Gender and Sexuality

MP: Beautiful woman ‘distracts, rape may follow’ says Cong MLA, outrage follows

Intemperate and insensitive remarks by Congress MLA Phool Singh Baraiya on women, rape and women from Dalit and Adivasi communities have left the Congress shame-faced on the eve of LoP Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state

One woman against a thousand superstitions, Birubala Rabha’s battle against the superstition of ‘Witch-Hunting’

Though this pioneering feminist activist breathed her last on May 13, 2024, her work with the Thakurvilla Mahila Samiti and Missiom Birubala has been recognized internationally and May 13 has been declared Anti-Superstition Day in Assam

Rape is aggression, domination, consent must be instant specific, not dictated by morality tests: Bombay High Court

In a landmark judgement delivered on May 6, Maksud Gaffur Sheikh v. State of Maharashtra, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC reaffirmed the legal sanctity of continuing and specific consent and rejected character assassination of survivors/victims in rape trials

Nainital on communal edge after 75-year-old Muslim man booked for alleged rape of minor girl

Communal tensions flare in Haldwani, Nainital after a 75-year-old Muslim man is booked for alleged rape of a minor, a BJP leader and right-wings’ ultimatum targeting Muslim-run businesses sparks communal tensions in the state, leading to attacks on shops, staff, and a mosque, while police inaction persists despite video evidence, and no FIR is filed against the perpetrators of the violence and assault

Beed to Delhi: Lawyer beaten in Maharashtra, judge threatened in Delhi—what the path for justice means for women practioners in today’s India

From a brutal assault in rural Maharashtra to death threats in a Delhi courtroom, the message is chillingly clear: women who uphold the law are not safe

Extremists assaulted Muslim woman; hijab stripped of in broad daylight in Bengaluru and Muzaffarnagar

Two shocking incidents of moral policing and harassment involving members of the Muslim community emerged this week. In Muzaffarnagar, a Muslim woman was assaulted and forcibly stripped of her hijab, while in Bengaluru, a young woman was harassed for being in an interfaith relationship with a Hindu man. Both incidents, captured on video, highlight a disturbing rise in intolerance and moral policing, particularly targeting interfaith relationships

When Courts Fail Survivors: How patriarchy shapes justice in sexual offence against women cases

The Supreme Court critiques multiple High Court judgments for perpetuating misogynistic notions and trivialising sexual violence and child trafficking through legally flawed and insensitive reasoning

Women in remote villages mobilise to check fast spread of alcoholism

Due to a combination of factors, there has been...

Surviving Communal Wrath: Women who have defied the silence, demanded accountability from the state

On Women’s Day 2025, March 8, we honour the survivors who became warriors - documenting atrocities, challenging power, and demanding justice in the face of unspeakable brutalities

IMSD condemns the assassination of the world’s first openly gay Imam

“No God, gods, goddesses, prophets or saints may be invoked to justify the killing and/or terrorising of fellow human beings”.

When marriage is tyranny: Justice Shakdher’s judgment reads down the marital rape exception as a constitutional imperative

In contrast to the verdict delivered by Justice Hari Shankar, his brother judge hearing the matter, Justice Shakhder’s judgement in the May 2022 case hearing the constitutional challenge to the exception to marital rape provision under Section 375, strikes it down as anti-constitutional. The matter will now go before the Supreme Court where the constitutional challenge lies pending for two years

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Allahabad High Court orders 24/7 armed protection for Bareilly Muslim man allegedly prevented from offering namaz at home

Summoning the district magistrate and SSP of Bareilly, the Allahabad High Court said any violence against the petitioner or his property would be presumed to have occurred at the instance of the State, as the case raises serious concerns over interference with religious prayers inside private property

35 civil society groups oppose Maharashtra’s proposed anti-conversion law, warn of threat to women’s autonomy and constitutional freedoms

Coalition, which also included CJP who is the lead petitioner on challenge to anti-conversion laws in SC, demands draft bill be made public, calls for consultations and legislative scrutiny; says existing criminal law already addresses coercion

Odisha: 18 months, 54 incidents of communal hate crimes, 7 mob lynchings

Admitting to a spiral in communally driven hate crimes in eastern state of Odisha since June 2024 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a majoritarian outfit came to power, Odisha’s chief minister, Charan Majhi said on Monday, March 9 that 54 such incidents and seven mob lynchings were recorded in that state; this was in a written reply to the State Assembly

Varanasi, UP: No to war, we want peace

A vibrant protest and silent hunger strike (maun upwas) was undertaken by citizens of Varanasi protesting US-Israel’s unprovoked war on Iran; the protest took place at the symbolic Ambedkar Park on Saturday, March 7, under the banner of Sanjha Sanskriti Manch

Why Cricket should remain above religious nationalism

The sight of the captain of the victorious Indian T-20 team, Surya Kumar Yadav, jubilantly accompanying ICC Chairman Jay Shah to a temple in Ahmedabad has drawn sharp comments on social media.

A history that teaches, a historian that shared, in Memoriam: Professor K.N. Panikkar

On March 9, 2026, a Monday, noted historian and alumni of the indomitable Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), K.N.Panikkar, passed away at a hospital in Thiruvanthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala. Born on April 26, 1936, KN as he was fondly known by fellow academics and activists alike, was one of the pioneers of the Marxist school of historiography

US-Israel War on Iran sees spirals in Hate against Muslim Americans: CSOH

The Centre for the Study of Organised Hate has analysed how Islamophobic discourse has spiralled post February 28 when the US-Israel launched an attack on Iran

Maharashtra’s Anti-Conversion Bill: Legislating suspicion in the name of “love jihad”

The proposed Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 2026 seeks to criminalise alleged forced conversions with harsh penalties and intrusive state oversight