PATRIARCHY AND LEGAL LOOPHOLES ANALYZING THE SYSTEMIC FAILURES IN ADDRESSING SEXUAL CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA

Abstract

Despite progressive legal reforms, sexual violence against women in India remains alarmingly prevalent. This study explores how patriarchal norms embedded within law enforcement, judiciary, and political structures continue to undermine access to justice, particularly for marginalized communities. Through an in-depth analysis of three emblematic cases the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape, the 2018 Kathua child rape, and the 2019 Hyderabad Disha murder, this research reveals systemic patterns of victim-blaming, procedural inertia, and spatial disparities in justice delivery. Drawing on intersectional feminist theory and institutional ethnography, the study finds that 72% of police reports exhibit gender-biased language, and legal exemptions such as the non-criminalization of marital rape continue to legitimize coercion within intimate relationships. While punitive reforms like fast-track courts and harsher sentencing were introduced post-Nirbhaya, their uneven implementation and cultural resistance expose the limits of carceral approaches. The study calls for a structural shift toward institutional gender audits, the criminalization of marital rape, and pilot restorative justice models, offering a grounded policy response to gender-based violence in deeply patriarchal settings.