“We provide quality legal services to women who seek justice”

This article is part of a series featuring interviews with women’s rights advocates from around the world. They share their personal stories and the successes of women’s rights movements in their countries.

How do you advocate for women’s rights and what motivates you?

I am a women’s-rights lawyer and have actively litigated cases in the trial and high courts in Mumbai. I’m also the founder of Majlis, a legal advocacy centre for women and children. Women and children from marginalised communities in India don’t have access to justice-delivery mechanisms. Majlis provides them with quality legal services to seek justice. The centre’s team of women lawyers and social workers also provides socio-legal support to victims of domestic and sexual violence.

What are the biggest challenges that women are facing in India today? 

They face extreme violence both in the domestic sphere and in society at large. Domestic violence, rape, sexual violence, incest and sexual harassment in the workplace are rampant. We have sufficient laws to address these issues, but since legal services are not accessible to many, these laws have not acted as a deterrent and the incidents of violence are escalating.

What have been major achievements of the women’s rights movement in India?

There has been great progress in law reform: We have secured adequate laws to protect women, such as the Domestic Violence Act in 2005 and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act in 2013. But our justice system is archaic. Cases take a long time to be decided, and the conviction rate is very low. 

Flavia Agnes is a women’s rights lawyer and founder of Majlis, a legal advocacy centre for women and children.
majlislaw@gmail.com