ISSUE: - SEXUAL VIOLENCE

By:SRIJAN MEHROTRA
2010/B.A.L.L.B./051
ISSUE: -SEXUAL VIOLENCE WITHIN THE DOORS:

The very notion in our Indian society which was earlier there that,
men are superior than women has been the root cause of many
social problems which is still prevalent in our Indian society. The issue
which I have dealt with is sexual violence and this is one of those
problems which was there is and by the scheme of things it appears
that it will be there in the near future also. Hence, I decided to raise
this issue and while I was doing so, I realised that my knowledge
regarding

this

topic

was

very

narrow.

I was deeply affected with the utter miseries which women were
subject to in their daily household and the way she is being subject to
oppression by her own family members. I tried to find out more about
this issue and as it was portrayed in the novel by the character Celie.
She was uneducated, so on the face it, it appeared that these sexual
violence happened to those who were uneducated but when I did
more research, I found out that those who are doing jobs are more
subject to sexual violence. Before reading this novel I thought sexual
violence happens because of sexual frustration as the sexual desire is
not fulfilled, so this might lead to sexual violence and after researching
more on this I found out that men see women as her object & they
want to use them as per their liking and thats why they want women
to be suppress by them and they always want to show superiority on
women.

How this issue has helped me as a law student?

While, I was working on the issue of sexual violence, I found out two
significant things .Firstly, that law provides many remedies to the
person

who

is

being

subjected

to

sexual

violence.

Secondly, I have learnt from this issue that the law gives only de jure
remedy to the duped and not de facto remedy.
On the above strife I would like to state some facts, in Bombay during
the period of 1985-89; 504 cases are registered for Rape/sexual
violence in which 469 were charge sheeted, of which there were
thirteen convictions and ten acquittals and 441 cases are still
pending.1 From this I allege that having a law only, will not help the
present scenario. If we essentially want to recover such a blemish on
the face of law, then we at the outset have to try to develop the moral
understanding of our society and the conformist notion which our
patriarchal society has.
As, a law student I have appreciated the fact that if I really want
justice for my client, then only reading tonnes of law would not help
me. I have to go beyond it, and look into the societal stipulation of the
client and accordingly endeavour for justice. My aim will not be
constrained to the fact that I need to win the case, but to question the
orthodox patriarchal perceptions of the society and strive for a decree
which would accelerate an affirmative change in the acuity of the
society. Then only in my opinion I would be able to help client in
veracity.

1 Menon Nivedita, Recovering Subversion, Permanent Black, 2007,

at pg 120