Indian feminisms: law, patriarchies and violence in India

162 Pages·2016·0.547 MB·English

by  Gangoli, Geetanjali

INDIAN FEMINISMS
This book is dedicated to all the activists in the Indian
feminist movements – for their efforts to make a difference...
Indian Feminisms
Law, Patriarchies and Violence in India
GEETANJALI GANGOLI
University of Bristol, UK
© Geetanjali Gangoli 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Geetanjali Gangoli has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988,
to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Gower House Suite 420
Croft Road 101 Cherry Street
Aldershot Burlington, VT 05401-4405
Hampshire GU11 3HR USA
England
Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Gangoli, Geetanjali
Indian feminisms : law, patriarchies and violence in India
1. Feminism - India - History 2. Women - India - Social
conditions 3. Women - Legal status, laws, etc. - India
I. Title
305.4'2'0954
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gangoli, Geetanjali.
Indian feminisms : law, patriarchies, and violence in India / by Geetanjali Gangoli.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7546-4604-4 (alk. paper) 1. Feminism--India. 2. Family violence--
Law and legislation--India. 3. Women--Legal status, laws, etc.--India. 4. Sex and
law--India. I. Title.
HQ1742.G36 2007
305.420954--dc22
2006031459
ISBN-13: 978-0-7546-4604-4
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall.
Contents
List of Abbreviations vii
Glossary ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction 1
2 National and Local Feminisms: Different Streams within
the Women’s Movements 15
3 Feminism and the State: Citizenship, Legislative Debates
and Women’s Issues 33
4 The Legal Regulation of Women’s Sexuality: Continuum
between Civil and Criminal Laws 57
5 ‘Custodial Rape’ and Feminist Interventions 79
6 The Campaign Against Domestic Violence 99
7 Conclusions 119
Bibliography 131
Index 145
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List of Abbreviations
AMM Annapurna Mahila Mandal
APL Above Poverty Line
APRM Anti-Price Rise Movement
AWM Autonomous Women’s Movements
BJP Bhartiya Janata Party
BPL Below Poverty Line
CITU Centre of Indian Trade Unions
Congress (I) Congress (Indira)
CPI (ML) Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist)
CPI Communist Party of India
CPIM Communist Party of India Marxist
Cr.P.C Criminal Procedure Code
DD Dying Declaration
FAOW Forum Against Oppression of Women
FAR Forum Against Rape
FIR First Investigation Report
HMA Hindu Marriage Act
IEA Indian Evidence Act
IPC Indian Penal Code
IWM Indian Women’s Movement
JMS Janwadi Mahila Samiti
LABIA Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action
LBT Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered
MP Member of Parliament
MPL Muslim Personal Law
NCW National Commission for Women
NFIW National Federation of Indian Women
OBC Other Backward Castes
PIL Public Interest Litigation
PITA Immoral Traffic in Women and Children (Prevention) Act
PUDR People’s Union of Democratic Rights.
RSS Rashtriya Seva Sangh
SAB Sexual Assault Bill
SITA Suppression of Immoral Traffic (in Women)Act
SMA Special Marriages Act
TADA Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
viii Indian Feminisms
UCC Uniform Civil Code
UN United Nations
WDP Women’s Development Programme
WGWR Working Group on Women’s Rights
Glossary
Agni Pariksha: Trial by fire.
Awaaz-e-Niswaan: Literally, the voice of women; feminist organisation working
predominantly with Muslim women in Mumbai.
Bindi: The holy dot or bindi is an auspicious makeup worn by young Hindu girls and
women on their forehead, and is traditionally a red dot made with vermilion, and
signifies female energy (shakti) and is considered a symbol of marriage.
Brahmin: Person belonging to the highest hindu caste of the varna system of
traditional hindu society, and regarded to be responsible for society’s spiritual
aspects. A man born into a Brahmin family becomes twice-born (dvija) when he
undergoes initiation into Vedic education.
Dalit: Dalit in Sanskrit is derived from the root dal which means to split, break,
crack, used first by social reformer Jotiba Phule (1827–1890), to describe the
outcastes and untouchables as the oppressed and broken victims of the Indian
caste-ridden society. Used in contemporary India to describe ‘Sudras’.
Dharma: In Hindu philosophy, ‘dharma’ means religious duty. In Buddhism ‘dharma’
implies ‘protection’ from suffering by following Buddha’s teachings.
Harijan: The polite form for untouchable coined by Mahatma Gandhi literally ‘people
of God’, however this term is considered condescending and Dalit is preferred.
Iddat: Islamic custom, wherein, upon the husband’s death, or divorce or annulment
of the marriage by some other manner, the woman has to remain confined in one
house for a specified period of time. In case of divorce, she has to observe ‘iddat’
till she has three consecutive menstrual periods, or if she is pregnant, until the
child is born.
Janwadi Mahila Samiti: Democratic Women’s Organisation, attached to the
Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Kali: Hindu goddess, known for her role as destructor of evil, a non-benign form of
Goddess Parvati, wife of Shiva. Kali is worshipped nationally, but especially in
Eastern India, and has also been used as a feminist icon.
Khanawali: Literally, provider of food, used by women cooking commercially for
working class men.
Kshatriya: Person belonging to the warrior caste, derived from kshatra, meaning
‘dominion, power, government’.
Latni: Rolling pin.
Lok Sabha: Literally House of the People; similar in composition to the House of
Commons in the UK, therefore made up of elected representatives from all over
the country.