The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018: A Tale of Reneged Promises
On April 15, 2014, the Indian Supreme Court in National Legal Services Authority (‘NALSA’) v. Union of India recognised transgender persons as the ‘third gender’. The Court gleaned their extensive...
India’s New Transgender Bill and its Discontents
The government of India attempted to take a progressive step to protect the rights and dignity of transgender persons by introducing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016. This...
Universal jurisdiction to the rescue: a way forward for victims of Franco-era crimes of gender-based violence?
Between the years of 1960 and 1974, Spanish lawyer and feminist activist Lidia Falcón O’Neill was detained seven times by security police on behalf of the Franco government, because of...
The Indian Anti-Trafficking Bill, 2018: A Misguided Attempt to Resolve the Human Trafficking Crisis in India
The controversial Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 (The Bill), is slated for debate and approval by the Indian Parliament’s upper house (Rajya Sabha) in its winter...
Working Together: Human Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (with Sandra Fredman)
The United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. They aim to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all people. The goals provide policy objectives for...
UK Reform of Gender Recognition and the Commission for Equality and Human Rights
The UK Government’s consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 proposes making it easier for trans people to change legal sex or gender. Commentary supporting reform has relied upon...
Indian Supreme Court Decriminalises Adultery: A Step Closer to Criminalising Marital Rape
In the landmark decision in Joseph Shine v Union of India on 27 September 2018, the Indian Supreme Court unanimously struck down a 150-year old penal provision criminalising adultery as...
Indian Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Women’s Entry into Religious Temple
Recently, a (4:1) majority of a five-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court in Indian Lawyers Association v. State of Kerala upheld the right of women to worship in the...
Tackling India’s Devadasi System – A Matter of Policing and Public Order?
In September 2017, India’s National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu about the dedication of young girls to the Devadasi system. However,...
Gender Recognition Reform – The Current Debate is Misconceived
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 (‘GRA’) allows transgender people in England and Wales to be legally recognised in their new gender. The government has acknowledged that the current process is...
Women, Poverty, Equality: The Role of CEDAW (with Meghan Campbell)
In September 2015, the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all people. The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, have made...
Patchy Implementation of the Law is Failing India’s Girls
India is suffering from a supposedly ancient yet timely problem. In violation of the law and Constitution, India’s girls are vanishing. It has been reported by government officials that more...
