India, March 2 -- In recent years, a deeply concerning pattern has surfaced in the adjudication of sexual violence against women and children. Courts have, at times, diluted charges, discounted survivor testimony, or relied on hyper technical reasoning under the guise of legal caution. In some cases, minor survivors have been disbelieved for using vernacular language to describe abuse. In others, responsibility has subtly shifted toward the victim. When interpretation distances itself from lived reality, the justice system risks ceasing to be a shield for the vulnerable and instead becomes a barrier they must struggle to overcome.

This concern reached its most troubling expression in March 2025, when the Allahabad High Court modified cha...