Asserting that sexuality is as much an aspect of protection of life and personal liberty as liberty and dignity are, Justice Prabha Sridevan, chairperson, Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), said that in cases concerning issues of female sexuality and its expression, the court’s perception of right overruled the girl’s right.
Justice Sridevan released the books, ‘Control and Freedom: Women and the age of sexual decisions’ and legal compendium on the ‘Right to Choice and Decision making in a relationship’ penned by advocate Geeta Ramaseshan. Letika Saran, former director general of police of Tamil Nadu, received the first copy of the books.
The book touches upon the problems a young woman has to face when she chooses her life partner and the conflicting standards of judgment that are thrust upon her, focussing on case studies and court judgments involving such cases. Justice Sridevan reviewed the book and said that control and freedom were two sides of a right where one side wanted to curtail the right, while the other wanted to exercise the right fully.
She also pointed out that the expression of sexuality was right and the other beliefs regarding protection of purity and family honour were just beliefs.
“While it is clear that the right should take precedence over beliefs, we all know what actually happens,” she said.
Letika Saran agreed with Justice Sridevan and said that the book also highlighted the dilemma faced by the police with regards to choice and the ground reality.
“The author has called for advocacy awareness and a specialised training for those in the law. This book will provide material for further discussion,” she said.
The books, published by the Association of Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI), were released by Tulir, the Centre for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse.
Comments
0 comment