Why can’t we have the freedom to celebrate ourselves as women, an exclusive female sex-class?
The Supreme Court of India’s latest announcement allows married women’s forced pregnancy to be regarded as ‘marital rape’ for purposes of abortion. Discussions around criminalising marital rape outside the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act is still under discussion – more on that in a bit. The SC also made clear that the marital status of a woman seeking abortion shouldn’t be a basis for discrimination, as long as it is within the 24-week legal ambit. The announcement is a reevaluation of the unamended 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, which limited its scope to married women, except in cases of rape or threat to the mother’s life, and only up-to 20 weeks.
The Bench clarified that the word ‘woman’ used in the judgement “is not limited to just cis-women (sic)” but also includes “persons other than cis-gender women who may require access to safe medical termination of their pregnancies.”
The Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said “the distinction between married and unmarried women for the purposes of the MTP Act is artificial and constitutionally unsustainable as it perpetuates that only married women indulge in sexual activities.” This came after the court heard and allowed a 25-year-old unmarried woman to terminate her pregnancy of 24 weeks, and the SC maintained, “there appeared to be no logical reasoning to allow a married woman to [abort] under the MTP Act, 1971 (…) but denying the same to unmarried women, even though the risk is same for both.” Considering the woefully misogynistic society that we live in, such verdicts go a long way in safeguarding the sexual and reproductive rights of Indian women. Unfortunately though, any small win for women’s rights these days comes at a huge ‘woke’ cost. The Bench felt the need to clarify that the word ‘woman’ in its judgement “is not limited to just cis-women (sic)” but also includes “persons other than cis-gender women who may require access to safe medical termination of their pregnancies.” I wonder who those ‘persons’ might be and if there was an easier way to club them together without obfuscating the language. One word comes to mind, but India’s newfound allegiance to ‘gender identity’ has rendered it obsolete – borrowing from JK Rowling, was it Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?
Marital rape as a crime:
According to a UN report, India is one of 36 countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Botswana which have not criminalised marital rape. The Indian government has stated that criminalising marital rape “can de-stabilise the institution of marriage.” After mounting cases of domestic violence in marital homes, section 498A was introduced by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 1983. 498A created provisions to safeguard women from all forms of cruelty, violence or ‘marital issues’ caused by her husband or his family. Most cases go unreported, and any real semblance of justice for the women who dare to seek legal intervention remains a distant dream. Instead of fast tracking cases of VAWG, courts drag their feet- citing extraneous factors such as ‘misuse of 498A’. This has given rise to the formation of several fringe groups who claim to protect men from being accused of fallacious crimes.
During May this year, the Delhi HC announced a split verdict on the question of criminalising rape within marriage, leaving the law unchanged. Despite the inclusion of marital rape within the purview of MTP, overarching criminalisation of rape in marriages is at the mercy of a pending Supreme Court decision. During the HC verdict, Advocate J Sai Deepak represented an NGO, Men Welfare Trust (MWT), which opposed the petitions seeking criminalisation of marital rape. MWT is one of many groups campaigning against 498A, and between them, such organisations have twisted the arms of several apex courts. During one such hearing, seemingly persuaded by an MRA campaign, the court declared that “criminalising marital rape will be the collapse of the social and family systems amidst the already existing biased laws.”
Laws around marriageable age notwithstanding – husbands can get away with marital rape if their wives are older than 15.
Exceptions to marital rape as a crime:
Section 375 of the IPC, defines rape as ‘non-consensual sexual intercourse with a woman’ and for the sake of objective jurisprudence, created certain exceptions. Shamefully, sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife older than 15, is not rape, as per said exceptions. A different section of the IPC refers to the prosecution of men who marry minors. Regardless – laws around marriageable age notwithstanding – rapists can get away with their crime if their wives are older than 15. The current legal age for marriage of women in India is 21. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s data, more than 28,000 cases of rape were reported in 2020 – one roughly every 18 minutes. This number is believed to be cautious, and in fact one can be certain that the true numbers are monumentally higher than listed, due to fear and a lack of faith in the system.
Women’s rights gone ‘woke!’
Barely a few hours since the SC announcement was picked up by the media, the TRAs took offence to the one word describing the one demographic that rarely clinches a ‘win’. You guessed it- ‘women’. Several media outlets published longforms about the discrimination faced by ‘queer’, ‘trans’ and ‘nonbinary persons’ seeking health services. An article quoted ‘Ray’, 42, a trans man: “My identity is a bigger question mark than what my medical problem is. I physically look like a man but haven’t undergone a transition surgery, so I still have a uterus. So if there’s a problem with my uterus, they don’t know what to make of me.”
I wonder if ‘Ray’ could simply state her sex (not “assigned” but observed) rather than demand an entire medical profession to dance to woke tunes.
There are preparations well underway to modify medical curricula to include unscientific new lexicon like ‘cis’, and ‘nonbinary’, among others. Soon, there will be demands to entirely transmute language to appease the ‘gender’ industry.
India is facing ever-increasing violence against women and girls, with an appallingly negligible conviction rate. In 2022, we haven’t succeeded in receiving equal representation at home or outside of it, and a significant population of the country is sinking under ‘ultra poverty’ – the brunt of which is borne heavily by women. At what cost must we invisibilise ourselves further to cater to this neo misogyny? There are preparations well underway to modify medical curricula to include unscientific new lexicon like ‘cis’, and ‘nonbinary’, among others. Soon, there will be demands to entirely transmute language to appease the ‘gender’ industry. States are eliminating sex-segregated schools, hostels and other safe spaces in the name of ‘inclusion’, and in doing so, alienating women. Women’s bodies are commodified across all industries and Indian media has no shame in glorifying this perverse sexual slavery. What more strides must women make to receive just a modicum of success instead of continuous roadblocks? Why can’t we have the freedom to celebrate ourselves as women, an exclusive female sex-class?
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