(With Pinky Anand, Senior Advocate and former Additional Solicitor General of India, and Malvika Rajkotia, Founder of Rajkotia Associates Advocates and the author of Intimacy Undone.)
This week on We Women Want, we focus on legal rights that every woman should be aware of. From marital rape to property rights to the abortion rules in India (given the recent overturning of the Roe vs. Wade judgement in the US).
With iTV Network’s Senior Executive Editor Priya Sahgal as the moderator, the show had two legal eagles on the panel—Pinky Anand, Senior Advocate and former Additional Solicitor General India and Malvika Rajkotia, Founder Rajkotia Associates Advocates and the author of Intimacy Undone. Both have fought hard for women’s rights. In fact, Pinky represented Khushboo Sundar when her right to free speech came under fire after the actress turned politician voiced an opinion on pre marital sex.
The show kicked off with a question on India’s abortion laws, which are much more progressive and women oriented than the ones in the US. However, the discussion also looked into the issue of marital rape, which as Rajkotia said, is not a criminal offense, though the woman can seek redress under the Prevention against Domestic Violence Act. However, she asked if that was a deterrent enough- for rape is as painful whether it is within a marriage or outside it. Also discussed were women’s rights against coercive control by their husbands. Pinky Anand spoke about the need to break through the glass ceiling with reflective policy changes and the need to give women not just the tools but also the opportunity to develop their potential to their full capacity. As she pointed out, a major part of the coercive control that men have over women stems from the patriarchal nature of the society we live in.
Since `We Women Want’ is an audience based show, the audience asked some pertinent questions about the rights of women and how to deal with a society that is so biased in favour of men that the latter even get to dictate what clothes we wear. It was a fiesty, interactive session that saw some great chemistry between the panelists and the young audience, which just shows that if the cause is right, the connection is never wanting. Every weekend on NewsX, We Women Want is a show that explores issues and stories that are women’s oriented, curating conversations that every woman deals with at some point or the other.
Catch fresh episodes of ‘We Women Want’ every Saturday at 7 30 pm, Sunday 12:30 pm and 10 pm. The program will also streamed live on major OTT platforms- Dailyhunt, Zee5, MX Player, ShemarooMe, Watcho, Mzaalo, Jio TV, Tata Play, and PayTm livestreams.
