In May, the Ministry of Home Affairs commissioned a #committee for reforms in our criminal #laws. In simple words, a #committee to rewrite all our criminal #laws.
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Experts fear that the committee will dilute safeguards that exist to prevent unfair prosecutions & wrongful convictions. Several #lawyers, #activists, & academics have raised concerns about the #committee and called for it to be disbanded. But why? Let's take a look ⬇️
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1. The Government's Role
Retired #judges and #lawyers have raised concerns about the government's say in the final report of the #committee, to which the committee has not yet responded. This brings into the question the committee's #independence.
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2. Protocols Ignored
The #committee has disregarded certain universally acceptable #law reforms protocols adopted by Law Commissions across the globe, including the #LawCommission of India.
The #committee comprises of five upper-caste men, most of whom are based in #Delhi. No #representation for #women, Dalits, Bahujans, Adivasis, religious minorities, trans people, #LGBTQIA+ community, & other marginalised groups exists.
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4. The Timing
The #committee is carrying out its proceedings, from start to finish, during the #Covid19 pandemic. Amidst a global crisis, public debate, engagement and #resistance will be severely limited.
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5. Stakeholder Engagement
The committee is operating entirely in English and using only #online consultation processes, excluding many a stakeholders who don't speak English and/or do not have
access to the #internet.
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What can you do? 1. Inform yourself, others about the #committee and why it must be disbanded. 2. Use resources on available on disbandthecommittee.in 2. Write to the Committee, the #MHA, and your #MP by Oct 08, 2020 to register your #protest.
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Click on the link below to use an email draft prepared by @citizensspeakup to write to the Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs and your MP ⬇️⬇️
According to @IndiaSpend's analysis of the Crime in #India 2019 report, cases of rape against #women from scheduled #castes increased by 37%, and of assault by 20%, in the past four years.
The analysis also mentioned that #UttarPradesh recorded the highest increase in #crime against #women, at 66.7%, in the four years to 2019. Overall, crimes against people from the scheduled #castes increased by 18.8%.
According to the policy brief, women only make up a quarter (24.9%) of members of national #parliaments across the #globe. As of January 2020, only 21.3% of ministers globally were #women.
Brahmanical #patriarchy continues to be one of the most misunderstood terms of our times. People often argue as to why we must call for 'Smashing Brahmanical Patriarchy' and not just 'Smashing Patriarchy'. #FIIExplains
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But in India, caste and gender intersect together to uphold the Brahmanical social order. Professor Uma Chakravarti, coined the term in her 1993 paper 'Conceptualising Brahmanical Patriachy in Early India - Gender, Caste, Class and State'.
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She defined brahmanical patriarchy as 'the need for effective sexual control over women to not only maintain patrilineal succession but also caste purity, the institution unique to Hindu society'.
The #Covid19 pandemic disrupted or halted #mentalhealth services in 93% of countries worldwide, says a new WHO survey. Acc. to a news report in the Scroll, the survey was conducted in 130 countries from June to August.
As per the survey, over 60% countries reported #mentalhealth services being disrupted for vulnerable people, including #children, adolescents, older adults, and #women requiring antenatal and postnatal services.
Here's why we need to #StopTransBill2019 : 1. The bill requires trans people to be 'certified' by the district magistrate to have their identity recognised. Moreover, if a person is to change their preferred gender to male or female, they would need to show proof of SRS.
2. The bill groups intersex people under the definition of transgender, despite the distinction in identity & experiences between the two, thereby conflating sex and gender. This is horrifying misrepresentation but also an invisibilisation of intersex persons & their concerns.
3. The bill requires the court order to decide where a trans child will live — either with biological family or the community family — as another blatant human right violation. #StopTransBill2019