ABSTRACT
This chapter focusses on women’s right to equality in marriage and family relations. India has no universal family law; rather, there are different personal laws for each religious community – Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh, Lingayat, followers of Prarthana and Brahmo and Arya Samaj and a secular personal law. Each offers differing levels of human rights protections for women. The chapter assesses the extent to which women’s human rights principles (particularly those detailed in article 16 of CEDAW (Marriage and Family Relations), General Recommendation 21 (Equality in Marriage and Family Relations) and General Recommendation 29 (Economic Consequences of Marriage, Family Relations and Their Dissolution) and women’s human rights theories have been or could be utilised to advance the rights of women in key illustrative areas. We argue that equality in marriage and family relations is a universal value and therefore support the introduction of a secular uniform family law code that meets international norms. We also argue, however, that cultural and religious practices that do not erode or infringe upon women’s human rights should be retained in each community’s family law framework.
