From Empowerment to Protectionism

Positioning Judiciary in the Intersections of Gender and Religion

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6451786
AutoresShinde Sheetal N (O. P. Jindal Global University, autor correspondente), Shinde Sheetal N Shinde Sheetal N (Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, Haryana, India)
Ano2025
Volume55
Fascículo3
Páginas473-487
Data de publicação2025-08-25
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSocial Change (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0049-0857 • E-ISSN: 0976-3538
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00490857251355034
OpenAlexW4413537998
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas24

The gender justice jurisprudence in India is posited at two extremities—protectionism and empowerment. The Supreme Court (SC) has delivered many landmark decisions celebrating the empowerment perspective. But when the issue lies at the intersection of gender and religion, the tone of the SC becomes protectionist in nature. The protectionist approach works at three levels. First, the court treats all women equally, whitewashing their inherent non-homogeneity and imposing equality in deeply unequal circumstances. Second, the degree of protectionism differs based on which religion is under scrutiny. Third, women’s rights are seen as against male privilege, excluding the possibility that women may not want to be equal to men. ‘Being equal to man’ recognises that ‘being man’ is the highest achievable status. The perspective piece argues that there is no need to create an all-men world by making women equal to men. Rather, the self-worth of a woman needs to be recognised free of a ‘male yardstick’, which might usher in true empowerment

Business · Empowerment · International trade · Political science · Protectionism · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Religious Freedom and Discrimination