Law meet focuses on feminism

“Women who dress up as ‘sluts’ or drink in pubs late at night invite sexual assault and rape.This seems to be the common notion among law enforcement agencies today. To get an FIR registered in a rape case,women are expected to be absolutely sure they were dressed up ‘appropriately’ and were sober at the time of the incident,” said Ratna Kapur,director,Centre for Feminist Legal Research,New Delhi.

She was speaking at a three-day international conference on Feminism and the Law – Revisiting the Past,Rethinking the Present and Thinking the Way Forward. A concern that was raised by most speakers at the conference was the gradual disappearance of feminism-related courses from the curriculum of most universities.

Talking about this trend,Margaret Thornton from Australia National University,said,“When I was discussing this issue once at the Yale University,somebody remarked,‘Women get to vote already,what more do you want?’ Today even many young women want to distance themselves from feminism,thinking it is something that concerns their mothers’ generation and not theirs.”