Violence against women in the community 2
Women employed as domestic workers are often irregular migrants and unregistered women who operate in a poorly regulated labour market and who are usually considered as belonging to the bottom of a social class. They become easy targets for abusive employers, who force them to work long hours in return for low salaries and often deduct amounts for leave days taken. Many are prevented from using the employer’s sanitary facilities and are forced to defecate and bathe in public, and are subjected to various forms of harassment and violence. Many women are primary breadwinners, either as a result of widowhood or unemployed spouses, and their low pay makes it difficult to assume financial responsibility, including for their children’s health and education needs. Alcohol abuse by husbands was also reported to be a contributing factor to the violence many of those women experienced.
Women with disabilities face multiple challenges, including, for example, the lack of adequate access to public spaces, utilities and buildings, and often experience harassment in public. The Special Rapporteur was informed of a troubling practice whereby a payment incentive was offered, either as a State scheme or a dowry from the family, in exchange for marriage to a woman with disabilities. She was also informed of violence perpetrated against women with disabilities in State-sponsored shelters.
Women in same-sex relationships and transgender women also confront violence and exclusion. Section 377 of the Penal Code criminalizes sexual activities “against the order of nature”. This particularly affects the protection rights of lesbian and transgender women and has been used by parents as an excuse to prevent homosexuality in their families. The mere perception of different sexual orientation is sufficient to put people at risk of violence and is a contributory factor to the inability of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community to report cases of violence.
Sex workers are exposed to a range of abuse, including physical attacks, and harassment by clients, family members, the community and State authorities. Many sex workers are forcibly detained and rehabilitated, and they also face a consistent lack of legal protection. Many face challenges in gaining access to essential health services, including for treatment for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. A recent order of the Supreme Court of India took the position that a sex worker engaged in such work to survive and was “not leading a life of dignity”.
Rapporteur noted a tendency to conflate sex work with trafficking in persons, and when sex workers are identified as victims of trafficking, the assistance that is provided to them is not targeted to their specific needs. Widows also face particular vulnerabilities, as they are often denied and dispossessed of property by their in-laws following the death of a spouse. In addition, social exclusion and poverty lead some widows to engage in sex work and prostitution, and their children to perform hazardous labour or beg on the streets.
The Special Rapporteur was also informed of brutal acts of violence against women, including executions, commonly referred to as “witch-hunting”. The stigma that is attached to women who are labelled a “witch”, and the rejection they experience within their communities, leads to various violations and is an obstacle to gaining access to justice. Such labeling affects family members across generations. There is reportedly little or no official investigation into such violations.
In a recent decision, Suresh Kumar Koushal and another v. Naz Foundation (India) Trust, 2013, the Supreme Court, while setting aside the decision of the Delhi High Court on section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, ruled that the Parliament had to legislate on the issue and upheld section 377, as it still remained in the statutes of the country.In her discussions with interlocutors, the Special.