The Delhi Diaries

In the aftermath of the acquittal of all four defendants in the Belfast Rape Trial, there has been an outcry that the criminal justice system as it currently stands in prosecuting sexual assault and rape cases is failing women. I couldn’t agree more. But in actual fact, it is failing all parties. Can we ever be Sure Beyond all Reasonable Doubt? The standard of proof in a rape case, to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that a party did not consent, or that one party knew, or ought to have known that the person did not consent and continued on recklessly, is almost impossible to meet in circumstances of rape, particularly if there has been alcohol involved. The standard of proof is rightfully high considering that a conviction of rape carries a potential life sentence and non-custodial sentences in rape have proved to be exceptional. Another huge barrier to reaching this threshold is the high evidential requirement of criminal trials. When criminal trials rely so h...

This is the first year of the YIF programme where sexual harassment training and workshops are mandatory. Considering myself to be as woke a feminist as they come, I thought that I was well aware of the sexual harassment and consent terminology and didn’t think that there was anything else I could learn. So what is the point of having these sessions? Led by Dr Madhavi Menon, all students were briefed on the Ashoka sexual harassment policy; what constitutes as sexual harassment, how to make a complaint to the Committee on Sexual Harassment (or 'CASH' for short), what the procedure would be and what the penalties are if a student is found guilty. She kick-started the session with a short video from AIB which challenged some of the pre-conceived ideas of courting/stalking and other themes that are propagated in Bollywood films. The batch was then divided in to groups and each watched a series of short films, produced by Ashoka students which mimicked real-life scenarios of incid...