Indian Federalism and Violence Against Women: A Complex Web of Power Relationships

Summary, in English

In 2012, the ‘Delhi rape’ brought renewed attention to the long-standing problem of violence against women (VAW) in India, unraveling entrenched structures of oppression against women. However, despite the introduction of the 2013 Rape Law, women still face high levels of sexual violence. If much has been written on VAW in India and the complexity of Indian federalism, very few studies engage with how the two interact. In an effort to discuss this relationship, this chapter focuses on how multilevel governance as a way of organizing government and a philosophy of governance could help mitigate the problem of VAW in India. After exposing the complex web of gender–power relationships, the chapter provides an overview of VAW and federalism in India and, finally, the concluding parts argue around the possibility of multilevel governance for the deployment of multiple counter-powers to the central state.