CHANGING SOCIETY CHANGING PERSPECTIVE: NEED FORPROTECTION LAWS FOR MEN IN INDIA!!
If we all endorsing the concept of Gender Equality, why men should be left behind?
ABSTRACT:
In this Article we will explore the various problems which men are grappled with, since a long period of time, but these issues are highlighting today due to the various factors that are being discussed the Article, and also discussed with the solutions that could transform the society and could bring the male rights to the mainstream as well. The idea could be taken from the various countries that are currently having the gender-neutral rights, some of them are being discussed in the Article.
INTRODUCTION
It was an ordinary day at the market, until a banner held by a passerby caught my eye – not just for its hold humor, but for the brutal truth it highlighted about the legal neglect faced by men. In the banner it was written that “THERE SHOULD BE EIGHT NUPTIAL VOWS IN THE MARRIAGE, AND THE EIGHTH ONE SHOULD BE TO PROMISE YOUR HUSBAND THAT YOU WON’T KILL YOUR THE HUSBAND AFTER THE MARRIAGE ALONG WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND”.
We have lived in the Patriarchal Society for a long period of time, where the women were being sabotaged by the male member of the society incessantly, due to this there was dire need for strict laws for the protection of women, and that resulted in the making of the number of laws towards the women, but with the passage of time the scenarios have changed and such legal frameworks have resulted in the betterment of the women’s conditions, although the fact cannot be denied that still today the situation of women is quite paradoxical.
At one end the women are achieving the success whereas on another end some women are still struggling to get rid of their mental agony caused by some misogynist members of society. But there is also another story that needed to be heard, it is the protection laws for the men as well, because with the advent of time they are falling prey to the various offences whether it be the false cases of the dowry, sexual harassment towards them. the offences like rape and other harassment whether at house, office or road they get fall prey, and the saddest part is that when they want justice for whatever happened with them, they sunk in gloom by finding that there is barely any law for their protection.
In order to support the above claim, there is barely any data that shows the percentage of issues faced by men legally. This rising concern can no longer be sidelined in the name of gender neutrality –“ real equality demands protect for all” as the Supreme Constitution of Our Country , Article 14 and 15 also talks about the same, where the former talks about the Equal Protection of law and Equality before law, and equality before law can only be promoted when there is equal protection of law, and here comes the need of the equal protections of the men’s rights as well otherwise the purpose of this article on the gender basis will be defeated. The latter one talks that there should be no gender discrimination practiced by the government but still there is barely any law for the protection of men as well.
THE RISE OF MALE- CENTRIC LEGAL CONCERNS: REASONS
- PATRIARCHAL FOCUS LED TO THE FEMALE CENTRIC LAWS – MEN
GOT LEFT BEHIND:
Patriarchal society historically eschewed the women rights as they were treated like the
goods of their father and after the marriage of their husbands, later with the realization of
their vulnerable status, the focus shifted only on the women-centric laws, and society
never paused to think that situation could be reserved as well. But with the recent cases
highlighted majorly because of social media, shows that now there is need of gender-
neutral laws.
One of the incidents that supports the above argument is of the Guy that was travelling in the general class of train and he was being sexually abused by the men only, and the man was so shameless that on being asked about the reason for such disgraceful behavior, very shamelessly he replied that he just did it without any reason
and the man who faced it, felt very hopeless that he is devoid of any stringent legal protection.
- MISUSE OF LEGAL PROVISIONS:
Today, the women are becoming self-independent and even are getting aware about the rights that are made for them, but apparently some women are using these legal provisions unethically to satisfy their self-interest and sometimes for taking revenge, and what hurts the most is that the truly needy women are still bearing the brunt in the silence.
There are following instances where it is highlighted that how the provisions are not only misused by the women but also they are somewhat endorsed by the legal provisions themselves because of their favoring nature towards women.
A. PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VOILENCE, 2005 AND
THE SECTION 85 OF BHARTIYA NYAYA SANHITA, 2023
Under the former act, it is for the comprehensive legal protection to the women against the domestic violence, recognizing violence in both Physical and Psychological forms within familial settings. The act covers all women and even the live-in partners. Whereas Under Section 86 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita that talks about that any willful Conduct that is likely to drive women to:
Commit suicide. OR
Cause Grave Injury Or danger to the Woman’s Life, Limb, or Health.
Both of the above measured are being misused by women:
To Harass Husbands and their Families.
Even to Coerce Husband to Fulfill their Unethical demand and mostly it is for the Huge Financial Benefit.
There is the Loophole even the law itself that the offence of section 85 is Non- Bailable and Cognizable, which leads to immediate arrests without any prior investigation even after revising the whole acts, legislature fails to amend and the same.
Even the Data as published by the NCRB that in 2020 The CRUELTY CASES (“
UNDER 498-A IPC,1960”) total cases reported were (11,549) and out of them cases that were closed by the police as False cases were (5,520).
B. RAPE AS DEFINED UNDER SECTION 63 OF BHARTIYA NYAYA
SANHITA, 2023 (EARLIER SECTION 375 OF INDIAN PENAL CODE) In recent times it is being seen that women are even misusing the legal provision that made for their protection, Majorly the false cases of rape accused are from teenage groups, where the girls after having the intercourse, accuse the boy or same is done by her family members, and the revised provision of the rape still mentions that (any sexual intercourse with women below 18 would be considered rape). This loophole is becoming advantageous for some disgraceful
women to gain some economic benefit from the boy.
Even the data revealed by NCRB that (“IN 2020 THERE WERE 28,046 RAPE CASES REGISTERED IN INDIA. Of These, 3,375 were Closed By police Citing as false”).
EXAMPLE: Special POSCO Court in Ajmer that the women used her own daughter to frame the false charges Against 2 men of raping Minor Daughter to take revenge for filing a case against her husband. Hence, the court sentenced her to 6 Months in jail and imposed fine of Rs, 10,000.
C. USING MAINTENANCE PROVSION TO EXTORT THE MALES:
There are several instances where the husbands are being accused by the wives for giving them maintenance, either before taking divorce or after taking divorce, the section 144 of BNNS (125 of Crpc) that talks that if wife is unable to maintain herself then she can ask for maintenance from husband by making an application to the court of judicial magistrate first class, from the places where she lives. This provision is for providing the necessary financial support, but in recent times the wives are using this provision to extort money from their
husbands, and even to pester them unnecessarily.
EXAMPLE: ATUL SUBHASH CASE
Where the wife without taking divorce filed for maintenance from Lucknow, and the husband was living in Bangalore, this caused hard to the husband, but besides that there were number of cases that were being filed by his wife to pester her husband, even after paying hefty amount to wife as the interim maintenance the wife demanded for more money that even the Husband failed to pay, and after losing hope, he suicided, this is one the major highlighted cases.
D. ACUSSING UNDER FALSE DOWRY CASES:
Under Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 there are various instances seen the recent times where the Husband is seen to be falsely implicated in the dowry cases.
EXAMPLE: In one of my court visits, I have observed one case where the wife didn’t want to reside along with her husband due to the good mutual relation with her elder sister who was married to her husband’s elder brother, and there were strange relations between the two brothers. On being not returned for 5 years consistently the husband filed petition for divorce under section 13 of HINDU MARRIAGE ACT,1955 under the DESERTION clause, when the wife was asked to appear in the court she accused her husband for asking Dowry and as she was unable to the give the same, her husband has beaten her, but consequently due to the absence of any proof, the husband side won the case and divorced was granted.
- DUE TO THE ABSENCE OF ANY LEGAL PROTECTION
Article 14- Talks about the:
Equality Before Law.
Equal Protection of law.
Instead of having the Equal protection of law, legislatures failed to enact any law for
men, they never felt that even the women sometimes could be the perpetrator, as in the
society, family and even at national level they are shown vulnerable stance, and even it is true
but that cannot deny the fact that men too, get vulnerable sometimes.
Article 15: talks about the:
That State Shall not discriminate any citizen on the basis of race, caste, gender,
religion or place of birth.
But it is clearly seen that one gender is being discriminated in terms of legal
protection.
Thus, we can say that men’s Fundamental rights are being Violated. There is plethora of laws for women even the gender-neutral laws are there but still it is tilted towards the women only.
For example- GUARDIANSHIP AND WARDS ACT, 1890- talks that In case of Divorce or Separation, the custody of the child in India is determined primarily by the Child’s Welfare, and this child’s welfare automatically turns out to meant for Mother.
For Example- BNS, BNSS, BSA (2023) – All laws have been revised to reflect the today’s society changes but unfortunately there is barely any provision that talks about men’s right.
For Example- POSH act (2013) – specifically is for the women to prevent them from the sexual harassment but Hon’ble Supreme Court in (“BINU TAMTA AND ANR. V. HIGH COURT OF DELHI AND ORS.”) Explicitly refused to entertain the gender neutral definition as(“AGGRIEVED PERSON”).
WAY FORWARDS:
- Family Level :
Encourage men to express emotions without Judgement.
Build an environment where discussing stress, failure, or pressure is normal.
Avoid stereotypes like “men should not cry”.
Support men when they are facing the false accusations without jumping to conclusions.
Gender -Neutral Upbringing: Promote the mutual respect between the boys and the girls, avoiding Glorification of female Victimhood and male aggression.
Open – Communication: Encourage sons and male members to express emotions and seek help without shame.
Awareness for parents : Educate the parents to treat domestic abuse of sons.
Marriages should be the collaborative decision: families must ask for their children’s free, informed, and willing consent. - Society Level:
Helplines, shelters and counselling centers specifically for the male victims of abuse, should be set up.
Awareness Campaigns should be launched to break the Gender Stereotypes Like “ real men don’t cry”.
Education at the basic level that male can also be the victims of social abuse.
- National Level:
To make the present law gender neutral only by amendments.
To establish the men’s rights commissions or at least cells within existing human rights bodies.
Encourage the balanced media portrayals where men are shown as human- not just aggressors.
National Surveys : Conduct NSSO or NCRB based data collection on violence against men to inform policymaking.
Seriousness among the judicial bodies to deal the matter of Male complainants.
COUNTRIES WITH GENDER NEUTRAL LAWS:
There are more than 63 countries that have enacted the gender neutral laws. Some of them
are as follows :
A. UNITED KINGDOM:
o In United Kingdom there is EQUALITY ACT 2010 where:
o There is Prohibition of any kind of discrimination and the Harassment against
male and female on basis of 9 protected Characteristics, and those are:
Age, Disabilities, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation.
Section 26 : talks about the gender neutral provision of sexual harassment at the workplace.
B. NORDIC COUNTRIES:
These countries come out on top for measures related to gender equality.
Denmark: introduced a gender equality law in 1979, with the aim of promoting equal rights for men and women in the working life.
Finland: Bans discrimination based on gender identity and expression and requires preventive measures against discrimination in schools and workplaces.
Norway: Equality and Anti- Discrimination act Act provides Protection Against Discrimination Based on Gender, Pregnancy, and caregiving Responsibilities.
C. UNITED STATES:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:
Prohibits discrimination in employment based on sex, which includes pregnancy, sexual orientation, and transgender status.
14th Amendment of the US Constitution:
The principle of equal protection under the law, derived from the fourteenth Amendment, and in terms of Rape laws, Sexual Assault, and crimes there are gender neutral laws deriving from the Constitutional Amendment
CONCLUSION:
There is a pressing need for gender-neutral legislation to avoid discrimination against either gender before things become worse. If we don’t act now, we might end up having a society that turns out to be the contemporary version of the patriarchal system — a system we fought for decades to bring down. Turning the clock back would again take decades. To ensure men’s protection and enforce actual equality, we should understand that prevention is better than cure.
