JUDICIAL ADVANCES FOR SECURING WOMEN’S RIGHT TO LIFE, DIGNITY AND EQUALITY IN INDIA: WHAT LESSONS FOR NIGERIA?

Abstract

The violation of women’s right to life, dignity and equality are routine in most patriarchal third world countries including India and Nigeria. Women in both countries suffer diverse physical and psychological abuses including rape, sexual harassment and son-preference. Indian women particularly suffer dowry violence/death and the elimination of female foetuses. The traditional Hindu practice of Sati (self-immolation) required a widow to set herself ablaze upon the death of her husband as a sign of her loyalty and perpetual fidelity. One BBC TV documentary later described India as ‘a dangerous place to be a woman’. This paper explores pertinent judicial advances for protecting the life, dignity and equality of women in India, using the doctrinal methodology. These advances underline the creativity and activism of India’s Supreme Court in interpreting both justiciable and nonjusticiable rights in the Indian constitution. The paper concludes that those advances offer a model for Nigeria and other nations committed to protecting women’s right to life, dignity and equality.