Victoriya, Author
Victoriya is a third-year BA LLB student at Government Law College, Vellore, affiliated with Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, Read More
Gender stereotyping is a practice of attributing which specifies roles, characteristics and behaviors of individuals based on their gender. These stereotypes are deeply rooted in our societal norms and cultural values. This stereotyping ideology is the main factor for perpetuating harmful attitudes and discrimination towards women who do not have traditional gender expectations. In the context of sexual offense cases, gender stereotyping has a huge impact. It can easily lead to victim blaming and trivialization of sexual violence.
The stereotyping towards women like “promiscuous” or “asking for it” resulted in the leniency in sentencing given by the judges. Therefore gender stereotyping should be considered as a factor of injustice. To address this issue we must ensure and promote a victim-centered approach towards the survivors of sexual offense cases. This article argues that gender stereotyping undermines women’s access to justice in sexual offense cases and that it is essential to address and challenge these stereotypes to ensure a fair and just outcome for survivors.
What is Gender Stereotyping?
As we saw in the introduction section, gender stereotyping is a practice of attributing which is to specify roles, characters and behaviors of individuals based on their gender. The term ” gender stereotypic” means that the traditionally associated characters, roles and behaviors with masculinity and femininity. For example,
● Men are expected to be aggressive, strong and dominant.
● Women are expected to be soft, submissive and emotional.
These gender stereotypes are great barriers to expressing themselves freely and pursuing their own goals in society. We can see the examples of gender stereotyping for better understanding:
● Assumption of women that they are more caring and nurturing of their children than men.
● Exception for men to be the primary breadwinner of their families.
● Belief in women that they are more emotional and irrational than men.
● Assumptions on men are that they are more competitive and aggressive than women naturally.
We should know the roots of gender stereotyping for a clear understanding of it. The roots of gender stereotyping consist of a few significant factors. They are,
- Socialization: The society expects to perform the traditional gender roles from childhood. Generally, boys are encouraged to play rough and tough games. Girls are encouraged to play soft games or indoor games or dolls.
- Media representation: The filming and advertising industry portrayed women as emotional and nurturing characters. While the men are portrayed as strong and aggressive characters.
- Education: We can see gender stereotyping in every academic year’s admission of various streams. Boys are encouraged to pursue careers in science technology engineering and mathematics. While girls are encouraged to pursue only a career in humanity and Social sciences.
- Cultural norms: In many Indian cultures women are expected to prioritize their family responsibilities more than their careers.
Overall gender stereotyping has been a great social and cultural problem over the centuries. It can lead to discrimination and limit the opportunities which are grand for women .
Effects of Gender Stereotyping:
Women or facing the gender stereotyping issue over all the centuries. The effects of gender stereotyping mainly affect women more than men in the society. Overall gender stereotyping affects individuals and society and the justice administration of sexual cases. We see the effects more deeply and separately.
Impacts on individuals:
● It limits the choices and opportunities for both men and women according to their gender.
● Gender stereotyping can easily manipulate an individual’s mental health.
● It can lead to self-doubt and self-blame
● It limits the social mobility and achieving the full potential of every individual according to their choices beyond their gender.
● It means the relationship between men and women is more restrictive.
Impacts on society:
● It leads to patriarchal norms.
● It can easily build an unequal environment.
● Gender stereotyping is the main reason for the perpetuating violence against women and girls.
● It will recreate the male-dominated society where women are treated as slaves.
Impacts on Victim-Blaming and Secondary Victimization:
● It can create the assumption of the victim’s culpability.
● The blaming leads to minimizing the offender’s responsibility.
● It shocks the victim once again by asking invasive questions regarding their experience of sexual offense.
● It will lead to the disbelief of victims.
● By following the above impacts, justice for the affected persons can be denied easily by the Court of Law .
How Gender Stereotyping Undermines Women’s Access to Justice in Sexual Offence Cases? Gender stereotyping plays the opposite role in the accessibility of justice for the affected people of sexual offenses. It played significantly in the three stages of justice investigation, prosecution, and judicial.
1. Investigation Stage:
- The investigators may doubt the victim’s behavior and statements about the sexual assault due to gender stereotypes like women are over emotional or lying.
- This kind of stereotype can lead to the focus on the victim’s behavior rather than the offender’s actions.
- And also these stereotypes minimize the responsibility of the offender for the regrets of affected people.
2. Prosecution Stage:
- Prosecutors may decline to appear in cases on behalf of women who did not conform to traditional general stereotypes like sex workers or women with previous substance abuse.
- These stereotypes can lead to the misunderstanding of prosecutors about the impact of a sexual crime on victims.
- This misunderstanding can easily lead to the provocative and sensitive questioning of the victims .
The Rajasthan High Court overturned the acquittal given by the trial court for a group of upper-caste men who gangly raped a social worker. The trial court acquitted them by citing their respect for the status of society and questioning the victim’s credibility. The Rajasthan High Court said that these acquittals lead to gender stereotyping in the judiciary .
3. Judicial stage:
- Judges may be influenced by gender stereotypes which affect their decisions on sentences in the acquittal of sexual offenders.
- These stereotypes lead the judges to misunderstand the complexities of the issues and priorities over the victims.
The Indian Judiciary has faced many challenges regarding perpetuating gender stereotypes. The Indian Judiciary needs reforms that ensure fair treatment in accessible justice .
How Judicial Gender Stereotyping is to be avoided:
- Provide training on gender sensitivity, stereotypes and unconscious bias for the Judges.
- Organize workshops and seminars regarding sexual violence and gender-based discrimination.
- Conduct judicial educational programs regarding the impact of gender stereotypes on judicial decision-making.
- Create judicial review mechanisms.
- Establish a compliant mechanism regarding gender stereotyping.
- Impose Gender Stereotypes Prohibiting Conduct Rules for Judges.
- Enhance the in-camera procedures.
- Provide awareness of gender and the Law.
- Tie up with the NGOs to work effectively.
- Ensure a fair and respectful approach with litigants .
The challenges of gender stereotyping in the Indian Judiciary can be eliminated by strictly following the above steps for certain period of time to attain stable neutral state.
Conclusion:
Gender stereotyping significantly contributes to inequality and discrimination against women in the justice system, especially in sexual offense cases. These harmful stereotypes can deny justice to victims, reinforcing power dynamics that favor perpetrators.
To combat this, we must establish a gender-sensitive justice system that acknowledges women’s experiences. This involves judicial education on gender sensitivity and implementing policies that prioritize the safety of women victims.
Additionally, challenging societal norms that perpetuate gender-based violence is essential. This requires a collective effort from the government, civil society, and individuals to foster a culture of equality and respect.
Ultimately, achieving equal access to justice for women in sexual offense cases necessitates a transformation of both the justice system and society. By addressing gender stereotyping, we can move towards a more just and equitable society for all.
References:
- Tony Ward and Devon L.L. Polaschek, Theories of Sexual Offending (2017)
- Meda Chesney-Lind, Gender, Crime and Justice (2013)
- Temkin & Krahe, Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap: A Review of the Literature Policy Press (2008)
- Baxi, Public Secrets of Law: Rape Trials in India (Oxford University Press, 2014)
- Devaki Jain, Women’s Rights and the Law, (Economic and Political Weekly, 2008) p. 13 – 16
- Agnes Flavia, Law and Gender Inequality: The Politics of Women’s Rights in India (Oxford University Press, 1999)
