The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday launched a 30-page handbook for its judges that contains a list of gender unjust terms and alternate words that are to be used in place of those terms. As soon as a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud assembled to hear arguments on a batch of pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the CJI announced the unveiling of the handbook. "This is to assist judges and the legal community to identify, understand" stereotypes about women in legal discourse," he said.

In a press release, the apex court said the 'Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes' seeks to empower judges and members of the legal community to identify, understand and counteract harmful stereotypes about women. "The handbook features a glossary of gender-unjust terms and proposes alternative words and phrases for use in legal documents, including pleadings, orders, and judgments. The compilation identifies common stereotypes about women and demonstrates the inaccuracies of these stereotypes and how they can impact the application of the law," the release said.

The release said that the handbook also encapsulates the prevailing legal doctrine on crucial issue, particularly those regarding sexual violence. "In its entirety, the handbook aims to equip judges with the knowledge and tools to critically evaluate their own reasoning, writing and to ensure that justice is served fairly and equitably," the release said, adding it is a significant step towards a gender- just legal order.

The launch of the handbook marks a significant milestone in its journey towards a just and equitable society by equipping judges and the legal community with the tools to identify, understand and reject stereotypes. According to the release, it is aimed to pave the way for a more inclusive, impartial and gender just legal system.

"The ground-breaking initiative under the directions of the Chief Justice of India, Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud is aimed at fulfilling the Indian judiciary's goal of eradicating pre-conceived gender stereotypes from judicial discourse, especially those concerning women," it said.

It prohibits use of words like "hooker" and "prostitute" and said the term "sex worker" be used instead. The handbook said that instead of using words such as "concubine or keep", the expression "woman with whom a man has had romantic or sexual relations outside of marriage" has to be used. The word "eve-teasing" will now be termed as "street sexual harassment", the handbook said, adding that instead of word "faggot", the term accurately describing the individual's sexual orientation be used. "Housewife" will now become "homemaker" for judicial discourses, it said, adding that word "mistress" be now described as "woman with whom a man has had romantic or sexual relations outside of marriage". It said instead of word "bastard", the word "non-marital child or, a child whose parents were not married" should be used.

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