Abstract
The brutal gang rape of a physiotherapy student in India in December 2012 drew the world’s attention to the problem of sexual violence against women in the country. Protests and mass public reaction towards the case pressurized the government to respond to the crisis by changing the laws on sexual violence. However, these new laws have not led to a decrease in VAW. Is this the result of the failure of the rule of law? Or does it highlight the limitations of law in absence of social change? This paper addresses the need for using law as a key tool in addressing violence against women in India. It recognizes that unless we address the structural and root causes of violence against women, our analysis will be limited. It is important to bridge the creation of new laws, with an analysis that speaks to the role of hypermasculinity, neoliberalism and culture in VAW. If unaddressed, what may result instead are quick fixes, symbolized by passing laws that act as token gestures, rather than leading to transformative action.
Highlights
Jyoti Singh Pandey was 23, living and studying physiotherapy in New Delhi, India
The purpose of this paper is to examine the limitations of law in reducing violence against women (VAW) in India, in light of the Pandey case
Numerous laws related to rape have been passed in India due to feminist groups pressuring the government, these laws have been ineffective through the lack of implementation and, in some cases, have actively worked against the interests of women (Ganguly 2007)
Summary
Jyoti Singh Pandey was 23, living and studying physiotherapy in New Delhi, India. To pay her way through school, she worked part‐time at a call centre, answering questions from Canadians about their mortgages in a globalized economy. As the brutality of the case created headlines around the world, anger propelled protests and vigils all around the nation, often with violent responses by the police. These protests, some outside Parliament, resulted in the immediate appointment of Justice Verma to a Commission tasked with developing comprehensive recommendations to change the laws on sexual violence. The demand for new law and the subsequent passing of new legislation focused the issue of law reform as the primary solution to reducing the apparent epidemic of gender based sexual violence (GBSV) in the country
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