International Women's Day A Reminder That True Gender Equality Is Yet To Be Achieved: Justice KV Viswanathan

Supreme Court judge, Justice K. V. Viswanathan on Tuesday said that the International Women's Day, celebrated on March 08, serves as a reminder that the true gender equality is yet to be fully achieved.

Emphasizing that the International Women's Day is rightly acknowledged in numerous countries as a tribute to the relentless efforts towards advancing women rights, the judge said:

“Statistics show that participation of women in the labor force in India has increased to 37% which is still lesser than the global average of 47. The decline is attributed to several causes, because of the hardships they undergo, because the institution of marriage…but many have surmounted it. I don't say it's a problem in that sense, we get misquoted. So I'd be very careful when I speak. What I meant is that the advantages that men have are not there for women.”

Justice Viswanathan was speaking in an event organized by Delhi State Legal Services Authority to celebrate the International Women's Day at S Block auditorium of the Delhi High Court.

Justice Viswanathan was the Chief Justice of the event. Others present were Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay (Patron-in-Chief, DSLSA), Justice Vibhu Bakhru (Executive Chairman, DHCLSC), Justice Rekha Palli and other judges.

Two projects namely Virangana (enrollinh women from marginalised communities as para-legal volunteers) and Vaani, both DSLSA's initiatives, were also launched in the event.

Justice Viswanathan began his speech by saying that if one is asked as to how would one define success, it's actually not what one achieves but it is measured by the number of hurdles one surmounts.

“So next time when you are assessing if someone is successful, don't go by the office he is holding, which is superficial, but see the number of hurdles he would have surmounted. And I say this because it is extremely contextual on the celebration and commemoration of the International Women Day, because we have published literature which shows the number of hardships that they have undergone,” he said.

“Just sample this, they were not allowed into college. Women were not allowed into college. Then, after a lot of protests, they were told, all right, you can come into college, but we will not give you the graduation degree. After they fought and succeeded to get the graduation degree, they were told that you cannot enroll in any profession. After they were allowed to be enrolled, they said, We won't give you the right to vote. And that was also surmounted,” the judge said.

Justice Viswanathan said that the reason the hurdles were surmounted were first, women were in a minority compared to the men; second, they were economically made dependent and third, education.

The judge complimented the DSLSA for undertaking a commendable initiative by enrolling individuals from marginalized communities as community paralegal volunteers.

“This is extremely significant. Many of us had occasion to write in the Supreme Court. I was also part of a recent judgment. Awareness is very important legal Aid, particularly in the context of women. Access to justice to all is a fundamentally guaranteed right under Article 14 and 21 however, women face a lot of challenges in accessing legal services,” he said.

“Firstly, there are regional disparities in the availability and reach of these services. Urban centers tend to have better accessibility, leaving rural women at a disadvantage. Secondly, lack of awareness, coupled with low legal literacy hinders women from seeking assistance even when services are available. Thirdly, social stigma, cultural norms and fear of repression discourage women from reporting incidents and seeking legal assistance,” the judge said.

He added that bureaucratic hurdles and complex legal processes act as deterrence, making it challenging for women to navigate the legal system. He further emphasised that insufficient resources, understaffing and inadequate training of personnel impact the ability of legal aid organization to provide timely legal aid.

“That is why PLA or paralegal assistance becomes extremely significant, because they do the last mile connectivity between the person in need of aid, and they reach it to the person who can provide the aid,” he said.

Furthermore, the judge congratulated DSLSA for recognizing the rights of the transgender community as part of its two new projects.