CJI Chandrachud Calls for Societal Change to Support Gender Equality In India

New Delhi: There is no dearth of legal provisions to protect the interest of women in private and public spaces but law alone cannot make a just system, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said on Monday, stressing that society also has to shed its "patriarchal social attitude".

Speaking at News18 Network's She Shakti event, CJI Chandrachud said, "We must foster institutional and individual ability to look beyond the male default".

Laws Alone Are Not Enough to Ensure Justice

"There is no dearth of substantive and procedural legal provisions targeted towards protecting the interests of women in private and public situations. But good laws including the stringent laws alone do not make for a just society.

"Above all we need to change our mindsets. The mindsets must move from making concessions for women to recognising their entitlement to lead lives based on freedom and equality. We must zealously guard against apparently protective laws infringing women's liberties and choices," the CJI said.

Gender Equality Requires a Broader Conversation

Addressing the event, he said, "Talking about women's rights is not a women's thing. Some of the great life lessons I have learnt from my female colleagues." "I believe equal participation of women is important for a better society. Before we adopted the Constitution of India, the Indian Women's Charter of Life was drafted by Hansa Mehta, who was feminist," he added.

The CJI said issues of safety, equality of opportunity, dignity and empowerment are not subsets that ought to be discussed in silos. "Every one of us in the country has to be a part of this conversation." 

Barriers to Women’s Participation Jeopardize Development

"Equal participation of women in governance, policy and leadership roles is positively linked to better development outcomes. When we either create or fail to address barriers in the path of women, we are jeopardizing our quest for a better society. Indifference is no longer an option," the CJI said.

Increasing Intake of Women in Civil Service

He said there has been an increasing intake of women Civil Judges through exams -- 58 per cent of the total candidates in Rajasthan in 2023; 66 per cent of the appointments in Delhi in 2023, 54 per cent of the appointments in Uttar Pradesh in 2022 and 72 per cent of the total number of judicial officers appointed in Kerala are women.

Challenges of Gendered Labour Persist

Justice Chandrachud said the labour force participation of women is 37 per cent while the contribution of women to the GDP is 18 per cent.

"We have not exactly met the pre-independence hopes about women's economic participation. A part of the reason is the continued gendered allocation of domestic labour. Even as women are entering the workforce, they are never divorced from the domestic realm.

"They must simultaneously juggle domestic and care-giving chores. They are doubly burdened - almost as a penalty for transgressing the domestic threshold," he said.

Achieving Gender Equality Goes Beyond Statistics

The CJI said gender equality is a function not only of statistics but a function of lived realities of women.

"This also applies to assimilate traditionally excluded groups such as persons with disabilities, transgender and queer persons. Our expectations from these groups are heavily based on the stereotypical understanding of their supposedly innate tendencies.

"We fail to appreciate them as individuals. As women break rank and enter professional workspaces traditionally dominated by men, they are expected to act like men. Ironically enough, they are also tacitly expected to act like women, act-their-part, lest they upset the code of womanly conduct," he said.

Institutional Barriers Still Remain for Women

He said that for a large part of their lives, institutions have operated in an information deficit about the objective abilities of women.

"Women traditionally were not a priority in institutional design. Even as they break into elusive and exclusionary places, women are met with institutional apathy at best, and hostility at worst. The result is high attrition rates and professional stagnation in entry level and mid-level roles for women," Justice Chandrachud said. 

(With PTI inputs)