence of laws that treat ‘honour killings’ leniently is also a brazen disregard of the
International Convention of Civil and Political Rights (1966), protecting individuals against the
use of the death penalty except for the most serious of crimes. ‘Honour killings’ also violate the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979). Article 1
of the Convention states that“For the present Convention, the term ‘discrimination against
women’ shall mean any distinction, exclusion, or restriction made on the basis of sex which has
the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by
women, irrespective of their marital status, on the basis of equality of men and women, of human
rights and fundamental freedoms in political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.”
Article 2 states that “States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree
to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination
against women and, to this end, undertake: (c) To establish legal protection of the rights of
women on an equal basis with men and to ensure through competent national tribunals and other
public institutions the effective protection of women against any act of discrimination;
(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,
regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women; (g) To repeal
all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women.”

This UN charter has been signed by 185 countries worldwide - over ninety percent of the
members of the United Nations – including most countries where ‘honour killing’ occurs.
‘Honour killings’ violate both the wording and the spirit of this law. India is also a part of it.

Also the General Assembly resolution of United Nation that established the Human Rights
Council back in 2006 decided “that the Council shall be responsible for promoting universal
respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without
distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner”. Thus we can see that International Law
on Human Rights are against the Honour killings and are in no mood to save it in the name of
“cultural or traditional rights”.
Judicial Precedence In India:
Normally the cases of ‘honour killings’ were admitted inside the courts in India, in the forms of
homicide or manslaughter. But after seeing the nature and the facts of the killings, courts were
also used to follow the flimsy, so-called “honour” of the family in the name of which the heinous
crime was done and the perpetrators usually were rescued. This we can observe from the
judgement of Supreme Court, in which Justice VS Sirpurkar and Justice Deepak Verma said it
wasn’t a rarest of rare case. “The murders were the outcome of a social issue like a marriage with
a person of so-called lower caste. Such killings do not fall in the category of the rare of the rarest
as the family of the girl has to face lot of taunts and humiliation in the society for the acts of the
girl. However, time has come when we have to consider these social issues relevant while
considering death sentence in such circumstances,” they said. In other words, the court classified
the shameful caste-based ‘honour killings’ as different from other homicides in which the
maximum punishment of death can be awarded. In this case the brother of the girl, who belonged
to Uttar Pradesh, had killed five members including his brother-in-law who was a Scheduled
Caste.

This was the earlier tradition, but nowadays from the various judgements of the courts we can
say that now the ‘honour killings’ are not termed differently. Courts through their judgements
had reiterated that killing anyone even in the name of ‘honour’ is the violation of the constitution
of India and anyone going contrary to the constitution will be punished. This we can see from the
following cases. In a landmark judgment, in March 2010, the Karnal District Court ordered the
execution of the five perpetrators in an ‘honour killing’ case of Manoj & Babli, while giving a
life sentence to the khap (local caste-based council) head who ordered the killings of Manoj
Banwala (23) and Babli (19), two members of the same clan who eloped and married in June
2007 and later their mutilated bodies were found a week later from an irrigation canal. In her
verdict, district judge Vani Gopal Sharma stated, "This court has gone through sleepless nights
and tried to put itself in the shoes of the offenders .Khap panchayats have functioned contrary to
the constitution, ridiculed it and have become a law unto themselves”. The case was both the first
court judgement convicting khap panchayats and the first capital punishment verdict in an
honour killing case in India. The Indian media and legal experts hailed it as a "landmark
judgement". Also, few honour killing cases go to court, and this is the first case in which the
groom's family in an honour killing filed the case.
Honour Killing: Violation of Right:
Honour Killings are homicide and murder which are serious crimes under the Indian Penal Code.
It also violates Articles 14, 15 (1) & (3) 19, 21 and 39(f) of the Constitution of India. It is against
the various International Commitment the Government of India has made in the “United Nations
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women” (CEDAW) of
which India is a signatory and has also ratified the convention. It is also against the spirit of
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Conclusion:
As already declared by the honorable court that there is nothing honorable in honor killing.
Moreover this is the direct violation of human rights of a person who by virtue of being a human
have the basic birth right of right to live. And in cases of honor killings violation of the right by
the very family member and in most cases by the father or by the real brother only because of
they don't allow their daughter or female member to marry according to her will. This is the
offence of murder by the members of family and direct violation of fundamental human rights.

‘Honor’ killings have become commonplace in many parts of the country, particularly in
Haryana, western U.P., and Rajasthan. Often young couples who fall in love have to seek shelter
in the police lines or protection homes, to avoid the wrath of kangaroo courts. We have held in
Lata Singh’s case that there is nothing ‘honourable’ in ‘honour’ killings, and they are nothing but
barbaric and brutal murders by bigoted, persons with feudal minds. In our opinion honour
killings, for whatever reason, come within the category of rarest of rare cases deserving death
punishment. It is time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal practices which are a slur on our nation.
This is necessary as a deterrent for such outrageous, uncivilized behavior. All persons who are
planning to perpetrate ‘honour’ killings should know that the gallows await them.
In order to keep a check on the high-handed and unwarranted interference by the caste
assemblies or panchayats with sagotra, inter-caste or inter-religious marriages, which are
otherwise lawful, this legislation has been proposed so as to prevent the acts endangering the
liberty of the couple married or intending to marry and their family members. It is considered
necessary that there should be a threshold bar against the congregation or assembly for the
purpose of disapproving such marriage / intended marriage and the conduct of the young couple.
The members gathering for such purpose, i.e., for condemning the marriage with a view to take
necessary consequential action, are to be treated as members of unlawful assembly for which a
mandatory minimum punishment has been prescribed. So also the acts of endangerment of
liberty including social boycott, harassment, etc. of the couple or their family members are
treated as offences punishable with mandatory minimum sentence. The acts of criminal
intimidation by members of unlawful assembly or others acting at their instance or otherwise are
also made punishable with mandatory minimum sentence. A presumption that a person
participating in an unlawful assembly shall be presumed to have also intended to commit or abet
the commission of offences under the proposed Bill is provided for in Section 6. Power to
prohibit the unlawful assemblies and to take preventive measures are conferred on the Sub-
Divisional / District Magistrate. Further, a SDM/DM is enjoined to receive a request or
information from any person seeking protection from the assembly of persons or members of any
family who are likely to or who have been objecting to the lawful marriage. The provisions of
this proposed Bill are without prejudice to the provisions of Indian Penal Code. Care has been
taken, as far as possible, to see that there is no overlapping with the provisions of the general
penal law. In other words, the criminal acts other than those specifically falling under the
proposed Bill are punishable under the general penal law. The offence will be tried by a Court of
Session in the district and the offences are cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.
Accordingly, the Prohibition of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances Bill
20___ has been prepared in order to effectively check the existing social malady. The first draft
was presented by the Law Commission of India on 20 January 2012. The commission had also
released a consultation paper on khap panchayats and honour killings, and sought public opinion
on it. The commission’s consultation paper had rejected the government’s proposal that Indian
Penal Code should be amended to bring honour killing under Section 300. The commission said
that although the offences were already covered by the Indian Penal Code, there was nothing to
prevent such assemblies from happening.
The proposed bill seeks to prohibit any person or group of persons to gather and adjudicate or
condemn any marriage, which is not prohibited by law, on the claims that it brings dishonour of
a caste, locality or community.
Marriage, as defined by the draft, also includes proposed and intended marriages. The district
collector and magistrate will be given the responsibility to protect the targeted persons and
prevents such illegal gatherings. Criminal intimidation will have the same definition as under the
Section 503 of the Indian Penal Code.
The offences under it will be cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable. The trials will be
decided by a sessions judge or an additional session judge. Special courts which would be set by
states in consultation with the High Courts will have the power of a session court. [1] The courts
will also be able to take sou motu cognisance of the case. The offences will carry a maximum of
three years imprisonment and a fine of ₹30,000.
3. Socio-legal Dimensions of Witch-Hunting

The view that witch-hunting/witchcraft is a unique problem which requires interventions in the
form of a special law already prevails in much of the debate on this issue and indeed has led to
such laws being enacted in several Indian states while similar measures are increasingly being
contemplated in other parts of the country. The three states which are the focus of this study
already had special laws dealing with “witchcraft” and “witch”-related offences prior to this
study. The Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act 1999 was enacted in Bihar and adopted
subsequently by Jharkhand as the Prevention of Witch-hunting (Dayan Pratha) Act 2001 and by
Chhattisgarh as the Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Act 2005 (also called the Witchcraft Atrocities
Prevention Act 2005). While these were the only three states which had special laws on witch-
hunting when this study was initiated, subsequently a number of other states have enacted or are
in the process of debating similar laws. In Odisha, pursuant to a public interest litigation (PIL)
based on news reports on witch-hunting, the high court directed the state to take action, leading
to the enactment of the Odisha Prevention of Witch-hunting Act, 2013. In early 2015, the
Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-hunting Act 2015 was passed. Rajasthan, which was earlier
contemplating a comprehensive law on atrocities against rural women, opted for a law on witch-
hunting alone, treating it as a gender-specific offence. Yet, this goes beyond the model of earlier
laws, in stipulating collective fines and preventive action as well as providing rehabilitation and
resettlement, the realisation of which has been delegated to specific schemes to be created by the
state government in the future. In August 2015, the Assam Witchhunting (Prohibition, Prevention
and Protection) Bill was passed, retaining the gender neutral framing of “witch-hunting” as in
earlier laws, but going beyond the other state laws by increasing the number of offences,
outlining the course of action for rescue and protection, collective fines, medical assistance,
shelter and rehabilitation—all again, contingent on provisioning by the state. Another trajectory
in this trend of lawmaking is a broader criminalisation of “evil” superstitious practices, targeting
select superstitions, purportedly because they are more harmful. Maharashtra passed the
Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices
and Black Magic Bill 20134 in response to the long-standing demand by the Maharashtra
Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti dedicated to eradication of superstition, after its founding
member, Narendra Dabholkar was killed. In the same vein, the Karnataka Prevention of
Superstitious Practices Bill 2013 proposes to punish a list of superstitions, by establishing a
state-level Karnataka Anti Superstition Authority, district level vigilance committees on
superstitious practices, and notably, by declaring consent to participation as being irrelevant
defence against criminal prosecution. The bill was stalled due to the opposition from Hindu
groups who allege that it is against Hindu practices and rituals, while other critiques argue that in
fact it only proscribes non-Brahmanical practices, hurting peasants and communities closest to
pagan rituals (Nayantara 2015; The Reality Check 2013; Ranganathan 2014). The National
Commission for Women (NCW) began with proposing a national law on witch-hunting,
modifying it after discussions on a draft bill titled “The Prohibition of Atrocities on Women by
Dehumanising and Stigmatising Them in Public” modelled along the lines of an older Rajasthan
bill, proposed by the State Commission for Women. Apart from these there have also been other
proposals to introduce such a bill at the national level. This trend is even refl ected
internationally, with a demand that witchcraft accusations and persecutions (WAP) be recognised
explicitly and banned through a resolution, drawing upon information across very diverse
contexts to establish, as it were, a common trend. Questioning the Assumptions It is not the
purpose of this paper to undertake a detailed examination of the assumptions and particular
circumstances which underlie these legislative interventions. But we wish to suggest that all such
enactments reflect the tendency which treats a special law, thematically framed, as a necessary
and sufficient response to problems such as witch-hunting which are constructed as primarily
originating in evil practices, irrationality and superstition. More importantly, they reflect the
view that criminalisation and punishing persons victimised by, or even those who participate
willfully in practices declared “evil,” is the most appropriate way to end superstition, harmful
practices, provide redress to victims and indeed, inject scientific approach and rationality.
Amongst other things, one of the stated objectives of both, the Maharashtra Act and the
Karnataka Bill, is to promote belief in scientific medicine and temper. The assumptions of such
legislative proposals tend not to be based on evidence or explanation of structural conditions
under which such practices flourish, protection gaps in the existing laws and, like the latter, they
do not address the needs of the victims/survivours of violence associated with such violence. It is
against this backdrop that the research reported here assumes relevance, as what is urgently
required are studies which generate evidence about both social and legal aspects of the witch-
hunting phenomenon. This study was conducted in three states where special laws on witch-
hunting have been operational to create such an evidence base through which engagement with
policy and related debates can be undertaken. Such work is particularly relevant given that there
is no large-scale authoritative data on witch-hunting in the Indian context. The only signs of such
violence in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) are murder cases recorded as
“motivated by witchcraft,” which include what is broadly referred to as witch-hunting, along
with-human sacrifices and black magic practices that are fatal. According to the NCRB data,
during the year 2000–01 there were 253 cases of such murders (126 cases in 2000 and 127 cases
in 2001) and between 2008 and 2012, more than 768 persons were murdered. These figures
represent neither witch-hunting in its widest sense as the cases that culminate in murder and
killings are only one end of the continuum of violence of which witch-hunting is a part (our
study shows that a large number of cases of witchhunting do not involve murder) and it also
clubs cases related to witchcraft with cases of human sacrifice which need a separate treatment.
Newspaper reports from the regions where witch-hunting cases are prevalent also suggest that
there are many more cases than these figures seem to indicate. Since the NCRB data on witch-
hunting only pertains to cases where murder has occurred, and also includes cases of human
sacrifice, it is reasonable to suggest the NCRB data are a highly unreliable indicator of the
crimes and violence which surround allegations of witchcraft and involve witch-hunting in some
form. Most generalised narratives tend to be anecdotal and stereotypical and frame witch-hunting
as an exceptional, evil and barbaric form of violence; the “othering” of the context and its
superstitious beliefs from the otherwise “rational” and “ordered” societies that we are part of
results from such narratives. When framed in a gendered perspective, some accounts do view
witch-hunting as targeting of single or childless women with usurping property as a primary
motive. But a broader perspective on contexts and conditions which give rise to witch-hunting,
forms of violence it may be associated with and the manner in which such violence may be
redressed is not available. The structure of our study thus follows from the premise that a
discussion on legislative response to witch-hunting should be based on two questions. First, who
are the victims and perpetrators of witch-hunting and what are the factors and causes that trigger
witch-hunting in the contexts where it occurs? This will help us gain clarity on whether theme-
specific legislative frameworks can respond to the reality of events and enhance legal redress for
victims. Second, what are the most significant justice/protection gaps that exist in relation to
victims vis-à-vis the existing laws and mechanisms of redress? This will help us to identify the
areas of legislation and policy that need attention, and also assess the usefulness of the existing
models of special law in responding to those gaps. In order to address these questions, our study
of witch-hunting focused upon generating and analysing three data sets: (i) Forty-eight cases of
witch-hunting that had occurred in the last five or six years documented from select blocks in the
following districts from three states: Bilaspur and Janjgir– Champa (Chhattisgarh), Jamui (Bihar)
and Ranchi (Jharkhand). The cases were selected from among those that (at least) involved
branding of a woman (a man in a couple of cases) as a “witch” (using a variety of local terms)
with a focus on including as much variation as possible. (ii) Data from police records from the
districts of Jamui in Bihar, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and Gumla and Ranchi in Jharkhand for
2010, 2011 and 2012. Eighty-five records were identified and analysed. (iii) Case law from the
high court and Supreme Court was scanned for cases pertaining to witch-hunting and witchcraft.
Fifty-nine cases were identified which pertained to disputes which had reached the Supreme
Court and 10 high courts throughout India from pre-1947 to 2012. The data from the field was
collected by community organisations that PLD collaborated with in all the three states.11 The
case studies, data from police records and case law were collated and analysed by a team of
researchers at the PLD with the authors of the present overview, as was the final report. In what
follows we briefly summarise our findings and conclusions based on this study with the hope
that it will generate wider debate and discussion on the legal interventions around witch-hunting
in particular and around the legal redress of gendered violence in general. Sociological
Dimensions We first report on the findings of the study which address the social, economic and
political context within which witchhunting occurs. The first important finding is that
witchhunting primarily targets women. In 46 out of 48 case studies collected, the primary victims
were women. Of the 88 victims mentioned in the FIRs, 75 were female and 13 were male. Of the
total of 73 victims in the appeal court judgments, 48 were female and 25 were male. In all, the
police records and the reported judgments indicated 86% primary targets of witchhunting to be
women. Our data shows that although men may be targeted as witches in substantially lesser
numbers, they form a considerable bulk of the secondary victims who suffer collateral violence.
We also found evidence of women being instigators of witch-hunting although men outnumber
them in this respect. Contrary to the received wisdom, widows and single women were not the
only ones vulnerable to witch-hunting. Majority of the victims in the case studies belonged to the
age group of 40 to 60 years, showing middle-aged, married women to be the most vulnerable to
witch-hunting, although there are a few instances of younger women being labelled as witches as
well. In fact witch-hunting appeared to be a prevalent form of violence used to target women
fully ensconced in their marital homes. The instigator(s) of the violence are generally related to
the victim through kinship, community or neighbourhood ties. A most significant finding of our
study is that a very large segment of the perpetrators are related to the victims through ties of
marriage. Moreover, the two seem to belong to comparable social and economic strata. Although
allegations about use of “supernatural” powers are invariably present in cases of witch-hunting—
land, property, jealousy, sexual advances and other common sources of tension between social
intimates were found in a large number of cases. Counter narratives in every case make for a
more complex understanding of witchhunting than what the framework of “superstition”
suggests. As the instigators are persons who are proximate to the victim, the plausibility of confl
icts, tensions and jealousies between them is reinforced. While the ojha (a shaman or an oracle)
appears in majority (not all) of the cases, the tensions and conflicts in many cases exist prior to
the entry of the ojha, suggesting that they tend to confirm rather than initiate the accusation. We
found that marriage and the unstinting support of the immediate family, especially the husband,
offers little immunity against targeting. Rather, as suggested above, targeting often results in
victimisation of the immediate family members of the women. While the sample size is not suffi
cient to say that married women are always more vulnerable, the need to think about witch-
hunting as one among many forms of violence which surface in contexts of family disputes and
stresses is clearly indicated in our study. In light of the above it was not surprising to find that
cases of targeting persons, mostly women, as witches occur across all sections of society and the
patterns in this regard reflected the socio-demographic composition of the sites of the study. No
significant inter-caste/inter-community dynamics could be discerned in our case studies. Thus the
position in social hierarchy in itself does not appear to directly shape vulnerability although this
may be so in regions where such dynamics play a significant part in everyday relations of people.
The economic condition of the victims also does not appear to have a significant bearing on the
vulnerability to being targeted, as the economic status of the victims’ households was found to
vary along the scale of adequate to marginal, some with land and some without land, and varied
degrees of access to other resources such as animals, vehicles and built houses. While
interpersonal jealousies, conflicts and tensions arise in a context of close proximity, it seems that
witch-hunting is also linked with a set of broader political and economic context which shapes
people’s lives. The high rates of lack of formal education among the victims and the perpetrators
and the large number of health issues which surfaced as pretexts for labelling women as witches
indicate the links that witchhunting has with issues central to governance and development. The
areas from where the case studies were collected suffer from acute neglect and dismal
administration that has manifested in poor healthcare, sanitation and education, with large
sections of the population being below the poverty line. Illness, deaths and tragedies that cannot
be explained, particularly in the context where education, health facilities, and sanitation are
lacking, tend to get rationalised through witch-blaming. The structural context within which
victimisation plays out reflects governance failure as well as absence of rule of law, which create
the necessary impunity for targeting and victimisation. Many of the motivations that result in
“witch” accusations may appear trivial but assume alarming proportions in contexts of structural
neglect, deprivations, apathy of the law enforcement machinery which combine to create
impunity that enable accusations to result in victimisation, without fear of consequences.
Physical and Social Consequences and Local Responses Our study reveals that witch-hunting has
both short-term and long-term consequences for the victim. These consequences take the form of
physical violence as well as social deprivations. A victim of witch-hunting faces stigma, isolation
and ostracism as the most prevalent and persistent form of violence. The victimisation is
continuing in nature—beginning with verbal taunts and slurs using local terms denoting “witch”
as well as other abuses aimed at demonising and isolating the victim and her family. Name
calling is rarely limited to being called witch; it is almost always accompanied by a range of
sexual slurs and local abuse. The actual physical violence perpetrated is usually public with
instances of forced entry into the victim’s house only to drag her outdoors to a public place being
a visible trend. Almost all cases involve more than one accused, so that violence is executed by a
group rather than an individual. Police records also indicate the gendered and sexual nature of
violence accompanying witch-hunting. Humiliation, shaming and demonising the victim through
forced disrobing, parading, blackening of face, tonsuring the hair, breaking teeth, forced
consumption of dirty water and excreta are common. Physical violence is not present in all cases
of targeting, but when it does occur, it adds gravity to a case, and may in some cases be fatal. The
long-term consequences of witch-hunting are equally, if not more, serious—involving forced
displacement/expulsion from their homes and villages, with those who stay on facing isolation
and limited or no access to common resources of the village. Regardless of where the victims
may be, in their village or displaced, they become impoverished and live in fear. The
consequences upon the victim’s family are equally grim, with the immediate kin of the victims
being affected by the dislocation, isolation, loss of property and livelihood. With regard to the
responses of institutions and actors closest to the site of victimisation, our data shows that the
immediate family are most protective (except in some cases where a marital dispute already
exists), and as a result also victimised. The responses of the extended family vary, with many of
them being the primary instigators themselves; in some cases, however, where the victim was
expelled from the village, members of the extended family sheltered them until the point at
which their hospitality began to put them at risk of secondary targeting. The neighbours appear
to be hostile, either as instigators themselves, or as supportive of instigators, and as passive
onlookers in a few cases. The apathy in many cases is on account of fear of reprisal from vested
interest groups. In a small number of instances the neighbours came to the aid of the victim. We
found that women’s groups, primarily the Mahila Samakya Sangathana, and indeed, the partner
organisations who collected the field data for this study, played the most effective role in the
areas we investigated. The women’s organisations, where they exist, particularly stand out as the
main lifeline for the victims’ protection, redress and restoration of dignity. They deploy dialogue,
negotiation and legal action, drawing in multiple actors to strategically address the ostracism,
expulsion and victimisation, to safeguard the victims’ interests. In a few cases, the Mukhiya or
the local leaders also intervened positively. However, the nature of their intervention is not
uniform and the local panchayat members were found to be aiding the perpetrators in a number
of cases. Interface with the Law It is significant to observe that a great number of cases are never
taken to the police. Out of the 48 cases studied one-third never approached the police and about
one-fourth were prevented from doing so. Of the remaining cases (22) in which the police was
approached, more than half had been dismissed due to factors such as lack of proper
investigation, absence of witnesses, minor punishments to the perpetrators, compromise between
the victim and the perpetrator, etc. The police records (FIRs/charge sheets) as well as reported
appeal court judgments provide some insights into the point at which the criminal justice system
begins to interact with victimisation connected with witch-hunting. These records and judgments
show that even though the actual spectrum of violence involved in cases of witch-hunting is very
broad, it is usually only when physical violence occurs, often publicly orchestrated by a group of
accused, that the criminal justice system comes into play. Our data reveals that 72 of the 85 FIRs
involved physical violence and hurt, in addition to other offences, such as theft, destruction of
property, trespass and humiliation. In 13 cases where physical violence was not found, victims
complained of name-calling, abuses in combination with threat to life. At least four of the fi ve
FIRs that culminated in compromise and closure involved name calling and threats with no
indication of physical violence. But predictably, the appeal court judgments are not about
physical violence, but about murder and grave violence with 56 of the 59 cases involving
murder, and two others involving attempt to murder. Trial court records were not part of the
inquiry. But, in fact, they are essential for understanding what kinds of cases, and indeed,
offences, eventually get prosecuted. The study of trial court judgments pertaining to witch-
hunting is strongly recommended as an area of further research to gain insights into which
complaints reported to the police enter the judicial system, and which never do. In the absence of
this information, and based on our data, we can infer that the law interacts with victimisation
only when physical violence involving public humiliation is involved, but that such cases do not
proceed to the appellate courts unless they pertain to or result in murder. All 59 judgments of the
appellate court are appeals against convictions by the accused indicating that the state had not
appealed against acquittal in a single case of witch-hunting that has been reported. Our case
studies also reveal that a majority of the cases of witch-hunting either do not reach the police or
are dismissed due to a variety of reasons including shoddy investigations. The study also looked
at the laws and the provisions that are most frequently used and whether they provide redress that
is commensurate with the nature and type of victimisation. The special laws on witch-hunting in
three states, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, focus on preventive action and addressing
harassment where the motive is clearly linked to “witch” accusation. These laws, with barely
four to fi ve provisions each, criminalise the acts of “identifying” (Prevention of Witch (Daain)
Practices Act 1999, Bihar and Prevention of Witchhunting (Dayan Pratha) Act 2001, Jharkhand)
and “exhibiting” any person as witch along with the mental and physical torture accompanying
such identifi cation (Witchcraft Atrocities Prevention Act 2005, Chhattisgarh). In addition they
cover mental and physical harassment arising from witchhunting. The Bihar and Jharkhand laws
carry small sentences, but the Chhattisgarh law carries more substantial sentences. All the
offences in the special laws, regardless of the small sentences, are cognisable and non-bailable.
They seek to prevent escalation of victimisation through early intervention by the police. Yet we
found, from a total of 85 FIRs, only six were registered solely on the basis of the special law—
with two from Jharkhand, four from Chhattisgarh and none from Bihar. The data categorically
shows that the mischief that the special law was enacted to correct remains unaddressed, with no
action or prosecution against preliminary forms of harassment. In fact, the data establishes that
special laws are rarely, if ever, used alone, and almost never at the preliminary stages to prevent
escalation of violence. Our data from police records show that almost all cases are registered
under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), with one or more provisions of the special law,
to establish if it were the motive of the crime. The majority of the provisions of the IPC invoked
in the records are related to beating, hurt, trespass, theft, murder, conspiracy, etc—with more
bailable rather than non-bailable offences being invoked. A state-level pattern is also visible—
with 25 cases registered in Jamui District in Bihar between 2010 and 2012, but nine cases
registered from Gumla and Ranchi Districts in Jharkhand in the same period. Chhattisgarh
reports the highest number of cases, with 51 registered in Bilaspur District between 2010 and
2012. Jharkhand has the distinction of not just under-registration of cases, but also of all the
compromises evidenced in the data, with fi ve of the nine cases closed on account of “mutual
compromise.” Curiously, many of the FIRs from Chhattisgarh invoke Section 294 of the IPC
pertaining to nuisance caused by obscene songs and acts to prosecute the act of identifying or
naming a person as “witch” (sometimes in conjunction with the relevant provision of the state
law). Thus it is the IPC which is most frequently used in cases of witch-hunting as, unlike the
special laws, it provides a more comprehensive framework that responds to threats, slurs and
defamation, trespass, intimidation destruction of property, assault, physical hurt grievous or
otherwise and a range of sexual offences and murder. The data shows that the special laws do not
in fact achieve the purpose they sought to serve in any of the three states. For the most part,
special laws are invoked when physical attack and hurt is already infl icted, along with the
offences under the IPC. They do not seem to facilitate preventive action. In any case, the IPC
also can enable preventive action, but the barrier seems more to do with the institutional apathy
of the law enforcement machinery than the lack of adequate provisions in the law. As already
mentioned earlier, the reported appeal court cases show that the cases that proceed to a higher
level involve murder in the large majority, or attempt to murder in few. Low-Grade Sexual
Violence It can be inferred that the police, indeed the legal system, responds only in cases of
high threshold of violence. This apathy of the police to low grade violence, particularly when this
occurs within the contexts of poverty and marginalisation, creates impunity for continued
victimisation. It is precisely this approach of the law enforcement machinery that should make us
sceptical of greater reliance upon the police and the criminal justice system—and indeed of more
criminalisation, framed as special laws that are contingent on police intervention. The police,
although arguably the weakest link in the justice chain, are not alone in their indifference and
apathy. Of the 59 appeal court cases against convictions for murder, 22 ended in acquittal, and
eight were converted to convictions for lesser offences. The most significant reasons for such a
high rate of acquittal at the appeal stage are poor investigation that results in insufficient
evidence to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, non-examination of key
witnesses/non-production of crucial evidence by the prosecution, as well as witnesses turning
hostile. Many judgments express dismay and anguish at the indifference of each of the agencies
involved in handling serious cases of murder. Criminal prosecution, although necessary, is an
empty solution without addressing institutional reform of the agencies and actors within the
criminal justice system, and indeed, without assuring witness protection. It may be noted here
that, until 2012, the cut-off period for this study, the IPC was severely inadequate for addressing
sexualised and gender-based violence that is part of the witch-hunting. Acts of forced disrobing,
parading, stoning, tonsuring the hair, blackening face and so on were dealt with as simple hurt
(Section 323), or outraging the modesty of a woman (Section 354) or indeed, word or gesture to
insult the modesty of woman (Section 509). Each of these were not just trivial in comparison to
the gravity of the violence, but they also res pond to the physical violation without regard to the
intentional humiliation and degradation that these acts seek to infl ict; and without regard to the
long-term ostracism that follows. Notwithstanding the problematic use of the term “modesty,”
some of these lacunae have been overcome with the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013,
which names disrobing or abetting the disrobing of a woman as a serious offence (Section 354B),
while also strengthening the older provision on outraging the modesty (Section 354), making
both cognisable and nonbailable offences. Even as these amendments fi ll a long-standing legal
vacuum, they are far from comprehensive. The parading of women, tonsuring the hair and
blackening the face are forms of violation that involve more than physical injury, as they intend
and result in humiliating the victim, destroying her social standing and dignity in the community.
These need to be part of the penal code, given their social resonance—although largely
associated with caste atrocities perpetrated against Dalits, there is increasing evidence that such
victimisation is also used to punish social and sexual transgressions, which may or may not take
the form of witch-hunting. Restricting such offences to a special law makes legal redress for such
victimisation contingent on motive of witch-hunting, not otherwise. The Criminal Law
Amendment 2013 introduced the right to compensation and medical treatment for victims of acid
attack and rape, which, in fact, needs to be expanded to include all victims of gender-based and
sexual violence. The compensation available must be under state schemes as envisaged under the
amendment, disbursed immediately by the state to help recovery of the victim, rather than being
linked to conviction of the accused, or their financial capacity to pay fi ne, as the special laws on
witch-hunting tend to do. The criminal law regime (including the special laws) fail to address
long-term consequences of witch-hunting. The tendency to resort to more criminalisation,
through special law or otherwise, has been at the cost of evolving a policy framework for
rehabilitation, restoration or reparative justice. So long as the legal vacuum for addressing long-
term consequences of witch-hunting remains, with no right to redress or mandatory support
services to help overcome dislocation, loss of property, loss of livelihood, our legal framework
cannot claim to address witch-hunting. Criminal laws and the criminal justice system can only
address one part of the victimisation, that too notionally, as the data of this study suggests. There
is an urgent need to visualise and craft justice from the perspective of the victims, through
framing entitlements and services that are available to them, independent of criminal law or
prosecutions. Concluding Remarks To revert to the issue of whether or not special laws on
witchhunting (specifically addressing targeting of persons/women as “witches” or more broadly,
through the anti-superstition law route) are a useful and effective response to the practice, we
answer the two questions this article posed at the outset: first, who the victims and perpetrators
of witch-hunting are, the underlying causes, factors and contexts that trigger witchhunting, and
the second, what are the most signifi cant justice/ protection gaps in relation to victims vis-à-vis
the existing laws and mechanisms of redress? In terms of factors and contexts that trigger witch-
hunting, the study shows it to be one among many ways of settling scores and conflicts, although
the nature of tensions and the motives have evolved over time to cover a wide range of contexts.
The motives of witch-hunting are not static or limited, with superstition and belief in the occult
being just one which, certainly as counter-narratives suggest, is a strongly contested part of the
story. Thus the violence associated with caste atrocities is often similar to the cruelty perpetrated
in witch-hunting. Indeed, even though we did not come across many such cases, the two forms of
violence may coincide in some instances. Other reports, not part of this study, also suggest that
violence and humiliation as a public spectacle is not limited to witch-hunting alone, with
increasing evidence of public retribution in cases of sexual transgression, intercommunity
relationships, and so-called honour crimes. While the IPC covers a range of offences, there is a
pressing need for naming distinct offences like parading, tonsuring and blackening the face, so
that such acts are not trivialised as “simple hurt” evaluated only in terms of the physical scars
inflicted; they need to be defined as atrocities that intend to, and result in, degrading and
stigmatising the victim. Confining these offences within the framework of a special law would
however be counterproductive as prosecution would be contingent on establishing the motive of
witch-hunting, and more significantly, will exclude from legal redress similar victimisation that
is perpetrated for reasons other than witch-hunting. In the Indian context, certain patterns of
public humiliation have only expanded beyond contexts with which they have historically been
associated. Thus, as suggested above, atrocities that had been typically used to oppress Dalits are
sometimes used to punish social and sexual transgressions. Given the evidence and possibility of
perpetrating such humiliation for a range of other causes, there is need to name and recognise
these as distinct offences within the framework of the IPC, rather than framing such offences in
the context of one theme alone. Even as new offences are identified, these must be included as
part of the general penal code so that similar forms of victimisation can be addressed regardless
of the context or motive of violence. The study identifies distinct protection gaps in law, which
need urgent attention, urging us to broaden the debate beyond special laws. Criminalisation is the
only aspect of justice. In relation to the criminal justice system, reforms cannot be limited to new
offences or special laws. The evidence in this study points to police apathy, poor investigation
and indifferent prosecution being significant barriers to accessing legal remedies for victims.
Without a reform agenda for each of these agencies within the criminal justice system, redress
for victimisation will remain rhetorical, available perhaps only in the most egregious cases. The
most critical protection gaps in law and policy, however, relate to reparations and restorative
justice. Reparative remedies involve compensation, community dialogue, protection, livelihood
support, shelter, compensation, promise of nonrecurrence of violence and, where necessary,
relocation. Compensation schemes cannot be tied with conviction of the perpetrator or their fi
nancial capacity. It must be released immediately, on assessment of harm caused, through the
state. Similarly, responsibility must be placed on the local administration and governing bodies
for restoring the victim’s socio- economic status in her village, including through dialogue and
promise of non-recurrence of violence. Where dislocation cannot be avoided, issues of
relocation, shelter and livelihood for the family remain. The value of social processes,
particularly in those led by women’s groups, is significant. The various women’s bodies like
Mahila Samakhya Samitis, Mahila Mandals and self-help groups must be mandated and
mobilised to play a role. The local governing bodies and state offi cials can be mobilised as well,
through a combination of rewards and penalties that hold them accountable for witch-hunting in
their jurisdiction. Finally, one of the most neglected aspects in the analysis of witch-hunting has
been the linkages of the practice with structural conditions that exacerbate reliance on the
irrational. The underlying conditions of communities and regions within which witch-hunting
occurs have similar structural conditions— signified by lack of education, public health,
sanitation and little or no access to justice. Insufficient attention to the linkages between the
underlying conditions and the impunity visible in witch-hunting has led to the practice being
treated as “barbaric, evil and inhuman,” stemming from ignorance and age-old superstition and
thus criminalisation within the framework of a special law is seen as an appropriate response.
Awareness programmes often touted as a long-term solution to eliminating witch-hunting, and
indeed creation of scientific temper and rationality are doomed without bringing about a parallel
transformation in the material conditions of the regions and communities where witch-hunting
occurs. The capacity to transcend one’s belief systems is possible with structural changes that
ensure accessible and quality education, public health, healthcare and an accountable
administration; and where the law enforcement is responsive and diligent. Only when sufficient
attention is paid to the linkages of deprivations and neglect with witch-hunting, will the practice
cease to be “othered” as barbaric, and seen as an outcome of marginalisation and institutional
failures.

The concept of witch hunting has its traces in past, may it be primitive age, medieval age,
modern age and now industrial age, the concept of witchcraft and the incidence of witch-hunting
has been witnessed. Witch hunting is considered as an infectious disease which is slowly
spreading to newer areas. The concept of witch hunting initially aroused in Europe and till date it
is being continued with tragic consequences. In early Europe the woman who were against the
church were considered as witches, were regarded as one who brings misfortune and thus to
protect the society those woman were burnt. Later on women were held responsible for all the
calamities let it be famine, flood, and epidemic diseases which caused death of livestock. And the
only solution of coming out from this dismay was by killing them who were responsible for it.
Further it was seen that incidents which could not be answered was thought to be the act of
women who were having supernatural power and gradually this concept was bedded in the
society and which still has mark able effect in society.

WITCH-HUNTING IN INDIA

India is a land where the women are treated as symbol or are considered as a token of their
community, family, caste and all other diverse divisions. Where people on one hand worship
them in name of Goddesses on the other hand kill them considering them witch. This practice of
killing is not new for Indian society rather it has its deep roots in history. Initially when the
concept of witch was discussed people thought of ugly women with a broom who can fly, who
can disappear. Now the concept has changed a bit, witch now denotes women who acquire
supernatural powers and are indulged in evil practices which are omen. It is believed that they
are associated to negative energy and for their betterment and for enhancing their power they kill
innocent members of society. The may be called in different names as ‘Chudail’, ‘Dayan’,
Tohni’, etc. but the zest is that they possess supernatural powers which they use to hamper others.
Therefore Witch Hunting is a process of killing these people in order to protect the society from
being harmed by them. In name of witch hunting people kill innocent women, rape them, to
acquire their property and some time it is being used as a tool for vengeance.

Witch hunting is stigmatization of specific groups of people, which mostly contains widowed
women, women who are childless, old couples, women of lower caste. Other than this many are
targeted due to local politics. It has been witnessed in tribal and rural areas that if wild spread
diseases occur or famine occurs which causes death of animals as well as human the allegation
develops on the most vulnerable people of the society for witch craft and then violence. Witch
hunting is more prevalent in 12 states of India which are situated in like Jharkhand, Bihar,
Haryana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam,
Rajasthan and U.P. the governments most recent report indicates that about 119 people were
killed in the year 2012 in name of witch hunting and around 1,700 women were murdered for
witchcraft during 1991-2010. These data shows the recorded cases, there are many instances
which have never been recorded as due to the fear.

SOME INSTANCES OF WITCH-HUNTING IN PAST FEW YEARS

Areas which are tribal and rural, where literacy rate is low and where people are guided by blind
faith and superstition, these blind faiths invokes them to subject the victims accused of
witchcraft to inhuman atrocities ranging from gang rape, mob lynching, naked parades,
blackening of face, shaving of head, beheading and burning alive and coercing to consume
human excreta. It is ironical on one hand our country being a democratic country talks about
equality, right to life and liberty but on the other hand it takes away the same rights of others.

As per the report of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) 2008, in Jharkhand there were 52
witchcraft related murders, in Haryana around 26 cases of witch-hunting was reported, whereas
in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa 23 cases were reported, in Madhya Pradesh 17, in Chhattisgarh 15,
in Maharashtra 11 and in West Bengal and Meghalaya 4 and 3 respectively. According to NCRB,
government of India the instances of witch- hunting has increased when compared to previous
years data.

Also as per Human Right Committee report in last 15 years approximately 2,500 women in were
killed in name of witch-hunting. Previously it was seen that witch-hunting is only associated to
women but in 2013 in Orissa police reported a case where a boy was killed as he was accused of
practicing witchcraft. Statistics also display a case in Assam were a girl was raped in name of
witch-hunting in 2011.

LEGISLATIVE APPROACH TO WITCH-HUNTING

There is no specific and particular national level legislation that penalises Witch hunting hence
the provisions under the Indian Penal Code 1860 can be used as an alternative for the victim. The
different sections invoked in such cases are Sec.302 which charge for murder, Sec307 attempt for
murder, Sec 323 hurt, Sec 376 which penalises for rape and Sec. 354 which deals with outraging
a woman’s modesty.

Apart from the provisions under Indian Penal Code different states have come up with different
legislation to tackle the problem of witch hunting.

 Bihar though being most backward was the first state in India to pass a law against
witch hunting in the year 1999, which was named “Prevention of Witch (Dayan)
Practices Act.”

 Jharkhand followed it and established “Anti Witchcraft Act” in 2001 to protect women
from inhuman treatment as well to provide victim legal recourse to abuse. Basically
Section 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the concerned Act talks about the punishment which will be
granted if any one identify someone as witch, tries to cure the witch and any damages
caused to them. Whereas Section 7 states the procedure for trial.

 Chhattisgarh government passed a bill in 2005 named “Chhattisgarh Tonhi Pratama

Bill”, which was established to prevent atrocities on women in name of Tonhi.
  Rajasthan government has also passed a bill “Rajasthan Women (Prevention and
Protection from Atrocities)” 2006,which makes it illegal as well punishable for calling
any woman as “dayan” or to accuse a woman for practicing witchcraft, which extends
to three years of imprisonment and Rs 5000 fine.

 Till now there is no specific laws enacted in Maharashtra against witch-hunting and the
sole reason behind it is opposition from some religious groups who believes that the
enacted law might take away their ancient rites Now after the incidents of witch-
hunting has increased the state government has planned to pass a bill to eradicate the
social ills and human sacrifice.

 Among the states where witch-hunting is prevalent, some areas of West Bengal like
Purulia, Bankura and Birbhum comes under the ambit of those states. Still the state
government has failed to establish a separate legislation to tackle it. Hence, there is a
need of national legislation which will have a binding effect over all the states in
prohibiting it.

All these acts not only prohibit one from directly hampering a woman but also punishes the one
who instigates other to harm them, to displace her from the house place and property. At the
same time it is punishable if due to torture a woman commits suicide

Apart from these state legislation there are other bodies established to prevent witch-hunting and
promote protection to women and to ensure those rights necessary for them to live a peaceful life
with dignity.

 Partner for Law in Development (PLD) 1998, which is a group of legal resource
working for social justice and women’s right in India. It considers women’s rights as
an integral part of the society and hence protects women’s right from getting violated
through families, on basis of sexuality, culture, caste, etc.

 Other than this many NGO’s are working for preventing and protecting women from
the social evil of witch-hunting.one among those is Rural Litigation and Entitlement
Kendra, which had also filled a PIL in Supreme Court relating to the abuse of women
in name of witch-hunting on behalf of 1000 rural women in Jharkhand who were
victimised of witch-hunting.

 Apart from these NGO’s and some local bodies working against witch hunting, a bill
“Prevention and Prohibition of Witch-Hunting” has been drafted by members of
Human Rights Defence International, which is still pending. It aims at establishing
national legislation relating to witch-hunting.
The Indian government has an obligation to protect women from discrimination on the basis of
gender and also provide basic rights and security granted by different international treaties,
covenant and laws.

 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948, which being international
law provides protection against any discrimination and promotes equality before law. It
also confirms right to life and liberty to every human being.

 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), India associated with it
in 1979, which being an international body promotes equality between men and
women by ensuring equal rights to men and women in civil as well as political sphere
and prohibits others from subsuming anyone’s basic rights. Article 7 explicitly
mentions prohibition of cruelty, inhuman or degrading treatment and by associating
with the covenant it is obligatory for Indian government to implement these rules.

 In addition to UDHR and ICCPR, India has signed Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 1993 and had agreed to
eliminate discrimination and social cruelty against women. In addition to it Sec.5 (a) of
the concerned convention explicitly provides that the states should take appropriate
measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women.

Hence not only protection of women is obligatory but also it is obligatory to affirm different
actions which have been designed for ensuring the enjoyment of rights in a positive manner.

WHY WITCH HUNTING IS STILL BEING CONTINUED?

 The question of evidence – In order to punish one for practicing witch hunting, the
court needs proof. In case of witch hunting, it is a crime which is socially manifested
hence out of either fear or acceptance of the practice people remain silent, which
becomes huddle in collecting evidences. Hence due to lack of evidence proper justice
is not achieved. Apart from it generally it is seen that the person who commits witch
hunting are influential people and due to the fear and threat of those people no speaks
against them. As in a case of Tula Devi& Ors. v. State of Jharkhand, a case of brought
in Jharkhand High Court were the court dismissed the case on the basis that the victim
has failed to prove that the accused her of being witch and harmed her and there was
lack of eyewitness.

Another reason behind lack of evidence is delay in reporting the incident. Due to the
geographical reason and societal pressure very few incidents are reported and that too after a
long gap, hence it makes the witness testimony unreliable, which was a ground for not
convicting the accused in Madhu Munda v. State of Bihar.
  Absence of National Legislation – As it has been mentioned earlier India does not have
any specific national legislation or laws for preventing witch hunting. It is being
covered under the sections of Indian Penal Code and according to it punishment are
being granted. Therefore there is a need of proper legislation to eradicate this heinous
practice from the society.

This failure to establish a specific law relating to witch-hunting violates several core rights
provided by different international treaties and conventions, which includes the right to non-
discrimination, the right to security, the right to life, right to access national tribunals and the
most important right to live a decent life free from cruel and inhuman treatment.

 Poor implementation of prevalent laws – as mentioned above few states still does not
have a separate law to tackle with the societal wrong of witch-hunting, though the rate
of witch-hunting is high there. And the states which have enacted laws and not
effective as it lacks legal backing due to lack of national legislation. The
ineffectiveness of states legislation is witnessed through the increasing incidents of
witch-hunting after its implementation over states.

Also due to the quantum of punishment which is granted to the accused is lesser than the gravity
of crime they have committed, as the punishment merely extends upto 1 year with a fine of
Rs.1000, which lack to set deterrence in society. Hence, this adds to the poor implementation of
the existing laws.

Film on witches casts a spell

- Documentary features in the nomination list of Magnolia Award
SAVVY SOUMYA
Jamshedpur, May 11: For once witchcraft in the tribal belt has made it to the headlines and
showered with accolades for it.
A documentary on witchcraft, Indian Witch Hunt, has has made it to the nomination list for the
Magnolia Award at the 11th Shanghai Film Festival which will be held in mid-June this year.
Indian Witch Hunt bagged the prize for the best film at the 'ShowReal Asia 2 Award' held two
weeks ago by the National Geographic Channel in Singapore and the RAPA Award for the best
direction (documentary).
The 47-minute documentary film portraying the brutal torture of women suspected of being
witches was written and directed by Rakhi Verma in 2004.
Verma was assisted by Shalini Venugopal of Miditech Private Limited (a Delhi-based
production company) and journalist Sohaila Kapur. The Indian Witch Hunt was Verma's first
individual production as a freelancer after her stint with the National Geographic Channel.
Verma, based in the US, has shot his documentary in Singhbhum, Ranchi and a village near
Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.
Two cases of witch hunting in the Singhbhum region, which had rocked the state last year, also
finds place in the documentary.
Shalini said the documentary shows a sorcerer and three witches who practise this dark art in
secrecy and gives viewers a rare look into the forbidden world of death spells and graveyard
rituals.
The film depicted the stark reality of the evil practice that still exists and the determination of a
woman, who after going through the humiliation of being declared a witch, gets back to her feet
and raises her voice against similar harassment. Chutni Mahto was branded a witch, dragged on
the streets, stripped naked and forced to eat human excreta. She managed to get back home. At
night, when she heard that some villagers were heading for her hut to kill her, she ran away
from the village with her children.
Later, she was rescued by members of Free Legal Aid Committee with the help of whom she
now runs her own organisation to save such women.
Citing another case which went into the making of the documentary, Shalini narrated how
Gurudas Mardi, a youth, had walked into the police station with the blood-soaked head of his
aunt whom he had suspected of being a witch. 'After speaking to him and the victim's husband,
we realised that age-old tradition of witchcraft was interwoven in the very fabric of the tribal
lifestyle,' said Shalini.

A 63-year-old woman in Assam was allegedly killed by three men on Monday after they
suspected her to be a witch.
"The trio forced Poni Orang out of her house around noon on Monday, took her near a river and
killed her. They accused her of being a witch and alleged that it was due to her presence that
many people in the village were falling ill," Biswanath Superintendent of Police Manabendra Rai
said.
The men reportedly assaulted her before they beheaded her.
However, Orang's murder is not an isolated case; in fact witch-branding and hunting is common
in several central and eastern states in India like, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and
Jharkhand.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, of the 160 murders committed in
2013 with witch-hunting as motive, 54 were from Jharkhand alone, the highest in the
country. Over 400 have been killed in Jharkhand on suspicions that they were "daayans" or
witches since 2001 when the state was carved out of Bihar.
Jharkhand is a state with heavy tribal population. Women are regularly branded witches in these
regions, tortured both physically and mentally, tied to trees and beaten up, their heads tonsured
and eventually savagely murdered. Those who are not killed are ostracized by society and face
continuous mental harassment.
Unfortunately, there is no national law against witch hunting in the country.
Talking to The News Minute, Ajay Kumar- Secretary of Association for Social and Human
Awareness (ASHA)- an NGO in Jharkhand, said that in the last 20 years around 1,300 women
have been killed in the state because they were suspected to be practising witch-craft. Official
estimates are much lower.
How is someone branded a witch?
Witch-branding usually begins when something drastic happens in the area, like the sudden death
of a person, or an epidemic in the village and even bad crop.
With minds steeply rooted in superstitions, the villagers need an outlet to dump their anger and
frustrations on. It is mostly women, single or widowed, who then find themselves at the
receiving end.
Kumar points out that it is not just superstition that drives such horrific executions.
"Single women are mostly targeted because they are weak and have no one to support or defend
them. Also if a woman does not marry or is widowed, usually is entitled to her father’s or
husband’s property. In an attempt to get hold of the property, jealous relatives or villagers seek
such illegal methods."
"Women who turn down sexual advances are also branded daayans," he adds.
However, it is not just women who are victims of such regressive practices.
Ryan Shaffer in a piece published in the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry writes, "In July 2012,
an elderly man and his wife were forced to ingest human urine and excrement in Jharkhand. The
two were accused of practicing witchcraft, which supposedly resulted in the death of local
livestock. One month later in another village in the state, a man was pulled from his house and
buried alive for allegedly practicing witchcraft. In 2013, an elderly man was forced to eat human
excrement in Meghalaya, a state in northern India. He was accused of practicing witchcraft when
four girls became sick and started having dreams about snakes. The villagers gathered together
and decided on his punishment. The assistant village chief defended the action, saying after the
event the girls’ health improved."
What is even more chilling is the fact that most of these incidents happen with the support of the
entire village. A report in The Mint states a similar incident in the state in September 2009. An
unmarried 37-year-old woman and her 60-year-old mother were killed because villagers thought
they were witches.
The mother’s body was later found with marks on her neck suggesting she was hanged. The
daughter’s body, however, was never found.
The News Minute had reported on Bihurama Ganju, a resident of Gurunjuli village along the
Assam-Arunchal border who was beaten to death on July 3 by villagers for allegedly practicing
witchcraft. Government records show that 66 women have been killed between 2005-mid 2013
in Assam.
Need for stricter legislation
There is a law is in place in some states to prevent such atrocities. The Prevention of Witch
Practices Act, 2001 for example is a part of the Jharkhand state’s legislation, its implementation
is very poor.
In July last year, Free Legal Aid Committee, an NGO in Jharkhand, made a demand for a
National Law to control the menace in the country, especially against tribal and poor women.
Kumar of ASHA, blames the government for its insensitivity towards the issue. "What do you
expect from a state that has seen a change in chief ministers so frequently since the state was
formed?" he asks. "There has been development in the state, but only in terms of infrastructure,
that too the areas depending on which party is in power. The government only shows an interest
where they can get money," Kumar further adds. Describing a incident from 2014, Kumar says
that a woman was declared a witch in the Khunti panchayat.
The Panchayat asked her to pay Rs 2,00,000 lakh. The local police was even reluctant to take up
the case. ASHA had to then contact the Superintendent of Police and only then was an FIR
lodged.
Who can declare someone a witch?
Usually an Ojha, who is considered to practice white magic, that’s opposed to black-magic
practiced by witches, brands a woman as a witch. Kumar says that there are two types of Ojhas
usually. One is someone who has some knowledge of "jari-booti" or herbal medicines, and
villagers usually approach them for health issues.
The second type is someone who has no such knowledge and just takes advantage of beliefs of
people. The second kind is dangerous. What is needed at this hour is urgent awareness and
stricter laws.
The present state law is ineffective because firstly, it is hardly implemented, and secondly, the
punishment is too lenient. As Kumar points out, awareness can’t bear any fruitful results as long
as the government does not make any significant effort to sensitise themselves and then the
people.
Watch documentary filmmaker Rakhi Varma's film titled "The Indian Witch Hunt" which got
the Best Film at the ShowReal Asia 2 Awards in 2005.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmZV371th3M

CONCLUSION

Till date the practice of witch-hunting is still prevalent in India. The reasons behind it are lack of
national legislation, lack of evidence and issuing of report, ineffective implementation of
established rules. Hence the problem can be solved by strict enforcement as well as
implementation of Anti-witchcraft law which will also prevent witch-hunting practices, also by
sensitizing of police and welfare department and establishment of NGO’s who will work for
sensitization purpose. As witch hunting are more prevalent in backward areas to raise awareness
witchcraft can be added as a subject in school as it is necessary to change the perspective of
society and believe over superstition. However it is very difficult to eliminate believes prevalent
from centuries in the society but we can try to eliminate by taking above mentioned steps.

Unit-III

1. Resistance and Movements

Women have historically been associated with inferiority in philosophical, medical and religious
traditions. Hellenic philosophical schools, such as Stoicism and Platonism distrusted all that was
corporal, favouring instead the spiritual. The hierarchical dichotomy of body versus soul/intellect
was seen to parallel the division of the sexes, with women, due to their childbearing functions
and menarche, pejoratively associated with corporeality. The mistrust of the flesh extended to
mistrust of sexuality; a common antifeminist trope that developed over centuries was the idea of
the woman as temptress, someone who tempts the virtuous male from the true ascetic path to
wisdom. With the advent of Christianity, the Old Testament figure of Eve came to embody earlier
misogynist traditions: Eve, the sinful Woman (Woman because she in fact represents all women)
who condemned humanity by corrupting Adam. Moreover, since Eve was born out of Adam’s
rib, the link between Woman’s physicality and debt to Man was made more manifest.
Even in medical treatises of the first five centuries AD, women’s inferiority to men was justified
by their physiological weaknesses. In Aristotelian physiological tradition, which influenced
medieval, early modern and even modern notions of sex and gender, Woman is the imperfect
version of Man: she is matter whereas he is form. For the Greek philosopher and medical doctor,
Galen (AD 129 – 200), women lacked self-restraint whereas men were characterised by self-
control.
These traditions intersected and justified the dominant view that women were physiologically,
intellectually and spiritually inferior to men.
Proto-feminism
Despite the dominance of these misogynist traditions, some individuals during the Middle Ages
and early modern period challenged the status quo and called for greater equality between the
sexes.
Christine de Pisan (d. 1430), a successful Italian-born female writer of the French royal court is
now often named as “the first proto-modern woman” due to her treatise panegyrising the
contributions of women to civilization, in her famous works, The Book of the Cities of Ladies.
For Christine, gender inequality was not on account of any innate differences between men and
women. Instead, she recognised the role of education and opportunities as the main cause:
“If it were the custom to send little girls to school and teach them all sorts of different subjects
there, as one does with little boys, they would grasp and learn the difficulties of all the arts and
sciences just as easily as the boys.”
Christine comprehensively critiques the tradition of misogyny underpinning literary, religious
and philosophical discourses while at the same time reconstructing a ‘new’ canon of literature
and history in which the contributions of women are included and applauded. There remains
considerable debate on the merits of the label ‘protofeminist’, in particular as it applied to
Christine de Pisan. Many contemporary feminist historians find her ‘disappointing’ for not being
more ‘radical’ yet (Delaney, 1987), others have argued that by her life example (self-educated,
supporting herself and her family through her writing, publicly engaging with contemporary
debates) and by her arguments for greater appreciation, better treatment and equal access to
education for women, she embodied and espoused one of the earliest formulations of gender
equality.
Did Women enjoy a Renaissance?
This famous question, first posed by the historian Joan W. Scott (1980?), raised the issue for
historians of gender of the unequal fate of men and women in periods of relative social,
economic and political ‘renaissance’. Many Italian women, daughters or relatives of the leading
humanists of the time, it could be argued, did ‘enjoy’ some kind of renaissance since they were
permitted to receive educations comparable to their male peers. However, even then, there was a
distinct glass ceiling. The humanist, Leonardo Bruni, in a letter outlining a programme of study
‘most fitting to a woman’ for Battista da Montefeltro Malatesa (1383-1450) argued:
“To her neither the intricacies of debate nor the oratorical artifices of action and delivery are of
the least practical use, if indeed they are not positively becoming. Rhetoric in all its forms, –
public discussion, forensic argument, logical defence, and the like, lies absolutely outside the
province of woman.”
In addition, not only were many of these educated women eventually compelled to abandon their
studies and choose between the options of marriage or the cloister, they also showed a certain
level of acceptance of their ‘inferior’ state. Isotta Nogarola (1417-1461) for example defended
Eve in her debate with Ludovico Foscarini, ‘Of the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve’,
claiming that Eve was less guilty than Adam on account of women’s ‘natural ignorance’ and her
‘desire for knowledge of good and evil.’
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: The First Wave
In A Room of One’s Own, the British author, Virginia Woolf (d. 1941), lamented the absence of
female authors, the ‘empty spaces on bookshelves’ which were only filled by men writing,
typically negatively, about Woman.
“But whatever effect discouragement and criticism had upon their writing – and I believe that
they had a very great effect – that was unimportant compared with the other difficulty which
faced them … that is that they had no tradition behind them, or one so short and partial that it
was of little help. For we think back through our mothers if we are women.”
Other than a handful of authors, both men and women, (notably Mary Wollstonecraft ), the idea
of pursuing greater gender equality was rarely discussed. By the turn of the twentieth century,
however, Woolf’s contemporaries in Britain and in the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in
the United States of America of America of America, New Zealand and Australia were actively
pushing for greater equality, establishing new traditions and feminist mothers to inspire later
generations. Elizabeth Cady Stantonand Susan B. Anthony in the US and the Suffragettes led by
theEmmeline Pankhurst in England were the key pioneers of ‘first-wave feminism’, a period in
which women organised themselves into public and high –profile advocacy groups, campaigning
for equality in property, economic and voting rights. Beginning with New Zealand in 1898,
women were granted the Women's Women's Suffrage and within half a century, enjoyed suffrage
in a majority of countries across all continents: the US in 1919 andthe United Kingdom in 1928
(to all women over 21).
The Second Wave
The second-wave of feminists campaigning for gender equality targeted new objectives from
their ‘first wave’ sisters. Having achieved suffrage and equality in property rights, feminists after
WWII broadened their objectives to tackling discrimination in employment opportunities, pay
and education, reproductive rights and the role of women in the family and household. The
slogan and battle-cry of the second wave was coined by Carol Hanisch: “The Personal is
Political” The second wave deconstructed and criticised for the first time power relations
between men and women in the realm of the personal as well as the public: culture, sexuality,
and political inequalities were intimately intertwined, subjecting women to discrimination that
only self-realization of these power relations could overcome.
Key feminists of this period include Germaine Greer and Betty Friedan . Their works explored
the origins and contours of women’s inequality, breaking the silence over the false myth of the
domestic and docile ‘bliss’ of housewives and breaking taboos over female sexuality.
“Women have somehow been separated from their libido, from their faculty of desire, from their
sexuality. They’ve become suspicious about it. Like beasts, for example, who are castrated in
farming in order to serve their master’s ulterior motives — to be fattened or made docile —
women have been cut off from their capacity for action. It’s a process that sacrifices vigour for
delicacy and succulence, and one that’s got to be change” (Greer, The Female Eunuch)

“The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women. It was a
strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning [that is, a longing] that women suffered in
the middle of the 20th century in the United States. Each suburban wife struggled with it alone.
As she made the beds, shopped for groceries … she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent
question — ‘Is this all?” (The Feminine Mystique)
Key achievements of second wave feminists in the area of gender equality include:

 In the US: the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX
and the Women’s Educational Equity Act (1972 and 1975), Title X (1970, health and
family planning), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (1974), the Pregnancy Discrimination
Act of 1978, and landmark Supreme Court cases overturning anti-abortion legislation
( Roe v Wade , 1973).

This period also saw international committees and conferences dedicated to promoting gender
equality. The United Nations established a Commission on the Status for Women in 1946 whose
mission was
“to raise the status of women, irrespective of nationality, race, language or religion, to equality
with men in all fields of human enterprise, and to eliminate all discrimination against women in
the provisions of statutory law, in legal maxims or rules, or in interpretation of customary law”
In its first decade, the Commission passed the following conventions aimed at promoting gender
equality: Convention on the Political Rights of Women, adopted by the General Assembly
(1952); the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women, (1957), the Convention on
Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (1962); and the
Recommendation on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of
Marriages (1965).
Under the auspices of the various UN agencies responsible for gender equality, the first world
conferences on women were held, first in Mexico (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985)
and Fourth World Conference on Women . In 1980, in the middle of the UN Decade for Women,
the CEDAW came into force on 3 September 1981, signed initially by 64 countries.
Third Wave Feminism: diversifying the path to equality
By the late 1980s, the campaign for gender equality entered the ‘third wave’. In response to what
was seen as the predominantly ‘white’ and middle class agenda of the second wave, feminists
called for greater awareness of the specific equality concerns of other female identities
previously marginalised in second wave discourses for gender equality: women from black and
minority backgrounds, bisexual, lesbian and transgender women, the ‘postcolonial’ voice and
lower social classes. The third wave criticises the second wave’s “conformism”:
“For many of us it seems that to be a feminist in the way that we have seen or understood
feminism is to conform to an identity and way of living that doesn’t allow for individuality,
complexity, or less than perfect personal histories. We fear that the identity will dictate and
regulate our lives, instantaneously pitting us against someone, forcing us to choose inflexible
and unchanging sides, female against male, black against white, oppressed against oppressor,
good against bad.” (Rebecca Walker,1995)
An important shift in the past two decades has occurred in the approach to gender equality
issues. Previously departmentalised as ‘women’s issues’ that were studied, analysed and of
interest only to women, issues such as equality in employment is now studied under the rubric
‘gender’. While certain academics have criticised this shift as cosmetic, that is another way of
referring to ‘women’ or an attempt to lend legitimacy to the study of women, the shift does have
strong epistemological justifications. As the feminist historian, Joan W. Scott described:
“Gender as a substitute for ‘women’ is also used to suggest that information about women is
necessarily information about men, that one implies the study of the other. This usage insists that
the world of women is part of the world of men, created in and by it. This usage rejects the
interpretive utility of the idea of separate spheres, maintaining that to study women in isolation
perpetuates the fiction that one sphere, the experience of one sex, has little or nothing to do with
the other.”

Sometimes there are good reasons for asking critical questions, but sometimes those questions
are a sign of resistance. In any case critical questions should be used to elaborate on the
advantages and benefits of change processes targeted at gender equality. IN the following section
we present typical questions on gender mainstreaming and which possible answers can be useful
to reduce the level of resistance in an organisation.

From Chipko to Sati-The Contemporary Indian women’s movement – RADHA KUMAR

Radha Kumar ImageSource:estorilconferences.com

Introduction

In 1970’s women faced a number of problems and domination which resulted in the outbreak of
a series of women’s movement and campaigns. These campaigns and movements include a
number of issues of importance of women, which emanate process of change and development
in feminist thinking.

The Context

After India’s independence in 1947, the Congress government of that time made promises to
uplift the position of women and thereby, declared equality of men and women in
the constitution, by setting up many administrative bodies and raised opportunities for women.
The movements of 1950’s and 1960’s were very different from that of 1970’s as there was a
serious upsurge of feminist campaigning which grew out of the radical movements of that time.
Most famous Feminist movements were Shahada and anti-price agitations in
Maharashtra and Self Employed women’s association and Nav Nirman in Gujarat.

The shahada movement was a Bhil Tribal landless laborer’s movements who were against the
exploitative and dominating non-tribal landowners. Poverty, because of drought and feminine
were the central problems and on top of that these non-tribal landowners exploited them on the
basis of sharecropping, land alienation, money lending charges etc, this resulted in militancy
among the bhils. It was more active in the early 1970s, where women took active participation in
the militancy and issues related to violence because of alcoholism. Women in groups began to go
from village to village and destroyed liquor dens and liquor pots, they supported each other and
beat the husbands of those women who were victims of violence.

In Gujarat, the first women’s trade union(textile labor Association) formed in 1972 by Ella Bhatt,
The self-employment women’s association was an organization which worked collectively for
women and fought against the issues of low earnings, poor working conditions, harassment from
those in authority etc. The aims of the organization and association were to improve working
conditions by providing technical aid, and introducing the members to values of honesty, dignity,
and simplicity, ideas reflecting Gandhian principles.

Due to drought and Feminine, in the rural areas of Maharashtra in early 1970’s led to a sharp rise
in prices in the urban areas, which resulted in the formation of United women’s anti-price
rise front. The protest included mostly women which campaigned against the inflation and
addressed the government to fix the prices. The protest was demonstrated by women by the
beating of thalis and lathis, approximately ten thousand to twenty thousand women participated
and marched towards the parliament, governments offices etc.

This movement spread to Gujarat and was known as Nav Nirman movement, which was students
movement against black marketing, corruption, and soaring prices. The methods of the protest
were hunger strikes, Prabhat pheries, mock funerals celebrating the death of people who died
during the protest, over hundred people died during the protest. Many women joined the Nav
Nirman movement.

During the same time, the first contemporary women’s feminist movement was formed in
Hyderabad, which included the women from Maoist movement, who raised the issue of gender
oppression. Because of sudden rise women’s movements, the United Nations declared 1975 as
the International women’s year. March 8, international women’s day was celebrated for the
first time in India.

Feminists began writing on Dalit women’s position in the Hindu society explained their isolation
and the way they were treated. Later, under the leadership of Jyotiba Phule, certain reforms were
made such as widow remarriage, right to education etc.

In 1975, there was the declaration of Emergency by the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which
interrupted many women’s movement and feminists, as many of them were arrested and those
who were liberated and set free focussed on civil rights such as freedom of speech , right to
action, right to protest , rights of political prisoners etc. The lifting of Emergency in 1977
brought the renewal of many early women’s movement.

Early Feminists Campaigns

The three features of the new Feminists campaign include

(1) many feminists were from the left,

(2) autonomous groups

(3)ideological difference.

The role of the feminist groups was to raise feminist issues with mass organizations such as trade
unions, Kisan Samiti etc. In the late 1970’s many loosely organized groups were formed, the
only party based organization was Mahila Dakshata Samiti (women’s self-development
organization) founded in 1977 by the socialist women in the coalition of Janata Party. Many
Dowry related cases were found in and around Delhi, dowry related crimes and murder of
women because of dowry, increased in the country. women’s death by the fire were regarded as
suicide and police refused to lodge the complaint because of the personal matter.

No one bothered to raise voices against the violence until then feminists reversed the indifference
by linking the deaths of women by fire not as merely suicides but with that of dowry harassment.
Feminists spread the awareness among the neighbors, family, and friends to raise voices and
encouraged them to file complaints against the harassment of their daughters by in-laws.

Feminists spread the awareness through campaigns, teacher associations, trade unions, street
plays, magazines etc. In 1980, a year after anti-dowry agitation, the government passed a law
against dowry-related crimes and made mandatory for police investigation on those suicides
within five years of marriage. But Feminists were not satisfied with the law because it did not
specify as to what kinds of evidence would be proved as harassment, though many cases were
taken up to court and were declared as punishable offence many cases due to lack of evidence
and the post-mortem reports did not specify murder could not reach out to court.

The Agitation Against Rape

Just after the few months of the anti-dowry campaign and dowry-related crimes, the campaigns
against rape started with campaigns against police. The rapes of groups of women by the groups
of policemen as a result of retaliation against the subaltern movements. Rape case of Rameeza
bee, Mathura rape case were raped which involved policemen. Several rape campaigns marked a
new development of feminism in India, the government passes a bill defining custodial rape and
mandatory punishment. Later with more such rape cases, the government took more stands
related to the definition of rapes, molestation and eve –teasing.

Growth and Maturing of the Movements

Feminists began to move from the earlier modes of agitations such as public campaigns,
demonstrations, street plays etc to build the structures of support to individual women, which
resulted in the formation of women’s centers in several cities. These centres provided support,
counselling, heath care and in some centres it also provided with employment. The names of the
centres also provided with a sense of sisterhood and a comfortable environment to women,
names such as saheli, Sakhi Kendra meant women friends or female friends.
Later in 1980, these centres also organised with workshops which initiated several activities and
had sessions on drama, singing , painting etc. Short stories, myths, folktales, songs, street plays
were used to depict the position of women from past to present.

Feminists also emphasized the role of women in the movements which depicted social
transformation, one such movement was Chipko movement– a movement against deforestation
and to preserve forest from destruction from timber contractors. women played an important role
in this mass movement. Feminists began to celebrate this as a mass women’s movement and
theories began to inculcate in women’s special relation to the environment. Feminists work
began writings on, literature, academia, medicine, gender studies, women’s health, pregnancy,
contraceptives etc.

Challenges to movement

There were several challenges which were related to the issue of religion and interfered with the
personal. For example, A woman married under Muslim or Hindu law cannot take divorce under
secular law, several hardships were paid during the time, later British colonial government
passed (section 125) that a divorced woman is destitute with maintenance by her husband. shah
bano – a 75-year-old woman, who was abandoned by her husband had filed for maintenance,
under section 125 but with the interference of the religion and unjust judgment by government ,
the case was stretched for a long period of time, whereby she gave up the right on which she
fought for.

Another case of the practice of sati, Roop kanwar – a girl who was married and few months later
her husband died, and her marital family decided that she would become sati, the event was
announced and her natal family was not informed, she was immolated, the pyre was lit by her
brother in law. There were several agitations towards the sati, but immediately after the
immolation, the site became a pilgrimage spot, where it was seen from Hindu (religion point of
view). Feminists were opposed by mainly Hindu reformist, Arya Samaj etc. There were many
challenges associated towards the movements.

Contemporary Indian women’s movement was a complex journey. It included a large number of
participation of women from both rural and urban areas. These movements created a sense of
understanding the position of women and also created consciousness among themselves.
Increasing number of women are taking advantage of the new opportunities, which are the
product of feminists struggles and campaigns

Statements and reactions

Statement: There will be additional work with the implementation of gender mainstreaming. Our
workload is high already!

Possible reaction: First of all, this can be a very eligible question – for example if the gender
mainstreaming implementation process was not endowed with enough resources, then this is an
important question indicating a not adequate process.
At the other hand it should be assessed whether the question arises only in the case of gender
mainstreaming – whereas other processes of change which also cause a shift in working
processes (e.g. the introduction of new software) are not questioned in regard to unacceptable
rise in workload.

The important argument/answer to this is: “Gender mainstreaming in contrary aims at the
diminution of workload on the long term. Yes, at first there may be more work because with
gender mainstreaming new knowledge comes into play and actors are asked to have a closer look
at possible outcomes. This however leads to more sustainable services and policies as well as a
more efficient work – therefore, in the long run there will be less work. “

Statement: There is yet another process of change. We first have to recover from the last one and
have it all settled before embarking a new process.

Possible reaction: This is often uttered in institutional setting in which constant learning is not
part of the organisational culture. It is important to make clear that in today’s working
environment there is nothing like a stable setting, but organisations have to adapt to a changing
environment in a constant learning process – irrespective of the issue of gender equality.

Statement: Gender Equality is imposed on us (by the DG …, the EU, the federal government…)
but it is not in our interest.

Possible reaction: At the one hand it is important to show the intrinsic benefits for an
organisation, like quality of services provided, better assessment of impact and others (see #>
benefits#). At the other hand it is important to make clear that there is a legal framework for
gender equality and public organisations have to operate in accordance with these legal
requirements. Therefore it is not a question of imposing gender equality but a question of basic
rights and democratic consent. Also a strategy can be to compare gender equality with other
policy fields: If we would talk about issues like child labour, conservation of the environment or
working in an efficient and cost saving way - would the allegation of imposing something also be
kept up?

Statement: We do not discriminate against women, we treat anyone equally. So it is not necessary
to address gender issues.

Possible reaction: Equal treatment in a situation of unequal preconditions can have adverse
effects - as this illustration shows:

Statement: There are more important problems then gender equality – for example discrimination
of people with disabilities.

Possible reaction: Gender is a concept which intersects with all forms of social categories. For
example statistics show that handicapped women in average are worse off than handicapped
men. Gender is not about “the” men and “the” women as alleged homogeneous social groups but
it refers to a structural pattern in society (IN gender studies this concept is called
“intersectionality”). In gender mainstreaming one social group is not played off against the other
social group but when looking into a certain field of intervention, social structures as well as
women and men in their diversity are taken into consideration.

Statement: Women and men are different - why making efforts to make them equal?

Possible reaction: Gender equality is not about sameness – it is about equal opportunities and
equal rights. “Gender equality doesn’t mean that the sexes should do the same things. It means
equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities for women and men” (Nordström/Simonssonet al.
2007: 5)

Statement: Gender is an ideology challenging the natural biological differences between man and
women. Gender and gender mainstreaming is therefore aiming at destroying the normal family.

Possible reaction: This is a misperception of gender as a concept and gender mainstreaming as a

strategy which expresses political enmity. Gender refers to the realm of the social. Gender
studies have shown that femininity and masculinity are not fixed pattern: What it means to be
male and female is depends on time and cultural patterns. Also what is considered to be natural
or normal has changed and is constantly changing. The allegation of ideology can easily be
turned around: To state that only one model of a family is “normal” is indicating an ideology that
excludes forms of living and privileges others

This section of the module on institutional transformation is addressed to agents of change within
an organisation. When supporting gender equality they are the group who are especially
confronted with resistance. It is explained why resistance is part of organisational change. The
first section highlights the different types of resistance as well as its causes. The second section
gives advice on how to deal with these forms of resistance.

The section gives three main messages:

1. Resistance is part of any change process

2. Resistance can be used to promote change

3. There are ways of dealing with resistance

Experts on organisational change give the advice to anticipate resistance within a change process
and to also deal with it from the very start of a change process. (e.g. Schein 2009: 15). It is also
important to know that signs of resistance are not necessarily a reaction to the specific topic of
gender equality or gender mainstreaming but they can be a reaction to change as such.

How to react to resistance: Statements and reactions

Sometimes there are good reasons for asking critical questions – sometimes those questions are a
sign of resistance. In any case critical questions should be used to elaborate on the advantages
and benefits of change processes targeted at gender equality

Types and causes of resistance -Individual level and Organisational level

There is a broad range of manifestations of resistance:

1) Passive resistance: unconscious or deliberate non-reaction or slowing down of a processes as

well as active resistance, e.g. ridiculing, open boycott or even attacks on individuals representing
change.
Hidden resistance: objections that are uttered in a factual and reasonable way – but which, in
reality, are forms of hidden resistance (i.e. verbally showing openness to gender mainstreaming
but not acting accordingly). On the other hand, there are objections that are substantiated and are
helpful in critically reflecting a process of institutional transformation.

2) Forms of passive and hidden resistance are more difficult to deal with because they cannot be
directly addressed and discussed.

Erfurt (2011: 13f.) identifies resistance on two levels – firstly, resistance caused by individual
(non-)acceptance and secondly, resistance caused at an organisational level. In addition,
resistance can also come from outside an institution at the level of a wider discourse on gender
issues.

If you are working to promote gender equality and tackle inequality you can expect to meet
resistance. It may occur in any setting, come from individuals or collectively, and from men or
women.
So how can you prepare for it and what are effective responses?
This publication describes the forms that resistance can take and provides some practical
examples from local gender equality initiatives. There are also links to other useful resources
from Australia and around the world.
It is guided by a Queensland University of Technology evidence review on backlash to gender
equality by Michael Flood, Molly Dragiewicz and Bob Pease, commissioned by VicHealth in
2017.

13 steps to tackle gender discrimination

1. Don’t be surprised
Resistance is to be expected. Prepare for it. Resistance means your work advocating for equality
is getting traction.
2. Understand the form
Resistance takes different forms. Thinking through the form will help in crafting your responses
– for example, if it is ‘co-option’, where the language and facts are being twisted, a
fact/myth/fallacy response might be helpful.
3. Assess who it’s from
Monitoring and regular opportunities for feedback to your gender equality initiatives help you
understand not just what resistance is being expressed, but who it is coming from. You can then
tailor your messaging – and messengers – to address their concerns or correct misinformation.
4. Be willing to listen
Create spaces for diverse views and experiences to be expressed. When people can have their say
and talk about their own beliefs (and biases and fears) without being shut down, they are more
likely to be open to other messages.
5. Focus efforts on those you can influence
Entrenched opposition won’t be convinced. Understand when to respond and when to leave it
alone. Find allies and focus on the ‘moveable middle’.
6. Get leaders involved
Getting the senior leadership involved is pivotal to getting traction for gender equality initiatives.
It is how we get beyond a training or awareness-raising exercise to seeing it embedded into
policies, position descriptions and performance planning.
7. Harness the power of your peers
You are not alone in this work. Find people in your organisation and others who are also
committed to gender equality and share ideas, approaches and support.
8. Frame, don’t shame
Framing shapes the story of gender equality. Tell real-life stories and allow personal accounts to
be shared to help people connect emotionally, not just rationally, to the concepts. Note the
benefits of equality to both men and women, and address myths and misinformation.
9. Make sure to monitor
Regular feedback helps you see how your work is progressing, and understand where resistance
lives and what is being said. This doesn’t have to be an expensive, outsourced process. An online
questionnaire of just a few key questions sent out quarterly can be done in-house.
10. Defend against domination techniques
Domination techniques are used to gain power over others. Recognising them helps you respond
effectively. For example, if you’re asked, ‘Can’t you take a joke?’, that’s the domination
technique of ridiculing. The defensive strategy for this is to ask more questions – immediately
inviting them to explain what they meant by that. The confirmation technique is to give respect
and space for others, confirming that you take contributions seriously.
11. Put guidelines in place
Manage more extreme resistance with clear and unambiguous guidelines about what’s allowed
and not allowed. In the teaching space, this is about creating a safe and respectful learning
environment. For online forums, this requires moderation guidelines.
12. Practice self-care
Look after your own wellbeing, seek support and allow yourself space when you need it.
13. Celebrate success
Truly modernising our organisations will take time. We are tackling some entrenched and
structural inequalities. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. So take time out to recognise and celebrate
the wins along the way.
 2. Gender in media and market

Media and gender refers to the relationship between media and gender, and how gender is
represented within media platforms. These platforms include but are not limited
to film, television, journalism, and video games. Initiatives and resources exist to
promote gender equality and reinforce women's empowerment in the media industry and
representations. For example, UNESCO, in cooperation with the International Federation of
Journalists, elaborated the Gender-sensitive Indicators for Media contributing to gender
equality and women's empowerment in all forms of media.

Feminist writers, largely gaining prominence in the 1960s during second wave feminism, began
criticizing the Western canon for providing and promoting an exclusively white male world
view.[2] These feminists typically perceive gender as a social construct which is not only reflected
in artistic work but perpetuated by it.[3] Until fairly recently, feminists have mainly directed their
studies to gender representations in literature.[3

Gender disparity in media career

Numbers of women in media professions, such as journalism, is growing; however, the media is
and has been statistically dominated by men, who hold the vast majority of power positions.
[4]
Studies show that men are more likely to be quoted than women in the media, and more likely
to cover "serious" topics.[5] The Bechdel test, originally created to evaluate popular fiction's
representation of women and subsequently adapted to employment in the media professions,
show that a number of women are employed but do not benefit from an equal voice. For
example, women's presence on radio is typically hired to cover topics such as weather
and culture.
In the video game industry about half of the gamers are women but their presence is still limited
in the production of games. Those who tried to publicly challenge this situation, such as A.
Sarkeesian, have been subjected to harassment.[6] In cinema there is concern about the low
number of female directors and the difficulties of older actresses to find roles. [7][8]They also earn
2.5 times less income than men in the same jobs.[9]
A survey conducted by Stacy Smith of the University of Southern California shows that only 7%
of directors, 13% of writers and 20% of producers in film and television are women.
[10]
According to The Writers Guild, an estimated 17% of screenplays over the last decade were
written by women.[11] However, increasing numbers of women work in the media as journalists
or directors. Therefore, they deal with topics tightly related to women's needs and tend to provide
a positive role for women.[12] No longer only consumers of media but also contributors to media,
they get more involved in decision-making and agenda of activities. This empowerment of
women gives them abilities to promote balance in gender representations and avoid stereotypes.
Media becomes a suitable ground for expressions and claims.[13]

Representations of women
Underrepresentation
According to the report investigation of female characters in popular films across 11 countries, 1
woman for 2.24 men appeared on the screen between January 1, 2010 and May 1, 2013. In 2009,
the Screen Actors Guild (US) also found that men continue to make up the majority of roles,
especially supporting roles, where they contribute around two roles for every female role,
whereas females hold a slightly larger proportion of lead roles compared to their proportion of
supporting roles, but still less than lead roles occupied by male counterparts.
The same is true for television programs. In general, from the 1950s to the 1970s, television
programs had 30-35% female roles in American TV shows. The female roles increased in the
1980s, but there were still twice as many roles for men in television.[14] However, these
disparities change depending on the type of program: in mid-1970s sitcomsthere were "nearly
equal proportions", whereas in action-adventure shows "only 15 per cent of the leading
characters were women".[14] In the 1980s, female characters represented 43% of roles in comedy
shows and only 29% in action-adventure programs, however, they had outnumbered male
characters two to one in dramas.[14] Since the 1990s, "gender roles on television seemed to
become increasingly equal and non-stereotyped ... although the majority of lead characters were
still male."
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media is an organisation that has been lobbying the
industry for years to expand the roles of women in film.
In the 1960s and 1970s, feminists such as Clare Short, Gaye Tuchman, and Angela
McRobbie denounced unfair representations of gender in media and especially in magazines.
Sexualization
The Western ideal of female beauty is that of the fit, young and thin woman, and the media
spreads this ideal through movies, TV shows, fashion shows, advertisements, magazines and
newspapers, music videos, and children's cartoons. For women to be considered attractive, they
have to conform to images in advertisements, television, and music portraying the ideal woman
as tall, white, thin, with a 'tubular' body and blonde hair.
Studies show that typical female roles fall into cultural stereotypes of women and are often
sexualized with minimal clothing and sexualized roles. For example, a content analysis of video
games found that "41% of female characters wore revealing clothing and an equal number were
partially or totally nude", whereas the male characters were not. However, sexualization is not
the only stereotypical way in which women are represented in the media.
In advertisement, celebrity endorsement of products are thought to be especially effective if the
celebrity is a physically attractive woman, as the attractiveness is thought to transfer to the
brand's image and studies have shown that audiences respond better to female endorsements.
The objectification of women in the media is transmitted verbally and nonverbally, as well as
directly and indirectly, and it is not only visual but can also be expressed subtly by commenting
on women's appearance in a humorous way, making jokes and gags, and using double meanings.
Some shows focused entirely on successful professional women and their "quests for sex,
pleasure and romantic love", such as Ally McBeal (1997–2002) and Sex and the City(1998–
2004). Even if the main character in Ally McBeal was portrayed as desperate to find a husband,
the show had other non-stereotypical female characters and "sided with the women". Sex and the
City had assertive female protagonists, especially in matters of sex, and did not punish them for
wanting pleasure, knowing how to get it, and being determined to do so, which can be seen
especially in the case of Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall. Another female icon from the
1990s is the title character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a teenage girl who starred and became
hugely popular in the "typically male-dominated world of sci-fi fans". Buffy Summers, played
by Sarah Michelle Gellar, was powerful, heroic, confident, and assertive, characteristics that
were generally ascribed to male characters.
In her 1973 article "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", feminist film critic Laura
Mulvey coined the term male-gaze to describe the way that women in film serve as projections
of male fantasies.
Domestication
On TV, marriage, parenthood, and domesticity have been shown as more important to women
than men. From the mid-1940s to the 1960s, women (predominantly white, middle-class women)
were portrayed mostly as housewives who had seemingly "perfect" lives: their houses were
always impeccably clean, their children were always healthy, and they were always beautiful and
organized. TV didn't portray the reality that by 1960 "40 per cent of women worked outside the
home ... [and that] divorce rates spiked twice after World War II". According to a study from
1975 conducted by Jean McNeil, in 74 per cent of the cases studied women's interactions were
"concerned with romance or family problems", whereas men's interactions were concerned with
these matters in only 18 per cent of the cases. Furthermore, female characters often didn't have
jobs, especially if they were wives and mothers, and were not the dominant characters
or decision-makers. The boss is usually a man. Men are portrayed as more assertive or
aggressive, adventurous, active, and victorious, whilst women are shown as passive, weak,
ineffectual, victimized, supportive, and laughable.
As one study about gender role portrayals in advertisements from seven countries' shows,
women are more likely to play the role of the housekeeper and men are more likely to play the
roles of professionals.
In another study, Souha R. Ezzedeen found that career-driven female characters in film are often
portrayed as failing at fulfilling the stereotypical roles of a woman, like sexual attraction,
maternal roles, and relationships.
Age gap
Older characters and actors in general tend to be underrepresented in most media; however, this
seems to specifically effect female actors who appear less frequently in film and television than
their male colleagues and younger women. While 40+ male roles are on the rise in both theatrical
and television productions, female 40+ roles represent only 28% of female roles. Actors such
as Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood continue to undertake major roles as ageless heroes,
whereas the normative structure for older women is that their ageing is part of the plot (for
example in Mamma Mia! (2008) and Sex and the City (2010)). This is typically seen in relation
to female roles relying on sexualization and the superficial (apparent) effects of aging on their
body are presented as something to be hidden. They continue to be defined mainly by their
appearance.[31] In gossip culture, the older female body is represented in largely negative terms
unless it has been modified "correctly" by cosmetic surgery. Aging female celebrities have
become one of the mainstays of gossip magazines and blogs, which endorse a culture of
consumption in which cosmetic technologies and procedures are not questioned but in which
female celebrities who have used them are either figured as glamorous for getting it right or as
monstrous for going too far. Another consequence of portraying aging women in the media, is
that in most TV shows, actresses who are playing characters in their 40s and 50s tend to have
younger appearing body types. This has led to critiques that these representations are first and
foremost framed in terms of how well older actresses are managing their aging bodies. Midlife
women have grown accustomed to seeing their age group portrayed in a seemingly unrealistic
way, and this had led to an increase of eating disorders and negative body image among this
group.
In one court case in 2011, English television actress Miriam O'Reilly successfully sued
the BBC for age discrimination after being dropped from a show. It was claimed that she had
been told to be careful about her wrinkles and to consider Botox and dyeing her hair.
The commercial potential of older consumers is becoming more significant (an increased
'active lifespan', the baby boom generation entering retirement, retirement ages that are raising).
A multiplication of images of successful aging are explicitly tied to consumerism by the anti-
ageing industry and older female celebrities advertising their products. Examples abound: Sharon
Stone for Christian Dior, Catherine Zeta-Jones for Elizabeth Arden, Diane Keaton and Julianna
Margulies for L'Oreal, Christy Turlington for Maybelline, Ellen DeGeneres for CoverGirl, etc.
These advertisements are paradoxical in that they allow older celebrities to remain visible while
encouraging an ageist and sexist culture in which women are valued for their appearance. Baby
boomers are an increasingly important audience group for the cinema industry, resulting in more
and new kinds of stories with older protagonists. Romantic comedies in which women
protagonists take on the romantic heroine role provide one of the few spaces in popular
culture showing appealing representations of older women, such as I Could Never Be Your
Woman (2007), Last Chance Harvey (2008), and It's Complicated (2009). They are part of a
phenomenon called the "girling" of older women, where the protagonists and celebrities are
portrayed as being just as excited and entitled to be going out on dates as younger women.[34]

Representations of men
Men are proportionally represented by media more often compared to women, but the
representations that do exist are often criticized for their portrayal of sexist stereotypes. Most
critics discuss the ways male characters in film and television are typically more tough,
aggressive, domineering, etc than the average man they are meant to represent.[35]
'Masculine' means the male who fits in with American society's stereotypical 'manly man', or a
handsome (according to current American culture) man with definite muscles, and a conservative
style of dress and hairdo. The inadequate male lacks many characteristics of the masculine male.
He is weak and fearful, lacking both physical stamina and any significant amount of courage.
This was demonstrated in the cartoons analyzed not only through actions but also by body type
and bone structure, as well as dress and hairstyle. The delicate female was patterned in the
cartoons studied as a woman of delicate physical structure, who is thin and dressed in such a
manner as would not allow her to complete tasks traditionally meant for males. The modern
female is one who is dressed in a more neutral fashion, such as jeans or pants, and does not have
a noticeably tiny waistline.

— Kelly Eick, "Gender Stereotypes in Children's Television Cartoons"

Media representations of sports and athletes contribute to the construction of a dominant model
of masculinity centered on strength and an ambivalent relationship to violence, encouraging boys
and men to take risks and to be aggressive. In advertising, men usually promote alcoholic
beverages, banking services, credit cards, or cars. Although women also promote cars,
advertisements involving women are usually highly dependent on their sexuality, which is not
the case for those with men, who are shown in these ads in an elegant and powerful way. Also,
when men are acting on a television commercial, they are usually performing activities such as
playing sports, driving around girls, repairing cars, drinking, relaxing, and having fun.[38]
Also, when a man is promoting on an advertisement, they usually speak about the product and do
not use it. They seem to be the beneficiary of the product or service, typically performed by
women.[39]
Film historian Miriam Hansen argues the way female gaze came to film during the flapper films
of the 1920s, specifically citing the famous Italian-American actor Rudolph Valentinoas having
been used on the screen to draw in a female audience as an embodiment of male beauty.
Toxic masculinity
Virginie Julliard and Nelly Quemener remark that even though the dominant conception of
sexuality in media is heterosexuality with construction of traditional models
of femininityand masculinity, sexually diverse versions are being used in media which can also
be a source of identification by the audience.
In 1985, a U.S. non-governmental media monitoring organization called GLAAD was founded
by Vito Russo, Jewelle Gomez, and Lauren Hinds with the support of other LGBTpeople in the
media to combat media discrimination. The name "GLAAD" had been an acronym for "Gay &
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation", but is also known for its inclusivity
of bisexual and transgender people.

Effects on youth
The Hollywood actress Geena Davis in a speech at the Millennium Development
Goals Countdown event in the Ford Foundation Building in New York, addressing gender roles
and issues in film (24 September 2013)
The media is generally regarded as playing an important role in defining prevailing social
norms concerning sexual harassment, especially television, which is "widely accessible and
intentionally appealing and engaging, [making] massive use of stereotypical messages that the
majority of the people can easily understand". Media affects behaviors and is "of prime
importance for adolescents' general ideas of romance, sex, and relationships". Thus, objectifying
media has important social consequences, among which is greater acceptance of stereotypical
attitudes. Studies have found that exposure to objectifying media can be linked to increased
probability of male viewers engaging in sexual harassment, abuse, or acts of violence against
women.
In the U.S., for example, exposure to TV has been associated with "more stereotypical sexual
attitudes [like the idea that men are sex-driven and the notion that women are sexual objects] and
evaluation styles". Also popular is the idea that appearance or sexiness is essential for men and
women. Additionally, pop music and music videos have been shown to increase stereotypical
gender schemas, and promote the ideas that gender relationships are adversarial and that
appearance is fundamental.
The stereotyped portrayals of men and women have been argued to be valued and internalized by
younger viewers, especially during puberty and the construction of their sexual identity.
Body image
There are many studies that aim to prove that sexual objectification is the root cause of body
image issues. One 1995 study intended to prove that sexual advertising contributes to body
dissatisfaction.[45] One hundred and thirty nine women were involved. They were split into two
groups: The first group where the women watched an advert that showed attractive women. The
second part where they showed adverts that were non-appearance related. The results showed the
group of women that watched the appearance related advertisement experienced feelings of
depression and body dissatisfaction.
Relationships between media exposure and personal concepts of body image have also been
increasingly explored. Psychology Today conducted a survey and observed that "of 3,452 women
who responded to this survey, 23% indicated that movie or television celebrities influenced their
body image when they were young, and 22% endorsed the influence of fashion magazine
models".
Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors have increased in the UK, Australia, and
the US due to a "perceived environmental pressure to conform to a culturally-defined body and
beauty ideal" which is promoted mainly by the media. This ideal of unrealistic and artificial
female beauty is "impossible for the majority of females to achieve".
A study conducted in 2015 by the Department of Communication at University of
Missouri tested the potential impact of gendered depictions of women in the superhero movie
genre on female undergraduates. The study concluded that the exposure to sexualized and
objectified images of women in superhero movies resulted in lower body esteem, increased
priority for body competence and altered views on gender roles.
Factors involved in the composition of self-image include the emotional, physical, and reasoning
aspects of a person, and these aspects affect one another. One of the main contributors to
negative body image is the fact that forms of media like commercials and magazines promotes
the "thin ideal". From seeing images of women with extremely thin bodies, some people have an
increase of negative emotions, and these individuals tend to take actions like dieting to help
relieve the undesirable feelings about their body image. This act of dieting could lead to
dangerous behaviors such as eating disorders if the negative perceptions about one's body image
does not improve. Considering that an average North American will watch about 35,000
commercials a year, it is to be expected that commercials presenting images of skinny and
gorgeous women will have a bigger impact on increasing negative body image, than ads in
magazines. The author of "Influence of Appearance-Related TV Commercials on Body Image
State", Tanja Legenbauer, conducted a study in order to demonstrate that images presented in
commercials can lead to harmful effects in those that watch them. Her study included
participants who looked at different silhouettes of differently shaped women, and their response
to these images was reviewed. These participants included those with and without eating
disorders, and usually those participants with eating disorders reacted more negatively to the
images presented to them in the study.
One explanation for why TV shows could negatively affect body image is the idea of the "third"
person. The "third" person idea explains that women can start to develop negative body image
because they are constantly seeing images of thin and beautiful women on TV. From seeing these
images, they realize that men are seeing these same women and thinking that those images are
the standards for a perfect or ideal woman. Body image can be defined as the perception of how
one sees themselves and whether or not they are happy with what they are seeing. This image of
oneself can be positively or negatively affected by the opinions of those that matter to the
person. When a woman thinks about the "third person", the gender and relationship of the "third
person" to the woman can change the amount of impact their opinion has on the woman. [51] So,
an example would be if a woman knows that her boyfriend is seeing these images of lean and
beautiful women, her boyfriend's opinion can more negatively affect how she sees herself and
her body than if she thinks about a female stranger seeing the same images.
Eating disorders are presumed to mainly affect teenage girls, but they are starting to become
more common in middle aged women. When women want to work on bettering their health or
when they want to get into shape, they often look to fitness or health magazines. One problem
with women looking towards health magazines for help is that these magazines are often filled
with images of women who are in their 40s and 50s, but are very lean and beautiful. In order to
establish that these health magazines are having a negative impact on body image in the readers
of the magazines, Laura E. Willis, the author of "Weighing Women Down: Messages on Weight
Loss and Body Shaping in Editorial Content in Popular Women's Health", conducted a study. She
looked at issues of five different health and fitness magazines, and realized that these magazines
tend to focus more on appearance rather than health, and focused on reducing caloric intake
rather than exercise. The messages presented in these magazines can cause a negative perception
of oneself, and instead of motivating people to better themselves, they have the ability to make
the reader feel bad about their body.
Growing lack of "strong" male characters
Some critics have expressed fears of the growing trend of female protagonists with less
important male counterparts used for support and comic relief, and specifically the effects this
will have on Generation Z.

Responses and movements for change

Feminist response
Germaine Greer, Australian-born author of The Female Eunuch (1970), offered a systematic
deconstruction of ideas such as womanhood and femininity, arguing that women are forced to
assume submissive roles in society to fulfill male fantasies of what being a woman entails. Greer
wrote that women were perceived as mere consumers benefiting from the purchasing power of
their husband. Women become targets for marketing, she said, and their image is used in
advertising to sell products. American socialist writer and feminist, Sharon Smith wrote on the
first issue of Women and Film that women's roles in film "almost always [revolve] around her
physical attraction and the mating games she plays with the male characters" in contrast to men's
roles, which according to the author are more varied. In 1973 Marjorie Rosen, an important
contributor to feminist film theory, argued that "the Cinema Woman is a Popcorn Venus, a
delectable but insubstantial hybrid of cultural distortions". In 1978 Gaye Tuchman wrote of the
concept of symbolic annihilation, blaming the media for imposing a negative vision of active
women and making an apologia for housewives.
From media representations, feminists paved the way for debates and discussions about gender
within the social and political spheres. In 1986, the British MP Clare Short proposed a bill to ban
newspapers from printing Page 3 photographs of topless models.
In the early 2000s, feminist critics began analyzing film in terms of the Bechdel test. This
feminist assessment of cinema was named after Alison Bechdel, feminist cartoonist and creator
of the long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. This test determines the level of gender
equality present in a film by assessing whether a work of fiction features at least two named
women who talk to each other about something other than a man.
In the 1970s, TV critics, academics, and women started to point out the way TV shows portrayed
female characters. TV Guide magazine called out the industry for "refusing to rise above
characterizations of women as pretty, skinny, dopey, hapless housewives or housewife
wannabes", and a poll conducted by Redbook magazine in 1972 showed that "75 per cent of
120,000 women ... agreed that 'the media degrades women by portraying them as mindless
dolls'". In that sense, The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a television breakthrough because it
introduced the first female character whose central relationships were not her husband or
boyfriend or her family, but her friends and coworkers. The main character was a sort of stand-in
for the "new American female" who put her job before romance and preferred to be alone than
with the wrong men, but still had to do stereotypically female office work (like typing and
getting coffee) and didn't speak up to her boss and other male coworkers.
International Organization and NGO response
UN Women
UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of
women.[61] In order to increase women's leadership, to end violence against women and to engage
women in all aspects of peace and security processes, it's important to give women the right
place in media landscape, and their representations must be fair and equal. UN Women supports
media monitoring studies on how women are depicted in the media. For instance, the
organisation "engage media professionals by raising awareness of gender equality and violence
against women, including through special workshops and tool-kits, to encourage gender-sensitive
reporting."
UNESCO
In line with UNESCO's Global Priority Gender, "UNESCO is contributing to achieving
full gender equality in the media by 2030". In order to reach this goal, the Organization
developed the Gender-sensitive Indicators for Media (GSIM) to measure gender awareness and
portrayal within media organizations (e.g. working conditions), but particularly in editorial
content. The Organization has been promoting their application by governments, media
organizations, journalists unions and associations, journalism schools and the like. They set the
basis for gender equality in media operations and editorial content. In addition, each year,
UNESCO organizes a campaign named "Women Make the News"; in 2018 the theme
was Gender Equality and Sports Media as "Sports coverage is hugely powerful in shaping norms
and stereotypes about gender. Media has the ability to challenge these norms, promoting a
balanced coverage of men's and women's sports and a fair portrayal of sportspeople irrespective
of gender."
Satyamev Jayate, Season I, 5th episode, Air Date:- 3 June 2012
Is love a crime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOQ3awZL5eY

Media, Gender and Identity

An Introduction, 2nd Edition
By David Gauntlett

Routledge
324 pages
Popular media present a vast array of stories about women and men. What impact do these
images and ideas have on people’s identities?

The new edition of Media, Gender and Identity is a highly readable introduction to the
relationship between media and gender identities today. Fully revised and updated, including
new case studies and a new chapter, it considers a wide range of research and provides new ways
for thinking about the media’s influence on gender and sexuality.
David Gauntlett discusses movies such as Knocked Up and Spiderman 3, men’s and women’s
magazines, TV shows, self-help books, YouTube videos, and more, to show how the media play
a role in the shaping of individual self-identities.
The book includes:

 a comparison of gender representations in the past and today, from James

Bond to Ugly Betty

 an introduction to key theorists such as Judith Butler, Anthony Giddens and Michel
Foucault

 an outline of creative approaches, where identities are explored with video, drawing, or
Lego bricks

 a Companion Website with extra articles, interviews and selected links

NIVEDITA MENON, ed., Gender and Politics in India, Delhi, Oxford University Press,
1999, pp. 539

Geena Davis Institute

The Geena Davis Institute advocates for gender equality in media. It is a NGO specialized in
researches on gender representation in media. It advocates for equal representation of women.
[65]
In order to increase women's leadership, to end violence against women and to engage women
in all aspects of peace and security processes
At the unveiling of the 14th edition of BW Businessworld Marketing Whitebook in Mumbai
recently, well known Bollywood actors-- Shabana Azmi and Raveena Tandon, spoke about issues
related to gender equality and representation of women on the big and small screens, and how
creative professionals were breaking stereotypes.

Underlining the critical role that media plays in constructing gender identities, Shabana Azmi
spoke about the need to have an inclusive approach which can mitigate the gender gap.
Elaborating on this, Azmi said, “We all talk about the world becoming richer because of diversity
and inclusion. Any company, any society or any country which celebrates its diversity is the most
successful one. So we need to have more women in the workplace. In our country we often say
that we worship women like goddesses’, but we don’t want to be treated like goddesses, we don’t
want to be put on a pedestal. All we want is to be treated as equals. In this a very important role
has to be played by the media, especially TV and cinema, as the images they construct of
women, subliminally and otherwise, are creating identities of women and a conscious effort
needs to be made in that direction.”

Azmi also added that the notion of masculinity needs to be redefined in order to sensitize youth
about gender equality. She also spoke about the work that filmmaker and actor Farhan Akhtar has
done around gender sensitivity. “The issue of patriarchy cannot be changed unless you take men
as partners and not adversaries. One of the initiatives in this direction is by Farhan Akthar who
has started the organization called ‘Men Against Racial Discrimination’ (MARD). They are
redefining the notion of masculinity and going to colleges to sensitize youth that the real
definition of masculinity is not about muscles, power and six pack abs, but about consideration,
gentleness and compassion.”

When asked about the representation of women in popular cultures like cinema, TV
and advertising, Raveena Tandon stated that there was a perceptible shift in the representation of
women on screen and the mainstream cinema has, to a large extent smashed the stereotype. She
said, “Our audiences have become more discerning to understand the complexities and issues
that we are dealing with. Also, today’s mainstream cinema does what parallel cinema used to do
15 years ago. The need of the hour for all companies including corporates, is to try to become
more inclusive. We have heard enough about patriarchy, but what are we doing about it as
women? Somewhere we have to share the blame.”The 14th edition of the BW Businessworld
Marketing Whitebook captures all of these different colours which are recreating the media and
marketing landscape. Themed ‘#iammarketer: Marketing with Leadership, Inclusion &
Technology’, the essential handbook of marketers this year will delve into change agents that are
driving growth, and how technology should be viewed in a world where design-led thinking,
diversity in approach and the best of tech come together to form the ultimate consumer
experience.
 3. Socio-legal dimensions of the Third Gender

Throughout our lives we've been told that sex and gender are synonymous men are "masculine"
and women are "feminine". Girls should prefer pink, boys should prefer blue. Earrings are meant
to be worn by women and not by men. It's just "natural", we've been told. But at the turn of the
century in this country, blue was considered a girl's color, and pink was a boy's. Earrings have
become a man's fashion choice and women prefer not to wear it. Simple and set gender codes are
neither eternal nor natural. These social concepts are always varying. The problem a gamut of
harassment and violence. These group of people who fall outside the stereotypical spheres of
gender are branded as Transgender persons. Society identifies only binary gender indicated by
the presence of only two types of restrooms in public places such as in hotels, malls, theatres
etc., and in gender specific laws such as in marriage, adoption and rape, which identify men and
women but remains silent in case of transgender. These are just a handful of the problems faced
by transgender persons. Following the recognition of the rights of racial minorities and the rights
of women to gender equality, the transgender minority who have been subjected to immense
hardships, have become increasingly visible and active in demanding similar respect for their
social dignity and freedom from discrimination. Hence it is necessary to understand the legal
position of Transgender persons. According to the above given legal entanglements, the paper
will proceed with legal issues of transgender under the three parts. First part will identify who is
a Transgender and their difficulties. The second part will discuss about the existing laws and
international principles. The final part will focus on the proposed bill lying before the Lok Sabha.

UNDERSTANDING TRANSGENDER

though born with either male or female anatomies but they feel different from their body
structure. A transgender person is a person whose self-identified gender does not correspond to
the gender assigned to them at birth. Their gender identity may not comply with conventional
binary notions of male and female, but they may relate themselves as a third gender. Hence they
always experience an inconsistency between their gender identity, gender expression and their
assigned sex. These individuals signify the uncompromising and single-minded nature of the
binary gender constitution. In order to completely comprehend the nature of transgender, it is
necessary to understand the difference between Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation. Gender
identity signifies a person's deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may
or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. Whereas, sexual orientation signifies the
individual's enduring Transgender and human rights current situation and potential options of
development in India . A person whose gender does not correspond to the gender assigned to
them at birth and has made, or is making, the transition within the gender binary. A person who is
born with sexual organs/hormones/chromosome patterns which do not conform unambiguously
to one gender i.e. they do not fit the binary notions of male or female. In India, transgender
persons are categorized into Hijra, Eunuch, Aravani, Shiv-Shakthi, Kinnar, kothi,
Jogtas/Jogappas, and Guru/Chela. range of identities and experiences, including but not limited
to pre-operative, post-operative and non-operative transsexual people, who strongly identify with
the gender opposite to their biological sex; male and female.

PROBLEMS FACED BY TRANSGENDER In India, the total population of transgender is

around 4.88 lakh, 4,87,803 to be exact, as per 2011 census. They are frequently repudiated by the
people and are a part of the extreme lower and cultural life, politics and decision making process.
They have been subjected to gender discrimination, gender harassment, violence, denial of
services and unfair treatment at public and private places. In the present scenario, the problems
faced by transgender in India can be categorized into three.

1. Exclusion from Social and Cultural Participation: a. Exclusion from family and society; b. No
protection from violence; and c. Limited entry in education sector, health services and public
spaces.

2. Exclusion from Economy: a. Exclusion from economy; and b. Exclusion from livelihood and
employment opportunities. National Legal Service Authority v. Union of India & Ors, WP
(Civil) No. 400 of 2012 and WP (Civil) No 604 of 2013.

3. Exclusion from Citizen Participation: a. Limited entry to collectivization; b. Limited rights to

citizenship; and c. Limited right to participation in community decision making process. Though,
the situation has changed after the honorable Supreme Court judgment in 2014, the perception of
Indian society mindset and their behavior towards Transgender has not changed much. Some of
the problems are discussed below; Poverty They scrape out their living by begging which
includes singing in trains and buses and collecting money /begging at traffic signals/ forcefully
blessing people at public places and collecting money etc., doing wearisome jobs and sex work
too in some cases. They are susceptible to harassment by the police due to their low level
background. Illiteracy Until recent times, transgender were denied the right of education. Owing
to this, they were unable to occupy government or private jobs. The literacy rate among
transgender in India is only 56.07%.12 56% of transgender have discontinued their education at
either primary level or secondary level; majority of the transgender persons chose sex industry
and begging for their survival. Discrimination and Ignorance The Transgender community is one
of the most disempowered group in India as they are constantly subjected to class and gender
discrimination. Their livelihood is persistent with threats and often resort to mean jobs to sustain
their living.

Suicide- Suicide rate and suicidal tendencies among transgender community have been reported
to be higher when compared to the general population. The suicide rate among transgender
persons in India is about 31%, and 50% of them have attempted suicide at least once before their
20th birthday.

Prone to HIV Living in poor hygienic conditions and trading themselves with sex work makes
them most vulnerable to drugged and contagious diseases such as HIV AIDS. A Report stated
that the HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections was increasing among transgender population.
HIV prevalence among MSM (men who have sex with men) population was 7.4% against the
overall adult HIV prevalence of 0.36%. Hijras/TG people were included under the category of
MSM in HIV sentinel serosurveillance. It reported that Hijras/TG women indicated a very high
HIV prevalence (17.5% to 41%). Alcohol and Drug usage Large number of Transgender
consume Alcohol and various other kind of drugs such as ganja, hashish, brown sugar, cocaine,
etc. 31% and 15% of the transgender persons are at high risk for tobacco and alcohol abuse,
respectively, and 26% of them are have severe depression.

RIGHTS AVAILABLE TO TRANSGENDER IN PRESENT SCENARIO Article 14 Article 14

imposes a positive obligation on the State to ensure equal protection under law. Hence the state is
bound to implement social and economic schemes so that everyone, including transgender are
treated equally before the law and no one is denied protection. The word "person" mentioned in
Article 14 is not confined only to male or female. It also encompasses Hijras/transgender persons
who are neither a male nor a female. Consequently, transgender persons are also authorized to
enjoy legal protection of law in all spheres of state activity, which includes employment,
healthcare, education, as well as equal civil and citizenship rights, as enjoyed by any other
citizen of this country.

The term "life" does not connote mere animal existence. It must be widely interpreted to include
the right to privacy, right to dignity, etc., and all other aspects that makes a person's life
meaningful. The term used in Article 21 is "person", hence the application of this right is not
restricted and is available to all persons of gender. Henceforth transgender person have a right to
live dignified life on account of being a person. The fundamental right to dignity constitutes a
part of right to dignity and freedom guaranteed under our Constitution. Article 15 & 16 Articles
15 and 16 aim to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sex. Constitution makers gave
significance to the fundamental right against sex discrimination so as to avert the direct or
indirect attitude to treat people differently, on account for not being in conformity with
stereotypical generalizations of binary genders. Gender and biological attributes are identified as
significant components of sex. Biological characteristics include genitals, chromosomes and
secondary sexual features, whereas gender a psychological or emotional sense of sexual identity
and character. Hence, under Articles 15 male or female, but is intended to include people who
perceive themselves to be neither male or female. Article 19 Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution
states that all citizens shall have the right to freedom of -identified gender. Self-identified gender
can be expressed through dress, words, action or behavior or any other to the restrictions
contained in Article 19(2) of the Constitution.

YOGYAKARTA PRINCIPLES The Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International

Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is an aggregation of
principles concerning sexual orientation and gender identity, intended to set international human
rights law standards.There are 29 principles incorporated in Yogyakarta Principles aiming to
enhance the rights and status of Transgender Persons within the society. Article 5115 has to be
read along with Article 25316 of the Constitution. In case of friction between legislations enacted
by the Parliament of India and international laws, then the Indian Law will prevail over the
international law and the courts are bound to follow it. On the contrary, where the legislations are
consistent with each other, then the courts are under obligation to respect the rules of
international law. The principles established in Yogyakarta principles, were found to be not
inconsistent with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and hence must
be recognized and followed.

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was formed under the Legal Services
Authorities Act, 1987 and it aimed to provide free Legal Services.18 It has been actively
involved in addressing the difficulties faced by Transgender persons. It has also taken various
steps to allow transgender persons to adopt children legally. Facts The case is concerned with the
grievances of Transgender persons and their legal gender recognition as transgender people, and
whether identifying them as male or female contradicts the Constitution. Antecedent laws in
India only recognize male and female, and lacked any provision with regard to the rights of
transgender people. Hence Indian laws are characterized to binary gender and there is total
ignorance towards the Third Gender. Due to the absence of legislation for protecting transgender
people, the community was subjected discrimination in various aspects of life. Hence a Writ
Petition was filed before the Supreme Court of India praying for the Legal Recognition of
Transgender persons as the Third Gender. Orders The Supreme Court passed the following
Orders:

Constitution of India, 1950, Article 51.

The Centre and State Governments were directed to grant legal recognition of their gender
identity such as male, female or as third gender. (2) Transgender persons should be considered as
socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and must provide them reservation. (4)
Centre and State Governments were directed to establish separate HIV Sero-surveillance Centers
for Transgender persons. (5) Centre and State Governments should address the problems faced
by Transgenders which show their gender as immoral and illegal. (6) Centre and State
Governments should implement appropriate measures to provide medical care and separate
public toilets to Transgender persons. (7) Centre and State Governments must strive for framing
various social welfare schemes for their betterment. (8) Centre and State Governments should
adopt measures to generate public awareness about Transgender persons. (9) Center and state
government must also take some welfare measures so that the transgender persons retrieve their
respect.

THE TRANSGENDER PERSONS (PROTECTION OF RIGHTS) BILL, 2016 The Bill was
named The Transgender Persons (Protection of rights) Bill, 2016 and it was introduced in Lok
Sabha on August 2, 2016 by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mr.
Thaarwarchand Gehlot. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Justice and
Welfare headed by Mr. Ramesh Bais, on September 12, 2016. This Bill in the case of National
Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, dated 15 April, 2014. The Bill aims to define a
Transgender Person, protect their rights and prohibit their discrimination, establish welfare
schemes, provide redressal measures and recognize offences as well as provide appropriate
punishment for such acts. This Bill would apply to the whole of India including Jammu and
Kashmir.

Definition of a Transgender Person Transgender Persons are those who are neither wholly
female nor wholly male, or, a combination of female or male, or, neither male nor female and
whose gender identity does not match with the gender designated to the person at the time of
birth.20 Prohibition of Discrimination Discrimination of transgender persons with respect to
basic amenities and services have been prohibited under this Bill. This bill prevents the unfair
treatment, or discontinuation, or denial of service for transgender in the following ministration:
(i) education; (ii) employment; (iii) healthcare; (iv) access to, or enjoyment of public goods,
facilities and opportunities; (v) right to movement; (vi) right to reside, rent, own or otherwise
occupy property; (vii) opportunity to hold public or private office; and (viii) access to a
government or private establishment in whose care or custody a transgender person is.

Recognition of Gender Identity Every Transgender person has a right to be recognized as a

Transgender person to others and need not represent themselves as a man or woman or hide their
gender identity.

Certificate of Identity In order to ensure the benefits under this Bill reach the intended persons it
prescribes Certificate of Identity to Transgender people. The Certificate of Identity, may be
obtained by a transgender by way of application to the District Magistrate along with the
necessary documents. In case of a minor, a parent or guardian can apply for the certificate on
behalf of the child. This Bill provides for the establishment of District Screening Committee.
This certificate confers rights and serves as a proof of recognition of his identity as a transgender
person. The official documents will be altered according to the gender of transgender person as
prescribed in the certificate. In case of change in gender of a transgender person after the
issuance of the

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, The Transgender Persons (Protection
of Rights) Bill, 2016,

Welfare Measures This Bill provides the welfare schemes to be under taken by the Government.
It states that, the relevant government should take necessary measures: 1. To secure full inclusion
and participation of transgender person in the society. 2. To protect their rights and interest and
facilitate their access to welfare schemes. 3. To contrive transgender sensitive, non-
discriminatory and non-stigmatizing welfare schemes. 4. To rescue, protect and rehabilitate
transgender persons. 5. To promote the participation of transgender persons in cultural and
recreational activities. Compliance and Redressal Mechanism: Section 11 ensures the compliance
of the provisions of this Bill in every establishment and in furtherance of which establishments,
as per Section: 12, must designate a person as a complaint officer to investigate any violation of
this Bill. Right of Residence Every transgender person has a right to reside as well as to be
included his household. A transgender cannot be separated from his parents or immediate family
on account of his gender, unless ordered by a competent court to do so in his interest. Right to
Education Educational institutions recognized or funded by the government must provide
education and opportunities for sports, reaction facilities on equal basis to transgender persons,
without discrimination.

Health Care Facilities The government must take measures to provide health care facilities to
transgender persons such as 1. Establishment of HIV Sero Surveillance centers. 2. Provide Sex
Reassignment Surgery and Hormonal Therapy and appropriate counseling. 3. Formulate Health
Manuals, which are in accordance with the World Professional Association for Transgender
Health Guidelines. 4. Review Medical Curriculum to address health issues of transgender and
provide comprehensive medical insurance schemes for them. National Council for Transgender
Person In order to carry out the functions provided under the Bill, the Central Government shall
establish the National Council for Transgender Persons and confer upon it necessary powers to
fulfill the duties assigned to it. The composition is dealt under Section 17(2) of this Bill.
Members of the Council hold office for a term of three years from the date of their nomination.
Functions of NCTP The functions of NCTP includes the following: 1. Advice and evaluate
programs, policies, legislation and products designed for procuring equality and full participation
of transgender person. 2. Appraise and coordinate the activities of all the Departments of
Government and other Governmental and Non-Governmental organizations, which are
associated with transgender persons. Offences and Penalties This Bill provide various acts
recognized as offences against transgender persons. They include: 1. Compel to indulge in
bonded or forced labor such as begging. 2. Denying the entry and use of public place. 3. Denying
the right to reside in household. 4. Endangering the life, safety, health or well-being by way of
physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse. These offences may be punished with
imprisonment for not less than 6 months and up to 2 years along with fine.

Problem in the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 1. When compared to the
definitions prescribed by international authorities and experts in India, the definition of
transgender person in the Bill is anomalous. - - - its definition of transgender persons. However,
these terms have not been defined under this Bill. 3. The Transgender Persons (Protection of
Rights) Bill 2016 is a diluted version the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 as it failed to
incorporate aspects such as Reservation and Transgender Courts and also left holes regarding the
functioning of National and State Commission for Transgender Persons. 4. The Bill remains
silent on its impact on the operation of existing law. Certain criminal and persona inexplicit how
such laws would bear on transgender persons who may not identify with either of the two
genders.30 - such right. 6. The Supreme Court held that the right to self-identification of gender
is part of the right to dignity and autonomy under Article 21 of the Constitution. The bill remains
silent on the application of section 377 of Indian Penal Code. This section prohibits unnatural
offences of voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or
animal. It has been widely criticized as it identifies the actions of Transgender as an offence
punishable with imprisonment for life and it has been upheld by the Supreme Court in Suresh
Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation & Ors.

Transgender is normally defined for people whose gender identification, gender expression or
conduct does not conform to their organic sex. Transgender may also takes in men and women
who do not now perceive with their intercourse assigned at beginning, which encompass
hijras/eunuchs who, on this writ petition, describe themselves as “Third gender” and that they do
no longer identify as either male or lady. Hijras aren\’t guys by a distinctive feature of anatomy
look and psychologically, they\’re additionally now not ladies, even though they\’re like women
without a lady duplicate organ and no menstruation.

In step with one estimate, India has about million transgender humans. In India, a common term
used to describe transgender people, transsexuals, pass-dressers, eunuchs, and transvestites is
“Hijra”. Campaigners say they live on the fringes of society, regularly in poverty, ostracised due
to their gender identity. Maximum make a residing through singing and dancing or by means of
begging and prostitution. Due to the fact that hijras do no longer have reproduction capacities as
either guys or ladies, they are neither men nor girls and claim to be an institutional “Third
Gender”.

Transgender

Transgender is an umbrella time period for people whose gender identity, gender expression or
conduct does no longer conform to that generally related to the intercourse to which they had
been assigned at beginning. Gender identity refers to someone’s inner experience of being male,
woman or something else; gender expression refers back to the manner a person communicates
gender identification to others through behaviour, apparel, hairstyles, voice or frame
characteristics. “Trans” is every so often used as shorthand for “transgender”, at the same time as
transgender is usually a great term to apply; now not all people whose appearance or behaviour is
gender-nonconforming, will pick out as a transgender man or woman. The approaches that
transgender human beings are talked about in famous culture, academia, and technology are
constantly converting, specifically as people’s consciousness, understanding, and openness to
transgender people and their studies grow.

Transgenders, in our society, encompass all races, ethnicity, non secular and social instructions,
yet, they’ve never enjoyed a first rate lifestyles, due to “what they’re” and “how they’re”.
They’re subjected to confusions and pain, on account of the inflexible, compelled conformity to
sexual dimorphism during the recorded records. They may be dealing with disparities related to
societal stigma, discrimination, and denial of their civil and human rights. Discrimination in
opposition to them have been related to high fees of substance abuse and suicides, and they are
dealing with rampant discrimination inside the areas of own family existence, social life,
housing, education, health and so on

Section 377 of the IPC found a place inside the Indian Penal Code, 1860, prior to the enactment
of Criminal Tribes Act that criminalized all penile-non-vaginal sexual acts between men and
women, which include anal sex and oral intercourse, at a time while transgender humans had
been also usually associated with the prescribed sexual walkthrough. Reference may be made to
the judgment of the Allahabad High Court docket in Queen Empress v. Khairati (1884) ILR 6
ALL 204, wherein a transgender character become arrested and prosecuted under Section 377 on
the suspicion that he changed into a ‘habitual sodomite’ and become later acquitted on appeal.
This judicial regulation plays in comparison to the historical instances in India in which
transgender community had got a robust ancient presence in our united states in the Hindu
mythology and different non secular texts. Hijras also played a prominent role in the royal courts
of the Islamic international, particularly in the Ottoman empires and the Mughal rule in medieval
India.

But, the humble conditions of the transgender communities were redressed via a step taken by
using the national prison services authority, constituted under the Legal Services Authority Act,
1997, to offer free legal offerings to the weaker and other marginalized sections of the society,
has come forward to advocate their reason.

Constitutional Rights of LGBT Community

As in step with the Constitution, maximum of the protections under the Fundamental Rights
chapter is available to all humans with a few rights being restrained to only citizens. Beyond this
categorization, the Constitution makes no further distinction amongst rights holders. The
Preamble of our Indian Constitution mandates Justice – social, monetary, and political equality
of status.

The Constitution provides for the fundamental right to equality and tolerates no discrimination
on the grounds of sex, caste, creed or religion. The Constitution additionally guarantees political
rights and other benefits to each citizen. However, the third community (transgenders) is still
ostracized. The Constitution affirms equality in all spheres however the moot question is whether
or not it’s far being implemented.

Most of the contraptions by means of which the Indian state defines civil personhood, sexual
(gender) identity is a vital and unavoidable class. Identification on the idea of sex within male
and woman is a vital aspect of civil identity as required through the Indian country. The Indian
nation’s coverage of spotting only sexes and refusing to recognize hijras as ladies, or as a third
intercourse (if a hijra desires it), has deprived them at a stroke of numerous rights that Indian
residents take as a right. Those rights consist of the right to vote, the right to own property, the
right to marry, the proper to claim a proper identity via a passport and a ration card, a driver’s
license, the right to education, employment, fitness so on. Such deprivation secludes hijras from
the very material of Indian civil society.

Article 14 provides equality before law. Article 15 speaks about the prohibition of discrimination
on the ground of faith, race, caste, sex or region of birth. Article 21 guarantees right to privacy
and personal dignity to all the citizens. Article 23 prohibits trafficking in human beings as
beggars and other comparable kinds of pressured hard work and any contravention of those
provisions will be an offense punishable according to with law.

Sociological Questions Relating To ‘Third Gender’

 Why are some people transgender?

There’s no single explanation for why a few people are transgender. The variety of transgender
expression and reports argues against any easy or unitary rationalization. Many experts believe
that biological factors which include genetic influences and prenatal hormone levels, early
studies, and reviews later in adolescence or maturity may also all contribute to the improvement
of transgender identities.

 How does someone know that they are transgender?

Transgender human beings revel in their transgender identification in a diffusion of ways and can
turn out to be privy to their transgender identification at any age. Some can trace their
transgender identities and emotions returned to their earliest reminiscences. They will have
indistinct emotions of “no longer becoming in” with humans in their assigned sex or specific
needs to be something apart from their assigned intercourse. Others become privy to their
transgender identities or begin to explore and revel in gender-non conforming attitudes and
behaviours during youth or tons later in life. A few include their transgender emotions, at the
same time as others struggle with emotions of shame or confusion. Folks who transition later in
existence may have struggled to healthy in competently as their assigned sex most effective to
later face dissatisfaction with their lives. Some transgender humans, transsexuals, specifically,
experience extreme dissatisfaction with their sex assigned at birth, bodily sex characteristics, or
the gender position associated with that sex. These people often are trying to find gender-
maintaining remedies.

 Is being transgender an intellectual disease?

A psychological country is taken into consideration an intellectual disease only if it reasons great
distress or incapacity. Many transgender human beings do now not experience their gender as
distressing or disabling, which implies that figuring out as transgender does no longer represent a
mental sickness. For those individuals, the good sized hassle is finding low priced resources,
inclusive of counselling, hormone therapy, medical processes and the social help essential to
freely express their gender identity and reduce discrimination. Many other barriers may
additionally lead to distress, together with a loss of attractiveness within society, direct or
indirect stories with discrimination, or assault. These experiences might also lead many
transgender human beings to go through with anxiety, despair or associated issues at higher fees
than non transgender men and women.

 What are a few classes or forms of transgender humans?

The time period transsexual refers to human beings whose gender identity isn’t the same as their
assigned intercourse. Regularly, transsexual humans adjust or wish to regulate their bodies
through hormones, surgery, and another method to make their bodies as congruent as possible
with their gender identities. This technique of transition thru clinical intervention is regularly
referred to as sex or gender reassignment, however greater recently is likewise called gender
confirmation. Folks that were assigned girl, however, identify and live as male and regulate or
wish to regulate their bodies through scientific intervention to extra closely resemble their gender
identity are known as transsexual guys or transmen (also known as lady-to-male or FTM).
Conversely, individuals who had been assigned male, however, discover and live as a woman
and modify or wish to alter their our bodies through scientific intervention to greater closely
resemble their gender identity are referred to as transsexual women or trans women (additionally
called male-to-woman or MTF). A few those who transition from one gender to every other
option to be referred to as a person or a girl, rather than as transgender.

Folks that go-dress put on garb this is traditionally or stereotypically worn by way of another
gender of their subculture. They vary in how completely they go-get dressed, from one article of
apparel to fully go-dressing. People who pass-get dressed are usually comfortable with their
assigned sex and do not want to trade it. Move-dressing is a form of gender expression and isn’t
always tied to erotic interest. Move-dressing is not indicative of sexual orientation. The diploma
of societal recognition for move-dressing varies for women and men. In a few cultures, one
gender may be given greater range than any other for carrying apparel associated with a different
gender.

The term drag queens generally refer to guys who get dressed as ladies for the motive of
wonderful others at bars, clubs, or different events. The time period drag kings refer to women
who dress as guys for the purpose of pleasing others at bars, clubs, or other occasions.
Genderqueer is a term that a few humans use who identify their gender as falling outside the
binary constructs of “male” and “woman.” They will define their gender as falling somewhere on
a continuum among male and woman, or they may outline it as fully extraordinary from these
phrases. They will additionally request that pronouns be used to consult them which are neither
masculine nor feminine, which include “zie” in place of “he” or “she,” or “hir” rather than “his”
or “her.” a few gender queer people do no longer perceive as transgender.

Different categories of transgender human beings consist of androgynous, multi gendered,

gender nonconforming, third gender, and two-spirit human beings. Genuine definitions of these
phrases vary from individual to character and might alternate through the years, however often
consist of a sense of blending or alternating genders. A few folks who use these phrases to
explain themselves see conventional, binary standards of gender as restrictive.

 What is the relationship between gender identity and sexual orientation?

Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the identical. Sexual orientation refers to an
individual’s enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional appeal to any other man or woman,
whereas gender identity refers to one’s inner experience of being male, female, or something
else. Transgender human beings can be instant, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or asexual, simply as non
transgender people can be. A few current researches have shown that a trade or a brand new
exploration period in associate attraction may additionally occur at some stage in the manner of
transition. But, transgender humans typically continue to be as connected to loved ones after
transition as they have been earlier than transition. Transgender human beings commonly label
their sexual orientation using their gender as a reference. For example, a transgender girl, or a
person who’s assigned male at start and transitions to a girl, who’s attracted to different women
could be recognized as a lesbian or gay woman. Likewise, a transgender man or someone who’s
assigned lady at start and transitions to male, who’s attracted to different guys, would be
recognized as a homosexual guy.

Homosexuality: Right Of The LGBT

The transgender ruling was not about Section 377 and the court took pains to clarify that. But
Section 377 remains the elephant in that room that cannot be wished away. Sex is part of the
package.

A Fresh Look At Homosexuality

The legitimate role of the scientific and psychiatric classificatory structures on homosexuality is
that it’s far an ordinary variant in the psychosexual improvement. This is a nice approach inside
the expertise of homosexuality. Inside the past, it changed into related to sin and crime and hence
those people with homosexual orientation were ostracized in society. With this new technique,
they may have a healthful area in society.

While welcoming and agreeing with a high-quality belief of homosexuality, its miles tough to
simply accept the position that homosexuality is a regular psychosexual improvement. An
everyday version can’t be considered absolutely ordinary. It is, in truth, an aberration inside the
psychosexual development, resulting from genetic and psychosocial elements for which the
person isn’t always accountable. There are research findings, which endorse that there are
structural variations inside the brains of humans with homosexual orientation.

Homosexuality isn’t always everyday statistically and biologically. Statistically, it isn’t always
regular because of its bureaucracy a minority and skewed inside the normal distribution. Each
biological function has a physiological goal and purpose. The sexual hobby has desires. One is
procreation to guard the continuation of the species. The second one is the experience of pride,
which in truth, is to facilitate the sexual pastime and to reinforce the bond between husband and
wife. Homosexuality negates one of the desires of sexual interest procreation.

Homosexuality has, therefore, to be considered as an aberration in the psychosexual

improvement as a result of genetic and psychosocial factors. People with gay orientation aren’t
responsible for this aberration. It is not a sin to be discriminated towards. It is not a criminal
offense to be punished. It is not a psychiatric ailment desiring treatment despite the fact that
people with a homosexual orientation can regularly expand anxiety and melancholy needing
treatment, if they’re ostracized in society. Because homosexuality is neither a sin nor a criminal
offense, the freedom of these with a gay orientation to stay a satisfied existence must now not be
interfered with.

While society accepts homosexuality undoubtedly, those with a homosexual orientation should
also receive their psychosexual repute gracefully and get on with existence. As a possible
response to society’s prejudice and discrimination, there seems to be an inclination for them to
aggressively declare normality in their sexual orientation. In addition, they seem to say too much
on private freedom and rights. Personal freedom and rights are usually confined to some extent,
so long as we stay in a social organization. There are distinct components of homosexual
behaviour which could come into the struggle with social expectations, religious ideals, and
thoughts of morality. People with gay orientation ought to recollect all these and must be
organized for compromises.

Law And Justice

The Supreme Court rulings on Section 377 (Naz Foundation vs. Government of NCT of Delhi
and Others & Suresh Kumar Koushal and another vs. NAZ Foundation and Others) and
transgender right document confusion of notion inside the judiciary. The conflicting judgments
of the courtroom on homosexuality seen at the side of its enlightened ruling on transgender rights
probable displays a sluggish evolution of liberal notion within higher Indian judiciary.

The needs of the 21st century and the enlightened vision of the Indian Constitution, with its
attention justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity assuring the distinction of the person, mandate a
creative citing of the regulation. The judges who reinstated Section 377 opted not to heed the call
of justice and renew the guideline of the law with regards to the brand new question that was
provided. Alternatively, the judges of the Delhi high court on Section 377 and those of the
Supreme Court on transgender status took up the undertaking and rethought the regulation and
cited them in response to the call of justice.

Reversal On Gay Rights In India

The Cops use the law in question to threaten and blackmail gays, lesbians and transgender
humans. Violation of the law is punishable by means of a fine and imprisonment.

The British colonial authorities enacted Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, primarily based on
Victorian morality, to criminalize non-procreative intercourse. The Naz Foundation, a
nongovernmental enterprise operating inside the field of human immunodeficiency
virus/obtained immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/Aids) and sexual health, challenged the
Constitutional validity of Section 377 as it violated the rights to privacy, to dignity and fitness, to
equality and non-discrimination and to freedom of expression. It additionally argued that the law
avoided public fitness efforts at lowering the threat of transmission of HIV/Aids as the concern
of prosecution averted people from discussing their sexuality and lifestyles fashion. The Delhi
High Court on 2nd July 2009, in a landmark judgment, held Section 377 to be violative of
Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the charter, as it criminalized consensual sexual acts between adults in
non-public.

India’s Supreme Court recently issued a ruling towards human rights by reinstating a law that
bans homosexual intercourse. The court restored Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a 19th
century law, barring “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. The judgment has brought
on incredible dismay among liberal and innovative human beings and among activists and
advocacy groups, which use judicial intervention to redress grievances in opposition to
minorities of all shades in India. It has also been criticized for prison and human rights views.

Ancient facts record the presence of homosexuality from time immemorial, even in our way of
life. The universality of equal-sex expression coexists with versions in its meaning and exercise
of the way of life. remedy and psychiatry, for the reason that 1970’s, deserted pathologizing
same-intercourse orientation, conduct, and LGBT lifestyle picks. The new understanding
changed into primarily based on research that documented an excessive incidence of identical-
intercourse emotions and conducts in males and females, its incidence across cultures and among
almost all non-human primate species. Investigations the usage of psychological assessments
couldn’t differentiate heterosexual from gay orientation. Studies additionally demonstrated that
human beings with gay orientation did now not have any objective mental disorder or
impairments in judgment, balance and vocational abilities. Psychiatric, psychoanalytic, scientific
and mental fitness professionals now remember homosexuality as an ordinary version of human
sexuality. It cautioned that an awful lot of the distress faced by humans with identical-sex
orientation is because of problems they face residing in our predominantly heterosexual global.

Gay-affirmative psychotherapies had been evolved, which help human beings deal with the
awareness of being same-intercourse orientated and with social stigmatization. There is no proof
for the effectiveness of sexual conversion remedies. Such treatments also increase moral
questions. In truth, there is evidence that such attempts may also cause greater harm than
properly, inclusive of inducing melancholy and sexual dysfunction. However, faith-primarily
based corporations and counsellors pursue such tries at conversion using yardsticks, which do
not meet clinical requirements. Clinicians must hold the dictum “first do no damage” in thoughts.
Physicians ought to offer medical provider with compassion and respect for human dignity for
everybody no matter their sexual orientation.

The landmark judgment of the Delhi excessive court, which declared that Section 377 of the
Indian Penal Code violates fundamental rights guaranteed by way of the Constitution, became
consistent with worldwide, human rights and secular and criminal trends. But, the anti-gay
attitudes of many religious and community leaders replicate the life of widespread prejudice in
India. Prejudice towards different life is part of many cultures, incorporated into maximum
religions, and is a supply of warfare in Indian society.

Decriminalisation of Homosexuality

Human sexuality is complex. The attractiveness of the distinction among choice, behaviour and
identification acknowledges the multidimensional nature of sexuality. The reality that those
dimensions won’t continually be congruent in people suggests complexity of the problems.
Bisexuality, each sequential and concurrent, and discordance between organic sex and gender
role and identification upload to the issues. Remedy and psychiatry appoint terms like
homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality and trans-sexuality to encompass all related troubles,
at the same time as cutting-edge social utilization argues for lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT), which focuses on identities.
The superiority of homosexuality is difficult to estimate for many reasons, such as the related
stigma and social repression, the unrepresentative samples surveyed and the failure to distinguish
choice, conduct and identity. The figures range between age businesses, areas and cultures.

The argument that homosexuality is a stable phenomenon is primarily based at the consistency of
equal-intercourse sights, the failure of attempts to change and the shortage of achievement with
treatments to regulate orientation. There’s a growing realisation that homosexuality isn’t a
unmarried phenomenon and that there can be multiple phenomena inside the construct of
homosexuality. Anti-homosexual attitudes, once taken into consideration the norm, have
modified over time in many social and institutional settings in the west. But, heterosexism,
which idealises heterosexuality, considers it the norm, denigrates and stigmatises all non-
heterosexual forms of behaviour, identity, relationships and communities, is likewise not
unusual.

Gay-affirmative psychotherapies have been developed, which help humans cope with the
attention of being same-intercourse orientated and with social stigmatization. There is no proof
for the effectiveness of sexual conversion treatment plans. Such remedies also boost moral
questions. In fact, there may be proof that such tries might also reason more damage than
desirable, consisting of inducing depression and sexual dysfunction. But, religion-primarily
based corporations and counsellors pursue such attempts at conversion using yardsticks, which
do now not meet clinical standards. Clinicians need to preserve the dictum “first do no damage”
in mind. Physicians must provide clinical carrier with compassion and respect for human dignity
for all of us no matter their sexual orientation.

The landmark judgement of the Delhi High Court, which declared that Section 377 of the Indian
Penal Code violates essential rights guaranteed by way of the Constitution, turned into in
keeping with international, human rights and secular and legal developments. However, the anti-
homosexual attitudes of many spiritual and community leaders reflect the life of tremendous
prejudice in India. Prejudice in opposition to extraordinary existence is part of many cultures,
included into maximum religions, and is a source of conflict in Indian society.

Conclusion

The issue is not whether the court ousted L, G and B from the LGBT umbrella. The issue is that
whether L or G or B or T, Section 377 has no business in a country that wants to be considered a
liberal democracy in the 21st century. The government has to come to terms with that or hope
that the Supreme Court does it for them by taking up the curative petition soon. Until then it will
keep tripping up at home and abroad over the elephant in the room
social recognition is distinct from the self-perception of one‟s identity, for social recognition is
primarily how the wider society perceives an individual and this mental snapshot is usually
framed within a stereotypical image. Any distinct images, beyond the hetero-normative duality of
sexuality, which might fall in sync with ones self-perception, is seen as a category away from
normalcy and conveniently slipped into the pool of covertures, deviants. Since time immemorial,
the injustices of sexuality have been caught in the web of the Corbett principle, vii which set
forth a biological test and ignored the psychological test. A biological determinist view like that
of Geddes and Thompsonviii argues that the social, psychological and behavioural traits are
caused by metabolic states. This dominant biological identity derives its power from the
chromosomal make up. On the other hand, the dormant psychological existence tries hard to
stagger through the narrow lanes of individualized sexual orientations, which seem to be too
personalized to travel through public previews, (though interestingly, they still get caught up in
coffee table books on public morality and the voluminous legal verdicts). More specifically, this
biological determinism is used primarily as a tool to withhold the rights of the members of the
society, other than those who fall within the binary category of males or females. Until the
1960s, the term „gender‟ was primarily used to refer to feminine and masculine references. In
1968, Robert Stoller, ix while writing on trans-sexuality began using the term „sex‟ to refer
specifically to the biological traits and the term „gender‟ to refer specifically to the degree of
femininity and masculinity exhibited by a person. In fact he was the first one to introduce the
concept of “gender identity”. Despite the intellectual understanding (which, in turn, originated
from the parallel feminist movement), till the 1990s, transsexuals were deprived of a dignified
social existence. It was for the first time, in 1992, x that the European Court of Human Rights
concluded that there had been a violation of Article 8xi of the European Convention on Human
Rights, in a case concerning the recognition of transsexuals. With specific reference to India,
around 2008-09, the state of Tamil Nadu introduced a transgender welfare policy, enabling them
to access free Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) in the government hospital, free housing
programme, various citizenship documents, admission in government colleges with full
scholarship for higher studies, alternative sources of livelihood through formation of self-help
groups (for savings) and initiating income-generation programmes (IGP).To this effect, the then
Minister of Finance, in the government of Tamil Nadu, while presenting the Budget for the
session of 2008-09 in the Legislative Assembly, commented, “Welfare of Transgenders - …
Viewing transgenders with compassion as in the case of disabled persons, this Government has
been providing a helping hand to them by establishing a separate welfare board for them and
issuing them family cards. Transgenders will be given vocational training and will be facilitated
to take up vocation either individually or as Self Help Groups. In addition, as per the new Small
Industries Policy, special incentives have been provided for industries started by transgenders.
This Government will extend financial assistance to establish a transit home for transgenders in
transition through NGOs.” xii In other parts of the world and in judicial systems of all
jurisdictions, amongst the catena of legal judgements which relate to members of the „third
gender‟, the 1993 pronouncement by Justice Lockhart stood out. Justice Lockhart was amongst
the first few who socially engineered individual recognition, and argued that it should not be
regarded merely as a matter of chromosomes but rather be treated as a purely psychological
question, balancing upright partially on self-perception and partially on social perception.
However, unfortunately, the binary notion of gender, from which is derived the Corbett Principle,
reflects itself in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also in other Indian statutes related to marriage,
adoption, divorce, succession, and even some welfare legislation. This is seen by the author as a
complete violation of human rights because ignoring the psyche of the individuals, in this
specific case, the transgenders, causes immense discomfort, distress and psychological trauma,
which has a high probability of narrowing down to Gender Identity Disorders (GID) such as
“gender dysphoria”, xiv which could further lead to mental disorder.

PLIGHT OF THE THIRD GENDER IN INDIA The dilemma of conformity and non-conformity
has always been so patriarchal in India that one doesn‟t need to dwell any further to relate to the
fact that as objects of desire, be that be through occasional empowerment because of the fear of
being offensive to Goddess Bahucharaji (the giver of masculinity) or The Socio-Legal
Exploitation of the Third Gender in India- They are relegated to a status similar to the „low-
status ethnic group‟ in the Weberian paradigm, whom dominant cultural patterns of
interpretation and valuation mark as different and less worthy, to the detriment of groups
members‟ social standing and their chances of winning social esteem. xv Their sexuality is
interpreted as deviant and devalued in the dominant culture. Be it be under the celebrated guise
of Hindu mythological „sacred‟ characters such as Brihanalla or Shikhandani, or the
innumerable „others‟ with desires on the margins of society and pleasures and bodies outside the
assumed arenas of social reproduction, transgenders have always been portrayed with an
abnormal differentness, which is in conflict with normal binary of social beings, the male and the
female. In fact this „away from the normal category‟ of individuals, is not a homogeneous group.
It has its own segments, making the group heterogeneous and this is very often overlooked. What
enhances the heterogeneity is that the differences and contradictions exist not just between
identities, but also within themxvi. With specific reference to India, this „beyond binary
category‟ is divided into Hijras, xvii Kinnars, Eunuchs, xviii Aravanis/Thirunangi, xix Kothisxx
and Shiv Shakthis. xxi xxii Since this heterogeneity has no acceptance in the world of the
„biological normal‟ therefore there is an apparent invisibility of empathy towards them. This is
apparent from the comparative study of the categories of the hijras and the thirunambis in India,
both of whom are transgender but hijras are Male-to-Female (MTF), while thirunambis are
Female-to-Male (FTM). The Hijras have self-organized themselves into a cultural and social
space through a Guru-Chela system under seven main gharanas (clans) and have their own
internal legal system called Jamaats, where senior hijras play the role of judges and solve
disputes between themselves. Ignoring this heterogeneity, the SRS, as a part of the transgender
welfare scheme in Tamil Nadu, is applicable only for the Hijras and not for the FTM category,
popularly known as thirunambis (some of whom are categorized as lesbians), leaving the latter to
struggle at the threshold. The prejudiced society at large and the myopic concerns of our
parliamentarians and the judiciary have been to a great extent responsible for their social
exclusion, compelling them to be enclosed in labels. Since it is the (op)position that creates a
community, which is otherwise not homogeneous, the different sub-identities are often put aside
and with globalized simplicity, clubbed into community of LGBTIQ (lesbian, gays, bisexual,
transgender, intersex and queers) overlooking the fact that a definitive, easily-conceivable
LGBTIQ identity does not exist. The specificities of this identity are formed with respect to the
wider socio-political conditions with their persona been variously constructed – as deviant
practice, as adverse ideology, and as a social indicator. While keeping the hetero-normativity of
the alternative sexualities in mind, the fact remains they all, collectively suffer from
heterosexism: the authoritative construction of norms that naturalize heterosexuality and
stigmatize homosexuality. These heterosexist norms operate not only at the level of cultural
attitudes but also skew entitlements and delimit understandings of personhood. As a result, they
suffer sexually-specific status injuries. Research highlights how transphobia has permeated the
different structures of the society, family and institutions, robbing them of their human dignity
and marking their lives by dynamics of exclusion which begins when they are thrown out or
decide to move out of their homes and are essentially excluded from the educational and health
care systems. The gravity of the problem enhances when viewed through the lens of Mills‟
Sociological Imaginationxxiii for this exclusion is not a personal trouble located at an individual
platform but rather a public issue, wherein the entire social and cultural landscape is to be held
accountable. The lack of education and access to job opportunities pushes a substantially large
number of persons with alternative sexualities into prostitution, which makes them vulnerable to
contracting HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). This is statistically notified by
the 2013 data released by AVERT.according to which the transgender people are emerging as a
group at high risk of HIV transmission in India. Denied the full rights and protections of
citizenship, they endure shaming and assault; exclusion from the rights and privileges of
marriage and parenthood; curbs on their rights of expression and association; the absence of
sexual autonomy; demeaning stereotypical depictions in the media; harassment and
disparagement in everyday life; and exclusion or marginalization in public spheres and
deliberative bodies, all of which are injustices of recognition. After 2014, in India, they got
caught into the politics of recognition, where in they have been labelled and herded into the
category of „the others‟ on the electoral rolls for the Lok Sabha polls rather than being
acknowledged with dignity as the „third gender‟, as done on the Aadhar card. xxv Interviews
revealed that the term „eunuch‟, used on the passports, was felt to be highly derogatory while the
use of „transgender‟ or „third gender‟ would have been more empathetic in its tone. To add to
the mounting victimization of being shelved, the 2011 census shows that there were a total of 4.9
lakh transgenders in India. However, the respondent community activists claimed that the actual
number is very high and the discrepancy is primarily because the data collection methodologies
which failed to capture the entire transgender population primarily due to, fears of prejudicial
reactions, differing terminologies employed, and other factors in the data

The Socio-Legal Exploitation of the Third Gender in India -Another important observation made
by the census data was the low level of literacy in the community, i.e. forty six percent,
compared to the seventy four percent in the general population. The respondents vehemently
argued that this is primarily because of high dropout rate due to harassment and discrimination.
xxvi It was overwhelmingly felt that those with alternate sexualities were caught up in a
viciously painful cycle wherein at the one end of the tangent, the various forms of violence, such
as emotional, mental and even physical, experienced by the transgenders as a part of their
everyday experience, mutes them into a culture of silence, while at the other end, the non-
recognition of their identity makes them further vulnerable to harassment, violence and sexual
assault. Some of the most common human rights violations reported by transgenders included
extrajudicial executions, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, arbitrary
detention, threats and extortion. But this is not an exhaustive list. Moreover, they are not
addressed separately. It was reported that the authorities themselves help foster prejudice by
describing such cases as “crimes of passion”, emphasizing aspects of the personal lives of the
victims instead of their vulnerability as transgenders and human rights defenders. Witten and
Eyler in their interactive text over viewing aging for sexual and gender minorities observed that:
“Perpetrators often believe that a person who transgresses the norms of gendered sexuality, either
by engaging in sexual relationships with members of the “non-opposite” gender, or by behaving
“as” the other gender, is deviant or morally defective, and thus a deserving victim of violence
and aggression. Xenophobic elements, such as the persecution of transgenders [sic] by neo-
Nazis, have also been reported, as has a preference by assailants, in some cases, for attacking
male-to-female transgenders [sic] or transsexuals who are members of racial minorities.” xxvii
Ninety four percent of the respondents also reported of transphobia even in the justice system
whereby they are subjected to taunts and aggression, when they tried to file a complaint. It was
observed that this was primarily because laws against sexual violence, exploitation and
trafficking do not adequately and explicitly differentiate between sex work that is carried out
willingly and the illegal trafficking of people. This results in police authorities criminalizing sex
work and has a consequent negative effect on transgenders, who are left at risk of abuse,
unlawful detention and extortion. Further the association of deviance with differentness is seen
as being repulsive to the existent social order and seems to involve anti-social behaviour,
diminished empathy, and lack of inhibitions.

LAWS IN INDIA: VIOLATIVE OF HUMAN RIGHTS Given this background, the Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment in its „2013 Expert Committee Report‟, observed that a lack of
recognition before the law is itself a human rights violation and this presents a major barrier to
the transgenders in realizing other basic rights. The report noted, “Article 5 of the Constitution
identifies the person who is entitled to be citizens of India. None of the conditions specified
therein require a determinate sex or gender identity as a pre-condition of acquiring
citizenship.”xxviii Though there is no articulate mention of transgenders in either the statutes of
India or the legislation, leaving them invisible and dependent on how general clauses relating to
their human rights protection are interpreted, yet there are some legal provisions which passively
provide rights to them. Further, India has ratified most of the international treaties with specific
reference to the broad purview of human rights, be it be with regard to children, women, disabled
or the elderly but since long there has been a disconnect between the plight of the transgenders
and the Yogyakarta Principles, which were developed by a coalition coordinated by the
International Service for Human Rights and the International Commission of Jurists and were
formally adopted by a panel of leading international law experts way back in November 2006.
These provide authoritative guidance on the human rights of LGBTIQ and the obligations of
states to promote and protect these rights, ensuring full equality and addressing discrimination. It
is because of this disconnect that the perpetration of human rights violations, on grounds of
sexual orientation and despite the ratification, on ground of gender identity, is a common practice
and is entrenched in India, to the point of being systematic, while discrimination on the same
ground is institutionalized. With regard to the domestic laws, Article 51 of the constitution of
India, strives to promote international peace and security and foster respect for international law
and treaty obligations in the dealings for international law and treaty obligations, and is
supplemented by Article 253, which necessitates the state to create legislations for giving effect
to international agreement. While reading the two together, we understand that in the absence of
a contrary legislation, municipal courts in India would respect the rules of international law.
Therefore, any international convention not inconsistent with the Fundamental Rights and in
harmony with its spirit must be read into these provisions, for example, articles 14, 15, 19 and 21
of the constitution. Article 14 states that the state shall not deny to “any person” equality before
the law or equal protection of the law. The article does not limit the term “person” to just male or
female. Article 15 prohibits discrimination by the state on ground of „sex‟ with regard to access
to shops, hotels or use of well, tanks and other public places; Article 16 guarantees equal
opportunity for employment irrespective of sex, but unfortunately, despite these articles, India
still has discriminatory laws that contravene international human rights law. Further, though the
articles do address and attempt to redress sex discrimination, transgenders are still systematically
denied rights under articles 15(2) and 15(4), with almost the entire onus on the state. Under
Article 19(1) (a) certain basic freedoms, which constitute as human rights, are granted as natural
rights to all the citizens of India including, right to freedom of speech and expression of his self-
identified gender and the right to choose one‟s personal appearance. Though the values of
privacy, self-identity, autonomy and personal integrity are guaranteed to the members of the
transgender community under it and the state is bound to protect and recognize these rights, but
in many cases, there exists a disassociation between their gender, their social name and their
identification documents which dehumanizes them and also denies them their civil and legal
status. The greatest and most inclusive constitutional provision is Article 21 which states that no
person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by
law commonly understood as “Right to life”, which includes within it self-determination of
gender which is an integral part of personal autonomy. However, somehow we have failed in
letting the people with alternate sexualities live a life with respect and dignity.

VI. JUDICIAL ROADBLOCK While the crowd in America is celebrating the decision of the US
Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodgesxxix, we, despite being world‟s largest constitutional
democracy, are still grappling in the heteronormative caves of undermining alternative
sexualities. In 2009, the fundamentals behind the Fundamental Rights seemed to accomplish a
triumph for the alternate sexualities when the Delhi High Court held section 377 of IPC, which
categorized any penile non-vaginal activity as an unnatural offence, in violation of the
Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution of India, insofar as criminalising consensual
sexual acts of adults in private. It was further stated that, “Where society can display
inclusiveness and understanding, such persons can be assured of a life of dignity and non-
discrimination.” xxx However this celebration was short lived as the Supreme Court in Suresh
Kumar vs. Naz Foundation, xxxi in 2013, set aside the decision of the High Court declaring “that
this Court has merely pronounced on the correctness of the view taken by the Delhi High Court
on the constitutionality of Section 377 IPC and found that the said section does not suffer from
any constitutional infirmity.” It was further held that amending or repealing Section 377 should
be a matter left to Parliament, not the judiciary and the Supreme Court subsequently dismissed
the review petition against the verdict. This reinstitution of Section 377 resulted in deep unrest
amongst the society with various debates being held across the country and influencing people of
high offices such as a former Minister of foreign affairs, India, calling for the arrest of American
diplomats in India having same sex companions. The US Supreme Court, in its above mentioned
2015 majority judgment had argued that the Fundamental Rights of a citizen are beyond the
whims of the majority and the bondages of the Parliament, which empowered the members with
alternate sexualities to directly invoke their right to constitutional protection before a court, when
curtailed. Though in this case, it was specifically in the background of recognizing the marriages
of the same-sex couples but by expansive interpretation, it should be seen as an essential
component of a life with dignity. In April, 2014, taking the aforementioned domestic laws into
consideration along with various case laws, the Supreme Court in NALSA vs. Union of
Indiaxxxii did grant constitutional recognition to the transgenders as third gender stating that
they did form a distinct group and any discrimination towards them was violative of their
constitutional rights. However, the Court observed that, „The modern definition of transgender‟,
would include only the gay, lesbian and bisexual, further directing the government to treat them
as a „socially and educationally backward class‟, entitling them to quotas like those for the Other
Backward Classes, in educational institutions and for public appointments. Though 2014
judgment does exhibit a remarkable empathy in describing the “trauma, agony and pain”
experienced by the transgender community but it stopped from going any further by building a
degree of disassociation with the wider meaning of the expression „transgender‟. As a result,
though „transgenders‟ have been recognised, the other persons with alternative sexualities have
not really been recognised, either by the society or by law. Further, though the members of the
transgender community have been granted certain rights, they have been deprived of one of the
essentially basic in nature right, that other people who fall within the heterosexual duality take
for granted, and this right is the right to love with dignity. Love is a stream of emotions which
may or may not get stereotyped in the institution of marriage. Further marriage must not be
associated with procreation, for this would also question the status of single parents and those
already suffering under the stigma of infertility. Thereafter, in February 2016, submitting to the
plethora of protests and debates, the final hearing of the curative petition submitted by the Naz
Foundation and Others came for hearing in the Supreme Court, in which the three-member bench
headed by the Chief Justice of India T. S. Thakur said that all the 8 curative petitions submitted
would be reviewed afresh by a five-member constitutional bench.

The Supreme Court on Thursday decriminalized sexual relations between consenting

homosexual adults in a historic judgement, thrusting diversity and pluralism into the centre stage
of India’s public discourse.
Not only did it strike down a 158-year-old controversial legal provision of section 377, thus
legitimizing same-sex relationships, it also signalled an end to prejudice, which it argued has
bedevilled India.

Essentially, the ruling came as a strong endorsement of the idea of diversity at a time when the
country is deeply polarized along ethnic, religious and caste lines.

The time has come

Even before Thursday’s verdict, political opposition to decriminalization had begun to wane,
amid a robust campaign by gay rights activists.

“Social exclusion, identity seclusion and isolation from the social mainstream are still the stark
realities faced by individuals today and it is only when each and every individual is liberated
from the shackles of such bondage and is able to work towards full development of his/her
personality that we can call ourselves (India) a truly free society,” the Supreme Court said.

The judgement was pronounced by a Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak
Misra and justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu
Malhotra.

The judgement marks the end of the first leg of the long-drawn battle for social legitimacy by the
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) community. However, other issues such
as same sex marriage, inheritance of property and civil rights are yet to receive legal sanction.

“When the court refers to the need of heterogeneity and says that the majority view cannot
override the rights of a minority, it could well be setting the base for the next round of battles for
civil rights,” said gay rights activist Sharief Rangnekar.

Indefensible
Section 377, a British-era law, criminalized any form of intercourse that was non-penile vaginal,
deeming it to be “against the course of nature”.

“Section 377 is irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary,” said Misra. “Majoritarian and
popular views cannot dictate constitutional rights. We have to vanquish prejudice, embrace
inclusion and ensure equal rights.”

The LGBTQ+ community possesses rights like all other sections of society and denial of self-
expression to them was like death, Misra said. “I am what I am so take me as I am,” he said,
quoting German thinker Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.
Malhotra, the only woman on the bench, ushered in the personal rights of the LGBTQ+
community, saying, “LGBT people have the right to live unshackled from the shadow” and that
“history owes an apology to the community” for the years of stigma imposed on them.

Bestiality will, however, continue to be an offence under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code,
1860.

First step
Chandrachud explained how decriminalizing homosexuality was only the first step toward
guaranteeing freedom to the LGBTQ community and that the Constitution envisaged much
more. Human sexuality could not be confined to a binary and the state had no business in
intruding in these matters, said Chandrachud. Treating homosexuality as a disorder or disease
had a severe impact on the mental health of homosexuals.

Calling LGBTQ+ people “victims of Victorian morality” and setting the ground for change in the
future, Chandrachud said: “It is difficult to right a wrong by history. But we can set the course
for the future. This case involves much more than decriminalizing homosexuality. It’s about
people wanting to live with dignity”.

Celebrations
The LGBTQ+ community welcomed the ruling. “The verdict was a tight slap on the faces of
those who differentiated between people on the basis of their sexual preference,” transgender
rights activist Laxmi Tripathi said. “This verdict is a real tribute to those people who committed
suicide or who were raped due to the stigma. The judgement has vanquished the cruelty that
existed for a long time and has maintained the faith in the Constitution.” At least 32 individuals,
including celebrities, IITians and LGBTQ+ activists, had filed petitions to scrap section 377.

Acceptability
The issue of constitutional legality of section 377 was first raised by the Naz Foundation in 2001
in the Delhi high court, which held the penal provision to be illegal in 2009. The judgement was
overturned by the top court in 2013.

Thursday’s judgement caps years of a steady move towards decriminalization, marked by greater
social acceptability with both the major political parties—the BJP and the Congress—dropping
their initial opposition. It also flows from an August 2017 judgement of the Supreme Court
upholding the right to privacy, which laid the legal ground for a fresh interpretation of
decriminalization of homosexuality.

The supreme court of India today (Sept. 06) scrapped section 377 ofthe Indian penal code that
criminalised homosexuality.
A bench consisting of chief justice Dipak Misra and justices DY Chandrachud, AM
Khanwilkar, Indu Malhotra, and Rohinton Fali Nariman, in separate but concurring judgments,
ruled that India’s LGBTQ community has the same sexual rights as everyone else.
The supreme court said:
The right to live with dignity has been recognised. Sexual orientation is a natural phenomenon
determined by biology and science. Any discrimination on this basis is unconstitutional.
The supreme court bench was ruling on a bunch of petitions filed by several individuals and
organisations seeking the scrapping of the 19th century law.
This now overturns a 2013 order of the apex court that had restored the validity of the said
section after the Delhi high court had scrapped in 2009.
Reading out the judgment, chief justice Dipak Misra said:
Only Constitutional morality and not social morality can be allowed to permeate rule of law…
Sexual orientation is one of the many natural phenomenon. Any discrimination on basis of sexual
orientation amounts to violation of fundamental rights. After judgement in Puttuswamy case,
privacy has been raised to fundamental right.
Section 377, which came into effect in 1861, deems sexual intercourse “against the order of
nature” as punishable with imprisonment of between 10 years and a life sentence, along with a
fine.
The fight
Today’s judgment caps years of struggle by the LGBTQ community of India to get fair treatment
under Indian law. For years, members of the community have frequently been subjected to
harassment by authorities who have often abused the now scrapped section.
In 2001, the Naz Foundation, a New Delhi-based NGO that works in the field of HIV/AIDS
prevention, had challenged the section in the Delhi high court which ruled in favour and said that
the law does not apply to consenting adults.
In the following days, a group of people challenged the order in the country’s top court.
Consequently, the supreme court bench, headed by justice GS Singhvi, reversed the order in
2013 and declared homosexuality a criminal offence again. Instead, it said that it is upon the
parliament to take a call on scrapping the law.
Not surprisingly, widespread protests and demonstrations were staged against the verdict.
Since then, several petitions had been filed challenging the order. As the protests against section
377 gathered momentum, several high-profile names, including restaurateur Ritu Dalmia
and hotelier Keshav Suri, also filed petitions against the obsolete law.
Follow us

Unit-IV

1. Emerging trends with respect to LGBT Community

 Human Rights Watch is an organisation that monitors governments around the world
for abuse, operating in 90 countries. Kenneth Roth started his career as an attorney, but
joined Human Rights Watch in 1987 and has been its Executive Director since 1993.
Ten years ago he oversaw the creation of a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
(LGBT) rights programme, and here he looks back on how LGBT rights have changed
over that era.

 Almost 2.8 billion people are living in countries where identifying as gay could lead to
imprisonment, corporal punishment or even death. In stark contrast, only 780 million
people are living in countries where same-sex marriage or civil unions are a legal
right.
 These figures, reported by the International Lesbian and Gay Association in May
2014, show there is still much to be done in the effort to attain universal rights for
LGBT communities worldwide. Yet there has also been significant progress over the
past 10 years, and this too should be acknowledged. Here, the Outlook on the Global
Agenda looks at what has been achieved so far and profiles the challenges that still lie
ahead.

 What progress has there been on LGBT rights since you established Human
Rights Watch’s LGBT rights programme?

 There’s been enormous progress globally and locally. It’s important to note that the
fight for LGBT rights is not a Western phenomenon; many of the governments at the
forefront of the defence of LGBT rights are from the developing world. The historic
LGBT resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council, adopted in September
2014, was led by governments from the global south, primarily Latin America, and
backed by others from all over the world, including South Africa. Even governments
usually opposed to human rights enforcement, such as Cuba, Venezuela and Vietnam,
supported it.

 How do LGBT rights differ around the world?

 Yet, because of this global support, we’re recently witnessing an intensifying backlash.
To a large degree, this is due to the greater visibility of the LGBT community in
societies that have begun to recognize their rights. But LGBT people are also
convenient scapegoats for embattled leaders, who are trying to rally support from more
conservative sectors of their society. Whether it’s Uganda, Nigeria or Russia, the
decision to scapegoat the LGBT community is an outcome of serious challenges to the
regime, for widespread corruption or abusive authoritarianism.

 The status of the LGBT community is a good litmus test for the status of human rights
in society more broadly, precisely because it is such a vulnerable minority – similar to
the proverbial canary in the coal mine. Where the rights of LGBT people are
undermined, you can be sure that the rights of other minorities and critical members of
civil society will soon also be in jeopardy.

 When you look back over the last decade, what do you think was the main driver
for change, in regulation and people’s mindset?
Broader changes in society have driven some of the greater recognition of LGBT
rights, such as more equitable relations between genders, the rights revolution
generally and the greater respect for individual autonomy. Within that context, you saw
the LGBT population gradually coming out, so people suddenly discovered that they
had a gay brother or son or neighbour or close colleague, which started shaping public
perception and reinforced the social changes.

 It’s easy for bigotry to exist in a context of ignorance, but when you’re being bigoted
toward a close friend or neighbour, you start thinking: “Maybe LGBT people are really
 just people; maybe I should recognize their rights. Why can’t they love whom they
choose, just like I can?” Yet the lingering fear of ‘the other’ is also applicable to some
of the other trends we see in this year’s Outlook on the Global Agenda – like
increasing nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment.

 Conversely, that ties back to what you said about scapegoating; by making the
LGBT community less visible – and thus less relatable – unscrupulous leaders can
take political advantage...

 Yes. In Uganda for example, the LGBT community is scapegoated in an artificial

context – the narrative is that homosexuality in general is a foreign import, not part of
the traditional culture. There’s a great irony here because much of that homophobia is
the product of interventions by a well financed US evangelical movement, and the
prohibitions in place are a continuation of the British colonial-era bans on same-sex
relations. Moreover, it’s not like the West has been secretly airdropping gays into other
cultures – an LGBT population has existed in all societies for all time; gays have
simply been more or less open, depending on the politics and the mentality of the
moment.

 Given the backlash, who should we be targeting to combat it?

 Begin with the leaders doing the scapegoating and their policies. In response to the
homophobic environment created around the Sochi Olympics, the International
Olympic Committee recently announced new rules for the selection of host cities,
including a requirement of full non-discrimination. That implicitly says that if Russia
had been fostering the homophobic environment at the time of selection, Sochi would
not have been selected. That’s a very important signal to send.

 At the same time, there must be a broader coordinated educational effort. Anything
that helps to increase the visibility of LGBT people, to move beyond past stereotypes
and ignorance, to show that gays occupy the same range of positions in life and society
as everyone else, that will help to make societal change happen more quickly.

 The young are the core of societal change; what pressures do they face?

 In many ways the younger generation is much more accepting than their elders. I see a
positive trajectory as young people grow up with variations in sexual orientation
around them being the norm. But the younger generation is also a battleground. A lot
of the leaders that promote homophobia do so by insisting that they’re not anti-gay, but
just trying to shelter the impressionable young from ‘gay propaganda’. In many ways,
they see that the trends are going in favour of LGBT rights and they’re trying to fight
back with the younger generation.

 What role can non-governmental stakeholders play, such as businesses?

 Business is a very important stakeholder in this debate. A significant section of
consumers insist on respect for LGBT rights, so the global corporate giants can’t get
away with permitting discrimination in the workplace or embracing homophobia in
any sense. That becomes important, because these companies operate globally and so
can become oases of respect for LGBT rights, even in societies where the government
hasn’t caught up with the agenda.

 Where business currently falls short, though, is in embracing role models. Lord
Browne regretted not being more open about being gay when he was CEO of BP, and
it’s sad that many corporate leaders still feel that they have to live in the closet. The
more that corporations can highlight the LGBT people among their leadership, the
quicker these societal transformations will be encouraged. That said, if you look at the
number of business or political leaders coming out now compared to a decade ago,
we’re seeing good progress.

 Do you think the international community is a good driver for LGBT rights?

 Positive action is taken at several different levels – local, national and global. What
happened at the UN is important as part of the effort to legitimise LGBT rights; to
have such an overwhelmingly positive vote is an important rebuke to those
governments that want to pretend homophobia and bigotry are consistent with
international human rights standards. They’re not.

 Other things the international institutions can do is to collect information on the

treatment of the LGBT community worldwide to probe governments that fall short of
recognition of its rights. Perhaps most critical, though, is to defend the political space
in which local human rights and LGBT activists operate.

 International multistakeholder organizations, such as the World Economic Forum,

could clearly play a leadership role in this debate, by holding sessions devoted to
trends in the rights of LGBT people. For example, a session on best business practices
with respect to LGBT rights would give an opportunity to talk about, not just the
formal non-discrimination steps, but also the more personal leadership role that
corporations might play.

 What kind of challenges have civil rights groups faced over the past decade?

 Ten years ago we created a formal LGBT programme within Human Rights Watch,
because we wanted to make the point that LGBT rights are an essential part of the
human rights agenda. One of our first real interventions took place in Egypt, where
there had been a crackdown and a raid on what was called the Queen Boat; this was
literally a boat in the Nile that had been a gay bar, and the occupants were arrested and
brutally beaten by the police.

 Human Rights Watch put out a protest, but a few of our Egyptian colleagues objected,
claiming that homosexuality was immoral conduct, and the repression of gays was not
 a human rights issue. They feared that their broader human rights work would be
discredited if they took on LGBT rights. Now times have changed and you don’t hear
that argument anymore; there is a vigorous Egyptian movement that embraces LGBT
rights as part of its broader human rights programme. But this shows the pressures that
civil society groups can face as they take on an area that has been circumscribed by
homophobia and regressive views.

 Historically we’ve seen a lot of tension between religious movements and the
LGBT community. Do you think this will continue, or is there a positive role
religions could take on?

 I don’t view religion as necessarily a negative force, although it obviously sometimes

has been. I think enlightened leadership can emerge in all religious traditions. No
tradition is static, every tradition is subject to ongoing, endless interpretation, so there
is ample room within them all to respect something as essential as a person’s sexual
orientation.

 Look within Christianity. On the negative side, you have the right-wing evangelical
movement, which is very well-funded and a nefarious homophobic force. On the other
hand, you’ve got the Catholic church which, even before the current leadership, has
taken positions against violence and discrimination toward the LGBT community.
Pope Francis took it a step further by explicitly adopting an accepting attitude, both at
a doctrinal level and in his personal posture and statements. He shows what an
enlightened leader can do, even within a very conservative institution.

 What is your biggest hope and biggest concern for the future of LGBT rights?

 Obviously, this backlash is my biggest concern at the moment. In terms of hope,

homophobia is still one of the last acceptable forms of bigotry in some regions, and
my hope is that that changes.

 Horrifying images posted on social media for all the world to see show men accused of
homosexuality thrown off high buildings, stoned to death, or shot in the head by
extremist groups, including the Islamic State (known as ISIS) in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

 This was the worst, but by no means the only, violence directed against lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in all parts of the world. According to
a report on discrimination and violence against LGBT people by the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights in June:

 Since 2011, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands more injured in brutal,
violent attacks… Other documented violations include torture, arbitrary detention,
denial of rights to assembly and expression, and discrimination in health care,
education, employment and housing.
 But there was also very good news for LGBT people in 2015. In May, Mexico and
Ireland extended marriage to same-sex couples. A month later, Mozambique
decriminalized homosexuality, and the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of
marriage equality, allowing same-sex marriages throughout the country.

 Malta, Ireland, and Colombia all separated the legal process for transgender
recognition from medical procedures. In June, Colombia delivered a joint statement to
the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of 72 countries, from all regions of the
world, affirming a commitment to end violence and discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity.

 Extreme violence – and rapid progress

 Extreme violence and rapid progress toward equality are the bookends of 2015.
Negative snapshots include proposed draft laws that would mimic Russia’s notorious
“propaganda law” by setting penalties for providing objective or positive information
about homosexuality in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

 In a setback for transgender women, a Malaysian federal court reversed a ruling that
had found unconstitutional a Sharia (Islamic law) provision that forbids “a male
person posing as a woman,” and religious authorities continued arresting trans women.
In Brunei and Indonesia’s Aceh province, new Sharia laws call for public lashing,
imprisonment and even the death penalty for same-sex conduct. Egypt imprisoned gay
men and transgender women on “debauchery” charges and Morocco routinely
imprisoned men accused of homosexuality.

 LGBT people in Nigeria experienced violence and abuse under the shadow of an
extreme anti-LGBT law. In Gambia, home of the African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights, gay men and lesbians fled a politically motivated crackdown. In the
United States, after a campaign of fear-mongering against transgender people, voters
in the city of Houston rejected a non-discrimination ordinance that would have
prevented discrimination not only on the grounds of gender identity and sexual
orientation, but also for race, age, and other categories.

 Slovenia, in a referendum, shot down marriage equality just months after parliament
extended marriage to same-sex couples.

 Positive snapshots during the year include progress for transgender people in India and
Thailand, where legal developments hold the promise for increased protection and
social inclusion. LGBT groups in Kenya and Tunisia have been allowed to register and
operate in an important assertion of the right to association. Malawi upheld a
moratorium on arrests for consensual same-sex conduct, pending a court review in
which activists challenged discriminatory laws. And Nepal’s otherwise deeply flawed
constitution includes a ray of light in a clause protecting sexual and gender minorities.
 While the past year has seen significant gains, many challenges lie ahead. In
countries where repressive governments attack civil society organizations and
prevent them operating freely and openly, LGBT people will be forced to live a
shadow existence.

 Developments at the United Nations give insight into global trends and emerging
patterns on matters relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. On September
29, at a high-level LGBT core group event at UN headquarters, Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon delivered an impassioned plea for the protection of LGBT people worldwide,
and on the same day 12 UN agencies issued a joint statement on combatting violence
and discrimination against LGBT and intersex people – the first of its kind.

 But there is strong pushback. Russia has for years been positioning itself as the
champion of “traditional values,” in alliance with other countries, primarily from the
Middle East and Africa. This provides a convenient positive spin for rights-abusing
states to cloak crackdowns on independent groups, restrictions on the political
opposition, and moves to curtail individual freedoms as upholding “traditional values.”

 Russian-sponsored UN resolutions on “traditional values” have attempted to

undermine the universality of human rights. Russia and its allies have sought to create
a false dichotomy between traditional values and human rights. And the rights of
LGBT people, along with women’s reproductive rights, are the lightning rods in this
debate.

 This dynamic played itself out in an Egypt-led resolution on the “protection of the
family” that the Human Rights Council adopted in June. The resolution seeks to
enshrine a narrow conception of the family as the protector of “morals” and
“traditions,” with no meaningful consideration of whether these comply with
international human rights standards. Russia blocked attempts by South Africa, Brazil
and Uruguay to recognize a broader definition of family.

 Homophobia as a political tool

 Such resolutions are thinly veiled attempts to use the language and institutions of
human rights to push back against the rights of LGBT people, and all those who don’t
fit patriarchal norms. This coincides with the increased political use of homophobia,
by leaders who have portrayed themselves as guardians of embattled “traditional
values” to distract attention from their failures of governance.

 Rhetoric that positions LGBT people as the antithesis of “morality” and “tradition” is
dangerous and contributes to a hostile climate in which extreme violence occurs.

 While the past year has seen significant gains, many challenges lie ahead. In countries
where repressive governments attack civil society organizations and prevent them
operating freely and openly, LGBT people will be forced to live a shadow existence.
Civil society organizations should reject attempts by governments to manipulate anti-
 LGBT animus for short-term political gain, and LGBT groups should avoid working in
isolation and support a broader human rights agenda.

 Review, "Proud, Gay and Indian", a short program that examines how homosexuals,
or India‟s queer population as they are known, are harassed.

 http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-
online/filmedia/play/4018/Proud--Gay-and-Indian
 HE TO SHE SPECTRUM – Documentaries on Transgender issues
 https://realtalkies.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/he-to-she-spectrum-films-on-
transgender-issues/

3. Socio-legal dimensions of Prostitution and Trafficking -

Female prostitution is perhaps the oldest profession all over the world. Alas, it is perhaps the
most hated profession. Hated in the sense that people who visit them actually enjoy it, but in
society, they pretend otherwise. As a concept, prostitution has been defined by social scientist in
different ways depending on the extent of its prevalence. The most widely accepted definition;
however, is the one given in the encyclopedia of social science which defines prostitution “as the
practice in which a female offers her body for promiscuous sexual intercourse for hire etc.
However, a new definition has been coined for the word ‘Prostitution’ in the Government of
India’s “Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act-1987, which now means “Sexual exploitation or
abuse of persons for commercial purposes.” Prostitution is one of the ol An apsara named
Menaka caused the downfall of the great sage Vishwamithra, and became the mother of
Shakuntala, the immortal heroine of the greatest drama of the world, Abhiguan Shakuntalam
written by the great poet Kalidas of India. Aryan rulers of India followed the system of celestial
court and developed the system of guest prostitution. They presented well-accomplished maidens
in token of friendship of kings. They were also offered as ransom to the victor to part with his
most beloved prostitute. Empires fell and came up for her sake. Another class of girls from
infancy were carefully selected and fed on poisonous herbs and venomous foods. They were
called Vishkanyas (Poisonous virgins). They kings to destroy their enemies utilized these
prostitutes (Biswanath), 1984). Prostitutes were common during the reign of the Pandavas and
Kauravas (Historical Indian rulers). They were an important part of the court and both dynasties
possessed harems of aristocracy in Brahmanic India. Having concubines is common among the
aristocracy. Kautilya’s famous ‘Arthasasthra’ contains rules for prostitutes and their activities and
gives an account of how prostitutes should behave and how their lives are ordered. A code of
conduct was prescribed, for people seeking their favor and for them. They had certain definite
prerogatives, rights and duties. Vatsyayan, the noted Indian sage of the Third century B.C.
devoted a number of pages on prostitutes and their amorous ways of life in his monumental
treatise Kamasutra. Rules of conduct for popular and successful practice of their trade have been
prescribed. His classification of the prostitues indicates that the common, private, private and the
clandestine prostitutes of today had their prototypes in those olden days (Biswanath, 1984). The
sanctified prostitution in the third century A. D. in the Sanskrit works of Mahakavi Kalidas.
Religious prostitutes were attached to the famous temples of Mahakala of Ujjain and the system
of holy prostitutes became common.This class consisted of girls who had been offered by the
parents of the service of the God and their religion. In the south Indian, They are known as
Devadasi and in North India as Mukhies. These dancing girls were considered essential at the
time of offering of prayers and were given a place of honor. Gradually due to the laxity of morals
among the priests, they misused the systems for immoral purposes. Under the garb of religious
dedication of girls to temples, clandestine prostitution developed. The medieval period gave
great importance to women and wine. The Muslim rulers with the exception of Aurangazeb
recognized prostitution and the profession flourished under royal patronage. The word ‘Tawaif’
and ‘Mujra’ became common during this era. During the Mugal era in the sub-continent,
prostitution had a strong nexus with the performing arts. Mugals patronized prostitution which
raised the status of dancers and singer to the higher levels of Prostitution. King Jahangir,s harem
had 6,000 mistreses which denoted authority, wealth and power. After the downfall of the
Mughal Empire, hoards of concubines, dancing and singing girls women came out of the royal
palaces. They were not trained for any profession and society had no jobs to offer them. When
faced with economic problem they had no choice but to take recourse to the laziest of all the
trades, the trade of sex. The place of women in India did not improve during the British regime.
Conditions continued to deteriorate and in the absence of state control and regulation prostitution
thrived on a large commercial scale. Social disabilities and economic hardships of women made
them an easy victim to the gangsters of this profession (Biswanath, 1984). This shows that
prostitution existed in India in some form or the other from time period to period and the evil has
continued to persist. Types of Prostitutes Generally prostitutes can be classified on the basis of
their ‘modus operandi’ which is as follows: * Brothel Prostitutes: Their operations are carried out
in the brothel which is owned by an ex – prostitutes. The prostitutes work for a commission
based on her sexual service. * Call Girl Prostitutes: They generally operate independently from
her place. She may be available directly or solicit customers through middlemen. * Street
Prostitutes:This type solicits customers on the streets and takes the customer to a place of
assignation. * Other Types: Clandestine forms of prostitution are also found in bare, message
parlors, amusement centers, dance clubs etc. Factors Conducive to Prostitution: It is rather
difficult to enumerate as identify all factor conducive to prostitution because it has often been
argued that prostitution has it’s roots deep in the fabric of society. The social and economic
subordination of women by men has often been cited amongst the important causes leading to
prostitution. Some research studies suggested the following factors to be conducive to
prostitution: 1. Abduction: This is the most common cause. Young girl are abducted from their
villages / negative places on some or other pretext, exploiting their innocence. Some of these are
going to movies, cities, temples / pilgrims, making them film-stars offering job opportunities and
marriage. Contrary to common beliefs, most kidnappers are females or couples. Incidence of
prostitution through abduction is estimated to be 35 percent. 2. Devadasi System: The inhuman
system of prostitution with religious sanction “Devadasin System” still continues to florish in the
so called progressive and democratic country. Every year thousands of girls are dedicated to
goddess ‘Yellamma; ‘Renuka’ (mostly in the State of Karnataka and Maharashtra) and after a
brief period of concubinage, they become accessible to urban-prostitution. Within these
mechanics we find, that three socialized instruments perpetuate the fates of these women, namely
economic organization, brute force and the religious rituals. Devadasi System contributes to
about 10 per cent of total prostitution in India. The percentage of Devadasi is amongst the
Bombay prostitution is 15-20 per cent; in Nagpur, Delhi and Hyderabad 10 per cent in Pune it is
50 per cent and in the urban centres bordering Belgaum Dist. (Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Miraj,
etc.) it is upto 80 per cent of total prostitution. Devadasi System contributes to 20 per cent of the
child prostitution and moreover it legitimizes the practice of putting them to prostitution. 3.
Rape: About 6 per cent of the girls entered prostitution after the incidence of rape. Rape on the
girls is a great social stigma and in some circumstances, the victims of rape are not even accepted
at home. Apart from the delay or even absence of justice, the victims have to face similar
incidents every now and then. When they don’t find any safe place in society and don’t foresee
any better future perspective, they find their ways in the brothels. About 8 per cent of the girls
came to prostitution following the incidents of incest. The most common incest is between father
and daughter, followed by uncle-niece. When the young victim of incest in exploited at home,
she doesn’t foresee safety anywhere in the society and slowly ends up in prostitution. In certain
circumstances, we have come across the cases where the girls were sold by their own fathers,
uncles or the brothers-in-law after subjecting them to incest. 4. Marriage: Though the problem of
prostitution directly through marriage is not very common in Bombay, a few cases were noticed
through this source. In Pune nearly 15 per cent of the women in prostitution came through
marriage. 5. Children of women in prostitution: Female children of the women in prostitution
invariably end up in prostitution (98 per cent), as there is no safe place for the children and there
is no programme for them till date, to get them out of these areas and to provide them alternation
livelihood. This contributes to about 10 per cent of prostitution. 6. Social Factors in Prostitution:
The view of women as a commodity is pervasive in popular manifestations of Hindustan culture
in India. Women who have had sexual experiences are considered to be ‘used goods’ and are
unlikely to ever marry. Without a husband, a woman has no source of income; she also cannot
wear the marriage bindi. She is an impoverished cultural outcast. The prevailing line of
reasoning is that she at least has a useful place as a prostitute. Women who have been widowed
or divorced are also confronted with this social stigma. If a woman’s husband dies, she has
essentially outlived her purpose. Since she is no a virgin, she obviously cannot marry again. In
rural areas, “birde burnings,” in which a woman burns herself to death on her husband’s funeral
pyre, Sill occur. The social stigma, which leads a woman to believe that her life is worthless after
her husband’s death, is also attached to a woman whose husband chooses a different woman as
his wife. When strong cultural notions are combined with the potency of religion or poverty,
even more people are pressured into prostitution. For example, a girl may become a street child
because her mother died and her father’s new spouse will not accept her. As a street child, she
may be periodically arrested along with her fellow vagabonds for crimes, which they may or may
not have committed. While in police custody, instead of simply being beaten as her male cohorts
are, she may be sexually abused by the police officers. She may decide to become a prostitute to
support herself and to find her place in the broken world in which she is fated to reside. Her
children will likely be prostitutes as well. Poverty’s Role in Indian Prostitution: One of India’s
most striking characteristics is its material poverty. An estimated 40% of India’s population lives
in poverty. This means that almost 400 million people cannot meet basic survival needs like
food, clothing, and shelter. This is an overwhelming, almost unimaginable statistic. Poverty does
not create imbalances in gender and sex. It only aggravates already existing imbalances in power
and therefore increases the vulnerability of those who are at the receiving end of gender
prejudice. In a patriarchal set up, the section in families in societies that is affected is women and
girl children. Caste wars, political strife, domestic conflicts through their manifestations and
repercussions reflect strong gender prejudice against women. Violence against women, assault
and rape on women are not individual sexual or physical crimes. It has become a tool of a
political statement for aggression and gender persecution, which amply reflects on the degree of
human degradation and commoditization of women in the eyes of the state, community, and
society. Indeed, such poverty belongs to an almost surreal world in which only the “wealthy” are
certain to meet basic needs. Desperation seems to characterize the lives of India’s poor. This
desperate poverty is often cited as the root of India’s growing prostitution problem.. . It is
however argued that in many countries with prosperous economy, high standard of living,
universal education, full equality between men and women, the problem of prostitution remains
unsolved. This indicates that trade in human fleash goes on unabated not simply because of
ignorance, illiteracy, poverty or a like but also because human beings consciously choose this
occupation and are willing to be manipulated by others. Miseries and Suffering of Prostitutes:
Most of these workers are treated very inhumanly at the early stage of their stay at the brothel (a
unit of prostitution). They are beaten frequently in order to create fear in their mind. Once they
reach the age of entertaining the customers they are physically forced to do so. Having achieved
what the brothel owner wants, these workers virtually remain under house arrest to prevent their
possible escape. What ever they can only a small part of the earning is given to them. The
government estimates that there are three million sex workers in India. Most of them are not only
HIV affected but are suffering from various other diseases. They don’t have a proper access to
medical facilities. Referral to specialist care “Probably unthinkable for them. Exploitation
through the males designated as clients or customers. Pimps are the most obvious fate of these
girls and women. Police and other law enforcing agencies always take advantage of these people.
They not only extract money from them but also abuse them physically. Laws Related to
Prostitution in India: Constitution of India, under article 23, prohibits trafficking in every form
including commercial sexual exploitation of women and girls. We have special legislations like
Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) and local legislation like Goa Children’s Act etc. in
addition to the provisions in the IPC (Indian Penal Code). Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act-1956
The Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, 1956 ("ITPA"), the main statute dealing with sex work
in India, does not criminalize prostitution or prostitutes per se, but mostly punishes acts by third
parties facilitating prostitution like brothel keeping, living off earnings and procuring, even
where sex work is not coerced Section 3. Punishment for keeping a Brothel or allowing premises
to be used as a Brothel. (1) Any person who keeps or manages, or acts or assists in the keeping or
management of, a brothel, shall be punishable on first conviction with rigorous imprisonment for
a term of not less than one year and not more than three years and also with fine which may
extend to two thousand rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent to conviction with
rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than two years and not more than five years and also
with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees. (2) A any person who, - (a) Being the
tenant, lessee, occupier or person in charge of any premises, uses, or knowingly allows any other
person to use, such premises or any part thereof as a brothel, or (b) Being the owner, lesser or
landlord of any premises or the agent of such owner, lessor or landlord, lets the same or any part
thereof with the knowledge that the same or any part thereof is intended to be used as a brothel,
or is willfully a party to the use of such premises or any part there of as a brothel, shall be
punishable on first conviction with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and
with fine which fine which may extend to two thousand rupees and in the event of a second or
subsequent conviction, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years
and also with fine. (2-A) For the purposes of sub-section (2), it shall be presumed, until the
contrary is proved, that any person referred to in clause (a) or clause (b) of that subsection, is
knowingly allowing the premises or any part thereof to be used as a brothel or, as the case may
be, has knowledge that the premises or any part thereof are being used as a brothel, if, - (a) A
report is published in a newspaper having circulation in the area in which such person resides to
the effect that the premises or any part thereof have been found to be used for prostitution as a
result of a search made under this Act; or (b) A copy of the list of all things found during the
search referred to in clause (a) is given to such person. Section 5. Procuring, inducing or taking
person for the sake of prostitution. (1) Any person who- (a) Procures or attempts to procure a
person whether with or without his/her consent, for the purpose of prostitution; or (b) Induces a
person to go from any place, with the intent that he/she may for the purpose of prostitution
become the inmate of, or frequent, a brothel; or (c) Takes or attempts to take a person or causes a
person to be taken, from one place to another with a view to his/her carrying on, or being brought
up to carry on prostitution; or (d) Causes or induces a person to carry on prostitution; shall be
punishable on conviction with rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than three years and
not more than seven years and also with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, and if
any offence under this sub-section is committed against the will of any person, the punishment of
imprisonment for a term of seven years shall extend to imprisonment for a term of fourteen
years: Provided that if the person in respect of whom an offence committed under this
subsection, - (i) Is a child, the punishment provided under this sub-section shall extend to
rigorous imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years but may extend to life; and (ii) Is a
minor; the punishment provided under this sub-section shall extend to rigorous imprisonment for
a term of not less than seven years and not more than fourteen years. So it can be seen that both
the sections namely section 3 and section 5 punishes only the acts of the 3rd party and same does
the other sections in the Act and so new legislation shall be passed as to punish the client who are
visiting the prostitutes. The law enforcement scenario, seen from the traditional view point,
presents a dismal picture. The Action Research conducted by the National Human Rights
Commission, during 2002 -2004 shows that the major issues in the existing scenario of law
enforcement are as follows: • Lack of priority: The law enforcement agencies and justice
delivery agencies for various reasons, give lowest or nil priority to HT issues. • Insensitivity:
Lack of sensitivity is a major challenge in response to human trafficking. It is more of an
attitudinal issue. • Victimization of the victim: More often trafficked women have been arrested
ad penalized as ‘soliciting persons; The NHRC study shows that around 85 to 90 per cent of the
arrested persons are women and most of them are victims of trafficking. • Improper
investigation: Whereas a trafficking crime extends across a large canvas as the scene of crime,
starting from the source point and extending to the transit places as well as the destination areas,
the investigation is more often unheard and unrepresented. • Database: One of the major
drawbacks in law enforcement is the fact that there is no database of traffickers and other
exploiters. There is no sharing of intelligence among the stake holders and therefore, the
offenders indeed act with impunity. (Bedi ,Kiran ;Nair.P.M 2008) Magnitude and Trend of the
Problem in India The data collected by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) shows the
magnitude of the problem of prostitution in India. The Bureau is collecting data under the
following heads of crime which are related to Prostitution and Human Trafficking. • Procuration
of Minor girls (section 366-A IPC). • Importation of Girls (Section-366-B IPC). • Selling of Girls
for prostitution (Section-372 IPC). • Buying of Girls for Prostitution (Section-373 IPC). •
Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act 1956. • Child Marriage Retrain Act, 1929. Procuration of
Minor Girls (Sec. 366A IPC) (Incidence…253) 253 cases were reported in the year 2007 as
compared to 231 such cases in 2006, accounting for 9.5% increase over 2006. West Bengal has
reported 54 such cases indicating a share of 21.3% at National level followed by Andhra Pradesh
(37) and Bihar (36). An increasing trend was observed in these cases during the last three years.
Details are given at Table 6*(C). Selling of Girls for Prostitution (Sec.372 IPC) (Incidence…69)
69 cases of ‘Selling of Girls for Prostitution’ were reported in the country during 2007 against
123 such cases in 2006, thereby indicating a decline of 43.9% over 2006. West Bengal has
accounted for 79.7% (55cases out of 69 cases) of the total cases of ‘Selling of Girls for
Prostitution’ reported in the country. Buying of Girls for Prostitution (Sec. 373 IPC) (Incidence…
40) 40 cases of ‘Buying of Girls for Prostitution’ were reported in the country during the year
2007. This indicates a 14.3% increase in the incidence over 2006 when 35 cases were reported in
the country. Maharashtra has accounted for 77.5% (31 out of 40) cases reported in the country in
2007. Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act 1956 (Incidence…3,568 Rate …0.3) Cases under
this Act have registered a decline of 21.4% (3,568) during the year as compared to the previous
year (4,541). 33.6% (1,199) of the total cases reported in the country were reported form Tamil
Nadu whereas Daman & Diu reported the highest crime rate of 2.7 under this head as compared
to the National average of 0.3. Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 (Incidence…96 Rate …
Negligible) The cases reported under this Act during 2007 have marginally declined by 3.0%
over the previous year (99). Andhra Pradesh (21) Gujarat (14) and West Bengal (9) have reported
bulk cases together accounting for 45.8% of the total cases.
Possible Solutions: The problem of prostitution is very complex one since it is deeply rooted in
the society. Thus, it has to be handled from two angles (1) Preventing new incumbents from
entering prostitution (2) Rehabilitating women who are already in prostitution. Preventive
Programmes: Counseling and guiding programmes with a view to educate public with regard to
the causes and problems of prostitutes coupled with sex education is need of the hour. More and
more economic opportunities should be made available to the going vulnerable to prostitution.
Police should be directed to register cares related to abduction or abuse related to girl on priority
basis. Following steps must also be taken to ensure effective prevention: • Community Policing:
The concept of Community Policing should be made popular, so that involvement of civilians
and NGO’s in Policing can be done, in order to prevent and combat prostitution .Community
Policing is a philosophy based on the paradigm of solving problem in synergy where police acts
as a facilitator and community is made to share responsibity. • Second Generation Prevention:
Problem of prostitution can be minimized, if the children of the prostitutes are given respectable
future. A Beginning has been made by Prajwala; an anti-trafficking organization of Andra
Pradesh. Efforts are being made by the organization to explore education and self employment
alternatives for the survivors. • Synergy : The UNODC ( United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime), New Delhi, in partnership with Government of India and State Government agencies as
well as civil society patners has set up Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) at Andra Pradesh,
Goa, & West Bengal. These units with the help of trained manpower are making tremendous
impact in law enforcement scenario of India. The AHTUs in Andra Pradesh have rescued more
than 700 victims of which more than 100 are children below 18 years of age in a span of six
months. They have also arrested more than 1000 offenders including 300 customers. Such units
should be set up in all States and Union Territories of India.( Bedi. Kiran, Nair P.M; 08)
Rehabilitative and Follow-up Programmes: Due to relentless efforts of the NGO’s social workers
and other social development organization it has been realized that prostitution is one of the
worst social evils and has to be eliminated at the earliest. This can be done through a concrete
strategy and action plan of which rehabilitation is an integral part. Rehabilitation is both physical
and psychological. Physical rehabilitation is essentially economic whereas psychological
rehabilitation has to be built up through a process of assurance and reassurance. The two most go
side by side. The first pre-requisite of psychological rehabilitation is that the freed prostitutes
must be wrenched away from the old habitat and be rehabilated at a place where they will no
longer subject to the of the dalals or owner of the brothels. Unless they are psychologically
assured that after their release their over all conditions will improve, there is every possibility
that they may slide back to their old environment. In order to ensure rehabilitation, it is very
necessary that the Government with the NGOs must imbibe awareness among the sex workers
about their legal status and rights. A gender sensitive market driven vocational training should be
provided to all the rescued victims. It is observed that the immediate requirement of the sex
workers is financial security, as after leaving their old profession they are even unable to earn
their livings. Thus, a co-operative credit society lead by the NGOs on their own or with the
support of the government is the need of the hour. This effort shall save them from the
exploitation of the money lenders and humiliation by the banks. Shall India Legalize
Prostitution? Some people opine that prostitution shall be made legal in India and accept them as
a part of society because the problem of prostitution is inevitable. The benefit of legalizing
prostitution in India will be that at least we will have a track record of Sex workers as for
example when dance bar in Bombay were closed most of the bar dancers migrated to Gujarat and
Karnataka and other neighbouring state and started their business undercover. Legalizing
prostitution will see these women, who live life on the edge everywhere, gaining access to
medical facilities, which can control the spread of AIDS. There is a very strong need to treat the
sex industry as any other industry and empower it with legal safeguards. The practical
implications of the profession being legal would bring nothing but benefits for sex workers and
society as a whole. Keeping prostitution illegal also contributes to crime because many criminals
view prostitutes and their customers as attractive targets for robbery, fraud, rape, or other
criminal acts. The criminals realize that such people are unlikely to report the crimes to police,
because the victims would have to admit they were involved in the illegal activity of prostitution
when the attacks took place, now if it is legal then they will easily go and report this to police.
Benefits of legalizing prostitution are: • Legalization of prostitution and the sex industry will
stop sex trafficking. • Legalization of prostitution will control the sex industry. • Legalization of
prostitution will decrease clandestine, hidden, illegal and street prostitution. • Legalization of
prostitution will protect the women in prostitution as they will have rights. • Women in systems
of Prostitution want the sex industry legalized as they are the one who suffers the most as they
don’t have any rights. • Legalization of prostitution will promote women's health as they can
have easy access to medical facilities which they don’t have when it is illegal. • Recognizing
prostitution as an economic activity, thus enabling women in India to obtain working permits as
"sex workers". However, those who demand that prostitution should be “legalized” and treated
and with “respect and dignity” at par with all other professions and occupations need to answer a
few basic questions: • What does the term “legalize” actually imply? Does it means that a
prostitute can open a brothel or sex parlour any where she likes and advertise her services? Does
it mean men or women supplying call girls should be able to set up an office in any
neighborhood they like, just as doctors set up their clinics, and put up a hoarding outside the
house proclaiming that call girls are available between such and such hours? • Since sex trade
inevitably comes with sex slavery and violent forms of pornography and sex trafficking it is
essentially mixed up with criminal mafias even in those countries where it is legalized. If a
brothel owner is free to set up shop in my neighborhood, does it not endanger my life? How
many even among those who are empathetic towards the plight of prostitutes are willing to allow
a brothel right next to their own house? How many of us are willing to let our young children
grow up amidst an atmosphere where renting a women’s body for sex is considered a perfectly
legitimate activity? • If the vast majority of people in India do not want to have brothels
functioning openly and legally in their neighborhoods, the only way to make provision for
“legal” sex work is if sex workers agreed to operate in specially designated areas traditionally
known as red-light districts. Sex worker can then seek individual licenses or licenses for
registered brothels. But every sex worker does not want to leave in openly identified sex zones. •
Most women, especially those who operate as high society call girls prefer to operate
surreptitiously, especially those who want to wear the mask of respectability. Most men who run
sex rackets, including trafficking of women would also not want to be openly known as pimps
and procurers. How does the law handle such persons? If people come to know that a person of
their neighborhood is using his premises to run a call-girl racket, do they have the right to seek
its removal or demand that the call-girl centre be shifted to a red-light district after the trade is
legalized? Or does it mean other citizens have to suffer the presence of such activities in the
name of “respecting” the rights of sex workers to an occupation of their choice and thereby
endanger their own lives? • Those who demand that sex work be given the same “respect” as any
other profession, need to explain whose duty it is to give or ensure “respect” for prostitutes and
pimps who are their “helpmates” Is the government expected to enact a law requiring people not
to shun prostitutes, as for instance it did to ban the practice of untouchability ? One can prove
that one does not practice untouchability by freely intermixing and-dining with castes
condemned as untouchable. How does one prove one’s “respect” for a prostitute? Do we have to
send our children to brothels to intermix with the children of sex workers or do we hold special
functions to socially honour the most successful among them? (Kishwar, Madhu 2008) In
ultimate analysis it can be concluded that Prostitution in the India requires no specific remedy,
per se, in the form of criminalization, decriminalization or legalization. It will be remedied when
women and men in this culture can celebrate their sexuality and their unique identities. It will be
remedied only when women and men are economically and politically the same.

Prostitution is regarded as the oldest profession in the world and there are several countries with
long histories of this activity. India is one of those countries. Back in the era of kingdoms,
courtesans were accorded regal status of sorts. However, the situation is now not that good for
people involved in the profession. Most of them live in sordid conditions and once they get in
there is almost no way out of the quagmire. In fact in India, there are several locations where
prostitution happens to be the only way to generate any income.
These locations are Wadia in Gujarat, Natpurwa in Uttar Pradesh, Bachara tribe in Madhya
Pradesh, and Devdasis in Karnataka. Natpurwa is inhabited by people belonging to the Nat caste.
They have a tradition of 400 years. The Devdasis are basically young girls married off to
Goddess Yellamma at a tender age and then forced into prostitution for the rest of their lives. At
Wadia it is the menfolk of the village who find suitors for the women. In case of Bachara tribe
the eldest daughter in the family is forced to become a prostitute.
Is prostitution legal in India?
As far as laws are concerned, prostitution in India is not illegal per se. However, Indian penal
code states that certain activities related to prostitution are contraventions of law. They may be
enumerated as below:
• Soliciting such services at public places
• Carrying out such activities in hotels
• Kerb crawling
• Pandering
• Being an owner of a brothel or even running one
• Pimping
Now the situation is such that the aforementioned activities are integral to the profession itself.
So, does by outlawing them the Indian legal system say that prostitution is effectively illegal?
That is a question that needs to be pondered seriously.
Laws related to prostitution
The most basic law regarding the sex workers’ status The Immoral Traffic (Suppression) Act was
passed in 1956. It is also referred to as SITA. This law states that prostitutes are allowed to ply
their trade in private but they cannot carry out their business in the open. An article published in
BBC states that prostitution is illegal in India. Indian laws however do not regard sex in
exchange of money as prostitution. As per laws, clients can be arrested if they indulge in any
sexual activity in public. Even though exchange of sex for money is permissible on an individual
capacity, a lady cannot do it in within a span of 200 yards of a public place. Sex workers are not
within the ambit of normal labour laws. However, they have all the rights that would be enjoyed
by a citizen and are entitled to be rescued and rehabilitated if they want to do so.
However, SITA is not used as such. At times, different sections of the IPC are employed to bring
charges of supposed-criminal acts like public indecency against sex workers. They can also be
accused of being public nuisance. The problem is there is no clear definition of what these crimes
constitute and sex workers are basically left to the whims of the officials who bring the charges
against them. SITA has recently been changed to become PITA or The Immoral Traffic
(Prevention) Act. There have been several attempts to change this law so that a bigger slice of
blame can be placed on the clients. However, the Union Health Ministry has opposed such
developments. These days, insurance companies are coming forward and insuring sex workers.
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act – ITPA
The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was passed in 1986 and is an amendment of the SITA. As
per this law prostitutes will be arrested for soliciting their services or seducing others. In the
same vein, call girls are not allowed to make their phone numbers public. They can be
imprisoned for a maximum of 6 months along with financial penalties if they are caught doing
so.
Clients who consort with prostitutes or indulge in such activities within 200 yards of a
designated area can be imprisoned for a maximum of 3 months and they need to pay fines for the
same as well. In case, someone indulges in such activities with someone under 18 years old, he
or she can be jailed between 7-10 years. Pimps and similar people who live from the income
made by a prostitute are guilty as well. For that matter, if an adult man lives with a prostitute he
can be regarded as guilty. If he cannot prove himself to be innocent, he can face imprisonment
between 2-4 years.
People who run businesses such as brothel-keepers and landlords are liable to be prosecuted as
well as they are considered to be illegal. In case of the first offence they will be imprisoned for a
maximum of 3 years. In case they forcibly keep someone in their brothel to be used as a
prostitute or exploited for sexual purposes, they can be jailed for a minimum of 7 years.
This law also forbids prostitution in hotels. People involved in human trafficking or trying to
recruit someone – either forcibly or willingly – are liable to be jailed between 3-7 years.
It is the legal responsibility of the government to rescue and rehabilitate such women and place
them in protective homes. For the purpose of this law, locations such as places of worship,
hostels, educational institutions, and hospitals are regarded as public places. Brothel is a place,
which is inhabited by more than a couple of sex workers.
Should prostitution be legalised in India?
As per official statistics there are 3 million sex workers in India. There are several women in
India who get in the business because they are in need of money. However, there are also plenty
of people, who are forced into the business. The All India Network of Sex Workers President,
Bharati Dey states that people become prostitutes of their own accord and they need to be given
the same rights as others. In the last few years, the industry has witnessed tremendous growth,
and most of the new entrants are women from the rural areas with little or no education. For
some of them casual labour with little payment is the way to go, while for others sex, with higher
pay, is a much better choice.
The arguments in favour
Groups, such as one headed by Dey, want sex trade to come out in the open. During April 2015
there was a session on acts of crime against women. There it was said that the fact that if India
was able to decriminalize sex work, it will place women in the country in a better position. In
2009, Supreme Court had suggested that prostitution be made legal. The National Commission
for Women, a national-governmental body, has changed its stance on the issue as well. Lalitha
Kumaramangalam, its head, has stated that if prostitution is properly regulated then authorities
would be in a better position to stop trafficking, especially that of children.
It would also help in improving the squalid conditions in which the clients and workers operate
and reduce the spread of HIV-AIDS as well as any other disease. On 8 November she presented
the case to a Supreme Court special panel, which looked to change the law. Mayank Austen
Soofi has been writing about the brothels of GB Road, Delhi and says that all the sex workers he
has interacted with wish to be accorded legal status. They are weary about going to doctors and
always afraid of being harassed by the police. They also live with the possibility of being
expelled by their landlords in case they come to know what they do for a living.
The arguments against
Without a shadow of a doubt, ending of forced prostitution has to be the focus of any activity
directed against prostitution right now. An anti-trafficking group named Apne Aap says that the
traffickers, who also double up as brokers, pay low sums to the parents of the young girls and
girl children in villages and then these hapless souls are subjected to rape repeatedly. Quite often,
police and NGOs raid these outfits and rescue the girls but it is of no use since their families sell
them again to the same broker. According to Apne Aap, more than 30% of sex workers in India
are under the age group of 18 years.
This group is evidently against giving legal status to prostitution. It says that with greater
demand for sex, the amount of trafficking will only increase. It was also running a campaign
named Cool Men Don’t Buy Sex in order to bring down such demands. From the looks of it, this
programme never really became the success that they were hoping it to be and as of now the
chances of prostitution being legalized are also rather low. BJP is known to be a conservative
party and it is unexpected that it will provide its stamp of approval to sex trade, which is
expected to be in the shadows for the time being.
Prostitution has a long ancient history in India. Back in the ages, girls referred to as
‘Devadasi” were often used in ceremonies to entertain the men of the ruling class. In the
rituals, they were married to God or the local religious deity and then given away to the
ruling community to use them as prostitutes. These girls were forbidden to enter into any
form of real-marriage. This practice is still prevalent in the south and few states have
already enacted laws to ban it. They include ‘Karnataka Devdasi (prohibition of
dedication) Act, 1982, Andhra Pradesh Devdasi (prohibition of dedication) Act, 1988
 etc. The Mughal empire brought the term and practice of ‘Mujra’ to fame. Jahangir’s
harem had 6000 prostitutes. Vatsyayana , the author of ‘Kamastura’ , has brought
references to prostitution in his work. During the British era, Kamathipura , in Mumbai
was built for the refreshment of the soldiers. After the British left, it was taken over by
the Indian sex-workers and now, it is Asia’s largest brothel!

It is evident that prostitution has always prevailed as profession which brings with it a
large amount of money. It has been there even when times and eras changed probably
because human sexual demands neither declined nor completely satisfied. A lot of
women indulge in this profession for various heartbreaking reasons including prevalent
social customs, marriage accompanied with desertion, greed and need, psychological
desires of physical pleasure and to top them all – rape and abandonment by the family
and society. The reasons may be varied but the swamp is the same.

It is often perceived that prostitutes do what they do out of their own free will and
choice and they are often looked down upon leaving a question on their face “why do
they not do something else?” However, it is important to note that out of 4 women, 3 are
forced into it. Women suffer in this profession. They usually resort to drugs to ease off
the pain on their soul. They are treated as sex-objects and are often victims of
humiliation. Without any legal identity, if anything happens to them in their course of
employment, nobody is responsible. They are always on their own. They lose the ability
to trust men which is why their personal relationships are affected. 68`% of prostitutes
suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In india, prostitution is not illegal per se but acts involving solicitation of such
services, pandering , keeping brothels and pimping are criminal. Various laws are related
to prostitution. They are:

1. Suppression of Immoral Traffic in woman and girl Act, 1956 (SITA):

According to this act, prostitutes are allowed to carry on their business in private. It
does not criminalize prostitution as such but, bans third parties from facilitating it. A
lady cannot indulge in such activities within 200 yards of a public place. Keeping
brothels and coercions are barred.
2. Immoral Traffic (prevention) Act, 1986 (ITPA): It is an amendment of SITA.
Under this act, prostitutes can be arrested for seducing their clients. Call girls are not
allowed to make their phone numbers public. Clients indulging in the services of
prostitutes within 200 yards of public place can be arrested and imprisoned. Pimps are
considered criminal. Anyone indulging in any such activity with a person below 18
years of age shall be imprisoned for 7 years or more. Prostitution in hotels is also
banned.
In the case of Budhadev Karmaskar v. State of West Bengal ,2015, the supreme court ,
directed the Central and State governments to frame social security and rehabilitation
schemes for such women through their welfare boards. The court also stated that
prostitutes also deserve their right to dignity under Article 21 of the constitution since
they are most importantly human beings and their issues need to be addressed.
There are a large number of prostitutes who believe that prostitution should not be
considered a crime. They are not committing an inherently dangerous crime. The
government could address issues relating to spread of diseases in this business but,
criminalizing it is exasperation. There are consenting adults involved in this with no
victim at stake. Sex-work is the best alternative for them in cases where nothing else
worked for them. As a matter of fact criminalizing prostitution only makes the society
worse as incidents of human trafficking, child trafficking, coercion and exploitation will
only increase. Prostitutes deserve their legal and social rights, primarily because they are
also human! They will get the freedom of movement and forming associations,
occupational safeties and visas. Apart from anything, prostitutes can get proper medical
and healthcare facilities’ where they can be examined of any sexual diseases. Women can
also contribute towards the economy in this way. Prostitutes deserve the same protection
by law as any other woman does.

All the views and statements regarding prostitution are absolutely baseless because
words in itself do not resolve any of their issues. A girl is often told to wear socially-
acceptable modest clothes else, the society will perceive her to be a “slut” and an
“opportunity”. A woman’s voice, a woman’s attitude, and her position determine her
character. Even the women who have worked hard for their success and reached a stature
are believed to have used men as stepping stones in exchange for their bodies. India is
developing, but with a mindset so backward that the women folk are always threatened.
Their freedom is restricted and their movement is judged. Just like every normal person
is respected in their professions, prostitutes need to be respected as well. Their
profession should not be looked down upon. Infact, it must be considered to a brave
choice. Prostitution should be made legal because even if women use men to earn a good
livelihood, at least they can do it respectfully as they are bold enough to do it. If men
think women seize the opportunity by using methods of sexual advances, and climb up
the ladder, why should they tarnish the reputation of women, when their own libidos
were out of their control?
Prostitution is legal in India.[1] A number of related activities including soliciting in a public
place, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel,[2] child
prostitution, pimping and pandering[3] are illegal.[4][5] There are however many brothels illegally
operating in Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.[6] UNAIDS estimate there to be
657,829

In ancient India, there was a practice of the rich asking Nagarvadhu to sing and dance, noted in
history as "brides of the town". Famous examples include Amrapali, state courtesan and
Buddhist disciple, described in "Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu" by Acharya Chatursen and
Vasantasena, a character in the classic Sanskrit story of Mricchakatika, written in the 2nd century
BC by Śūdraka. Women competed to win the title of a Nagarvadhu, and it was not considered a
taboo[8] The most beautiful woman was chosen as the Nagarvadhu. A Nagarvadhu was respected
like a queen or Goddess, but she was a courtesan or prostitute; people could watch her dance and
sing.[9] The first reference to dancing girls in temples is found in Kalidasa's "Meghadhoot", that
the dancing girls were present at the time of worship in the Mahakal Temple of Ujjain.
Regarding the Devadasi concept, some scholars are of the opinion that the custom of dedicating
girls to temples probably became quite common in the 6th century CE, as most of
the Puranas containing reference to it were written during this period. By the end of the 10th
century, the total number of devadasis in many temples was in direct proportion to the wealth
and prestige of the temple. They occupied a rank next only to priests and their number often
reached high proportions. For example, there were 400 devadasis attached to the temples
at Tanjore and Travancore. Local kings often invited temple dancers to dance in their courts, the
occurrence of which created a new category of dancers, rajadasis, and modified the technique
and themes of the recitals. A devadasi had to satisfy her own soul while she danced unwatched
and offered herself to the god, but the rajadasi's dance was meant to be an entertainment. The
popularity of devadasis seems to have reached its pinnacle around 10th and 11th century CE. The
rise and fall in the status of devadasis can be seen to be running parallel to the rise and fall
of Hindu temples. The destruction of temples beginning of the second millennium CE by Muslim
invaders from the northwestern bordersof the country and spread through the whole of the
country. Thereafter the status of the temples fell very quickly in North India and slowly in South
India. As the temples became poorer and lost their patron kings, and in some cases were
destroyed, the devadasis were forced into a life of poverty, misery, and, in many cases,
prostitution.[10] Many scholars maintain that the devadasi system is not described in the holy
scriptures of Hinduism as the scriptures do not refer to any form of sacred prostitution or temple
girls.[10] Whether the devadasi girls engaged in sexual services is debated, however, as temple
visitors touching or speaking to the girls was considered an offence.[10]
A tawaif was a highly sophisticated courtesan who catered to the nobility of India, particularly
during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance (mujra), theatre,
and the Urdu literary tradition,[11] and were considered an authority on etiquette. Tawaifs were
largely a North Indian institution central to Mughal court culture from the 16th century
onwards[12] and became even more prominent with the weakening of Mughal rule in the mid-18th
century.[13] They contributed significantly to the continuation of traditional dance and music
forms[14] and then emergence of modern Indian cinema.
Goa was a colony in Portuguese India set up in the early 16th century, and this Portuguese
stronghold contained a community of Portuguese slaves. During the late 16th and 17th centuries
the Portuguese trade in Japanese slaves resulted in traders from the Portuguese Empire and their
captive lascar crew members from South Asia bringing Japanese slaves to Goa. These were
usually young Japanese women and girls brought or captured from Japan as sexual slaves.[15]
The culture of the performing art of nautch, an alluring style of popular dance, rose to
prominence during the later period of Mughal Empire and the British East India CompanyRule.
[16]
During the period of Company rule in India by the British East India Company in the late
18th and early 19th centuries and during the subsequent British Raj, the British military
established and maintained brothels for its troops across India. Women and girls were recruited
from poor rural Indian families and paid directly by the military. The red-light districts of cities
such as Mumbai developed at this time. [17] The governments of many Indian princely states had
regulated prostitution in India prior to the 1860s. British Raj enacted Cantonment Act of 1864 to
regulate Prostitution in colonial India as a matter of accepting a necessary evil.[18] The
Cantonment Acts regulated and structured prostitution in the British military bases which
provided for about twelve to fifteen Indian women kept in brothels called chaklas for each
regiment of thousand British soldiers. They were licensed by military officials and were allowed
to consort with soldiers only.[19] Indian lascar seamen who were forced into the British military
to the United Kingdom copied the masters by joining the British forces on frequent visits to the
local British prostitutes there.[20][21] In the 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of women and
girls from continental Europe and Japan were trafficked into British India, where they worked as
prostitutes servicing British soldiers and local Indian men.[22][23][24]
Government organisations like MDACS (Maharashtra District AIDS Control Society) have
played a very prominent role in generating awareness on HIV/AIDS through the assistance in
providing free literature and organising street campaigns. There are several NGO that feed on
funds for protecting STI/STDs spread to common population NACO (National AIDS Control
Organisation), a government agency lead these NGOs.
Prevalence
There were an estimated two million female sex workers in the country in 1997. [28] In 2007,
the Ministry of Women and Child Development reported the presence of over 3 million
female sex workers in India, with 35.47 percent of them entering the trade before the age of 18
years.[29][30] The number of prostitutes rose by 50% between 1997 and 2004.
Brothels are illegal de jure but in practice are restricted to certain areas of any given town.
Though the profession does not have official sanction, little effort is made to eradicate or impede
it.India's largest and best known, red-light districts are Sonagachi in KolkataReshampura in
Gwalior, Kamathipura, Sonapur in Mumbai and G. B. Road in New Delhi, that host thousands of
sex workers.[33] Earlier, there were centres such as Naqqasa Bazaar in Saharanpur, Chaturbhuj
Sthan in Muzaffarpur,[34] Lalpur, Maduovwedih in Varanasi, Meerganj in Allahabad and Kabadi
bazar of Meerut.
Underage prostitution
Surveys show there are an estimated 1.2 million children involved in prostitution. International
organizations like Free a Girl are very willing to assist the Indian police in capturing traffickers,
pimps and sex offenders. Recently some child saving operations were canceled, as the higher
police officials of Mumbai were very displeased with the presence of a foreign journalist.[36]
Research
Much new knowledge on sex work in India came from the first major survey, in April 2011. This
was performed by the Centre for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalisation (CASAM), which is
part of SANGRAM, a major NGO that deals with sex workers.
Legal status]
The law is vague on prostitution itself. [39] The primary law dealing with the status of sex workers
is the 1956 law referred to as The Immoral Traffic (Suppression) Act (SITA). According to this
law, prostitutes can practise their trade privately but cannot legally solicit customers in public. A
BBC article, however, mentions that prostitution is illegal in India; the Indian law does not refer
to the practice of selling one's own sexual service as "prostitution". Clients can be punished for
sexual activity in proximity to a public place. Organised prostitution (brothels, prostitution rings,
pimping, etc.) is illegal. As long as it is done individually and voluntarily, a woman (male
prostitution is not recognised in any law in India) can use her body in exchange for material
benefit. In particular, the law forbids a sex worker to carry on her profession within 200 yards of
a public place. Unlike as is the case with other professions, sex workers are not protected under
normal labour laws, but they possess the right to rescue and rehabilitation if they desire and
possess all the rights of other citizens.
In practice SITA is not commonly used. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) which predates the SITA is
often used to charge sex workers with vague crimes such as "public indecency" or being a
"public nuisance" without explicitly defining what these consist of. In 1986 the old law was
amended as the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act or ITPA. Attempts to amend this to criminalise
clients have been opposed by the Health Ministry,[41] and has encountered considerable
opposition. In a positive development in the improvement of the lives of female sex workers in
Calcutta, a state-owned insurance company has provided life insurance to 250 individuals.
Over the years, India has seen a growing mandate to legalise prostitution, to avoid exploitation of
sex workers and their children by middlemen and in the wake of a growing HIV/AIDS menace.
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act - ITPA
The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act or ITPA is a 1986 amendment of legislation passed in 1956
as a result of the signing by India of the United Nations' declaration in 1950 in New York on the
suppression of trafficking. The act, then called the All India Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act
(SITA), was amended to the current law. The laws were intended as a means of limiting and
eventually abolishing prostitution in India by gradually criminalising various aspects of sex
work. The main points of the PITA are as follows:

 Sex Workers: A prostitute who seduces or solicits shall be prosecuted. Similarly, call
girls can not publish phone numbers to the public. (imprisonment up to 6 months with fine,
Sex worker also punished for prostitution near any public place or notified area.
(Imprisonment of up to 3 months with fine)

 Clients: A client is guilty of consorting with prostitutes and can be charged if he engages
in sex acts with a sex worker within 200 yards of a public place or "notified area".
(Imprisonment of up to 3 months,) The client may also be punished if the sex worker is
below 18 years of age. (From 7 to 10 years of imprisonment, whether with a child or a
minor)

 Pimps and babus: Babus or pimps or live-in lovers who live off a prostitute's earnings are
guilty of a crime. Any adult male living with a prostitute is assumed to be guilty unless he
can prove otherwise. (Imprisonment of up to 2 years with fine)
 Brothel: Landlords and brothel-keepers can be prosecuted, maintaining a brothel is
illegal. (From 1 to 3 years imprisonment with fine for first offence, point 3) Detaining
someone at a brothel for the purpose of sexual exploitation can lead to prosecution.
(Imprisonment of more than 7 years
Prostitution in a hotel is also a criminal offence. Procuring and trafficking: A person procures
or attempts to procure anybody is liable to be punished. Also a person who moves a person
from one place to another, (human trafficking), can be prosecuted similarly. (7 years
imprisonment with fine for first conviction, and up to life imprisonment thereafter; point 5B)

 Rescued Women: The government is legally obligated to provide rescue

and rehabilitation in a "protective home" for any sex worker requesting assistance.
Public place in context of this law includes places of public religious worship, educational
institutions, hostels, hospitals etc. A "notified area" is a place which is declared to be
"prostitution-free" by the state government under the PITA. Brothel in context of this law, is a
place which has two or more sex workers (2a). Prostitution itself is not an offence under this law,
but soliciting, brothels, madams and pimps are illegal.
Political and legal debates
In 2006 the Ministry of Women and Child Development put forward a bill aimed at
reducing human trafficking. The bill proposed criminalising the clients of trafficked prostitutes.
However, it stalled during the legislative process, and legislation against human trafficking was
subsequently effected by amendments to the Indian Penal Code.
Clauses in the ITPA relating to living off the earnings of a sex-worker are being challenged in
court, together with criminalisation of brothels, prostitution around a notified public place,
soliciting and the power given to a magistrate to evict sex-workers from their home and
forbidding their re-entry. Other groups are lobbying parliament for amendments to the law.
In 2009 the Supreme Court ruled that prostitution should be legalised and convened a panel to
consider amending the law.] In 2011 the Supreme Court held that "right to live with dignity" is a
Constitutional right and issued an order relating to "creating conditions conducive for sex
workers to work with dignity". The court directed the Central Government, States and Union
Territories to carry out a survey to determine the number of sex workers in the country willing to
be rehabilitated.
However, in 2012 the Central Government made a plea to the Supreme Court arguing that sex
workers should not be allowed to pursue their trade under the constitutional "right to live with
dignity". Government counsel contended that any such endorsement by the court would be ultra
vires of ITPA which totally bans prostitution. Opposing counsel submitted that the Act only
prohibited brothel activities and punitive action against pimps. The Supreme Court agreed to
examine the plea.
Most of the research done by the development organisation Sanlaap indicates that the majority of
sex workers in India work as prostitutes due to lacking resources to support themselves or their
children. Most do not choose this profession but out of necessity, often after the breakup of a
marriage or after being disowned and thrown out of their homes by their families. The children
of sex workers are much more likely to get involved in this kind of work as well. A survey
completed in 1988 by the All Bengal Women's Union interviewed a random sample of 160 sex
workers in Calcutta: Of those, 23 claimed that they had come of their own accord, whereas the
remaining 137 women claimed to have been introduced into the sex trade by agents. The
breakdown was as follows:

 Neighbour in connivance with parents: 7

 Neighbours as pimps (guardians not knowing): 19

 Aged sex workers from same village or locality: 31

 Unknown person/accidental meeting with pimp: 32

 Mother/sister/near relative in the profession: 18

 Lover giving false hope of marriage or job and selling to brothel: 14

 Close acquaintance giving false hope of marriage or job: 11

 "Husband" (not legally married): 3

 Husband (legally married): 1

 Young college student selling to brothel and visiting free of cost: 1

The breakdown of the agents by sex were as follows: 76% of the agents were female and 24%
were males. Over 80% of the agents bring young women into the profession were known people
and not traffickers: neighbors, relatives, etc.
Also prevalent in parts of Bengal is the Chukri System, whereby a female is coerced into
prostitution to pay off debts, as a form of bonded labour. In this system, the prostitute generally
works without pay for one year or longer to repay a supposed debt to the brothel owner for food,
clothes, make-up and living expenses. In India, the Government's "central sponsored scheme"
provides financial or in-kind grants to released bonded labourers and their family members, the
report noted, adding over 2,850,000 people have benefited to date. Almost 5,000 prosecutions
have been recorded so far under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976.
Some women and girls are by tradition born into prostitution to support the family. The Bachara
Tribe, for example, follow this tradition with eldest daughters often expected to be prostitutes.
Over 40% of 484 prostituted girls rescued during major raids of brothels in Mumbai in 1996
were from Nepal. In India one estimate calculated that as many as 200,000 Nepalese girls, many
under the age of 14, were sold into sexual slavery during the 1990s.

Sex worker health

Mumbai and Kolkata (Calcutta) have the country's largest brothel based sex industry, with over
100,000 sex workers in Mumbai. It is estimated that HIV among prostitutes have largely fallen,
in last decade. A positive outcome of a prevention programme among prostitutes can be found
in Sonagachi, a red-light district in Kolkata. The education programme targeted about 5,000
female prostitutes. A team of two peer workers carried out outreach activities including
education, condom promotion and follow-up of STI cases. When the project was launched in
1992, 27% of sex workers reported condom use. By 1995 this had risen to 82%, and in 2001 it
was 86%.
Reaching women who are working in brothels has proven to be quite difficult due to the
sheltered and secluded nature of the work, where pimps, Mashis, and brothel-keepers often
control access to the women and prevent their access to education, resulting in a low to modest
literacy rate for many sex workers.
Not only HIV, but other infection diseases have been decreased, examined data from 868
prevention projects — serving about 500,000 female sex workers — implemented between 1995
and 2008. Research found that reaching sex workers through prevention programs decreased
HIV and syphilis infection rates among young pregnant women tested routinely at government'
prenatal health clinics.[61]

Foreigners
Girls from Arabia, Japan, the former Soviet Republics, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and from other
origins have been noted as working as prostitutes in India. In 2015 ten Thai women were arrested
in India on prostitution charges for allegedly running two brothels masquerading as massage
parlours. In 2013 there were reports of Afghan women being trafficked as prostitutes to India.[66]
Uzbek women go to India to work as prostitutes.
Human trafficking in India

India is a source, destination, and transit country for women and children subjected to sex
trafficking. Most of India’s trafficking problem is internal, and those from the most
disadvantaged social strata—economically weaker sections, lowest caste Dalits, members of
tribal communities —are most vulnerable. Thousands of unregulated work placement agencies
reportedly lure adults and children under false promises of employment into sex trafficking.[70]
Experts estimate millions of women and children are victims of sex trafficking in India.
Traffickers use false promises of employment or arrange sham marriages within India or Gulf
states and subject women and girls to sex trafficking. In addition to traditional red light districts,
women and children increasingly endure sex trafficking in small hotels, vehicles, huts, and
private residences. Traffickers increasingly use websites, mobile applications, and online money
transfers to facilitate commercial sex. Children continue to be subjected to sex trafficking in
religious pilgrimage centers and by foreign travelers in tourist destinations. Many women and
girls, predominately from Nepal and Bangladesh, and from Europe, Central Asia, Africa, and
Asia, including Rohingya and other minority populations from Burma, are subjected to sex
trafficking in India. Prime destinations for both Indian and foreign female trafficking victims
include Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Hyderabad, and along the India-Nepal border; Nepali
women and girls are increasingly subjected to sex trafficking in Assam, and other cities such as
Nagpur and Pune. Some corrupt law enforcement officers protect suspected traffickers and
brothel owners from law enforcement efforts, take bribes from sex trafficking establishments and
sexual services from victims, and tip off sex traffickers to impede rescue efforts. Some Nepali,
Bangladeshi, and Afghan women and girls are subjected to both labor and sex trafficking in
major Indian cities. Following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes, Nepali women who transit through
India are increasingly subjected to trafficking in the Middle East and Africa.
The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in
Persons ranks India as a 'Tier 2' country.

Popular culture
Prostitution has been a theme in Indian literature and arts for centuries, Mrichakatika a ten-
act Sanskrit play, was written by Śhudraka in the 2nd century BC. It entails the story of a
courtesan Vasantsena. It was made into Utsav, a 1984 Hindi film. Amrapali (Ambapali)
the nagarvadhu of the Kingdom of Vaishali famously became a Buddhist monk later in the life, a
story retold in a Hindi film, Amprapali (1966).
Tawaif, or the courtesan in the Mughal era, has been a theme of a number of films
including Pakeezah (1972), Umrao Jaan (1981), Tawaif (film) (1985), and Umrao Jaan (2006).
Other movies depicting lives of prostitutes and dancing girls are Sharaabi (1984), Amar
Prem (1972), Mausam (1975) Mandi (1983), Devdas (2002), Chandni
Bar (2001), Chameli(2003), Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007), Dev D (2009), B.A.
Pass (2013), Thira (2013) and Begum Jaan (2017)
Manoranjan (1974) was perhaps the first Bollywood film where prostitution was presented as a
"fun" activity without moralising and in which the lead character chooses prostitution on her own
free will.
Born into Brothels, a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes
in Sonagachi, Kolkata, won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 2004.
Calcutta News and Soothradharan are Malayalam movies that dealt with the topic of prostitution
in India.
Child prostitution is also an issue in the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire. Chaarfutiya Chhokare, a
2014 Hindi film directed by Manish Harishankar has also dealt with the problem of child
prostitution in India very strongly.
Lakshmi is a 2014 Hindi social problem film, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. The film deals with
the harsh realities of human trafficking and child prostitution, which continue behind closed
curtains in rural areas of India.