MUMBAI: Supreme Court judge Justice B V Nagarathna challenged the notion that women are entering male-dominated spaces, stating instead that they are reclaiming spaces from which they were unfairly excluded for generations.
Speaking at the launch of senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani’s book “Women Laws from the Womb to the Tomb: Rights and Remedies”, Justice Nagarathna emphasized that women’s growing presence in law, governance, and corporate sectors should not be seen as an intrusion.
“What is happening today is not about women invading men’s spaces, but rather dismantling barriers that have unfairly excluded them for generations,” she said.
“Every woman stepping into a courtroom, legislature or boardroom today isn’t expanding her boundaries. She is reclaiming her fair share of this nation’s intellectual and institutional legacy.”
Justice Nagarathna called for a change in the way women’s progress is described, pointing out that commonly used expressions often suggest that women are outsiders in positions of power.
“We frequently hear phrases like women entering the judiciary, claiming a seat in the boardroom… They subtly suggest that these spaces were not meant for women,” she noted.