CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE- SCENARIO IN INDIA: Aditi Banerjee, CNLU

Patna (student)

According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is defined as
“a human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child,
majority is attained earlier.” According to the Census Commission of India’s Report of 2011,
Children, below the age of 18 years, contribute to 37% of India’s population.

In India, a large proportion of children experience different form of adverse childhood

experiences, including sexual abuse. According to a national study conducted in 2007 by the
Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India, 12,447 children
were interviewed, and 53% reported experience of sexual abuse and over 20% reported
severe sexual abuse. Other studies from India have also reported very high prevalence of
child sexual abuse.

Effects of Child Sexual Abuse: Child sexual abuse leads to various psychological and
physical harm to children. Psychological effects include depression, anxiety, eating disorders,
somatization, sleeping disorders, multi personality disorder, post-traumatic stress, crime,
suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc. Physical Effects include various kinds of injuries,
including bleeding, damage to internal organs, death, infections, sexually transmitted disease,
neurological damage, including notable changes in brain functioning and development.

Legal Steps taken to prevent Child Sexual Abuse: Article 34 of the United Nation
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, says that children and young people have the
right to be protected from sexual abuse, irrespective of gender, and the government should
also do this for refugees. Being married before being legally old enough is a form of sexual
abuse, and children and young people have a right to be protected from this. On December
11, 1992, India ratified the UNCRC, promising to ensure the rights of survival, development,
protection and participation for all its children in the country.

Although protection of children by the state is guaranteed to Indian citizens by an expansive

reading of Article 21 of the Indian constitution, Goa Children's Act, 2003, was the only
specific piece of child abuse legislation before 2012 . Child sexual abuse was prosecuted
under I.P.C., 1860, sections 375- Rape, 354- Outraging the modesty of a woman, 377-
Unnatural offences. However, the Indian Penal Code could not effectively protect the child
due to various loopholes.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was enacted in 2012 to
provide a strong legal framework for the protection of children from offences of sexual
assault, sexual harassment and pornography, and to safeguard the interest of children at every
stage of the judicial process. The Act seeks to make procedures child-friendly by including
mechanisms for child-friendly reporting, child-friendly recording of evidence, investigation
and speedy trial of offences through designated Special Courts. For both children and for the
accused, this act is gender-neutral. Also, the Act criminalises even watching or collection of
pornographic content involving children, and makes abetment of child sexual abuse an
offence.

Even after enactment of laws against child sexual abuse, child sexual abuse could not be
curbed. Due to growing outrage in the country, following many brutal child sexual abuse
cases, the Parliament of India passed POCSO (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The act enhances
punishment for sexual offences against children, with a provision of death penalty.

Punishments under POCSO (Amendment) Act, 2019: To prevent child

pornography, the Act provides for imprisonment up to five years and fine, for use of a
child for pornographic purposes. However, the punishment would be up to seven years
and fine in the case of subsequent conviction.

The act provides for imprisonment up to 20 years, which might extend to life
imprisonment as well as fine for committing penetrative sexual assaults on a child
below 16 years of age.

According to the act, in case of aggravated penetrative sexual assault, the minimum
punishment is increased from ten years to 20 years, and the maximum punishment to
death penalty.

Child Sexual Abuse is a dark reality that is highly prevalent in India and adversely
impacts health of the child and also infringes the rights of the child. Better
implementation of the child protection laws is the need of the hour. Also, sex
education should be imparted to children, awareness should be created about child
sexual abuse, and self-defence training should be provided to children. Mindset of the
society needs to be changed. And it is time to work on new solutions to curb child
sexual abuse. A nation can progress only when its future generation enjoys a healthy
and safe environment to grow.