Diganta Roy

Every human being shall have the right to become a parent or to have children since they possess such desires naturally which is one of the basic requirements to live a life with human dignity. Such a requirement has even been protected as a basic human right by the law both internationally and nationally, but somewhere a section of the human population that is homosexual has been left apart. Similarly, recently a bill regulating surrogacy in India was drafted which has also failed to cover such homosexual sections of the society. This therefore raises the question how a country, whose Constitution provides for equality amongst all the sections of human society as well as that legalizes gay sex, may discriminate against homosexuals by not providing them with the right to become parents by way of surrogacy, especially when such couples are unable to have children through natural reproductive process. This paper, in an attempt to address this question, finally concludes that the right to parenthood should be treated as a human right only to the extent of one being a parent for fulfilling his/her desires to have children and such a right should be provided to homosexuals, for which an amendment in the Surrogacy Bill of 2020 is immediately required.

People’s knowledge and attitude towards gender and sexuality are changing. It is evident in several judicial pronouncements in the past few years. But little has changed in the world of sports. The gender binary is still the dominating pattern in most sporting events. One major problem with this male/female classification is that not all athletes fit into this gender binary. Transgender women athletes are the most likely to suffer. There are cases of sporting authorities denying transgender women athletes their right to participate in sporting events as per their gender identity. This is due to a widespread belief that transgender women athletes possess an unfair advantage over their cisgender counterparts because of certain physiological conditions such as higher testosterone levels. Transgender women athletes are often subjected to rigorous sex tests to determine their level of testosterone. However, these sex tests and a ban on transgender women athletes because of natural physiological conditions like higher testosterone levels raise several legal and ethical questions. Athletes often find these tests humiliating and also there is no established scientific evidence of a considerable link between testosterone and athletic performance. Moreover, a certain amount of competitive advantage always remains among athletes due to genetic variation. The social, economic, and cultural backgrounds of athletes also play key roles in their performance. However, these factors are never taken into account while measuring the level playing field. Against this backdrop, this article discusses Dutee Chand’s case and questions the validity of sex tests and ban on transgender women athletes due to higher testosterone levels. Transgender women athletes’ participation in the female category is an ongoing debate. It is doubtful how testosterone is connected to athletic performance and how it is different from other performance determining factors. Sporting authorities should guide their policies towards creating an inclusive environment while maintaining fairness in sports.

People’s knowledge and attitude towards gender and sexuality are changing. It is evident in several judicial pronouncements in the past few years. But little has changed in the world of sports. The gender binary is still the dominating pattern in most sporting events. One major problem with this male/female classification is that not all athletes fit into this gender binary. Transgender women athletes are the most likely to suffer. There are cases of sporting authorities denying transgender women athletes their right to participate in sporting events as per their gender identity. This is due to a widespread belief that transgender women athletes possess an unfair advantage over their cisgender counterparts because of certain physiological conditions such as higher testosterone levels. Transgender women athletes are often subjected to rigorous sex tests to determine their level of testosterone. However, these sex tests and a ban on transgender women athletes because of natural physiological conditions like higher testosterone levels raise several legal and ethical questions.
Athletes often find these tests humiliating and also there is no established scientific evidence of a considerable link between testosterone and athletic performance. Moreover, a certain amount of competitive advantage always remains among athletes due to genetic variation. The social, economic, and cultural backgrounds of athletes also play key roles in their performance. However, these factors are never taken into account while measuring the level playing field. Against this backdrop, this article discusses Dutee Chand’s case and questions the validity of sex tests and ban on transgender women athletes due to higher testosterone levels. Transgender women athletes’ participation in the female category is an ongoing debate. It is doubtful how testosterone is connected to athletic performance and how it is different from other performance determining factors. Sporting authorities should guide their policies towards creating an inclusive environment while maintaining fairness in sports.

Child trafficking can be held as one of the most inhuman criminal activities at the contemporary age of human civilization. The growth of child trafficking across the globe has made it a serious International issue concerning the future of the humanity. The trafficked children are then again forced to commit several activities with inhuman legacies, like terrorisms, prostitution, slaved/bonded labour, etc. This issue is more common in Developing and Least Developed countries and since India is a developing country, such issues are expected to be at a significant height. Again NorthEastern Region of India has been living under serious isolation from whatever developments are taking place in the mainstream India. It is even alleged that NorthEastern Region has mostly faced negligence at the hands of rest of the India. As a result, underdevelopment has become the fate for most of the population of this Region for which instances, like child trafficking is also increasing in the region. This paper focuses on the instances of child trafficking in the region along with its causes and concerns and the efficiency of the legal mechanism adopted to tackle such issues of child trafficking in the Region.