
Image source: Google
Almost 100 years ago, Sarojini Naidu, one of the 15 women members of the Indian Constituent Assembly and a leading figure of the freedom struggle, asserted she was not a feminist. According to her, to be a feminist is to acknowledge that one is repressed. Hers was a particularly formal and somewhat limited view of equality.
More recently, speaking at the LM Singhvi memorial lecture, Chief Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud called the Constitution a feminist document. Given these two divergent views, one of a sitting Supreme Court judge, and another of a woman constitution-maker, does it matter whether the Indian Constitution is feminist or not?
It does. Because constitutions impact women. Even when they appear neutral, they tend to have a distinct impact on the lives of women and other genders for generations to come. It, thus, becomes relevant to ask what constitutions do for women as well as what women want constitutions to do for them–not merely upper caste women but all women.
This January 26, perhaps a feminist engagement is warranted with our Constitution. Constitutions are the highest in the legal structure of a nation that set the tone for all legislation. No legislature can violate the Constitution without judicial challenge. And the Indian Constitution is particularly promising for its guarantee of social justice.
What would a feminist constitution look like?
The chief justice gave two reasons for why he considers our Constitution to be a feminist document. First, he said, “The introduction of universal adult franchise was truly a revolutionary act at a time when such a right had only recently been extended to women, people of colour, and the working class in supposedly mature western democracies.” This, he added, was the “boldest move”.
Second, he said, “feminism is lot about disruption of social hierarchies and that is what the Constitution intends to do.”
He is right. The Indian Constitution is a potentially progressive document. It was written with substantial equality provisions with an affirmative action programme for multiple marginalized group.
It envisioned the State’s role in ensuring equal access to wealth, education and health care through the directive principles of state policy. It was written under the chairpersonship of Dr BR Ambedkar who challenged the long-standing caste practices of Indian society through the guarantee of equality, non-discrimination, and positive state duties. And remarkably, the Constituent Assembly had 15 women-constitution makers.
[Who were these 15 remarkable women? Read here.]
Declaring a constitution feminist is not a simple task
We can have a list of what a feminist constitution is not, but we cannot perhaps have one exhaustive answer of what a feminist constitution is.
Constitutional law scholar Shreya Atrey points out that by declaring the Constitution as feminist, we assume that the Constitution alone, without anything further, is feminist. The assertion, then, becomes that simply by applying the Constitution, we can be feminist.
But the story of the feminist movement in India is much more complex than that. The Indian feminist movement for long operated within formal and uniform understanding of equality, ignoring the intersectional disadvantage of Dalit, Muslim and other marginalized women. Merely declaring it to be feminist without self-critique and self-reflection is insufficient.
Universal adult franchise
For the longest time, the right to vote was subject to literacy levels and property ownership during the freedom struggle. This disproportionately impacted women. According to Census 1941, the female literacy rate for undivided India was 7.3% as opposed to the literacy rate of 24.9% amongst men.

Image source: AP
The All India Women’s Conference in its eighteenth session expressed particular concerns about the restrictions on voting rights and declared the right to vote without restrictions as a basic civic right of women.
On the other hand, multiple members in the Constituent Assembly expressed anxieties about granting universal suffrage on grounds of literacy levels and competence. Post-independence, several states have passed laws that restrict the political participation of women through similar conditions (and anxieties) that disproportionately harm women: The number of children they have, educational standards, toilets in houses, etc.
The lesson of the universal adult franchise story is that a mere celebratory account of things hides much more than it tells.
Declaring a constitution feminist may be a powerful statement, but feminism ultimately has to be practiced rather than being declared, points out Atrey. For instance, the recent judgment on hijab and its blanket assertion of “uniform” and “unity” does not take into account how the ban actually has worked out. Merely because the ban looks “neutral” on the face of it, does not mean that it is actually applied as such. Muslim women have been specifically targeted. They have been denied education, with many dropping out altogether. Many could not write their board exams, which ultimately ensures admissions into colleges.
The feminist potential of the Indian Constitution has to be discovered, defined, and exercised every day.
Sources:
- Shreya Atrey, ‘Feminist Constitutionalism: Mapping a Discourse in Contestation’ (2022) 20(2) ICON 611-641
- Helen Irving, Gender and the Constitution (CUP 2008)
- Vicki C Jackson, ‘Feminisms and Constitutions’ in Kim Rubenstein & Katherine G. Young (eds.), The Public Law of Gender: From the Local to the Global (CUP 2016)
- Achyut Chetan, Founding Mothers of the Indian Republic: Gender Politics of the Framing of the Indian Constitution (CUP 2022)
- Udit Bhatia, ‘Precautions in a Democratic Experiment The Nexus between Political Power and Competence’ in Jon Elster, Roberto Gargarella, Vatsal Naresh and Bjørn Erik Rasch (eds.), Constituent Assemblies (CUP 2018)
Surbhi Karwa is a BCL (Distinction) graduate from the University of Oxford who wrote her LLM thesis on feminist constitutionalism and the Indian constitution-making process.

Shock and awe
Jacinda Ardern bows out

Image source: YouTube ScreenGrab
The world’s youngest woman head of government when she was elected New Zealand’s prime minister in 2017 announced on Thursday that she no longer has “enough in the tank” to continue in office. (Watch Ardern’s announcement to step down here.)
“I had hoped that I would find what I needed to carry on… unfortunately, I haven’t, and I would be doing a disservice to New Zealand to continue,” a tearful Jacinda Arden told her Labour Party caucus before the upcoming national elections in October. Ardern’s Labour Party is yet to announce her replacement.
Whoever it is, will have big shoes to fill.
Ardern, a former DJ who joined the Labour Party at 18, has won international acclaim through her politics of empathy and kindness under a barrage of near constant misogyny.

Her statement about not having “enough in the tank” finds resonance with millions of women around the world who, despite supportive partners, struggle to find that sweet spot between parenting young children and their professional lives. Hybrid work has made it a smidge easier to juggle but some jobs still demand inordinate hours leaving many women with empty tanks, forced to choose. Many, particularly those with privilege, simply opt out of paid work in what economists call the “motherhood penalty.”
While Ardern said she had no plans on what she’ll be doing next, she is looking forward to more time with her family: “They’re the ones that have sacrificed the most,” she said.
In numbers
The highest number of C-section deliveries in private health facilities in 2021-22 was in the Andaman and Nicobar islands with 95.56%, followed by Tripura with 93.03%. The India average for such deliveries was 38% in private facilities, compared to 15% in public hospitals.
Source: The New Indian Express
Can’t make this s*** up
In November, a spot check of the schoolbags of class 10 students by some schools in Bengaluru unearthed a cache of cash, mobiles and, gasp, condoms.
This week, the state’s drug control department issued a circular to all pharmacies across the state asking them to ‘counsel’ minors seeking to buy condoms and contraceptives.
Stories you might have missed
Indian wrestling’s MeToo moment

Image source: PTI
India’s top wrestlers called off their unprecedented protest late on Friday night after an assurance from Union sports minister Anurag Thakur that Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, whom they have accused of sexual harassment and mental torture, will step aside for four weeks while the charges are investigated.
“We have every proof,” wrestler Vinesh Phogat, two-time world championship medallist, said. “I am getting calls from girls from as far as Kerala and Maharashtra who have been harassed. This is a fight for respect.”
The charges by the wrestlers point to a larger malaise of lop-sided power equations between athletes and sports federations packed with male politicians. Earlier this month, a junior athletics coach levelled charges of harassment against Haryana sports minister Sandeep Singh who stepped down after a police complaint was filed against him. He, however, retains the printing and stationery portfolio.
Collegium roots for India’s first openly gay judge

Image source: PTI
The Supreme Court collegium has dug its heels in on its decision to appoint senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal as a judge of the Delhi high court. Kirpal’s name was first recommended for elevation in November 2021 but was rejected by the Centre for his openly gay relationship of 21 years with a Swiss partner.
In a strong response dated January 18 signed by justices DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph, the collegium has dismissed the Centre’s objections saying “many persons in high positions…have had spouses who are foreign nationals.” It goes on to praising Kirpal for being open about his sexual orientation and says his appointment would add “inclusion and diversity” to the bench.
She heads the Delhi Commission of Women and faces harassment on the street

Image Source: ANI
Being the head of the Delhi Commission for Women is no guarantee of safety on the streets of the capital. On Thursday, Swati Maliwal complained that a car had dragged her for up to 15 metres after its driver made lewd gestures at her near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Maliwal had, ironically, been assessing women’s safety when the incident took place. One person has been arrested.
…And the good news
The Kerala government will be granting menstrual leave to women students in all state universities that come under the department of higher education, announced higher education minister R Bindu. “Let the girls relax during difficult days,” she said. Yes, absolutely.
AROUND THE WORLD

Photo credits: Wakil Kohsark/AFP
In Afghanistan, Al Jazeera reports on the killing of a former Afghan female legislator along with her bodyguard at her home in Kabul. Mursal Nabizada had been a member of Parliament in the former and was among the few female parliamentarians who stayed on in Kabul after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
In somewhat brighter news from the country, at least three international aid agencies have resumed partial life-saving work after assurances from the Taliban that women can continue to work in the health sector.
In the UK, prime minister Rishi Sunak said he will block a Scottish bill that allows trans people to self-identify without being medically diagnosed. Passed in December, the bill makes it easier for people to change their legal gender. BBC reports that Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called the move a “full frontal attack” and has vowed to oppose it.
In Sierra Leone, a new law to improve women’s rights earmarks 30% of government and private sector jobs for women, reports BBC. Other benefits include 14 week maternity leave, equal access to bank credit and training opportunities and, crucially, repercussions, including fines and jail time, for employers who don’t stick to the new gender ratio.
Were you forwarded this email? Did you stumble upon it online? Sign up here. |
That’s it for this week. Do you have a tip or information on gender-related developments that you’d like to share? Write to me at: namita.bhandare@gmail.com. |