CCV213 | Challenging Carcerality: Criminalisation of Violence Against Women in India

This course is aimed at giving the students an overview of feminist approaches to criminal law, with emphasis on the feminist projects in the Indian domestic criminal law on violence against women. By mapping the extensive points of contact between feminist groups and the state on the questions of rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence, trafficking, and child sexual abuse, the course will help students understand the upsides and downsides of such engagement. The course will also touch upon feminist interventions in international criminal law to address war-time rape and compare that with the position in India on the question of rape in conflict zones and communal violence. In addition, the course will introduce students to arguments of abolition feminism in the Western context.

A large part of the course material includes academic articles, book chapters, advocacy materials, and op-eds, aimed at giving students a context and understanding of debates and perspectives around the development of these laws and their applications. Additionally, some modules focus on landmark case laws as well as commentaries on the same.

Students signing up for this course should be prepared to engage with the Socratic method of teaching and learning in the classroom, including cold-calling and designated time-slots for in-class presentations. Additionally, students will be expected to engage with presentations done by their classmates. Students are encouraged to read the following article by Prof. Jeannie Suk Gersen to understand the relevance of non-judgmental, supportive, and inclusive participation in the classroom.

Jeannie Suk Gersen, The Socratic Method in the Age of Trauma. At: https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-130/the-socratic-method-in-the-age-of-trauma/