Aparajita Bill: The inadequacy of rape law reform

Many so-called women-centric criminal law reforms in India focus heavily on punishment rather than addressing systemic and structural issues, writes Jhuma Sen.

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THE newly passed Aparajita (Woman and Child) Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2024 (Aparajita Bill), despite its allegedly 'progressive' aspirations of securing justice for victims, exemplifies the enduring pitfalls of legal reform that prioritises retribution over addressing the structural violence that underpins sexual violence in India.

It is a familiar spectacle, where the State cloaks itself in the rhetoric of justice by instituting harsher penalties and fast-tracking procedures, yet does little to confront the deep-rooted patriarchal, caste and class biases that inform the everyday functioning of the legal system.

The Bill's focus on punitive justice may satisfy the immediate public demand for accountability, but it overlooks the entrenched institutional failures that deny meaningful access to justice for survivors— particularly those from marginalised communities.

The law, however, cannot merely be a 'quick fix' to social crises; rather, it must interrogate the very epistemic foundations upon which it rests. By failing to engage with the broader socio-cultural conditions in which sexual violence is embedded, the Aparajita Bill risks reinforcing the very structures of power it purports to dismantle, turning reform into a spectacle of punishment devoid of substantive justice.

Law as a site of violence

The law in India has long been a site of violence, and rape law offers a potent illustration of this phenomenon. Far from merely criminalising sexual violence, rape law operates within an entrenched framework of caste, gender and patriarchy, sustaining the very structures of power it claims to challenge.