Volume IV Issue II

SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST DALIT WOMEN: A CRITICAL STUDY OF JUDICIAL TRENDS Sashreek Pandey, Student of BA.LLB (H), 10th Semester at Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus (India). Download Manuscript doi.org/10.70183/lijdlr.2026.v04.149 This research paper critically examines judicial trends in cases of sexual violence against Dalit women in India through the intersecting lenses of caste, gender, dignity, and constitutional justice. It proceeds from the premise that such violence cannot be understood as a mere sexual offence in isolation, because it often operates as a mechanism of caste domination, social control, humiliation, and structural subordination. The study analyses the constitutional framework under Articles 14, 15, 17, and 21 of the Constitution of India, alongside the statutory scheme contained in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. It further evaluates leading judicial decisions to assess how courts have addressed questions of caste motive, consent, credibility, evidentiary burden, delay in reporting, and survivor protection. The paper argues that although Indian courts have shown some progressive movement, especially through emerging intersectional reasoning, judicial response remains uneven and often insufficiently sensitive to the structural realities of caste-based sexual violence. The study concludes that a more consistent, survivor-centric, and constitutionally grounded judicial approach is necessary to secure meaningful justice for Dalit women.