Beyond a Verdict: Why Systemic Reforms Are Key to Ending Sexual Violence in India

Two months after the brutal rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata, a sessions court has sentenced the perpetrator to life imprisonment.  While we welcome the conviction, justice cannot be confined to a single verdict. According to our report on Sexual Violence in South Asia, addressing the root causes of sexual violence requires systemic reforms that go beyond the courtroom and ensure safety, accountability, and prevention at every level.

The Need for Systemic Change

Following this tragedy, Equality Now and the South Asian Movement for Accessing Justice (SAMAJ) released a solidarity statement calling for justice, alongside urgent demands to address the systemic failures that allow sexual violence to persist. These demands emphasized:

• Better protections for women, particularly in workplaces to ensure safety and prevent gender-based violence.
• Prompt, trauma-informed investigations through dedicated investigative branches to avoid delays and mishandling of evidence.
• Survivor-centric support systems, including shelters, psychosocial care, and accessible legal aid.
• The elimination of discriminatory legal practices that prevent marginalized survivors from accessing justice.
• Fair and timely trials with stronger institutional accountability to ensure perpetrators are held responsible and survivors are not retraumatized by legal delays.

While these demands remain as critical as ever, deeper structural and policy-level reforms are needed to ensure that justice goes beyond individual verdicts and addresses the systemic failures that perpetuate sexual violence.

Expanding Systemic Reforms: What Needs to Change?

Justice must go beyond convictions, it requires urgent policy changes, institutional accountability, and survivor-centered reforms. The Nirbhaya Fund was established by the Government of India in 2013, following the tragic 2012 Delhi gang rape incident was set up for this very purpose – to support initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security of women. In addition to our original demands, we urgently call for the suggested reforms:

• Set up a National Action Plan: Develop a coordinated strategy to eliminate sexual violence, integrate human rights education into law enforcement and judiciary training, and implement UN Treaty Body recommendations on gender-based violence.
• Collect comprehensive data & establish prevention strategies: Disaggregate data on sexual violence based on caste, ethnicity, religion, and disability to identify high-risk areas/districts and implement targeted prevention and support services.
• Improve investigation procedures: Update modules on investigation standards to align with international best practices and ensure survivor-centered and trauma-informed processes.
• Invest in police reform & training: Implement nationwide police reforms to improve police accountability, ensure regular trauma-informed training, and mandate swift action in sexual violence cases.
• Ensure holistic  legal implementation: Ensure the effective implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, (SC & ST PoA) , 1989 and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012, along with the Bharatiya Nagrak Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 to guarantee timely and fair legal proceedings for women and girls from marginalized communities seeking justice for rape.
• Allocate resources for providing specialized services:  Strengthen with funds from Nirbhaya Fund survivor support measures, including ensuring accessibility for women and girls with disabilities, setting up shelter/safe homes, and providing a wide range of mental and health services related support including psychosocial care and ensure routine monitoring of the specialized services.

The Fight for Justice Must Continue

The Kolkata case is not an isolated incident; it is part of a pattern of gender-based violence that continues to affect thousands of women and girls across India. Official statistics report over 80 rapes per day in India, but the actual numbers are believed to be much higher. With a conviction rate of just 27.12%, survivors and their families are often left without justice (Equality Now’s Sexual Violence in South Asia report).

As we reflect on this verdict, we must ask: Is justice truly served if the system remains broken? Until legal reforms are implemented, discriminatory barriers dismantled, and accountability prioritized, the cycle of sexual violence will continue.

We stand in solidarity with the families of all victims and will continue advocating for systemic changes that make justice accessible to all survivors. Only through unified, decisive action can we create a safer and more just future for women and girls in India. Sexual violence must end, and it must end now.