{"id":12643,"date":"2021-09-28T17:11:39","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T11:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=12643"},"modified":"2023-04-06T16:24:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T10:54:18","slug":"women-in-judiciary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/women-in-judiciary\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in Judiciary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women in Judiciary<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Relevance:<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

GS-1:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
    \n
  • \n

    Role of women and women\u2019s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • \n

      Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      GS-2:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
        \n
      • \n

        Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Sociology<\/span>:<\/strong> Women empowerment<\/h4>\n

        *********************************************************************************************<\/p>\n

        \"Gender<\/p>\n

        Context<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        • A group of women advocates filed a\u00a0petition in the Supreme Court<\/strong>, highlighting the\u00a0lack of gender sensitisation in the judicial system<\/strong>\u00a0in the country.<\/li>\n
        • Attorney General KK Venugopal, while representing the government, stressed on the need for improving gender sensitisation in the judiciary. Such a step is expected to\u00a0instil empathy for the victims among the government functionaries<\/strong>, especially, in cases involving sexual violence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n
          • He also pointed to the\u00a0dearth of courses involving gender sensitisation<\/strong>\u00a0in the law education in the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Reasons for the lack of gender sensitivity:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

              \n
            • Larger Societal mindset:<\/strong>\u00a0While it is expected of the functionaries of the court to maintain a more balanced approach towards sexual violence cases, it must be remembered that the judiciary cannot be singled out in such instances. The\u00a0larger societal misdemeanour<\/strong>\u00a0towards females is common parlance in the country.<\/li>\n
            • Patriarchal mind-set:<\/strong>\u00a0Despite the constant interventions regarding gender equality, there is a section of the society, which still believes that women are weaker and incompetent in comparison to their male counterparts. This\u00a0mind-set is regressive<\/strong>\u00a0for the society as a whole and creates\u00a0obstacles in the pathway to women empowerment<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
            • Barriers to entry of women<\/strong>: This is\u00a0both a cause and effect<\/strong>\u00a0of the virtual absence of women in the legal fraternity. It is believed that the\u00a0profession is too aggressive and rigorous<\/strong>\u00a0to allow for the entry of women. The attitude needs a correction and the inherent bias against the women needs to be corrected. There is a requirement to create ample opportunities for women in the field of their choice, to\u00a0let them prove themselves<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Importance of ensuring gender parity in the context of judiciary:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

                \n
              • Comfort for the victim<\/strong>: It is important to realise that a sexual assault victim would be more comfortable in reporting the case details in the presence of a female judicial officer. This is a tested theory whereby the government has taken many\u00a0initiatives including all-women police stations<\/strong>\u00a0to create a sense of ease for the victims of sexual violence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                  \n
                • Media reports had indicated the hesitation faced by female victims in reporting the crimes because of the\u00a0apathy of the police officers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
                • Apart from that, various incidents of police officers\u00a0coercing victims into withdrawing<\/strong>\u00a0the cases have come to light, possibly in order to decrease the crime rate in their area.<\/li>\n
                • Therefore, it is believed that all-female police station would instil a\u00a0sense of security<\/strong>\u00a0in the women. On the same lines, having more female judicial officers would go a long way to\u00a0ensure a more welcoming environment<\/strong>\u00a0for the female victims.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                    \n
                  • More acceptable judgements<\/strong>: There are certain situations in which it is much better that a female judicial officer presides over a case. For e.g. society almost always\u00a0questions the bona fides of a judgment<\/strong>\u00a0in which a male judge pronounces a verdict in favour of a male accused belonging to the more affluent section of the society in the cases of sexual assault.<\/li>\n
                  • Role model for lower courts and other institutions<\/strong>: Apex court is looked upon and followed by the various institutions, including the lower judiciary and other institutions. Thus, it is imperative to build a sense of\u00a0positive discrimination<\/strong>\u00a0in favour of women, to instil confidence in women. This will\u00a0encourage the lower judiciary<\/strong>\u00a0to practice a similar approach in their treatment of women.<\/li>\n
                  • Inherent need<\/strong>: Gender parity is an inherent need of society. A society cannot be expected to progress where\u00a0half of its population is considered second class citizens.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    Challenges to gender parity in judiciary:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

                      \n
                    • Feminisation of professions<\/strong>: There is a tendency in society to make the occupation gendered. For e.g. the occupation of\u00a0nurse, teacher, bankers,<\/strong>\u00a0etc. are considered more suitable for females. On the contrary, being an advocate is not considered a suitable profession for the females, because of the\u00a0rigorous competition and the hardships<\/strong>\u00a0connected with crime adjudication. This further leads to a\u00a0lower retention rate of women<\/strong>\u00a0in the profession, with many of them either shifting to teaching or other professions and others just retiring altogether.<\/li>\n
                    • Absence of gender parity<\/strong>: The numbers paint a gloomy picture of gender parity in the apex institution of the judiciary. For e.g. there has\u00a0not been a single female Chief Justice of India<\/strong>\u00a0to date. Also, currently, there are only 2 female judges as compared to 32 male judges in Supreme Court. Apart from that, there are only 17 female senior lawyers against 403 male senior lawyers in the apex court, which shows the lack of parity in the top court itself.<\/li>\n
                    • Opacity of the collegium system<\/strong>: The promotion of judicial officers in the judiciary is done through the collegium system. The opacity of the collegium system leads to the\u00a0absence of information<\/strong>\u00a0for understanding the reasons behind the lack of appointments of women to the top posts in the judiciary.<\/li>\n
                    • Work-life balance<\/strong>: Although the judicial officers have a fixed timing, the same cannot be said for the advocates. The nature of the profession is such that it is considered a\u00a0round-the-clock job<\/strong>. There are constant pressures due to the tough competition and lack of time for the family, which creates a negative perception of the suitability of the job for females.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                      Collegium System: Collegium system is the system of appointment of judges to the top judiciary in India.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      \u00a0<\/strong>It comprises of the five senior-most judges, including the Chief Justice of India.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      Collegium system is the result of evolution involving the interpretation of the constitution and the Supreme Court cases.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      Way Forward:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

                        \n
                      • Standardisation of judicial processes<\/strong>: It is important to\u00a0keep discretion in the public service delivery to a minimum<\/strong>, to decrease the bias. For e.g. a formula can be devised where bail is granted on the basis of set criteria, to maintain parity between the cases. To illustrate the point, a\u00a0working person<\/strong>\u00a0in a recognised profession, who is a\u00a0first time offender<\/strong>, can be given certain marks. Once a person clears the marks cut-off, bail is automatically granted. This will decrease the perception of bias in favour of the rich in the judiciary and will enhance the positive perception of the judiciary itself.<\/li>\n
                      • Objectivity in decision making<\/strong>: Supreme Court is considered\u00a0one of the most trusted public institutions<\/strong>\u00a0in India. Still, it is the responsibility of the courts and the judges to ensure that the\u00a0personal notions inherent in a human being do not affect the judgement<\/strong>. This will further\u00a0enhance the public trust<\/strong>\u00a0in the judiciary and the process of justice delivery.<\/li>\n
                      • Recognising the evolving gender empowerment<\/strong>: It is also important to recognise the\u00a0role of women,<\/strong>\u00a0who have broken the shackles of patriarchy and carved a niche for themselves in society. Their pathway to success can be portrayed as a role model for other women to follow upon.<\/li>\n
                      • Reverse Discrimination<\/strong>: It is high time that a\u00a0positive discrimination<\/strong>\u00a0in favour of women is exercised to place them at an equal footing as compared to the male members in the judicial system.<\/li>\n
                      • Gender education in law schools<\/strong>: There have been suggestions to include gender sensitisation as a\u00a0compulsory subject<\/strong>\u00a0in the law schools to correct the situation at the foundation itself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                        Conclusion<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

                          \n
                        • There is a requirement to\u00a0enhance transparency<\/strong>\u00a0in the judicial system. This will create more opportunities for women to prove their mettle and create a level playing field.<\/li>\n
                        • Also, there is a need to\u00a0impart objectivity and decrease the amount of discretion<\/strong>\u00a0in the judicial processes including the bail-granting process, to\u00a0safeguard the reputation of the judiciary<\/strong>\u00a0in the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                          Women in Judiciary Relevance: GS-1:\u00a0 Role of women and women\u2019s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1033,18,7,844,1038,13,114,1030,1029,1028,1032,1026,115,116,1034,1027,1031],"tags":[1628,1620,1636,1630,1633,1621,1619,1492,1493,1627,1634,1629,1632,1631,1618,1617,1635,1626,1624,1623,1625,1616,1622,1526],"class_list":["post-12643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-optional-sociology","category-general-studies-ii","category-general-studies-i","category-gs","category-gs-mains","category-society-and-social-issues","category-sociology-optional","category-sociology-civils","category-sociology-ias","category-sociology-mains","category-sociology-mains-ias","category-sociology-optional-sociology-optional","category-sociology-optional-paper-i","category-sociology-optional-paper-ii","category-sociology-scoring-optional","category-sociology-upsc","category-sociology-upsc-mains","tag-about-gender-sensitisation","tag-advocacy","tag-challenges-to-gender-parity-in-judiciary","tag-constitutional-safeguards-and-role-of-judiciary-in-gender-justice","tag-constitutional-safeguards-in-gender-justice","tag-diversity-and-inclusion","tag-empowerment","tag-feminism","tag-gender-equality","tag-gender-equality-in-judiciary","tag-gender-justice-in-constitutional-law","tag-gender-sensitization","tag-gender-sensitization-case-studies","tag-gender-sensitization-issues-and-challenges-in-india","tag-judicial-system","tag-legal-profession","tag-reasons-for-the-lack-of-gender-sensitivity","tag-what-are-female-roles","tag-what-are-the-roles-of-a-woman","tag-what-are-the-roles-of-female-at-home","tag-what-are-the-traditional-roles-of-a-woman","tag-women-in-law","tag-women-leadership","tag-womens-rights"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12643"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13590,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12643\/revisions\/13590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}