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Right from the birth of a girl child to the adulthood and beyond, there exists a long list of crimes to which women are subjected to in their daily lives. From denial of opportunities to domestic violence and workplace harassment, women face a lot of challenges due to lack of gender sensitization. As per the Crime in India, NCRB Report, 2019, “A total of 4,05,861 cases of crime against women were registered in 2019 compared to 3,78,236 cases in 2018, showing an increase of 7.3%.” This fact highlights the steep rise in the cases of offences against women in the given year. As per a UN report on modern slavery, “Stacked Odds”, around 2.9 crore women and girls across the world are victims of modern slavery, which includes forced marriages, debt-bondage, forced labor, and domestic servitude.
India has ratified the CEDAW Convention (Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and the Parliament has enacted various laws to protect the women from these offences.
Different Stages in the life of the women and the offences reported against them include-
| Pre-Natal Stage | The offences include sex determination and sex selection. Female feticide is the most common cause for the skewed female sex ratio in many cities. |
| Post-Natal Stage | Female Infanticide is a common practice in many states. The son meta preference in the country has led to the birth of many unwanted girls in the country devoid of basic amenities like education, health, etc. |
| Adolescent Stage | Many girls are subjected to various offences like child marriage, rape and sexual assault, pornography, human trafficking, prostitution, etc. |
| Marital Stage | Offences like domestic violence, dowry demands, dowry deaths, bigamy, cruelty are some offences which the women encounter at this stage. |
| Maternity Stage | Lack of proper nutrition, mental exploitation for the birth of son, forced miscarriages, non-institutional births, etc. |
| Workplace Stage | Gender disparity and lack of equal remuneration, sexual harassment at workplace are some of the offences reported by working women. |
Violence against Women
Violence or crime against women can be defined as the atrocities or physical or mental cruelty faced by women. UN defined violence against women in its Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women as “It defines it as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.”
Legislations Dealing with Offences Against Women
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Provisions Dealing with Women under the Constitution
As per the Constitutional mandate, women must be treated at par with men. Article 21 states that women must be treated with dignity and they must get equal opportunities to men. State has taken some assertive steps to uphold the status of women.
Some provisions in the Constitution which promote Equality for women include-
- Article 14 – This article provides equal opportunities and rights to women in political, economic and social arena.
- Article 15- This provision prohibits discrimination against citizens and gender is one of the parameters.
- Article 16- This provision deals with providing equal opportunities for matters relating to public employment.
- Article 21- deals with right to life and human dignity.
- Article 21A -ensures access to free education for all in the age group of 6-14 years.
- Article 39(a)(d)- This article states that state should formulate policies to promote equality for both men and women and the right to means of livelihood and equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
- Article 39A- provides the provision for free legal aid for women.
- Article 42- provides a direction for the state to ensure just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.
Statutes dealing with women include-
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The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 –
This act prohibits trafficking of women. It prevents organized crime acts like prostitution, bonded labor, etc.
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The Dowry (Prohibition) Act, 1961 –
This act prevents giving and taking of dowry. Both, the give and take of dowry is a punishable offence under this act.
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The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929-
This act prevents the marriage of girls who are under 18 years of age. Child marriage is voidable at the option of the parties. Girls have an option to over turn marriages out of coercion.
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The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 –
This act prohibits representation of women in vulgar or obscene manner.
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The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987-
This act banned the practice of sati i.e., the burning of the wife in husband’s pyre.
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Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005-
This act entitles the women to complain against sexual, economic, mental, emotional and physical domestic violence. Under this act, any woman of the family can file a case against her other relatives.
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The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. –
This act prevents demands for sexual favors or quid pro quo (something in exchange for something) demands at the workplace. This act punishes fellow workers who make sexually colored remarks, demands sexual gratification, etc. It is mandatory for every organization having more than 10 women workers to have an Internal Complaints Committee with senior women employee as the Chairman. This act is applicable on all woman employees including the domestic workers.
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Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 –
This act prevents all kinds of sexual offences against children (below 18 years). This act prevents all kinds of sexual activities including penetrative and oral sex, pornography, etc. This act is a gender neutral statute. Sexual act, even with the wife below 18 years of age will be punished as rape under this act and also under Section 375 IPC.
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The National Commission for Women Act, 1990-
Under this act, a National Commission for women has been set up to safeguard the interests of women.
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Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994-
This act prevents gender selection techniques before birth of the child.
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The Information Technology Act, 2000-
This act mentions a list of cyber offences against the women like cyber pornography, cyber stalking, etc.
Crime Against Women mentioned under the Indian Penal Code
There exists a list of offences mentioned under the Indian Penal Code which penalize the offenders who undertake crime against women. These offences include-
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Rape under Section 375 and 376
The offence of rape is defined under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. The offence of rape can be defined as if a man against the will of the women or without her consent or with a vitiated consent conducts some sexual activity, then such act is called rape. However, this provision does not deal with marital rape. The punishment for rape is provided under Section 356 of the code.
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Gang Rape – Section 376D
If a woman is raped by more than one man, then such non consensual act is known as gang rape. All the men who are an accomplice in the act are liable for the punishment.
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Obscenity – Section 292
This provision punishes anything which has the tendency to sexually corrupt the minds of the people or in other words is lascivious, pervert, etc.
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Dowry Death- Section 304B
If the death of a woman occurs within 7 years of marriage, through burns or bodily injury or under some dubious circumstances and if it is evident that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or his relatives, then such death will be presumed to be dowry death.
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Kidnapping & Abduction
The Indian penal Code contains broad provisions dealing with kidnapping and abduction of women. It also contains punishment for the offence, if a man kidnaps a woman for marriage.
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Torture, Cruelty by Husband and his Relatives- Section 498A
A woman can complain against her husband and his relatives for acts of mental and physical cruelty. This offence is a cognizable offence. Acts of cruelty include acts of violence like beating the wife for dowry, hitting the wife in drunk state, demands for dowry, etc.
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Assault to outrage modesty (Section 354)
This provision punishes use of force by a man to wish to outrage or outrage the modesty of a woman. Hey may be punished with a punishment upto 2 years or fine or both.
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Eve Teasing (Sec. 509)
If any person utters any word or uses any sound or object which hurts the privacy/ dignity of the woman, such act will be punished under this provision.
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Bigamy
This code also punishes the offence of bigamy wherein the husband contracts a second marriage while the second marriage prevails. This section is not applicable on religious sects in which polygamy is allowed.
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Sexual Harassment Section 354A
This provision punishes a person if he makes physical contact or makes sexual advances or demands sexual favors, shows pornography to a woman against her will or if he makes sexually colored remarks.
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Disrobing a Woman (Stripping) [Section 354B]
This act prohibits assaulting or using force or violence to disrobe a woman or compelling a woman to be naked.
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Voyeurism [Section 354C]
If a male watch or captures a woman who is indulging in some private act without her consent or without her knowledge, then such offence is known voyeurism.
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Stalking 354D
Under this offence, the male accused follows or tries to contact or contacts or monitors the use of internet, email by the woman despite her disinterest. This offence is punishable with an imprisonment up to 5 years or fine or both.
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Acid Attack [Section 326A & 326B]
This provision punishes the offenders who cause grievous hurt or hurt or attempts to thro acid on a woman.
The offences mentioned above is a non-exhaustive list of all the offences against the women. Some other offences include forced miscarriage, witch hunting, honor killing, etc. Our expert team of lawyers at RCIC are experienced in dealing with criminal offences against women. We not only guide and legally empower our female clients but also provide them with a safe space to share their legal issues with us. We help them by guiding them through the suitable recourse and through the best remedies available to them. We also handle cyber offences related to women. We have a specialized team handling criminal cases like stalking, rape, workplace harassment, etc.
