Chief Justice HL Dattu called for systemic responses to tackle the problem of sexual violence.
Chief Justice of India HL Dattu, who took over two months ago, has said curbing women's freedom is not the way to increase women's safety. Rather, a systemic response is needed to stop sexual violence.
Speaking at a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association on the occasion of the National Law Day on Wednesday, Chief Justice Dattu said, "I would state that security of women can be achieved by not curbing their freedom. We have to find systematic responses to sexual violence and not resort to measures that have an adverse impact on the agency of women."
In a reference to the government acquiring more powers in the fight against terrorism with lesser accountability, the Chief Justice said: "We see similar trends in the discourse on protection of women against sexual violence. When I say 'similar trends', I mean that we seem to have a rather worrying affinity to ensure the physical safety of women by curbing their freedom."
"As far as I am concerned, I would like to emphatically state in no uncertain terms, that the security of women achieved by curbing their freedom and liberty is no security at all. We have to find systemic responses to the problem of sexual violence," he said.
In his inaugural address, Chief Justice Dattu also touched upon several issues including the urgent need for reforming the criminal justice system, erosion of the constitutional protection by the government in its response to the external and internal extremism, and realising the essential needs of the vulnerable sections of the society in the wake of globalisation of economy and trade.
"The problem of internal and external extremist violence has plagued India for more than two decades now. Much of the world is also increasingly familiar with such threats to national security but the response of governments has been a cause of concern," he said.