Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Web announced the launch of a "Handbook on combating Gender Stereotypes" by the Supreme Court.

The handbook has been prepared in order to identify and avoid using words and phrases with gender stereotypes during court judgments and in legal language.

"This is to assist judges and the legal community to identify, understand, and combat stereotypes about women in legal discourse. It contains a glossary of gender unjust terms and suggests alternative words and phrases which may be used while drafting pleadings as well as orders and judgements. It is for lawyers as well as judges", CJI said.

The CJI added that the handbook identifies common stereotypes by women, many of which have been utilised by courts in the past and demonstrates why they're inaccurate and how they may distort the application of law. 

He said that the intention is not to criticize or cast doubts on judgements but merely to show how stereotypes may unwittingly be employed. 

"To raise awareness against the utilisation of harmful stereotypes, particularly those against women, the handbook aims to explain what stereotypes are," CJI said.

"It helps judges identify and avoid such stereotypes by first- identifying language which promotes gender stereotypes and offering alternative words and phrases; two, identifying common reasoning patterns based on gender stereotypes particularly about women. And three, highlighting binding judgements of Supreme Court which have rejected these stereotypes", CJI explained.

According to the Handbook, Words like eve-teasing, prostitute, and housewife will now be replaced by terms like street sexual harassment, sex worker and homemaker. 

Similarly, instead of using words like "seductress", "whore" or "woman of loose morals", the word "woman" has to be used.

The handbook also points out the stereotypical thinking or the pre concept notion regarding a woman that women are “overly emotional, illogical, and cannot take decisions”. 

But in reality a “person’s gender does not determine or influence their capacity for rational thought”, the handbook stated.

Likewise, there have been several examples of stereotypical thinking about women which the book tries to convey to people. 

The handbook was uploaded to the Supreme Court website. 

(With inputs from LiveLaw)