Section 377 Repeal Leaves Male And Transgender Victims Vulnerable, Sparks Outcry

There is an extremely uncomfortable scene of sexual assault and rape of a bisexual person in the Netflix series 'Baby Render'. Watching it was difficult, and it brought forth the idea of how much more vulnerable male victims of sexual crimes are in India. Since the abolition of Section 377, which was a part of the Indian legal system now under the BNS, the system has not recognized sexual crimes against men. Now, transgender people wholly depend on the Transgender Act of 2019. This act enforces much lenient laws during sexual assault against women than against men according to both IPC and BNS.

LGBTQ+ activists and legal experts have come out to slam the alteration, saying it is going to remove male and transgender victims of sexual assault from being protected under the law. They indicate it is discriminatory against persons who are neither male nor female. They further argue that it reduces accountability for sexual violence against men and transgender people whereby offenders might get away with many crimes easily. Trupti Tandon, Deputy Director and Advocate at Lawyers Collective asserts, "Thinking that men aren't subjected to sexual abuse is simply wrong. Section 377 has been used for years to prosecute cases of sexual assault against men. The law cannot ignore the thousands of people who have been affected.' It is during this period that such provisions as injury and serious situations apply. However, these are not indicative of the sexual nature of the offense.

Legal Impact Of Trans Act

According to this act, the Transgender Persons Act, 2019 is not only lighter but also bail and non-cognizable offenses, according to Muskan Tibrewala, Assistant Director of the Law and Marginalization Clinic at the Center for Justice, Law and Society. Meaning there is no requirement on the part of the police to immediately register a case. Even if they apprehend the offender, they can immediately seek bail from the police or magistrate. This certainly contributes to the obstacles that victims have to overcome. The only apparent exception is crimes against transgender women.

Gender Neutral Effect Of Section 377

Trupti Tandan holds the view that Section 377 was not used for any single apparent purpose; it was even used by women, particularly in cases of marital rape. She elucidates, "Unlike Section 375, which had exempted application specifically in cases between married couples, Section 377 carried no such exception. Thus, women could invoke it in a court of law, though dependent on the specific courts and their interpretations." Says Ayyar, "The need is not felt to have a new law; instead 'woman' should be replaced by 'person' in BNS.". Narayan condenses it to say that the responsibility of every state is to protect each and every individual from sexual violence, regardless of the gender identity or sexual orientation. It is duty bound by the constitution, which has not been fully met.