Gender Violence, Legal Pluralism, &, Inter-Generational Experiences in Assam, India.

Constitution of India grants right to practice customary & personal laws besides state law. Legal pluralism thus is an integral part of several indigenous & religious communities in Northeast India, impacting women’s lives significantly. In the last four decades, changing socio-economic scenario, &, novel political progressions have affected conceptions of identity, culture, & standing of personal & customary laws. Within this larger context this paper attempts to trace the continuity & changes in experiences of gender discrimination & violence among three generations of women (aged18 to 75 years), & their access to law in Assam, India. It is based on three larger feminist ethnographic studies on women’s lives, gender violence & law (2015-2022). Data was collected through unstructured interviews of women, legal personnel, gender & legal rights activists, researchers, cases studies, court cases, FGDs, observations in the field, among others. It brings forth women’s various gendered experiences, choice of & hurdles to approaching different legal orders &, the ways these legal orders respond to women’s cases. This study illustrates significant alteration in women’s lives in terms of access to education, employment, public spaces, & decision making across generations. Such access though does not necessarily translate to reduction in gendered experiences across spaces. It shows that contrary to the longstanding claim various forms of gender violence marks women’s lives across generations & religions, & both within indigenous & non-indigenous communities. The paper agrees with the strand of feminist legal pluralists who emphasize that legal pluralism does provide women with better choices to address their issues. It is observed that women belonging to indigenous communities comparatively have easier access to grievance redressal. However, given the overall gendered milieu & increasing homogenization of culture, despite the presence of multiple legal forums, women’s access to law & legal relief, remains constrained.