Legal reforms rarely emerge from policy papers alone. In India, the most significant changes in women’s rights have been driven by personal stories, public outrage and the tireless efforts of civil society.

The brutal assault on a 23-year-old woman in Delhi on the night of 16th December 2012 — known by the name Nirbhaya, meaning “the fearless” — shook the national conscience. The protests that followed compelled the government to constitute a judicial committee headed by Justice J.S. Verma to consult with civil society and recommend reforms to laws that had long been inadequate in protecting women.

The Justice Verma Committee Report called for sweeping reforms — in policing, electoral accountability, education and criminal law. It also offered a sharp critique of the then Sexual Harassment Bill, 2012:

“We notice from the provisions of the Bill that Section 14 appears to penalise a woman for filing a false complaint. We think that such a provision is a completely abusive provision and is intended to nullify the objective of the law.”

On the question of the Internal Committee’s powers, the report further recommended:

“The internal complaints committee should be given powers of a civil court for summoning, discovery and production of documents.”

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 that followed is grounded in the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan (1997) — a judgment that, for the first time, established binding guidelines for the prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace.