A STUDY ON GENDER JUSTICE IN FAMILY COURTS

Family Courts were established in India under the Family Courts Act, 1984 to provide a humane, informal and conciliatory forum for matrimonial and family disputes. Women form a large share of litigants before these courts, seeking maintenance, divorce, custody, protection from cruelty and a share in marital resources. This study examines whether Family Courts deliver gender justice in substance as well as in form. It analyses constitutional guarantees, the Family Courts Act, personal laws, maintenance and custody law, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, together with judicial decisions. It identifies persistent problems of delay, stereotyping, weak enforcement of maintenance orders, pressure towards reconciliation, inadequate infrastructure and limited access to legal aid, and it suggests procedural, institutional and legislative reforms. Keywords: Gender Justice, Family Courts, Family Courts Act 1984, Maintenance, Custody, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Mediation, Women’s Rights, Access to Justice.