International Approaches to Rape gives an overview of rape law and policy in nine different countries, including the United States and Canada. Many governments have begun to take rape more seriously than in the past and have started to implement wide-ranging reforms; this book describes those reforms and assesses the degree to which they have been successful. Introducing readers to various national perspectives on rape, the contributors outline a comparative approach that highlights the similarities and differences between countries, contexts, laws, issues, policies, and interventions.
'Public Secrets of Law' describes the everyday socio-legal processes that underlie the making of rape trials in Indian courts. Based on an ethnographic project in the rural District and Sessions Court in Ahmedabad (Gujarat), as well as critical readings of the juridical archive, it demonstrates how rape trials furnish scripts of the social via the judicialised bodies of violated women.
""Aims to analyse whether unwarranted disparity existed in rape sentencing in India, which anecdotal work of other scholars had pointed to"--Provided by publisher"--
This book examines the role media platforms play in anti-rape and sexual harassment activism in India. Including 75 interviews with feminist activists and journalists working across India, it proposes a framework of agenda-building and establishes a theoretical framework to examine media coverage of issues in the digitally emerging Global South.
No Nation for Women takes a hard, close look at what makes India unsafe for its women — from custodial rapes and honour killings to rapes of minors and trafficking — the author uncovers many unpalatable truths behind what we are familiar with as newspaper headlines only... Numbers convey, in part, why India is referred to as one of the world’s rape capitals — one woman is raped every 15 minutes; and, in 50 years, there has been a staggering rise of 873 per cent in sexual crimes against girls. And beyond the numbers and statistics, there are stories, often unreported — of women in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, who are routinely raped if they spurn the advances of men; of girls from de-notified tribes in central India who have no recourse to justice if sexually violated; of victimized lower-caste girls in small-town Baduan, Uttar Pradesh; of frequent dislocation faced by survivor families in West Bengal; of political wrath turning into rape in Tripura. Priyanka Dubey travels through large swathes of India, over a period of six years, to uncover the accounts of disenfranchised women who are caught in the grip of patriarchy and violence. She asks if, after the globally reported December 2012 gang-rape of ‘Nirbhaya’ in New Delhi, India’s gender narrative has shifted — and, if it hasn’t, what needs to be done to make this a nation worthy of its women.
The Heinous Offence of Rape has been dealt with under the Indian Penal Code not as a mere provision with a limited scope but has acquired a very wide dimension in terms of its definition as well as scope. The rape laws in India have evolved with time due to growing brutality of this barbaric crime in the country. The provision has seen important amendments over the years on the recommendation and suggestion of various Law Commission Reports and various landmark judgements highlighting the growing need for a much more stringent law to curb the gravity of the offence of rape. Even though the IPC was codified in the year 1860 i.e., about 160 years ago with provisions considered very stringent in terms of the punishments laid down for different offences therein, it has somewhere failed to achieve its purpose. The ever increasing number of such offences being committed in the society is the best evidence of its shortcomings. The gravity and brutality of the offence has drawn concerns from all quarters yet the offence has continued unabated, with abysmally low conviction rates, even lighter and sometimes, erratic sentencing patterns and unsympathetic treatment of its victims. This book is an attempt to bring in perspective, the reason for the increase in number of rape cases in India and the lacunae in the practice of such a stringent law. This book is a collection of scholarly articles by authors from various domains of law and they have provided a narration of the Anti-Rape Laws prevailing in the country. The subject has been dealt with comprehensively, while describing the historical influences in the laws. The journey of the entire development of the law has been traced by taking into focus the shifting concerns and growing need for the amendment of the provisions. The numerous legislative amendments redefining the offence, enhancing punishment and procedural aspects have been discussed. The judicial developments through landmark precedents laid by various courts have also been discussed in length to show the adversity of the crime and the need for looking into the law due to the practical shortcomings in the law. Appropriate references to international developments and municipal laws of nations have been provided in order to give a comparative treatment to the subject. Emerging issues in rape laws in India and practicable suggestions find a place in the book. Overall, it attempts an informative and critical study of the subject from diverse perspectives. Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. Despite such harsh penalties against it, the gruesome act that has penetrated in the form of Rape has only escalated. This calls for an in-depth analysis so as to ascertain the loopholes in the current law in force. During the process of writing this book the authors came across shocking events and instances of Rape that shows the inhumanity that prevails in the country which is much beyond any law. The most distressing fact was the inhumane conditions that victims have to suffer due to the taboo of Rape and the stigma attached with this crime. Despite going through such a horrific crime, the victims rather than receiving a proper relief have to undergo severe mental and physical agony. The inspiration for this book was derived from the fact that India is a democratic country with a robust legal framework, however, it lacks a stringent legal enforcement mechanism due to which such a gruesome and barbaric act of inhumanity is on the rise. The objective of the book is to bring in view of the readers the various aspects of Anti-Rape Laws in India, the evolution of the rape laws in the country, need for gender-neutral laws by criminalising Male Rape, the growing cases of Marital Rape and need for making a law against it, prevailing misuse of anti-rape laws and majorly looking at the practicality of the law as contrary to how it is laid down in the statute.
Sonia Faleiro was a reporter in search of a story when she met Leela, a beautiful and charismatic bar dancer with a story to tell. Leela introduced Sonia to the underworld of Bombay's dance bars: a world of glamorous women, of fierce love, sex and violence, of customers and gangsters, of police, prostitutes and pimps. When an ambitious political politician cashed in on a tide of false morality and had Bombay's dance bars wiped out, Leela's proud independence faced its greatest test. In a city where almost everyone is certain that someone, somewhere, is worse off than them, she fights to survive, and to win. Beautiful Thing is a vivid and intimate portrait of one reporter's journey into the dark, pulsating and ultimately damaged soul of Bombay.
