The brutal gang rape of a physiotherapy student in India in December 2012 drew the world's attention to the problem of sexual violence against women in that country. Protests and mass public reaction towards the case pressurized the government to respond to the crisis by changing the laws on sexual violence. However, these new laws have not led to a decrease in violence against women (VAW). Is this the result of the failure of the rule of law? Or does it highlight the limitations of law in absence of social change? This paper addresses the need for using law as a key tool in addressing violence against women in India. It recognizes that unless we address the structural and root causes of violence against women, our analysis will be limited. It is important to bridge the creation of new laws, with an analysis that speaks to the role of hypermasculinity, neoliberalism and culture in VAW. If unaddressed, what may result instead are quick fixes, symbolized by the passing of new laws that act as token gestures rather than ones leading to transformative action.

The paper describes the mitigating effect of self-help groups in India during and post covid-19 situation. The study examines the potential opportunities and challenges concerning the contextual differences across and within the countries. Self-help group has been important in empowering its members by providing opportunities for livelihood support and income generator during the covid-19 situation. The self-help group played a very important role during the covid-19 situation as half of the SHG was involved in community awareness and infection prevention activities in their community. The study identifies a potential mechanism through which women's groups may be affected by covid-19 situations. JEL Classification Codes: G21, I3.

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