Gender Justice or Gender Bias?…Men’s Rights and the Impact of Recent Criminal Law Reforms
Abstract
The research paper delves into gender bias in legal framework of India , particularly highlighting discriminatory provision against men. It exposes societal and legal assumptions that primarily identifies women as victims and result in uneven legal protections. The major areas of concern are false marriages harassment at work , rape and sexual assault, cruelty and maintenance law. The article criticize the absence of gender neutral laws and abuse of gender based regulations, requiring reforms to make equal legal protections for both gender. It argues for the adaptation of mechanism that will response to male victimization, eliminate stereotype and provide balanced justice by being gender neutral and having preventive measures against abuse.
Keywords
Gender equality, Unnoticed biasness towards men, BNS 2023, BNSS 2023, Men face harassment, Maintenance law, Rape Laws.
Research Methodology
This research is based on descriptive an analytical methodology. It consist of secondary sources like journals, articles, study materials etc.
Introduction
Dr. BR. Ambedkar championed the idea of equality, believing it should be a fundamental principal, even if its an ideal. He emphasized that a just society requires equality, freedom, and fraternity for all, regardless of the background.
‘Let knowledge be your power, and equality your goal.’
B.R.Ambedkar
‘Gender equality not only liberates women but also men from prescribed gender stereotypes.’
Emma Watson
Gender equality is a very sensitive topic in our society since a long period of time. Equality is very much necessary in every aspect of time. Men and women both are very much equally important for a development of a family and also a society. Gender Inequalities adversely affects the development goals and thereby the economic growth. Gender inequality, gender bias and gender discrimination are some of the issues which have received a lot of emphasis in recent times all over the world.
‘Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a pre-condition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainability development and building good governance’
Kofi Annan.
‘Gender equality is the goal that will help abolish poverty that will create more equal economies fairer societies and happier men, women children .’
Grace Machel
When we talk about equality what is the very first thing that comes to our mind?
Equality of Rights of Women as of the Men. In every country we have laws to determine the rights of every gender, even India do have different rules and regulations for determining rights of a person. But do you think that every law provides equality to every gender? According to me, it’s a no. We all know that there are many provisions where equality is not provided. When I say this, people would consider that I’m talking about women but do you think its only a problem for women, no even men do face bias in many sectors. Recently we are observing a lot of cases where equality is a big question. If we look after those cases we will find out that a lot of cases are there that proves biasness against men.
In many jurisdiction, including India, reforms are focused on protecting those who are previously most vulnerable –often women- by enacting measures against gender bias violence, discrimination and harassment..Due to some of these women centric laws we can follow many cases where women misuse those laws leading to false accusation against them of sexual harassment rape and domestic violence. So we can say that it often remains unnoticed that even men faces discrimination . Even many laws are there whose some provisions can be considered as discriminatory against men.
Some of such notable legal provisions are as follows:
- Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code: this provision provides protection to women from cruelty in marriage. This provision is misused a lot. Men and their family faces consequences based solely on women’s complaint without substantial evidence.
- Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013: while this act provides protection to women from sexual harassment , it does not explicitly address male victims.
- False promise to marry (section 375 IPC): under this, if a man engages into consensual sexual relations with a woman based on false promise of marriage, he can be charged with Rape. However, same protection is not extended to a man. A women can get into a sexual relation with false promise and can deceive him and there is no provision to punish it. Later on the women can put false allegation of rape and can get him punished.
- Dowry and Domestic violence : while these provisions are very important as these two are greatest social evil of our country, but we have seen a lot of misuse of these provision. Whereas domestic violence act does not address male victims of abuse.
In India, recently a new reform came in the criminal laws like IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act was repealed and new laws were introduced. This paper aims to discuss the discriminatory provisions for men and also the about the discrimination over men in the new criminal laws. This Research paper tries to discuss that biasness is not just towards female but also sometimes towards male which can be a bit lesser than biasness towards women due to which maximum of the time it remains unnoticed.
Provisions that are discriminatory for men.
1. False promise to marry
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, continues to highlight gender biases in its handling of false promises to marry under section 69. But just as IPC it does not provides equal protection. In this if a women gets into consensual relationship with a man due to false promise of marriage he can be sued under this section but if a man deceived by similar false promises they do not get legal remedy for that.
This is a one sided approach overlooks the possibility that men can also suffer emotional , social, or financial harm in such situation. Maximum of the time women are assumed as victims.
Under BNS, a women consent obtained through deceit is considered invalid .however a man consent obtained under false pretences does not hold the same legal weight. Reports shows increasing cases where allegations of false promises to marry are being misused.
- Sexual Harassment at the workplace.
Sexual harassment laws in India, such as the POSH Act, primarily focus on women as victims, reflecting inequalities. There is no laws which provides protection to male victims and those from non binary or LGBTQ+ communities, leaving them with limited or no legal remedy. Men who experiences workplace harassment whether sexual or emotional, are rarely provided with legal protections under these laws. The assumption that women can only be victim perpetuates stereotypes and overlooks the emotional toll harassment it can have on men. Additionally, the lack of legal recognition discourages male victims from reporting incidents, fearing disbelief and shame. Most laws and work place policies in our country doesn’t consider men as victim of sexual harassment. If a man gets sexually harassed ii is often ignored or not taken seriously. However section 14 of POSH Act has provision to deal with false complaint.
- Rape and Sexual Assault
When talking about rape laws of India gender bias is way too much, these primarily recognize women as victims and the men as perpetrator. But there are many cases where male faces sexual assault. May the number of cases be lesser than women and women are primary victim and they face this every day but we can see a lot of cases where male faces assault. Male victims assaulted by female or other male are not recognised as rape. With the removal of section 377 ( unnatural offence) under the new criminal laws, male on male sexual assault lacks clear categorization. Male victims of sexual offences if done by women , are left without a legal pathway for justice.
Section 68 of BNS(formerly section 376c of IPC) Penalizes male public servants for misuse of position to seek sexual favours from women. But there is no such equivalent law to punish women if they do the same. Even there is no provision to protect men against false sexual allegations. Age of consent is also a big issue as, if a 16 years old boy gets into a consensual sexual relation with a 16 years old girl the boy can be charged of rape.
- Cruelty and Maintenance
There is no provision for protection to men for marital cruelty just like women. Section 85 of BNS exclusively protect women from cruelty . But even a man can face violence from wife and in-laws but there is no provision for this. The misuse of this provision is increasing day by day. Data from NCRB(2020) reveals more than 5500 cases were registered were found false by police and many were closed due to error in fact or law, lack of evidence, dispute or was found false accusation. Though section 61 of BNS allows husbands to file case against wife if criminal conspiracy evidence is present. Even divorce can be filed under section 13(1)(ia) of Hindu marriage act 1955 if valid evidence can be presented.
Maintenance law also provides provisions in favour of women. Men need to provide financial support regardless of their wife financial independence. Men can face financial hardships or unemployment but have no right to maintenance under section 144. Even during custody laws provide advantage to the mother.
There are more such provision in which there is biasness towards men. And these type of biasness remains unnoticed.
What reform in laws can help to reduce biasness towards men
- Introduction of gender neutral laws: For equality gender neutral laws are
very much necessary. The equality must be for both male and female. Laws related to rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence, maintenance must introduce provision which can be considered gender neutral like bringing neutrality in laws like maintenance, rape laws, harassment laws etc. This would ensure that both men and women can seek protection and justice fostering a more balanced legal approach.
- Safeguards against misuse of Gender Specific Laws
Many laws are there that benefit women and there are high risk of misuse. So there should be provisions that can safeguard men
from these. This can include provisions for penalties in cases of false accusations and mandatory investigation before arrest for
ensuring fairness.
- Legal Recourse for Male Victims
Different Mechanisms should be introduced to address complaints from male victims of abuse and harassment. Specialised commissions or helpline for men can be established
to provide support and to ensure that there complaints are taken
seriously.
Review of Literature
Several studies have explored bias against men in legal systems. Research highlights how gender specific laws like sexual harassments, domestic violence and cruelty assumes women as the victims and doesn’t focus on the fact that even men can face all these. This is creating legal imbalance , leaving men in this type of situation without remedy. Studies also show that that societal norms shows men as more powerful due to which they are not considered as victim and consider as perpetrators. Additionally the mental health impact on men due to perceived biases and misuse of certain laws has been a focus, stressing the need of gender neutral laws to ensure equality.
Suggestions
Whenever we hear about gender equality we focus on providing equality to a woman which is very much necessary for development of a woman in this society where women are till date consider as puppet of a man and a superior woman. Activists and women are constantly fighting for equal rights and in a decade we are following that changes are coming, even in laws women are getting recognized but is equality only about women . I think in many laws where women and men are not getting equal rights must have provision for protection of men. Men also face sexual harassment but no provision is provided to get legal remedy. A study by sarrel and masters presents cases that 11men were sexually assaulted by men but they have no provision to complain about it. Same in the case of violence , who says that men cannot face violence they can also face it just like a woman. Though in case of violence men can file case against wives if evidence of criminal conspiracy is present under section 61 of BNS. Maximum of the time men need to provide with maintenance to those women who are independent and earn or have the capability to earn, which is very wrong providing maintenance to women who was dependent on her husband is justifiable only to the extant that they are capable of providing it . But we can follow many cases where a husband provides with alimony to his wife which he cannot afford but pays it pays it by hook or crook. There are few cases where men were provided with temporary alimony under section 24 and 25 of Hindu marriage act as they lack independent income like in a case a man from vadodara man who was 79 years old gets divorce and receives rs 47 lakh as alimony from wife. We need this type of laws where both are treated equal. (india, 23 october 2024) . even a man can get into a forceful intercourse in case of women we consider it as rape but in case of man we don’t consider it as rape. Even our law does not consider it. There are so many such laws. So need to look for solutions which provide equal rights to both.
Conclusion
Our society is full of imbalances but its our duty to bring reform to stop this imbalance. There should be equality without biasness , just as we are fighting for women rights we must also start fighting for men’s too. If we don’t start it from today a day will come when condition can be just like the women’s are facing from so many years. Son to stop that laws need to be reformed and we must take men’s problem seriously.
Jagriti Banerjee
Surendranath Law College (University of Calcutta)