Gender Neutrality and Laws in India

The Indian society is patriarchal where men have a dominant position. The men are expected to protect women, support them, care for them, earn for them and at times also decide for them. This dominant position of men has threatened women since ages. They have been a victim of fancies of men to the extent that the men have not hesitated to commit heinous offences on them in the name of culture, tradition and at times the religion. This lead to the rise of feminist movements throughout the world. The awareness created for the rights of women lead to the framing of laws to protect women. The number of cases related to violence against women are increasing day by day. This means there are lacunas in these laws and they need to be removed. On the other hand there are instances where the laws framed to protect the women are also being misused by them. This has caused unnecessary harassment to the men. The men, in the changing times, are also victims. But they are deprived of justice because of the specific gender favouring laws. If the laws are made gender neutral, it shall be difficult for the victims of offences like domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape particularly marital rape to get justice.