Losing the plot on women’s safety

Context: The Maharashtra government’s Shakti Act takes a myopic view of the problem of sexual violence. The need of the hour is to ensure effective and timely implementation of already existing laws and policies.

Women safety: Need for reforming the criminal justice system

• Misuse of the law: Under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act), 2013 provisions related to punishment against false complain can be misused by the culprits in a deeply patriarchal society.
• Poor investigation and prosecution: Often result in unfair acquittals, and the victims, in turn, may be accused of having filed false complaints, dissuading many victims of sexual assault and acid attacks from filing complaints.
• Harsh punishments and lack of clarity in definitions: Example: heinous punishments.
  • Provisions of the death penalty have not resulted in effective deterrence.
  • As most of the culprits found to be relative of the victim, she may not prefer to complain or may turn hostile during court proceedings.
  • Research has indicated that judges are unlikely to convict a person when the punishment is death.
  • Strict time frame: may result in hasty functioning and miscarriage of justice.
    • Mechanisms for speedy and effective investigation and trial under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) are rarely adhered to
• Lack of manpower: Police are burdened with a large number of cases, and most prosecutors are assigned three-four courts at a time, and they prosecute hundreds of cases simultaneously.

Way forward:

• The focus should be on the effective investigation: trial, and therefore punishment, for ensuring an effective deterrence.
• Better implementation of provisions:
  • Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Information Technology (IT) Act 2000 comprehensively covers all the aspects of Harassment of Women by any mode of communication (social media, electronic platforms, etc.).
  • IPC covers provision to punish public servants for failing to assist in the investigation or perform their assigned duties.
  • Implement criminal law amendments post the Nirbhaya case and Verma committee recommendations on curbing violence against women and children.