BGS-012: Gender Based Violence

By Dr. Smita M Patil | Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi

Learners enrolled: 277

In this course, we will investigate the category of patriarchy that is central to the social and political struggles of women and marginal categories in relation to violence. At the same time how the concept of patriarchy can be read from different ideological perspectives. The society that is based on structural inequality and gender subjugation is often justified through violence. The social institutions of caste, religion, and culture, along with other institutions like family and state are necessary to study in the context of violence. The violence against women in communities, violence within communities, how structural and systemic violence taken through the manifestation of power and patriarchy. The student will study about domestic violence as a universal phenomenon. It maps the history of domestic violence, till making of domestic violence laws. The sexual violence is faced by women cutting across class, caste, community. The incidences of sexual violence are taking place within the private family spaces and also in the public spaces. So, what are the existing laws and offences related to it? The student will learn about the phenomenon of female foeticide and infanticide or missing girl child cultures. What are the legal measures taken by Government of India to address this issue? The women who fall into the category of ‘criminals’ as defined by law will be studied and how protective laws and policies that are in place to safeguard their interest. Thus, you will learn about the existing constitutional and other legal provisions safeguarding rights of women prisoners. In a similar way, the effort is to make you understand about the several definitions of cybercrimes, cybercrimes and gender question and how the cybercrimes operate in the society. The inquiry about the history of communal violence and the related laws in India. Caste is one of the components that fragmented human beings. It determined the social location, thus the debates on caste and violence against women from the gender perspective will be discussed. We will learn about political conflicts, how it poses a challenge at various levels in the democratic institutions. The role of the state is significant in debilitate hierarchies which are deeply rooted in culture and social structures in the society. The course will also explore how and to what extent same-sex relationships are conferred legal recognition in India, the progress made in the recent past. On the other hand, why it is important for law to recognise same-sex relationships or what effects does the non-recognition have on such relationships. It will also explain to the predominant forms of institutional and social violence against LGBTQI + people. It distinguishes institutional and social violence from other kinds of violence. The violence and discrimination against the LGBTQI + people. On the basis of their sexual identities, how LGBTQI + community face abuse, other kinds of violence in India. The violence and the discrimination exist despite the fact that the Supreme Court of India on 6 September 2018 in Navtej Singh Johar versus Union of India has ruled that the consensual homosexual act no longer constitutes a crime. Thus, by critically engaging into legal interventions, the attempt is to find out that the law alone is/are not sufficient to eradicate violence, but at larger level, we need to map the structural and power imbalance between the ways the social relationships are organized in the patriarchal or the male-dominated society.This course also articulates the category of reproduction and its association with biology. On the other hand, the law is conceptualised as an instrument to regulate the social realm. For instance, the concern of law with reproduction would appear to be counter intuitive. What are the debates related to reproductive healths emerges as an important issue in human rights law. What is the role of courts in ensuring access to reproductive rights, especially in the Indian context? It explains us about Assisted Human Reproductive Technologies (ART) are advanced and innovative medical developments that help people to give birth to child/children. There are numerous types of ART such as artificial insemination, in virto fertilization (IVF), gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT), Zygote intra-fall opian transfer (ZIFT), reproductive cloning, intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and Surrogacy, its forms. How the interrelationship between mental health states such as mental distress, mental health problem, and mental disorder occurs and also understand the signs and symptoms of common mental disorders. By dealing with the Occupational health and safety is an important endeavor and to achieve the goal and inform us how several laws are also provisions related to safety of women.

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Not Applicable
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	10 weeks
Category :	Multidisciplinary
Credit Points :	6
Level :	Certificate
Start Date :	01 Jan 2025
End Date :	30 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends :	28 Feb 2025
Exam Date :	24 May 2025 IST
Exam Shift :	Shift-II

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Publishing Weeks	Topics
Week 1	Unit 1: Patriarchy and Violence in Contemporary India Unit 2: Caste, Culture and Religion
Week 2	Unit 3: Violence against Communities Unit 4: Violence within Communities
Week 3	Unit 5: Domestic Violence Unit 6: Sexual Violence and Related Offences
Week 4	Unit 7: Female Feticide and Infanticide Unit 8: Women in Institutions
Week 5	Unit 9 : Cyber Crimes Unit 10 : Communal Violence
Week 6	Unit 11: Caste- Based Violence Unit 12: Political Conflict and Insurgency
Week 7	Unit 13: State led Violence Unit 14: Same sex relationship and Law.
Week 8	Unit 15: Institutionalized and Social Violence Unit 16: Violence and Discrimination
Week 9	Unit 17: Reproductive Health Unit 18: Surrogacy
Week 10	Unit 19: Mental Health Law

Books and references

Ambedkar B. R. (1979). “Castes in India”, In Vasant Moon (edited). Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Government of Maharashtra, Vol. 1.
Agnes, Flavia (2019). “What Survivors of Domestic Violence Need from Their New Government”, Economic and Political Weekly (Engage), 54 (17).
Achuthan, Asha. & Singh, Akanksha. (2019). “Questions on Gender-Sexuality and Discrimination: Perspectives from and on Biomedicine and Healthcare”, An Exploratory Study of Discrimination based on Genders and Sexualities, New Delhi, Ford.
Baxi, Pratiksha. (2000). “Rape, Retribution, State: Whose Bodies?”, Economic and Political Weekly, 35 (14), 13.
Bryson, Valerie. (1992). Feminist Political Theory: An Introduction, Paragon House.
Chakarvarti, Uma. (2006). Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens, Stree.
Chakravarti, Uma (2020). “From the Home to the Borders: Violence Against Women, Impunity and Resistance”, Social Change, 50 (2).
Chowdhry, Prem. (2010). Contentious Marriages, Eloping Couples: Gender, Caste and Patriarchy in Northern India, Oxford University Press.
Chunkath, Sheela Rani, and V. B. Athreya (1997). “Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu”, Economic and Political Weekly, April 26: WS21-WS28.
Dhagamwar, Vasudha (1992). Law, Power and Justice: The Protection of Personal Rights in the Indian Penal Code, Sage Publications.
Das, Veena. (2006). Life and Words: Violence and the Descent into the Ordinary, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Desai, M. (2011). “The Communal and Targeted Violence Bill”, Economic and Political Weekly, 46 (31).
Gangoli, Geetanjali (2007). Indian Feminism: Law, Patriarchies and Violence, Ashgate, UK.
Frost, David M. (2011). “Stigma and Intimacy in Same-Sex Relationships: A Narrative Approach”, Journal of Family Psychology, 25(1).
Gerber, Paula & O'Byrne, Katie. (2016). Surrogacy, Law and Human Rights, Routledge.
Gainsborough, Jenni (2008). “Women in Prison: International Problems and Human Rights-Based Approaches to Reform”, William and Mary Journal for Women and the Law, 14: 271-304. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmjowl/vol14/iss2/5.
Halder, Debarati and K. Jaishankar (2011). Cyber Crime and Victimization of Women’s Law, Rights and Regulation, IGI Global, New York.
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) (2010). Summary Report on Violence on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression Against Hetero-normative Women in Asia, https://outrightinternational.org/sites/default/files/386-1_0.pdf
Jaggar, Alison. (1983). Feminist Politics and Human Nature, Rowman and Littlefield.
Jaising, Indira. (2009). “Review of the Campaign for a Law on Domestic Violence”, Economic and Political Weekly, 44 (50).
Kannabiran, V., & Kannabiran, K. (1991). “Caste and Gender: Understanding Dynamics of Power and Violence”, Economic and Political Weekly, 26(37).
Kamini Deshmukh, Manisha T. Karia (2020). Urgent Need for Reforms in Law and Policy for Mental Health in India, https://www.barandbench.com/
Kannabiran, K. (1996). “Rape and the Construction of Communal Identity”, in Jayawardena, K., & Alwis, Embodied Violence, Communalising Women’s Sexuality in South Asia, New Delhi, Zed Books.
Mackinnon, C. A. (1989). Towards a Feminist Theory of the State, USA, Harvard University Press.
McGoldrick, Dominic. (2019). “Challenging the Constitutionality of Restrictions on Same-Sex Sexual Relations: Lessons from India”, Human Rights Law Review, 19(1).
National Mental Health Survey in India, NMHS (2015-16), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Pande, A. (2009). “Not an ‘Angel’, not a ‘Whore’: Surrogates as ‘Dirty’ Workers in India”, Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 16(2), 141-173.
Ramesh, S. T. (2010). “A Critique of the Communal Violence Bill 2005”, Economic and Political Weekly, 45(24).
Report of the Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law (2013) by Justice J.S. Verma (Retd), Chairman, Justice Leila Seth (Retd), Member, Gopal Subramanium, Member. Jan 23. https://spuwac.in/pdf/jsvermacommittereport.pdf
Sen, Amartya (1991). “Missing Women”, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1881324/pdf/bmj00063-0009.pdf
Shankardass, Rani Dhavan (2017). Of Women 'Inside': Prison Voices from India, New Delhi: Routledge.
Sharma, Prakash (2017). Prison Privatization: Exploring Possibilities in India, New Delhi: Mohan Law House.
Spar, Debora L. (2005). “For Love and Money: The Political Economy of Commercial Surrogacy”, Review of International Political Economy, 12 (2), 287-309.
Sperry, Len (2016). Mental Health and Mental Disorders: An Encyclopaedia of Conditions, Treatments, and Well-being, Greenwood, California.
Sunder Rajan, Rajeshwari (2003). Scandal of the State: Women, Law and Citizenship in Postcolonial India, New Delhi, Permanent Black.
Teltumbde, Anand. (2008). Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop, Navayana Publishing: New Delhi.
Nussbaum, Martha C. (2010). From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law, New York: Oxford University Press.
Vanita, R., & Kidwai, S. (2000). Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History, New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.
Walby, Sylvia (1991). Theorizing Patriarchy, OUP.
WHO (2012). Risks to Mental Health: An Overview of Vulnerabilities and Risk Factors, Background Paper by WHO Secretariat for the Development of a Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan.

Instructor bio

Dr. Smita M Patil

Associate Professor

Dr. Smita M.Patil is an Associate Professor in School of Gender & Development Studies, IGNOU, New Delhi, India. She earned her M.Phil and PhD from Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is the recipient of several international and national fellowships including FUR Fellowships for Dalai Lama Studies, Dr. Avabai Wadia and Dr. Bomanji Khurshedji Wadia Archives for Women Fellowship; Asia Leadership Fellowship Program, Japan; Research Excellence Program USC-India (PEIN) Fellowship, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain; and the Australia-India Council Junior Fellowship at National Centre for Australian Studies of Monash University, Melbourne. Her most recent publications are on “Politicising the Public Space: On Dalit Women Sanitation Workers in India”, CASTE A Global Journal on Social Exclusion, 5(3), 458–476, Brandeis University, USA., "Gender, Caste and Patriarchy: Anti caste Movements in Colonial India" in the book titled Gender in Modern India: History, Culture, Marginality, edited by Lata Singh and Shashank Shekhar Sinha, 2024, OUP, 'Raving with Equality? On Protean Forms of Caste and Gender in the Women’s/Gender Studies Departments in India.', CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion, vol. 4, no. 2, 2023, pp. 383–402, Brandeis University, USA ,'Listening to the Call for Social Justice: On Ambedkarite Women's Songs and Poetic Expressions from Maharashtra, India.' MenteClara Foundation’s Peer-reviewed Journal, [S.l.], v. 8, July 2023, Argentina. ,‘Law of One’s Own? On Dalit Women’s Arduous Struggles for Social Justice’ Economic & Political Weekly, (Online), 2021, ‘Gender Equity and COVID-19: Dalit Standpoints’, Economic & Political Weekly, (Online), 2021, ‘Class, Caste and Gender’ published in the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies, 2016, ‘Reading Caste, Gender and Sexuality in Dalit Writings’ in Journal, Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, 2014, ‘Revitalising Dalit Feminism: Towards Reflexive, Anti-Caste Agency of Mang and Mahar Women in Maharashtra’, Review of Women’s Studies, Economic & Political Weekly, 2013. Her area(s) of interest are women’s and gender studies, gender and law, political and social theory, caste and gender, identity politics, education and so on