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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Short description|Indian lawyer, researcher, and human rights activist}}
{{Infobox person/Wikidata
|fetchwikidata=ALL

image=Vrinda Grover receives honorary degree at SOAS University of London.jpg
|image_size=200px
|caption=Grover receives an honorary degree from [[SOAS University of London]] in 2018
|office=Member, {{small|[[Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine]]}}, 2024–present
|alma_mater= [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi|St. Stephen's College]]{{efn|{{Wikidata entity link|Q5289309}}}} of [[Delhi University]], [[LL.B.]]
| education=[[LL.M.]], [[New York University]] School of Law{{efn|{{Wikidata entity link|Q846173}}}}
| known_for= [[Chair (officer)|Chair]] of the Board,<ref name=OHCHR/> [[International Service for Human Rights]]
|}}
'''Vrinda Grover''' (born 1964) is a [[lawyer]], researcher, and human rights and [[women's rights activist]] based in [[New Delhi]], [[India]]. As a lawyer, she has appeared in prominent human rights cases and represented women and child survivors of domestic and sexual violence; victims and survivors of communal massacre, extrajudicial killings and custodial torture; sexual minorities; trade unions; and political activists.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://chrgj.org/event/vrinda-grover-law-the-state-and-human-rights-in-india/|title=Vrinda Grover: "Law, the State and Human Rights in India" {{!}}|website=chrgj.org|access-date=2016-12-10|archive-date=2 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702231831/http://chrgj.org/event/vrinda-grover-law-the-state-and-human-rights-in-india/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She is a member of the UN [[Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine]].<ref name=OHCHR>{{cite web|url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iicihr-ukraine/members#grover |website=[[OHCHR]].org |title=
Human Rights Expert Members of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
|access-date=7 July 2025}}</ref>

Focused on the impunity of the state in relation to human rights violations, her research and writing inquires into the role of law in the subordination of women; the failure of the criminal justice system during communal and targeted violence; the effect of 'security' laws on human rights; rights of undocumented workers; challenges confronting internally displaced persons; and examines impunity for enforced disappearances and torture in conflict situations.<ref name=":0" /> ''Time'' magazine identified her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/vrinda-grover/|title=Vrinda Grover, Lawyer, 49|magazine=TIME|date=18 April 2013 |access-date=15 January 2015 |last1=Roy |first1=Nilanjana }}</ref>

==Education==
Grover graduated from [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]], where she was a student in History. She obtained her degree in law from [[Delhi University]] and a Masters in Law from [[New York University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trustwomenconf.com/profile/vrinda-grover/|title=Profile of Vrinda Grover|publisher=Trust Women}}</ref>

==Career==

=== Law ===
Grover has appeared for the victims in prominent cases such as the [[Soni Sori]] rape-torture case, [[1984 anti-Sikh riots]], 1987 [[Hashimpura massacre|Hashimpura police killings]], 2004 [[Ishrat Jahan case]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiaresists.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Final-letter-Home-Secy-11-july.pdf|title=Letter from Vrinda Grover, Advocate|access-date=15 January 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402114032/http://www.indiaresists.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Final-letter-Home-Secy-11-july.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the 2008 [[Religious violence in Odisha#Kandhamal Riots|anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://communalism.blogspot.in/2010/03/india-critique-communal-violence-bill.html|title=India: A critique to communal violence bill|website=Communalism watch|last1=Quraishi|first1=Humra|date=14 March 2010 }}</ref> She contributed to the drafting of the [[Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013|2013 Criminal Law Amendment]] to the law against sexual assault; the [[Child sexual abuse laws in India|Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012]], and the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010, a law for protection from Communal and Targeted Violence.

In [[2001 Indian Parliament attack|2001 Parliament Attack]] case, she served as counsel for S.A.R. Geelani, one of the main accused.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=2015-04-03 |title=Right to justice at stake |language=en |work=Frontline |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/right-to-justice-at-stake/article7002917.ece |access-date=2022-07-15}}</ref> In the aftermath of the [[2013 Muzaffarnagar riots|2013 Muzaffarnagar Massacre]], she represented seven of the gangrape survivors of communal violence.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thequint.com/voices/fighting-rape/vrinda-grover-interview-on-nirbhaya-verdict|title=Legal System Is Still Failing Rape Survivors: Lawyer Vrinda Grover|work=The Quint|access-date=2017-11-25|language=en}}</ref>

=== Organisations ===
She worked as the executive director of Multiple Action Research Group (MARG).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://soscbaha.org/vrinda-grover-589/|title=Vrinda Grover – Social Science Baha|website=soscbaha.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-25|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032501/http://soscbaha.org/vrinda-grover-589/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was a Research Fellow at the [[Nehru Memorial Museum & Library]], Delhi. She serves as a trustee at the Centre for Social Justice and board member for [[Green Peace]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/priya-pillai-addresses-british-mps-through-skype/article6789634.ece|title=Priya Pillai addresses British MPs through Skype|date=15 January 2015|work=The Hindu|last1=Menon|first1=Meena|access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref> She has actively engaged with UN human rights mechanisms including the Universal Periodic Review and UN Special Rapporteurs, UN Women India Civil Society Advisory Group; is a bureau member of South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR); a founder member of the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR). She is also on the global board of The Fund for Global Human Rights. She has associated with [[Amnesty International]], [[Human Rights Watch]] and the [[International Commission of Jurists]] on responses to torture, arbitrary detention, sexual violence and extra- judicial killings.

=== Activism ===

==== Early activism ====
In the 1980s, when Grover was a student at St Stephen's College, a 'tradition' existed of rating the female student population according to their physical attributes; the final calibration was summed up into a top 10 'chick chart' and pinned on the official noticeboard. A group of students, including her, decided to protest this. They were told they were breaking 'family tradition' and even threatened with expulsion. But they refused to back down. Ultimately, the institution banned the practice.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vogue.in/content/every-indian-woman-needs-to-know-about-these-basic-rights/|title=Every Indian woman needs to know about these basic rights|website=VOGUE India|date=24 September 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-12-10}}</ref>

==== Recent years ====
She, along with a group of feminist lawyers and activists demanded that documentary [[India's Daughter]] be put on hold till the legal process was complete. However, this group of activists clarified that they did not endorse the Indian Government's move to ban the film.<ref name=":1" /> She has been vocal in speaking out against the death penalty in India.<ref name=":2" /> She spoke out against the appointment of [[Rajendra K. Pachauri|Rajendra Kumar Pachauri]] as executive vice-chairman of [[TERI University]], who was accused of sexually harassing a research scholar.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/teri-is-in-breach-of-the-law-by-appointing-pachauri-vrinda-grover-116021100030_1.html|title=Teri is in breach of the law by appointing Pachauri: Vrinda Grover|last=Sandhu|first=Veenu|date=2016-02-11|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2017-11-25}}</ref> Pachauri, in turn, filed a civil suit against Vrinda Grover for pursuing the allegations of sexual harassment against him.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.livelaw.in/activists-outrage-rk-pacharis-civil-law-suit-advocate-vrinda-grover-pursuing-case-sexual-harassment/|title=Activists outrage at RK Pachari's civil law suit against Advocate Vrinda Grover for pursuing the case of sexual harassment against him|date=2016-04-15|work=Live Law|access-date=2017-11-25|language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Awareness speaker ====
She speaks critically of the [[Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act]],<ref>{{Citation|last=Samim Asgor Ali|title=Vrinda Grover speaks at a Public Meeting at Shipra Hostel JNU on 02 October, 2016|date=2016-10-02|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGdRc9HRT5w&t=765s|access-date=2016-12-10}}</ref> the [[Virginity test#Two-finger test|two finger test]]{{Broken anchor|date=2024-11-13|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Virginity test#Two-finger test|reason=Anchor "Virginity test#Two-finger test" links to a specific web page: "Two-finger test". The anchor (Two-finger test) [[Special:Diff/1257176340|has been deleted]].}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAqNVDSHDwo|title=Vrinda Grover talks about Two-finger Test (TFT)|website=YouTube|date=14 March 2014 |access-date=2016-12-10}}</ref> and other issues at various events and on news channels.

==== Controversies ====
:''RG Kar Rape & Murder Case''
Vrinda Grover started providing legal services on a pro bono basis to the victim's family from September 2024 in the rape and murder of a young on-duty doctor at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata on August 9th, 2024. However, she withdrew from the case in December 2024, a few weeks before the High Court provided a final verdict in the trial of a civic volunteer and the alleged killer, Sanjay Roy. It was disclosed later that her team discouraged the victim's parents from attending the court proceedings while the witnesses were being questioned. She withdrew from the case after the victim's family requested her to file a Protest Petition or Narazi Petition based on their dissatisfaction with the investigation. There were murmurs that she and her team misguided the victim's family and withdrew from the case just a few weeks before the final verdict was delivered in the Sealdah Court.<ref>https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2024/12/13/rg-kar-rape-murder-disappointed-but-undeterred-say-victims-parents-on-advocate-vrinda-grovers-withdrawal.html</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grover, Vrinda}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian human rights activists]]
[[Category:Indian women human rights activists]]
[[Category:Delhi University alumni]]
[[Category:Time (magazine) people]]
[[Category:New York University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2015]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women lawyers]]

Vrinda Grover - Revision history

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