From Safe Spaces to Centres of Social Control: Regulating Love through the One Stop Centre in Bhopal, India (Part 4 of 6)
Women’s bodies and their choices have been a political subject and, in several matters, politically controlled by society. Retractions from the norms are met with resistance that could be criminalised...
And the Law Comes Knocking: Section 69 and the Impact on Live-in Relationships in India (Part 3 of 6)
Section 69 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, drags legality into the wayward path of promises and their betrayal. The law formalises the judicial treatment of sexual consent said to...
The Intimate State: India’s Legal Turn Against Interfaith Relationships (Part 2 of 6)
In January 2025, the Indian state of Uttarakhand became the first to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) post-independence, ostensibly to promote gender justice, legal uniformity, and administrative efficiency. According...
Policing Love: Law, Institutions and the Limits of Autonomy (Part 1 of 6)
In June 2025, we convened a workshop at SOAS, funded by SOAS Law School, and titled Policing Intimacies: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Regulation of Love, Marriage, and Inter-community Relationships. Our...
Invisible Deaths: The Case for a National Disability Mortality Registry in India
In July 2024, Delhi witnessed the death of 14 residents at Asha Kiran Shelter, a state-run residential institution for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These deaths, linked to anaemia,...
When “Honour” Goes Viral: Social Media, Masculinity and the Hidden Male Victims of Honour-Based Abuse
Refuge’s recent report focuses upon technology-facilitated perpetration of Honour Based Abuse (HBA). However, many of its policy responses still exclusively concern the female victims. The report discusses the use of...
Deprivation of Access to Shadow Libraries: Why the Delhi High Court’s Recent Order Dilutes Human Rights
On 19th August, 2025, the Delhi High Court passed an order in Elsevier v Alexandra Elbakyan (‘Elsevier case’) granting a dynamic injunction to block access to Sci Hub, Sci Net,...
The Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025: A Critique from a Human Rights-Based Approach.
The Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025, is a landmark legislation designed to enhance the capacity of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) to manage...
AI, Surveillance and Privacy in India: Human Rights in the Age of Technology
In recent years, India has increasingly adopted artificial intelligence (AI) surveillance tools. This includes facial recognition cameras at railway stations and predictive policing software in city police departments. The country’s...
The Right to (Queer) Family in Indian Constitutional Law
Courts in India welcomed Pride Month this year with two landmark judgments relating to the rights of individuals in queer (non-heteronormative) relationships: the Kerala High Court’s Zahhad and Others v....
Defining ‘Woman’ in Law? Contextualising the Indian High Court Judgment That Affirms Trans Women Are Women
“To deny a trans woman the status of a ‘woman’ for the purpose of legal protection … is to perpetuate discrimination and to violate … the Constitution.” On 16 June,...
Manual Scavenging in India: A Constitutional and Human Rights Crisis
Manual scavenging in India is not merely a vestige of colonial or pre-modern sanitation, it remains a continuing human rights atrocity, entrenched in caste hierarchies and social complicity. Globally recognized...
