Gender Justice and Gender-Biased Laws in India: A Comparative Socio-Legal Analysis WITH The USA and UK

Abstract

Gender justice represents a fundamental component of constitutional democracy, human dignity, equality, and the rule of law. Although the concept originally developed largely in response to the historical discrimination, violence, economic dependence, and social marginalisation experienced by women, contemporary gender justice has acquired a broader meaning. It now requires legal systems not only to protect women against structural inequality but also to examine whether laws themselves reinforce gender stereotypes, exclude particular categories of victims, or impose unequal legal consequences merely on the basis of sex or gender. India has enacted an extensive framework of women-protective legislation relating to domestic violence, dowry, cruelty, sexual harassment, rape, maintenance, and matrimonial rights. These measures emerged from genuine social conditions in which women were disproportionately exposed to violence and discrimination. Nevertheless, changing family structures, recognition of male and LGBTQ+ victimisation, constitutional jurisprudence on autonomy and dignity, and comparative developments in foreign jurisdictions have intensified the debate regarding the continued justification of exclusively gender-specific laws.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which came into force on 1 July 2024, continues several genders-specific features of the earlier Indian Penal Code. Chapter V specifically addresses offences against women and children; rape under Section 63 is framed around a male perpetrator and female victim, while Sections 74–79 similarly provide certain protections specifically to women. Section 85 continues the earlier Section 498A framework concerning cruelty by a husband or his relatives. At the same time, the law retains the marital rape exception for wives aged eighteen or above. These provisions raise complex questions concerning substantive equality, protective discrimination, gender neutrality, due process, and access to justice.

This article undertakes a socio-legal and comparative examination of gender justice in India with special reference to the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The American and British experiences demonstrate that victim-sensitive policies can coexist with increasingly gender-neutral statutory formulations. The study argues that gender neutrality should not be understood as the mechanical removal of women-specific protections. Rather, Indian law should move towards a model of substantive gender justice, under which legal protection is available according to vulnerability, harm, coercion, and abuse rather than rigid assumptions about the gender of victims or perpetrators. Such reform must simultaneously preserve affirmative measures required to address the continuing structural disadvantages experienced by women.