New Delhi: The Supreme Court has released a new style book to avoid gender abuse and gender discrimination in courts. The court has prescribed other appropriate words and phrases for about forty words used daily in court proceedings such as prostitute, hooker, whore, keep, mistress, slut.
The book was released by Supreme Court Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud. Gender discrimination and gender abuse have been going on for ages. Such discriminations also existed in the courts. The Chief Justice stated that new styles are being introduced to change that.
Some of the words that refer to sexism and discrimination are found in many judgments. Many such words hurt the dignity of individuals. Until now they were referred to in courtrooms as single mothers. But henceforth only the word mother will suffice. Forced rape will be replaced by the term rape. Instead of the words ‘Indian woman’ and ‘Western woman’, the single word ‘woman’ will suffice. Similarly, the style book also says that instead of being a faithful wife, just saying wife is enough. A number of heterosexual terms are omitted. The style book suggests sex worker instead of prostitute. The term provocative clothing no longer exists in the upper courts. Instead, the single word “clothing” will suffice.
A person who has been sexually assaulted can be referred to as either a victim or a survivor. The style book also says that the person under attack can choose which word to use.
The PDF of Style Book has been uploaded on the website of the Supreme Court. Under the chairmanship of Calcutta High Court Judge Moushumi Bhattacharya, Delhi High Court Judge Justice Pratibha M Singh, former judges Prabha Sri Devan, Geeta Mittal, and Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court lawyer Juma Sen prepared the style book.
