The Rape Law and the Constructions of Sexuality.

Abstract

Decades of campaigning has led to signiicant changes and reform in the rape law. Some of the major concerns of the women’s movements from the 1970s to the contemporary moment gradually succeeded in being incorporated into law. The resource book grew from a reflective process arising from a series of discussions within PLD on different approaches and iterations of a resource book on the rape law. Earlier iterations on summarizing legal provisions post the 2013 criminal law amendments, as well as of tracking reforms through landmark cases were shelved. After considerable brainstorming, it was agreed that ‘information-centric’ approaches, focusing on law without drawing linkages with structures of gender and caste through which social location, power and access to justice is shaped, or focusing on sexual wrongs to the exclusion of sexual rights, would only deepen the knowledge gap on law’s relationship with power and sexuality.