- Undeniably, the women world over continues to be dominated by anachronistic patriarchal mindsets of men that should have no place in the modern day. Women have proved beyond doubt their credentials by positioning themselves as second to none. If you name any verticals in society’s social and economic functions/parameters, women are standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts delivering on expected lines. However, women’s bodily rights including the mother nature-gifted reproductive prerogatives are still under the ambit of laws governing each country.
PC: Tribune News Service
- Even now, women do not enjoy the freedom to choose what they wish to do with their miraculous gift of giving birth vis-à-vis considering the fact whether the pregnancy was a desired one or a forced one. As you are aware, Indian women are no exception to the practice in vogue around the world. Yes, there are laws meant to mitigate the unwanted sufferings of women in the form of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act which was passed last year by both Houses of Parliament. Members of Parliaments rightly made no distinction between married and unmarried women by substituting the word husband in the earlier Act with a partner.
- However, they had the effect of excluding unmarried women among the seven categories of women with a right to have an abortion for pregnancies between 20-24 weeks. Thankfully, Supreme Court fixed this oversight, and more importantly, the court in effect called into question IPC’s marital rape exception. The recent dissection of bad laws by the Supreme Court should be followed up by Parliament to pass better laws. Marking a huge shift in judicial thought, SC ruled that the category of survivors of sexual assault or rape, or incest eligible for abortion includes married women subjected to sexual assault by husbands as well.
PC: David M. Ring
- Ignoring marital rape in the MTP Act essentially meant compelling a woman to give birth even if she’s a victim of the rape-an unconscionable legal position and one that’s now struck down. Of course, IPC’s marital rape exception is also before SC, and hopefully, after years of judicial prevarication and executive inaction and/or unwillingness this provision will soon become history. In hindsight, Parliament itself could have changed the law. Another point deserving an immediate look-in is what SC said about India’s divorce law. Ideally speaking, divorces shouldn’t have to travel beyond district-level family courts.
- In reality, many divorce cases end up in SC because the court’s powers under Article 142 to render complete justice is the only recourse available for those facing a legal vacuum when the ground is an irretrievable breakdown of a marriage. Many countries have moved towards no-fault divorces, but our divorce laws compel couples to show each other’s faults. The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill Rajya Sabha passed in 2013 recognized irretrievable breakdown. This bill needs more work, including working on provisions for no-fault divorce. Cutting across party lines, Parliament must proactively modernize these laws in line with the changing times.
