‘News that a 25-year-old woman has been raped in a taxi in New Dehli has once more focussed attention on India’s laws on sexual violence. Key “human rights and rape in India” into an internet search engine and the results are shocking. The Indian Penal Code, criminalises rape but there is still a real need for reform of both laws and practice in the context of sexual violence, particularly in the sphere of effective enforcement. India’s criminal justice system has been described as “slow, overburdened, and under-funded” which has exacerbated the plight of rape and sexual assault victims.’
