Shalu Nigam

  Combating Everyday Gender Stereotypes in the Courtrooms The Supreme Court of India recently published a Handbook on  Combating Gender Stereotypes [2] , which highlights how gender-unjust terms are used in pleadings, orders, and judgements to reiterate common stereotypes about women and end up denying them justice. It suggests using alternate terms. This piece argues that to ensure gender justice, what is required is not only countering and challenging the stereotypes in the day-to-day language deployed in courtrooms but also changing the patriarchal mindset. The war against women started in the minds. Patriarchy manifested itself in the form of sexism, misogyny, toxic masculinity, ghettoizing, and labelling, women, and therefore, it is essential to consciously examine the ways subjectivities operate on a daily basis, dismantling the sexist biases, shattering prejudices, countering myths and misogyny, developing an empathetic approach to judging, and more importantly, rethinking the c

  How the courts failed gender justice  The Basic Premise Behind Domestic Violence Remains Unchallenged Domestic Violence in India is premised on several notions such as  1) The marital relationship is hierarchical and inegalitarian. Women are accorded a low status within a marriage and the family whereas a man is considered a master of the household  2) The husband and his family have the authority to beat the wife besides demanding dowry. Chastisement is a prerogative granted to a husband who can commit violence against a wife in the guise of love and discipline.  3) A violent husband is not made accountable even if he brutally murders the woman. The law grants immunity to violent husbands even if the husband is a drunkard, vile, or criminal.   4) The family is a private realm and no one and not even the law should interfere with the privacy of such an institution. Domestic harmony is prioritized over violence against women.  5) The doctrine of marital unity as propounded by Blacksto