13 Essential Legal Rights Every Indian Woman Should Know

According to the Hindu Succession Act, the daughters of a family have the same right as sons to inherit ancestral property. When the law was first enacted in 1956, it granted full property ownership to women. However, women could not be coparceners, seek partition of a dwelling house, or claim inheritance of agricultural land.

In 2005, the act was amended to dispel these gender-discriminatory provisions and grant women equal rights over family property. Women deserve just as much financial security as men, if not more.

Who said that you can't be a mother without marriage? As long as a woman is in good health (both physically and mentally) and financially stable, she can adopt a child of any gender and experience motherhood regardless of her marital status, according to the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

Every woman has the freedom to become a mother without being a wife.

Women working across various industries, including offices, factories, shops, etc., are entitled to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave through the Maternity Benefit Act, which can be availed of up to 8 weeks before the delivery. The original act from 1961 only granted 12 weeks of paid leave, which could be availed 6 weeks before delivery. However, the 2017 amendment increased the leave duration, along with adding other clauses.

It gives mothers ample time to recover from childbirth and pregnancy, and spend time with their baby, without having to worry about financial support or job security.

While women can embrace motherhood, they also have the right to reject it. With the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, women can get an abortion before finishing 20 weeks of pregnancy under the following circumstances:

For married women - In case of failure of the contraceptive device. No further explanation needed.

For unmarried women - In case the continuation of the pregnancy would risk the woman's life, jeopardise her physical or mental health, or there is a significant chance the child will suffer from physical or mental abnormalities. However, the doctor must concede that continuing the pregnancy would lead to such health complications.

In case of pregnancy caused by rape, the law presumes that continuing the pregnancy would adversely affect the woman's mental health.

Even when a crime happens outside the jurisdiction of a police station, the authorities must file an FIR under Section 173 of the BNSS, which is called a "Zero FIR". The report is then transferred to the police station of the concerned jurisdiction for further investigation.

This prevents unnecessary delays in the legal process. No officer can turn away a woman who wishes to file a complaint.

The 2011 Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, or Mother and Child Protection Programme, provides several free services to pregnant women at public health institutions. From deliveries, medications, transport, diagnostics, blood transfusions, and even healthcare for sick newborns and infants under 12 months of age, the programme covers it all.

The initiative has decreased neonatal deaths to an extent, but hasn't reached many beneficiaries due to a lack of awareness.

Oftentimes, sexual harassment can be hard to define. But Section 75 of the BNS considers the following activities as sexual harassment:

a) Unwelcome physical contact and sexual advances/gestures

b) Demanding sexual favours

c) Showing pornography non-consensually

d) Sexually coloured remarks (even so-called "jokes")

Additionally, the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, the POSH Act, protects women from sexual harassment that occurs specifically at the workplace. Apart from the activities listed above, the POSH Act includes the following:

a) Promise of special treatment in exchange for sexual favours, e.g., a promotion, salary increment, etc.

b) In response to denying sexual demands:

1) Threat of harmful treatment at work, e.g., rejecting a promotion, threatening to terminate her contract, etc.

2) Creating a hostile work environment

3) Insulting or humiliating her out of spite

All women, from employees to consultants and even interns, are safeguarded under this act. The harasser may be any male from the workplace.

Under Section 78 of the BNS, it is a crime for a man to do the following after a woman has expressed clear disinterest in contact:

a) follow a woman

b) repeatedly contact or attempt to contact her

c) monitor her electronic communications, e.g. Internet use, email, messages, etc.

Engaging in any of the activities listed above can lead to up to 3 years of imprisonment and/or a fine.

Intimate relationships can easily turn into the most violating. The Domestic Violence Act protects women from physical, sexual, emotional, and economic abuse (including dowry demands).

It does not only pertain to abuse that occurs between a husband and wife, but any form of abuse from either the husband, his family members, the woman's own family members, her adoptive family, or her live-in partner.

Under this act, a woman has the right to:

a) stay in the house, even if her partner or partner's family tells her to leave (she may ask the harasser to leave or ask the harasser for separate accommodation - she can also decide to stay in her matrimonial home)

b) request a protection order from the Magistrate (the court may prevent the harasser from contacting her whatsoever)

c) as the Magistrate for monetary relief and claim her own valuables, jewellery, and other assets (the court may prevent the harasser from selling these as well)

d) seek custody of her children

The act mandates that the government provide shelter to women who don't have a safe place to stay. Any woman experiencing domestic violence is also entitled to medical aid.

Dowry is any financial asset that is demanded by the husband and his family. For something to be considered a dowry, there must be a demand and an unwillingness/inability to meet that demand.

No matter how you're involved, you can be prosecuted in numerous ways for engaging in a dowry demand:

a) Demanding dowry - 6 months to 2 years imprisonment, plus a fine up to 10,000/-

b) Taking dowry - 5 years imprisonment, plus a fine of 15,000/- or the value of the dowry (whichever is greater)

c) Giving dowry - 5 years imprisonment, plus a fine of 15,000/- or the value of the dowry (whichever is greater)

d) Helping take/give dowry - 5 years imprisonment, plus a fine of 15,000/- or the value of the dowry (whichever is greater)

All these are punishable offences, even if only practised as a customary tradition.

Whenever a sexual assault takes place, all medical institutions - public and private - are required to provide free, immediate first-aid and medical treatment to the survivor as per Section 397 of the BNSS. No hospital can legally refuse to assist a sexual assault survivor.

Under various sections of the BNSS, police officers must adhere to these guidelines:

Section 43(1) - A woman cannot be physically touched by a male officer during an arrest, unless there is no female officer present and the situation calls for it.

Section 46(4) - A woman cannot be arrested after sunset or before sunrise, unless a Judicial Magistrate permits so.

Section 103 - A woman can only be searched by a female officer in the presence of other female officers. In case a strip search must be conducted, it must be done in a private, decent manner.

Section 53 - A woman can only be examined by a female medical practitioner.

Section 179 - A woman cannot be summoned to a police station for interrogation. She can only be questioned in her residence, in the presence of a female officer.

Several Indian states have anti-conversion laws that criminalise religious conversion through force, allurement, coercion, or marriage. This honours the right to freedom of religion, which is constitutionally guaranteed to all Indian citizens.

Many people aren't even aware that institutions are legally bound to these laws. That's why it is of utmost importance for all women, despite their socioeconomic position, to know their rights. As a wise man once said, knowledge is power.