The manual “aims to assist judges and the legal community in identifying, understanding and combating stereotypes about women,” according to the top court.
In courts, “alternative language… preferred” should be used instead of the misleading term “Eve teasing,” and it is a “stereotype” that “women who consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes want to engage in sexual relations with men.”
These are just a few of the many “stereotypes” and “incorrect… language that promotes stereotypes” that the Supreme Court called out in its “Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes,” which was published on Wednesday.
The manual “aims to assist judges and the legal community in identifying, understanding and combating stereotypes about women,” according to the top court.
It offers suggestions for substitute words or phrases that could be utilized when preparing petitions, orders, and judgments, as well as a glossary of gender-unjust terms.
It also asks that the phrases adulteress, bastard, career woman, carnal liaison, concubine/keep, housewife, mistress, prostitute, transsexual, and unwed mother not be used in court.
The statement “an individual who has been affected by sexual violence may identify themselves as either a “survivor” or “victim”” refers to the choice of whether to refer to someone who has been raped as a survivor or victim. Both phrases are acceptable unless the person expresses a preference in which case “the individual’s preference should be respected”.
The guide advises the “Indian judiciary” to “acknowledge the deeply ingrained impact of gender stereotypes and actively work to dismantle them from its thinking, decision-making, and writing.”
Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud states in the foreword to the book that “relying on predetermined stereotypes in judicial decision-making contravenes the duty of judges to decide each case on the merits, independently and impartially” and that “reliance on stereotypes about women is particularly liable to distort the law’s application to women in harmful ways.”
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) notes that “even when the use of stereotypes does not alter the outcome of a case, stereotypical language may reinforce ideas contrary to our constitutional ethos”
The CJI emphasizes that it is “vital that judges not only avoid relying on stereotypes in their decision-making and writing, but also actively challenge and dispel harmful stereotypes,” stating that “challenging and overcoming stereotypes is essential to ensuring an equal, inclusive, and compassionate society.”
According to him, judges who rely on damaging preconceptions risk distorting the objective and impartial administration of the law and “perpetuating discrimination and exclusion.”
According to the manual, “reliance on stereotypes is frequently subconscious” and “can prevent us from understanding the reality of a situation and can cloud our judgment.”
According to the report, stereotypes “may also have an adverse impact on the mental health or professional performance of the members of the stereotyped group because they are aware that they are being viewed in a particular manner” and “on a micro-level, stereotypes lead to exclusion and discrimination in workplaces, educational institutions, and public places.”
When a judge “relies on preconceived assumptions about people or groups when deciding cases or writing judgements,” it is stated that “the harm caused can be enormous” and that this can cause judges to “ignore or bypass the requirements of law or distort the application of the law vis-à-vis particular persons or groups.”
“The constitutional principle of ‘equal protection of laws’, which holds that the law should apply consistently and impartially to every individual, irrespective of their belonging to a group or category, is violated when stereotypes are used instead of objectively appraising the circumstances. Judges’ use of stereotypes has the additional impact of entrenching and sustaining stereotypes, prolonging an unfair cycle.
The manual cites stereotypes “based on the so-called ‘inherent characteristics’ of women… based on the gender roles of women; and… related to sex, sexuality, and sexual violence” as the most prevalent sorts of gender stereotypes that affect women.
The handbook notes that while the stereotype that “all women want to have children” is based on the so-called “inherent characteristics,” the “reality” is that “all women do not want to have children” and “deciding to become a parent is an individual choice that every person takes based on a variety of circumstances.”
It adds that “the responsibility of taking care of elderly individuals in the family falls equally on individuals of all genders” and “not the sole remit of women” and calls the stereotype that “wives should take care of their husband’s parents” a “gender role” stereotype.
The manual quotes a misconception about sex and sexual assault: “Women who are sexually abused or raped by men cry constantly and are miserable or suicidal. A woman is lying about having been raped if her actions do not fit this mold. The “truth is that various people react to stressful circumstances differently…There is no ‘proper’ or ‘acceptable’ manner for a survivor or victim to behave.
In this connection, it is also stated that there is a “stereotype” that “dominant caste men do not want to engage in sexual relations with women from oppressed castes” and “therefore, any allegation of sexual assault or rape by an oppressed caste woman against a dominant caste man is false”.
Rape and sexual assault have, nevertheless, historically been employed as a means of societal control, according to the “reality”. The handbook goes on to describe some of the significant judgments in which the Supreme Court rejected several of the gender stereotypes and notes that “dominant caste men have historically used sexual violence as a tool to reinforce and maintain caste hierarchies.”
The article warns that “such beliefs may cause survivors/victims to consider suicide because they have been raped by a man” and calls it a “patriarchal and harmful… stereotype” that “good… women prefer death rather than being raped by a man.
