Introduction
We live in a country where women are worshipped and harassed at the same time. Most cases of harassment occur because we don’t know about the legal rights of women in India.
Noticing the increasing trend toward women’s harassment cases, the government of India gives crucial rights to every woman residing in this country.
However, it is futile if you don’t know them.
So, In this article, we are going to discuss 11 legal rights of Women in India that you should know.
11 Legal Rights of Women in India
Here are 11 Legal rights for women in India. I am sure you know some of them already but if not, no worries
Keep Reading!
1. Right to have equal pay
The first and the foremost right that comes to my mind is the Right to have equal pay.
Well, this is quite a common issue be it in any industry, women are paid less as compared to their male counterparts, and that too for the same work that they both are doing.
According to the provisions listed under the Equal Remuneration Act, one cannot be discriminated on the basis of gender when it comes to salary, pay or wages.
So next time you see this inequality happening anywhere, you know what to do.
Right?
Let’s move on to right no 2.
2. Right to dignity and decency
Even if the woman is the accused person, any medical examination performed on her has to be done either by a woman or a woman has to be present during the entire procedure.
3. Right against workplace harassment
Nowadays workplace harassment is commonly faced by women. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act gives a female the right to file a complaint against any kind of sexual harassment at her place of work. Under this act, the woman who has been harassed can submit a written complaint to an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at a branch office within a period of 3 months from the date of the harassment.
4. Right against domestic violence
Section 498 of the Indian Constitution looks to protect a female, live-in-partner, wife, or any woman in a household
from domestic violence (including verbal, economic, emotional, physical, and sexual) at the hands of a husband, male live-in partner, or relatives.
The accused shall be punished with non-bailable imprisonment for a term that may extend to three years and shall also be liable to a hefty fine.
5. Right to keep their identity anonyms
Women who are sexually assaulted have the right to protect their identity. They can keep their name anonymous and they may record her statement alone before the district magistrate when the case is under trial, or in the presence of a female police officer.
6. Right to get free legal aid
We all agree to this that the fees of lawyers are high and not everyone can afford a good lawyer.
However, under the Legal Services Authorities Act, female rape victims have the right to get free legal aid or help from the Legal Services Authority which has to arrange a lawyer for her totally free of cost.
7. Right not to be arrested at night
I think this is a very well-known fact that a woman can’t be arrested after sunset and before sunrise unless the order is coming from a first-class magistrate.
In addition, the law also states that the police can interrogate a woman at her residence only in the presence of a woman constable, family members, and friends.
8. Right to register a virtual complaint
In a condition where the woman is not in a position to go physically to a police station to file a police complaint, in this case, the law gives the provision to a woman to file a complaint virtually i.e through an email or by writing her complaint and sending it to a police station from a registered postal address.
9. Right against indecent representation
Depiction of a woman’s figure, or any other body part in any manner that is indecent, derogatory, or is likely to deprave, corrupt, or injure the public morality or morals, is a punishable offence. This often happens in a crowded areas where some perverted people do this and women often ignore such people that’s why they keep on doing these things. As a responsible citizen, you should definitely raise your voice against these people openly.
10. Right against being stalked
Stalking is a big big problem whether it is in a physical form or in a virtual form. Virtual stalking cases have increased drastically in the past few years.
Under section 354D of the IPC, a woman can take legal action against the stalker who follows a woman, and tries to contact her to foster personal interaction repeatedly despite a clear indication of disinterest, stalking digitally in any form is also a punishable offence.
11. Right to have zero FIR
Women who are sexually assaulted have the right to protect their identity. They can keep their name anonymous and they may record her statement alone before the district magistrate when the case is under trial, or in the presence of a female police officer.
Let’s understand this with an example. If a crime happens with a girl in X location and she is a resident of Y location. It is not necessary that girl has to report the FIR only in the Y location. She can report it anywhere nearest to where the crime has happened. The police cannot deny her FIR and later the FIR can be transferred to the required jurisdiction.
Conclusion
So these were the 11 legal rights of women in India that are covered in this article which according to me everyone should know so that if in the future you see injustice happening to women anywhere, you can raise your voice with proper legal facts.
If you think this article was of some help to you, then do not forget to share it with your fellow female friends because you never know who might need this piece of information.