NEW DELHI, Dec 14 (IPS) – A set of three bills introduced in India’s Parliament in August to replace archaic laws from the colonial period and revamp the criminal justice system will, however, retain the existing law that legalizes marital rape.
Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), initially introduced in 1860, criminalized rape but made an exception for “sexual intercourse or sexual acts committed by a man with his own wife, the woman being not less than fifteen years of age”.
Women’s groups and civil society organizations fighting for gender justice cite the persistence of marital rape law almost eight decades after independence from British colonial rule as an example of the difficulties faced in bringing change to extreme patriarchal attitudes that permeate South Asian countries.
Nawmi Naz Choudhary, global legal advisor of Equality Now (EN), a group that fights for a just and equal world for women and girls through its legal expertise, advocacy, collaboration and resources, says that the The impact of colonization has led to much discrimination. police practices that deny access to justice to women and girls, particularly those from socially excluded or disadvantaged communities.
Such practices prevent women and girls from seeking justice for sexual violence and, in cases where they do, police negligence or lack of proactivity in relation to sexual violence offenses are linked to the reasons that maintain the colonial status quo in place, Choudhury. tells IPS.
Research by EN and its partners has found that sexual violence laws in many countries in the region deny justice to survivors of sexual violence due to protection gaps in the laws, such as “the failure to fully criminalize marital or intimate partner rape.”
Other gaps contribute to reduced protection against sexual violence for youth and adolescent girls and toleration of rape perpetrators in certain circumstances – usually marriage to the victim or obtaining forgiveness from the victim, Choudhury says. “In countries where these protection gaps exist, access to legal aid for women and girls seeking justice for sexual violence is hindered. »
Choudhury highlighted legal gaps in the region while providing background information on legal aid services and arrangements in the region during a webinar titled “The Future of Legal Aid in South Asia for Offenses of sexual violence against women and girls: lessons from the last five years”.
Citing a 2021 WHO report, Choudhury said one in three women had experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner or violence from another partner in their lifetime . In South Asia, this figure rises to one in two women experiencing violence daily.
“Across the region, we see a criminal justice system characterized by implementation failures that lead to inadequacies in providing timely support to victims of sexual violence,” Choudhury told webinar participants.
“What support do women and girls in South Asia receive? she asked. “When they access the criminal justice system, they encounter indifference and neglect at all levels, often resulting in cases being withdrawn or long delays in sentencing, despite the pervasiveness of sexual violence In the region. »
She highlighted the high levels of stigma attached to rape in South Asian societies, which often lead to non-reporting or withdrawal of cases or settlements outside of court. Other factors that hinder reporting sexual violence include fear of repercussions, such as violence, death threats or social ostracism.
Governments in the region rarely provide psychosocial care. Although India, Nepal and Sri Lanka have compensation systems in place for rape survivors, practical barriers often make compensation inaccessible to survivors, Choudhury said.
Webinar participants from various countries in the region provided insight into how access to justice rights works in practice and the methods by which civil society organizations are pushing criminal justice systems to make progressive changes.
Sushama Gautam, of the Forum for Women, Law and Development in Nepal, said the legal aid provided by her organization went beyond assistance to individuals and included advocacy with actors and institutions such as the police and the courts in public interest litigation.
One of the Forum’s major achievements was the filing of a public interest litigation in 2001 to get the Supreme Court of Nepal to rule in 2002 that marital sex without the wife’s consent should be considered a rape. The Nepalese parliament adopted a new penal code in 2018 which toughens the penalties for marital rape, but makes it a less serious offense than rape outside of marriage.
“The National Legal Aid Policy and the Unified Legal Aid Policy have also been formulated. These policies promote victim-centered legal aid, and there are digital mechanisms to ensure legal aid is in place,” she said. The forum has an app that allows you to contact legal aid providers, and we use it to disseminate information,” Gautam said.
The Forum also has a legal clinic and information center that extends services to victims of sexual violence, such as legal advice, and also supports the immediate needs of victims.
Manisha Biswas, senior advocacy officer at Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST) says that although Bangladesh has made progress in ensuring access to justice for rape victims, estimates show that only one in 90 cases of sexual violence actually reach the stage where the victim receives compensation.
Leading the Rape Law Reform Coalition, made up of 17 rights organizations, BLAST was instrumental in getting the Bangladesh Parliament to change evidence laws to prohibit the “defamation” of rape victims through interrogations during prosecution.
BLAST helps legally address child marriage cases through a network of paralegal workers, many of whom are recruited from different law schools.
“BLAST enjoys a good reputation which helps us act as a guiding force and use our expertise in providing services such as training paralegal volunteers in police and court procedures and in the proactive rehabilitation of rape victims,” she declared.
Much remains to be done, Biswas said. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with more than half of women marrying before reaching the legal minimum marriage age of 18. Bangladeshi laws also permit marital rape.
Overall, Choudhury says, the reality in South Asia is that “the burden of supporting survivors of sexual violence falls on underfunded NGOs, primarily legal aid organizations that may not have resources adequate”.
This is particularly true for NGOs and CSOs that operate at the local level, affecting access to justice for women and girls with disabilities, indigenous women and girls, and women and girls from minority groups or from marginalized and disadvantaged communities.
One of the key messages to emerge from the webinar, Choudhury said, is the need to act more collaboratively so that all relevant stakeholders are involved in the fight to end sexual violence against all women and men. local girls.
Report from the UN IPS Office
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
