Use empathy while dealing with disabled victims or survivors of sexual abuse: Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

The Supreme Court's Justice Dinesh Maheshwari on Saturday inaugurated a two-day conference on Sensitization of District Court Judges on Gender Justice and Differently Abled Victims/Survivors of Sexual Abuse. .While inaugurating the conference, Justice Maheshwari emphasised that disabled victims needed special attention, rather than sympathy. It is empathy, which should be embedded in the approach of judging while dealing with disabled victims or survivors of sexual abuse, he opined. .He went on to say that while human beings had five senses, internal sense organs, through which one gets to know the power of foresight, confidence etc, were more important. In this regard, he appealed to the participating judges to focus on the power and utility of the internal organs and repose greater confidence in internal sensibility and conscience.He called for judicial officers to have a fine balance in their approach, in that they should neither be too compassionate towards the litigants nor should be devoid of compassion..Justice Maheshwari also said that justice should not be litigant-centric but cause-centric, which suggested that judges were doing justice for a cause and not for a party. .The conference saw the participation of around 225 judicial officers, including district judges from courts in Lucknow, Kanpur, Sitapur, Raebareli, Unnao and Faizabad.The conference was organized to sensitize participating judges in matters involving sexual violence against women and girls with disability. It touched upon the issues of gender inequality, gender stereotypes and gender injustice, value of the testimony of a disabled prosecutrix, intersectionality, victim compensation, restorative justice and witness protection. .Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal also addressed the participants and highlighted that girls outshone boys in the recently declared results of Class 10 and 12 board exams, and that their past percentage was also higher than that of boys. The Chief Justice referred to many cases, particularly Aparna Bhat, Patan Jamal Vali and the Sabarimala verdict, and recommended their meticulous study so that the judges may learn more about gender justice.He called for matters related to differently abled victims and witnesses to be taken up with utmost sensitivity..Justice Ramesh Sinha of the Allahabad High Court said that these conferences and workshops educate judges more than they educate general public, and thus, they should try to get maximum benefit. Chairperson of the Committee for Sensitization of Family Courts Justice Sunita Agarwal said that women did not need to be worshipped, rather they needed realization of their existence. During his speech Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya called for a change in mindset with a view to breaking gender stereotypes..A number of sessions were held over the two days on sensitisation of the subordinate judiciary and allied topics. Those in attendance included a large number of judges, sitting and former, the Principal Secretary of the law department of the Uttar Pradesh government, and district judges of all the six districts..[Read Press Release]