Women and girls with disabilities in India who survive
sexual violence face high barriers to access the justice system,
Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. Five years ago,
the government adopted significant legal reforms for sexual
violence cases, but serious gaps remain in implementation.
“Since 2013, India has made important legal reforms on sexual
violence, but women and girls with disabilities still lack equal
access to justice,” said Nidhi Goyal, a disability rights
activist and co-author of the report. “Indian women and girls
with disabilities should no longer remain the invisible victims
of sexual violence.”
The 61-page report, “Invisible Victims of
Sexual Violence: Access to Justice for Women and Girls with
Disabilities in India,” details the challenges many women and
girls with disabilities face throughout the justice process:
reporting abuse to the police, obtaining appropriate medical
care, having complaints investigated, navigating the court
system, and getting adequate compensation.
After the fatal gang rape of Jyoti Singh Pandey in
Delhi in December 2012, the Indian government strengthened laws
on sexual violence. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 (the
2013 amendments) includes several provisions to safeguard the
rights of women and girls with disabilities and facilitate their
participation in investigative and judicial processes.
Human Rights Watch investigated 17 cases of rape and gang rape
from eight states in India (Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal).
These include eight girls and nine women living with a spectrum
of disabilities, including physical, sensory, intellectual, and
psychosocial disability. Altogether 111 people were interviewed,
including sexual violence survivors, family members, lawyers,
officials from mental health institutions and shelter facilities,
police, government officials, disability rights activists, and
“special educators.”
In a November 2017 report on barriers to justice and support
services for sexual assault survivors in India, Human Rights
Watch found that women and girls who survive rape and other
sexual violence often suffer humiliation at police stations and
hospitals. Police are frequently unwilling to register their
complaints, victims and witnesses receive little protection, and
medical professionals still conduct degrading “two-finger” tests.
These obstacles to justice and dignity are compounded by
inadequate health care, counselling, and legal support for
victims during criminal trials.
For Indian women and girls with disabilities, who face a higher
risk of sexual violence, the challenges are even greater. Women
with physical disabilities may find it more difficult to escape
from violent situations. Those who are deaf may not be able to
call for help or easily communicate abuse. Women and girls with
intellectual or psychosocial disabilities may not know that
non-consensual sexual acts are a crime and should be reported.
Stigma related to their sexuality and disability compounds these
challenges.
“Kanchana,” a 19-year-old woman with an intellectual disability
from a village in West Bengal, was raped several times in 2013 by
a local man. Kanchana was not aware that she should report being
raped, which was only discovered when she was five-months’
pregnant. And her intellectual disability made it difficult to
explain to the police what had happened.
Human Rights Watch found that few police officers have the
training or expert support needed to handle these cases. In some
cases, police excluded women and girls with disabilities from
specific assistance guaranteed by the 2013 amendments because of
survivors’ inability to certify a disability. In other cases,
police failed to include needed details in their First
Information Report (FIR). Police also rarely provided information
on the right to free legal aid or legal aid services to survivors
or their families.
India’s criminal justice system has largely failed to implement
the 2013 amendments, such as providing police and judicial
trainings to create an enabling, supportive environment for
survivors with disabilities. Some states have adopted good
practices, but they are exceptions, not the norm.
To improve interaction with the police and the judicial process,
women and girls with disabilities may need procedural and
age-appropriate accommodations, and other support depending on
their disabilities. This could include access to sign-language
interpretation, the presence of someone to facilitate
communication (a “special educator”), use of simple language, and
the option to file reports in braille.
“Razia,” a 13-year-old girl with an intellectual disability and
difficulties speaking, found it challenging to recount her rape
by her brother’s 17-year-old tutor. A social worker from the
Latika Roy Foundation introduced creative techniques, such as
using a doll, that helped Razia give a clear and consistent
account of the abuse she experienced.
Indian law and policies require state governments to facilitate
compensation, including in cases where the offender cannot be
traced or identified. However, Human Rights Watch found that even
in cases of extreme violence, trauma, and economic hardship –
including due to childbirth following rape – women and girls with
disabilities had difficulties in securing compensation.
Compensation is particularly important for women and girls with
disabilities and their families from rural areas or marginalized
communities.
India’s leadership has repeatedly expressed concern over sexual
violence and has said it is committed to reforms. In 2007, India
ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities. In December 2016, the Parliament adopted the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities Act, which aims to protect all
persons with disabilities from abuse, violence, and exploitation,
and articulates specific measures to be taken by appropriate
government officials, executive magistrates and the police.
“India has taken important steps to reform the criminal justice
system to include women and girls with disabilities, but our new
research shows the need for action and implementation,” Goyal
said. “The government should act promptly to ensure
accommodations and other measures so that women and girls with
disabilities are out of the shadows of justice.”
“‘Invisible Victims of Sexual Violence: Access to Justice
for Women and Girls with Disabilities in
India,” is available at:
https://www.hrw.org/node/316175
