For women in India seeking legal redress, the path to justice is often obstructed by more than just complex laws. A ground-level examination reveals a justice system where social prejudices, procedural apathy, and a deeply ingrained patriarchal culture create a hostile environment, undermining the very promise of equality before the law.
Voices from the Court Corridors: Fear and Disillusionment
The reality of this disconnect was starkly highlighted during an on-field research conducted by Aradhana Pandey, an ICSSR Doctoral Fellow from the Department of Sociology at the University of Lucknow. In December 2025, her interactions with women at a family court painted a distressing picture. One young woman, clad in a burqa, confessed, "I don’t feel safe here." She revealed how her own lawyer had inappropriately asked her to "untie her hair," a request she felt powerless to challenge for fear he would abandon her case.
Another woman, waiting for a hearing since 2017 after escaping a decade of marital abuse, shared her waning faith. Over eight years, her case faced repeated postponements, and lawyers frequently failed to appear. "Someone should ask the women gathered here whether they really need these laws," she whispered, her words heavy with despair. Her story underscores that the decision to approach court is never sudden but a last resort after deep deliberation.
Systemic Hurdles: From Trivialisation to Endless Delays
The challenges are multifaceted and disproportionately affect women from economically weaker sections. A mother of a five-year-old, there to file a domestic violence case after alleged sexual abuse by her husband, spoke of being routinely advised to "compromise" and "adjust." Her anguished question, "How long can a person tolerate torture? Even tolerance has a limit," reflects how patriarchal norms valorise female endurance and discourage resistance, even within legal institutions.
Shockingly, mediators and officials often trivialise women's suffering. One woman seeking divorce recalled a mediator asking, "What is the need to file for divorce when your husband is fair-complexioned?" Such comments reduce profound personal trauma to shallow stereotypes.
The obstacles are numerous and deeply embedded:
- Financial constraints that limit access to consistent legal representation.
- Safety concerns within court premises.
- Unprofessional behaviour and insensitive remarks from officers of the court.
- Chronic procedural delays that stretch cases for years, eroding hope.
- Inadequate judicial infrastructure that fails to account for women's needs.
The Path Forward: Introspection and Holistic Reform
These narratives force a critical question: If courts exist to settle disputes, can justice truly be delivered in such an environment? Decades after Independence, India's legal institutions remain largely male-dominated spaces, amplifying the discomfiture of female litigants who hesitate to speak openly.
Therefore, creating court environments genuinely responsive to women's needs requires a two-pronged approach. It is not enough to enact policy reforms on paper. There must be a concurrent process of ground-level introspection that critically reconsiders the gendered culture of the justice system itself. The solution lies in moving beyond laws to foster empathy, ensure efficiency, and implement structural reforms that humanise these institutions.
True access to justice demands that courts become neutral sanctuaries of fairness, not spaces where social prejudices are re-articulated. Until this fundamental shift occurs, for countless women, the promise of justice will remain a distant ideal, not a tangible reality.
