Kautilya And Corporate Duty: Rethinking Shared Responsibility To Address Systemic Gender-Based Violence In Global Value Chains
- IJLLR Journal
- Jun 12
- 1 min read
Amrita Malik, PhD Scholar, Alliance School of Law, Bangalore, India
Dr. Sujith P Surendran, Professor, Alliance School of Law, Bangalore, India
ABSTRACT
Current corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental social and governance (ESG) frameworks fail to address systemic governance gaps regarding the widespread prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) in global value chains (GVCs). Self-regulatory and fragmented accountability frameworks fail to address systemic silence and indifference that normalize violence. This paper examines the intersection of contemporary ESG frameworks and Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) to present the Kautilyan duty-based responsibility, harmonized with contemporary corporate accountability, to tackle systemic GBV. The author employs Kautilya’s concept of dharma to advance a model of governance-oriented duties, as opposed to moral absolutes, and proposes a model with respect to the imbalance of responsibility for harm among buyers, suppliers and regulators within the GVCs. This paper operationalizes Kautilyan collective and custodial functions, accountability, and state accountability within the ESG framework concerning due diligence, contract governance, and remedies. Developing a comprehensive understanding of structural GBV requires shifting beyond audit-centric liability frameworks toward an integrated cross-border corporate governance and shared responsibility across global supply chains. The integration of IKS with ESG frameworks represents a governance model that reinforces corporate accountability and promotes gender-responsive practices in GVCs.
Keywords: Corporate Accountability, Shared Responsibility, Global Value Chains, Kautilyan Jurisprudence, ESG Governance, Gender Based Violence.
