POLICY CENTRE AND GENDER LAB

INTRODUCTION Elephants in the wild are in danger. ‘Save the Elephants’, a charity organization based in Kenya, estimated that roughly 100,000 elephants had been poached for their ivory tusks in Africa, between the year 2010 and 2012. It seems like we have forgotten that elephants are an intrinsic part of our global heritage, and thus, they should be stewarded for upcoming generations, instead of being fenced into “fortress conservation” efforts. We must strive to find ways of co-existing with elephants in a way that benefits the communities in Africa – and the elephants themselves. One way to mitigate the precarity elephants are facing (due to the demand for their ivory) is to start actively working to reduce that demand. Such campaigns are vital in the long- term fight against poaching and policy changes like domestic ivory trade bans can further supplement these campaigns. IVORY TRADE SCALE AND DEMAND The data on ivory markets are currently available for only two principal areas of t

‘The foetus has its own unique DNA, it has a life of its own, and aborting it, is a murder’- this was how a viewer commented on an abortion debate video, featured on YouTube. More striking is the fact that not many people disagreed, rather they spoke in the same tone. What these views reflect is the ethical dilemma that lies ahead of any legislative action about the question of abortion. It was, somewhere on similar ethical grounds that abortion was prohibited before 1971 in India. Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 described it as intentionally ‘causing miscarriage’ and made it a punishable offence. In the 1960s, amid rising maternal mortality rates owing to unsafe abortions, the Government of India decided to set up a committee under Shantilal Shah for reviewing the abortion aspects in the country. The committee recommended the Government legalise abortion and also provide safe abortion facilities. These were accepted in 1970 and were introduced and passed

 The judgment of Delhi High Court in the case of Mahmood Farooqui v. State, 2017, brought about various problematic angles to the already confused concept of ‘consent’ from the constitutional point of view. There the accused forced himself on the American Ph.D. researcher, came to meet him as part of her research, and performed oral sex upon her, even after being denied consent. But seemingly, the court declared the 'NO' on her part was too feeble to be considered and that a lack of consent asks for expression in such a way that the appellant could understand. This occurrence highlights various legal constraints a woman has to face while registering an FIR not only for asking justice but also for defending her position. Consent is defined by a layman as the voluntary agreement to an act or proposal of another. But there has been a coat of ambiguity over the definition of consent in rape laws as given legally. Section 90 of IPC states ‘Consent is not such a consent as is intend

 " Reproductive rights " are the rights of an individual to determine whether to reproduce or not. This includes an individual's right to family planning, abortion, use of contraceptives, study about sex education in schools, and gain access to reproductive health services. India is among the first few countries in the world to develop legal and policy frameworks giving access to abortion and contraception. Still women and girls continue to experience major hindrances in completely enjoying their reproductive rights. This happens because women don't get the knowledge and authority to make such important decisions about their bodies  Historically, laws and policies related to reproductive health in India have fallen short to take care of women's rights-based approach, instead ended up focusing on demographic targets, such as population control, while also somehow undermining women's reproductive choice through discriminatory provisions such as spousal consent r

Source- Pinterest via  Blackbear_0103 on Twitter Caged in the castle, Sad but strong, she stood. No, she didn't cry, As he thought she would. Arrogantly, he lent, Towards her, a helping hand. Ignoring it, She jumped alone, out of the castle, Fighting the fear, that glued. He stood there, watched her, His pride, subdued. The princess doesn't always need A prince, to get rescued. SUBMITTED BY NANDINI VASHISHTHA

Source- Pinterest By- Pickledink.com  Dear sister,  One day, we will dance together,  no matter whether  there will be any stars shining at us, or not,  But we will dance under the dark,  and watching both of us even the  mannequins from inside the glass would pass a warm  smile. And you and I will be free.  For the first time, we will feel  Safe and wild at the same time. I won't have to pull down the edges of my skirt  And you won't scrutinise the directions of the road  As there won't be any Fear of the probability of you and me getting raped  Or assaulted by the predators  Cos we will be the sole owners  of our dream that night. Dear sister, one day you and I,  We both will dance in the dark. BY PRACHI

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels   "Oh, women, you are not allowed to protest! I am the 'milord', your voice I detest! I ask- why are the women and the elderly 'kept' at the protest site? I mean, I deem you naive, unworthy of agency and try to perpetuate the patriarchal might! You see, you belong to the kitchen, You are the 'ghar ki lakshmi', in the men's world a mere chicken! You be at home, take care of the children! This issue is quite intricate, a conundrum! So what if I am the sentinel of your democratic rights and, of course, liberty? Mind you, these are some stupid fancy words, you are still at our mercy! Behold, the society isn't yet ready to look at you beyond your beauty! So here I am, just trying to discharge my duty! I have jumped in to protect you, sweety! Because, you know, for me sitting on the throne of justice, it's just so hard to reform the community!"   "Because the world is bad

Ah, World Peace. I ask myself if I have ever really known this mirage of promissory peace That we want to catch But the farther away it flees.  Do we really know peace When everything around us reminds us of what peace is not? The illuminated TV screens blinking with the biased beats and booms Of the constant noise and the doom that we have created gloriously for ourselves. Our mankind failing men and women alike Putting on a Broadway show, one after next, to distract from the pitiful reality. I flick through my brain That stores the half baked, mugged up pages of the textbooks in the name of education. I flick through to determine when did we initiate this downfall. Was it today when the sun was preparing its bed To fall asleep, curled up in a blanket of dark While a hungry impoverished family took its last breath in Yemen? Or wait Source-Pinterest By-Behance Was it too many yesterdays away when the League of Nations failed and the world broke into another world war? The chiming train