Correlation between Sexual Abuse and Adolescent Crime : A Critical legal study

10.4/5 Juvenile Justice Law, Child Protection Laws and Law Relating to Mental Health

SUBMITTED BY:

Utkarsh Ahuja

UID: SM0116051

Fifth Year, 10th Semester

Faculty-in-charge

Thangzakhup Tombing

(Assistant Professor of Law)

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam

1
ABSTRACT

Rape is when an act of sexual offence involves the element of lack of consent or consent is
obtained through fraud or force. Statutory Rape is where the consent is considered to be
invalid. This offence defines the heinous exploitation of the minor by adults. It talks about a
punishment being served to an adult if he/she had any kind of physical interaction with a girl
who is of 18 years or below the age of 18 even if he/she has voluntarily participated in the
act. But what happens when the gruesome act is being committed by a minor, on a minor? In
this era of growing cases of the child on child abuse, what are the measures being taken?
How can we as a society stop this? Rape is one of the most terrible and heinous crimes on
earth and it happens every few minutes. It is the crossing of boundaries by a person against
the will of the victim. A rape is reported every 15 minutes in India. The severity of the
problem keeps on growing but the progress of justice is delayed, denied or always in process.
The act of rape is not the only problem that suffocates the fresh breath of acceptance and
justice, the problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women on how
to defend and protect themselves. This paper foregrounds an analysis of sexual abuse and
adolescent crimes and the connection between it. Reflecting on the populist punitiveness at
play, it talks about the Indian state’s poverty of understanding of children’s rights. Mapping
legislative, juridical ,etc.

2
 INTRODUCTION

Every child is an innocent small creature and a gift of God, that is brought into the world. Due
to multiple factors and easily accessible variety of age-inappropriate information, these
children have started to indulge in wrong adopted behaviour, reflecting wrong ‘adult’
behaviour and anger eventually getting caught up in acts of conflict with the law.

According to the child rights activist, Yamini Abde “the urge to do something different, daring,
extraordinary filled with thrill is one of the driving forces behind the minors getting involved
in heinous crimes like rape and murder. Peer pressure, desire for easy money, access to internet
videos on crimes, and pornographic material. Increase in aggression and sexual activity in
youngsters and the knowledge of the fact that they will not be punished under the criminal
system for them being juveniles. This absence of fear with regards to punishment has led to an
increase in the crime rate among juveniles.”

Her statement indicates the leverage these Adolescents have over the law and how it is being
misused with no appropriate action governing their curious ways of committing offences.

Supreme Court being the apex interpreter of jurisprudence has determined the term in the
following cases. In the case of Raghbir v. State of Haryana1, The Supreme Court of India
defined the term ‘delinquent child’ as follows: “a child, who has been found to have committed
an offence” and also In the case of Munna v. State of U.P2., P.N. Bhagwati and R.S. Pathak, JJ
observed:

“Adolescent delinquency is by and large the product of social and economic maladjustment.
Even if it is found that these teenagers have committed any offence, they cannot be allowed to
be maltreated. They do not shed their fundamental rights when they enter the jail. Moreover,
the objective of the punishment being reformative, we fail to see what social objective can be
gained by sending them to jail where they come in contact with hardened criminals and lose
whatever sensitivity they may have to finer and nobler sentiments.”

1
AIR 1981 SC 2037
2
(1982) 1 SCC 546

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4
RESEARCH PROBLEM

The research problem of the topic “Correlation Between Sexual Abuse and Adolescent Crime” is the
dilemma that the legal fraternity has been facing for a time now wherein the rights of children have been
pitched against each other and there are chances of the rights of children being compromised.

LITERATURE REVIEW

 Barbaree, H. E., & Marshall, W. L. (Eds.). (2006). The juvenile sex offender (2nd ed.).
Guilford Press:

How does sexual deviance develop in childhood and adolescence? What are the characteristics of
youths who perpetrate sex-related crimes? And how can society respond effectively to treat and
prevent these highly destructive behaviors? Research and clinical practice in the area of juvenile
sexual offending have advanced considerably over the last decade, and the revised and expanded
second edition of this comprehensive work brings the field fully up to date. Grounded in the latest
empirical findings, and including seven entirely new chapters, this is a timely, authoritative resource
for practitioners, researchers, and students. From leading editors and contributors, the volume is
organized around three broad themes: basic concepts and processes, evaluation, and intervention.
Following an introductory chapter that defines key terms, pathways of normal sexual development
are described and the biological, social, and psychological processes that lead to deviance and
aggression are investigated. Attention is also given to commonalities and differences among sexually
offending youths and those with nonsexual conduct problems. Two new chapters on basic issues
cover the role of child sexual abuse in maladaptive development and discuss sexual offending by
females, respectively. Turning to evaluation and intervention, the book explores how juvenile
offenders are dealt with in the mental health and criminal justice systems. Psychological and
pharmacological treatment approaches are reviewed, and recommendations are provided for
improving existing practices. New chapters address a range of compelling topics: assessment of
recidivism risks, strategies for family-based intervention, new directions for treatment outcome
research, the effects on juveniles of recent sex offender legislation, and principles and methods of
restorative justice. Scholarly yet accessible, this book provides essential knowledge for child and
adolescent psychologists and psychiatrists, social workers, and forensic and developmental
psychologists, as well as other professionals working with youth in clinical and juvenile justice

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settings. It is a supplemental text for graduate-level courses in child clinical psychology, juvenile
justice, and mental health and law. .

 Understanding, Assessing, and Rehabilitating Juvenile Sexual Offenders, 2nd Edition

 by Phil Rich:

Phil Rich is considered one of the world's leading authorities on how best to understand, assess, and
treat juvenile sexual offenders, and this Second Edition of his excellent text shows why he is held in
such high regard. All theoreticians, researchers, and practitioners whose work brings them in contact
with juvenile sexual offenders should definitely read this remarkable book. The Second Edition of
Understanding, Assessing, and Rehabilitating Juvenile Sexual Offenders showcases Phil Rich's
experience and mastery of the research and clinical literature. In my view, this is an excellent therapy
book and, like its predecessor, will help practitioners to work effectively and ethically with juvenile
offenders. It is destined to become a classic.

 STATE AND CHILD JUSTICE: Stories of Delinquent Juveniles by Yogesh Snehi:

This article provides a detailed account of the reasons behind enactment of specialised legislations
for children. The article also explains the backdrop on which the United Nations Conventions on
Rights of Children was adopted by the UN and ratified by most of the member states. The author has
also given a brief description of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 before giving
detailed accounts of the condition of the Juvenile Homes in India.

 Help for Adolescent Males with Sexual Behavior Problems: A Cognitive-Behavioral

Treatment Program, Therapist Guide by John A. Hunter

This Therapist Guide describes a three-phase treatment for use in residential settings with young men
who have perpetrated sexual crimes. Based on the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy, the
developed program is designed to address social and cultural influences on the youth's behavior,
family dynamics, and peer influences. It covers social skill development and impulse control and
helping participating youth to develop a healthy understanding of sexuality and sexual relationships.
It also covers anger management skills and how to encourage cognitive and emotional understanding
of the negative physical, emotional, and social consequences of sexually abusive behaviour, and
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includes relapse prevention strategies. The concept of healthy masculinity is introduced at the start of
the program and carried throughout..

SCOPE

The issue at hand is very extensive in nature and requires a quite deep understanding within a short span
of time.

OBJECTIVES

 To critically analyze the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of the Children), 2015
 To understand the issues that provoke Adolescent to commit crimes.
 To Understand the relation between sexual abuses and Adolescent crime.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Use of Doctrinal method shall be omnipresent and reflected through the project. Secondary data
sources such as articles, case comments, books, journals have been resorted to. Relevant cases
highlighting the issue shall also be utilized to further cement our study of the topic (Case-Study
method). Historical method and Analytical method to better understand and construct a better
foundation of the topic have been instrumental in framing this draft.

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ADOLESCENCE DELINQUENCY AND THE JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND
PROTECTION) ACT, 2015 AND RECENT JUVENILE OFFENCES: AN ANALYSIS.

POSCO would consider a 17-year old boy a criminal, even for having a consensual sexual
relationship with another 17-year old, even if both the participants had equal responsibility in
the sexual relationship. The question of consent would not even arise in a minor’s case. Every
sexual activity is a crime and can be acted against. I feel this law is very sexist as it considers
only the guy to be the offender. A girl can also initiate it and therefore both of them are equally
responsible if they engage in consensual sex. The recent act of the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of the Children), 2015 after many deliberations, was finally passed by the Central
Government repealing the Juvenile Justice Act of 20003. The new bill was passed with many
reforms in the Indian criminal law jurisprudence. The act empowers the National Commission
for Protection of Child Rights and State Commission for Protection of Child Rights to enforce
the provisions of the act and the duty is cast upon the Central Government also to spread the
awareness about this through electronic as well as print media amongst the individuals of the
nation4. Before it being passed there was a wide debate of it being unconstitutional and
violating the international conventions, the passing of the bill has led to varied opinions upon
its faults and it being not a complete comprehensive solution and is rather being regarded as a
hasty legislation which had been lying dead in the parliament for three years and was passed
only in the wake of a heinous crime of the Nirbhaya case, the cries and efforts of the parents
of the victim of the case had made the legislative action hasty and somewhat the need of the
hour of putting a juvenile delinquent behind bars but a lot of its provisions are not only violating
the purpose of which the act is passed that is 'care and protection of children'.

The Nirbhaya case in which a gang rape was committed of a woman in a bus, the convicted
people included a minor of 17 years and therefore was sent to a reformative school and the
debate started whether the courts should have regarded him as an adult or not, therefore the
Juvenile Justice act of 2015 opens the aspect of the crimes committed by the minors of the age
16-18 who have committed heinous offences to be considered as adults by the court. The
culpability of the minor to be treated as an adult is left to the Juvenile Justice Boards which
conduct a preliminary assessment with regards to the physical and mental capacity to commit
such offence, ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances in

3
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of the Children), 2015, Section 111
4
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of the Children), 2015, Section 108,109

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which he allegedly committed the offence, wherein the board is allowed to seek help from a
psychology expert in such determination. In the wake of the heinous case in which this
legislation was hastily taken up, the offender will not be punished as the constitution doesn't
support ex-post facto laws application which explains that the retrospective application of laws
in not possible and this being a fundamental right is uninfringeable, therefore a time could have
been taken and the bill after much deliberations and discussions could have passed.5

The fallacy that the reformation and retributive nature can together be applicable to a minor
should have been ignored as it brings into the fact that in a case where a deliberate
determination of a minor to be an adult will ruin a life, and would be contrary to the preamble
of the act. In addition to this Rule 2 of The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for
Administration of Juvenile Justice, 1985 (The Beijing Rules): defines “juvenile” as a child or
young person who, under the respective legal system, may be dealt with for an offence in a
manner which is different from the one meted out to an adult.6 Therefore, the legislation is
contrary to the international conventions it was supposed to accord to.

Moreover, the Act is in violation of the Constitution of India. Articles 14 and 15(3) are violated
by the Act. Article 14 speaks of the equality before law and Article 15 (3) gives powers to the
state to make any special provisions for the children. The notion of inclusion of the children in
the separate class that of adults is ab-initio faulty as it violates the test of reasonable
classification as the children can't be held to be the same standards of culpability as adults
because of their developmental immaturity and their amenability to rehabilitative
interventions.7

The inclusion of the minors in the crimes as adults completely destroys the rehabilitative
foundation of the existing juvenile justice system in India by adopting a retributive approach
for heinous crimes committed by children in this age group. The Research in developmental
psychology explains the difference in cognitive capacity and psychosocial maturity between
children including adolescents and adults that influence their decision-making in anti-social
situations.8 The evaluation by the board in the determination would thereby also be in violation

5
The New JJ Act: Facilitating Criminalisation of Juveniles, The New Indian Express (India), 07th January 2016
6
Shivam Goel, Children in Conflict with Law: Indian and International Perspective(2015),
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2620325
7
Centre for Child and the Law, NLSIU Bangalore, Critique of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Bill, 2014 (JJ Bill),(2015)
8
Elizabeth Cauffman and Laurence Steinberg, “(Im)maturity of Judgment in Adolescence: Why Adolescents May
Be Less Culpable Than Adults,”Behav. Sci. Law 18: 741 at742-743 (2000)

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of article 14. Article 15 (3) will also be violated as these special provisions for the children are
actually to their own deterrent and would not safeguard them against any action caused in
cognitive immaturity to which they lack psychological maturity or culpability.

Section 15 (1) of the said act provides that an enquiry will be assisted by experienced
psychologists, psycho-social workers and other experts for the preliminary assessment into
heinous offences. This provision may lead to arbitrariness under the constitution of India as
evaluation of mental or psychological capacity of an individual is a very complex process
which cannot be done accurately.

The new act is also in violation of the international convention signed by India that is the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC), which states that signatory countries
shall treat every child who are under the age of 18 years in the same methodology and not try
them as adults.9The primary consideration even in cases involving serious offences by children
should be the best interest of the child – “in cases of severe offences by children, measures
proportionate to the circumstances of the offender and to the gravity of the offence may be
considered, including considerations of the need of public safety and sanctions. In the case of
children, such considerations must always be outweighed by the need to safeguard the well-
being and the best interests of the child and to promote his/her reintegration.10

The act requires the Juvenile Justice Board to arbitrarily assess culpability prior to even an
establishment of guilt. This assessment is in essence a sentencing decision that is arrived at
even before the guilt is established. This is in complete violation of the presumption of
innocence - a central tenet of the juvenile justice as well as the criminal justice system.11 This
is major fallout for the criminal jurisprudence that has been in India.

The act provides for the transfer of the convicts from the rehabilitation centre to the Jails once
they attain the age of 2112 which is once again a retributive punishment and not a reformative
technique.

9
Apoorva Shankar, Tanvi Deshpande, The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2015: All you need to know (December 18th,
2015)
10
The International Law of Youth Rights: Second Revised Edition edited by William D. Angel, Jorge Cardona,
Giuseppe Porcaro, Jaakko Weuro, Giorgio Zecca
11
Supra at 12
12
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of the Children), 2015, Section 19(3)

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In 2018, a 14-year-old boy was detained under CrPC and Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly raping his 5-year old girl cousin in Bharatpur by luring
her to a secluded place by promising to give her 10 rupees for toffees. The little girl’s mother
realized the abuse after she found her daughter bleeding.13

The Juvenile delinquents under the new act now can be punished for non bodily crimes that
comes under the purview of heinous crimes as described by section 2 (33) which prescribes
seven years of incarceration and therefore could be given punishments of life imprisonment
with certain releases which is again retributive and not at all preventive or reformative. In Salil
Bali v. Union of India14 “the essence of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)
Act, 2000, and the Rules framed there under in 2007 is restorative and not retributive, providing
for rehabilitation and re-integration of children in conflict with law into mainstream society.”
This goes on to prove that the earlier act which was passed to fulfill the UNCRC rules was a
better legislation than the newly amended one.

The approach of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is thus retributive
rather than reformative, this law will harm all youthful offenders between the age 16- 18 in
coming generation as the act provides them to be tried as adults, jailed with them thus
facilitating their complete criminalization, which might in all probability will turn the juvenile
into hardcore criminals. Such treatment is unjust for who are a few months older than a 16 year
old child and yet short of adulthood to be treated differently because of their involvement in
heinous crimes. It is totally against the notion of juvenile justice and its objective of freeing
childhood from criminal influences. This will rather spoil the chances of youth's rehabilitation
and reintroduction to society and will not result in some additional justice.15.

The spike or the uproar of the Nirbhaya case was a very isolated case and is peculiarly rarest
of rare while the delinquency of juveniles according to the National Crimes Record Bureau is
1.2% in the year 2014 and 1.1% in the year 2015 to the total cognizable crimes in the year
which is very low and therefore gives away the necessity of passing the legislation of 2015 and
throwing away a decade old legislation.

13
Rajendra Sharma, “Eight-year-old Raped by minor relative in Bharatpur”,14 th April,
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/eight-year-old-girl-raped-by-relative-in-bharatpur/articleshow/63754309.cms
14
(2013) 7 SCC 705
15
The New JJ Act: Facilitating Criminalisation Supra at 10

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The Central government failed to realise the deplorable condition of juvenile delinquency
handling by the United States of America which has in many studies found that “Longer stays
in juvenile institutions do not reduce recidivism, and some youth who had the lowest offending
levels reported committing more crimes after being incarcerated.”16 Other studies have also
drawn out the similar conditions ' “….transfer policies have generally resulted in increased
arrest for subsequent crimes, including violent crime, among juveniles who were transferred
compared with those retained in the juvenile justice system.17 To the extent that transfer
policies are implemented to reduce violent or other criminal behavior, available evidence
indicates that they do more harm than good.”18 “Studies have found that young people
transferred to the adult criminal justice system have approximately 34% more re-arrests for
felony crimes than youth retained in the youth justice system.”19

In perhaps the best controlled study to date, Borduin, Henggeler, Blaske, and Stein (1990)
compared "multisystemic" therapy ~ (an intensive, multifaceted treatment targeting youth and
family characteristics, peer relations, school factors, and neighborhood and community
characteristics) with individual therapy in the outpatient treatment of sixteen adolescent sex
offenders. Using re-arrest records as a measure of recidivism (sexual and non-sexual), the
above two groups were compared at a three year follow-up interval. Results revealed that
youths receiving multisystemic therapy had recidivism rates of 12.5% for sexual offenses and
25% for non-sexual offenses, while those youths receiving individual therapy had recidivism
rates of 75% for sexual offenses and 50% for non-sexual offenses.

Clinical assessments should be comprehensive and include careful record review, clinical
interviewing, and the administration of both specialized psychometric instruments designed to
assess sexual attitudes and interests, and those related to more global personality adjustment
and functioning. 1~ Adjunctive assessment tools include the plethysmograph and the
polygraph.

16
Edward P. Mulvey, “Highlights from Pathways to Desistance: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Adolescent
Offenders”, US Department of Justice, March 2011
17
Stacey L. Shipley& Bruce A. Arrigo, Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Court, Law Enforcement, and
Correctional Practices at 397 (2012)
18
Effects on Violence of Laws and Policies Facilitating the Transfer of Youth from the Juvenile to the Adult
Justice System: A Report on Recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, Centre for
Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR 2007
19
Raise the Age NY, ‘Get the facts’ (2013); Effects on Violence of Laws and Policies Facilitating the Transfer of
Youth from the Juvenile to the Adult Justice System: Report on Recommendations of the Task Force on Community
Preventive Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, November 30, 2007

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FACTORS BEHIND THE ADOLESCENCE CRIME AND SEXUAL ABUSE

Scientists argue that an offender does not appear one day as a fully developed offender or is
born as an offender. There is a wide range of factors which make him an offender in the due
course of time. There are certain factors which drive such teenagers to commit sexual crimes-

1. SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND:

Social scientists have recognized the importance of family in the socialization of a child. For
all of them the education of a child begins at home. The child grows up in a family system,
which impresses some basic social values and morals into his character and shapes his
personality. Therefore, the importance of family in the development of problem behavior in a
child cannot be ignored. Social scientists have also concluded that ineffective parenting and
dysfunctional family life are detrimental to the healthy development of children and is primary
source of causing abnormalities in the sexual behavior of a child. On the other hand, it has been
found that children growing up with warm, supportive and responsive parents delay sexual
initiations.20

In India, juvenile delinquency is the outcome of the structure of society and of the egregious
contrasts of poverty and wealth. The incidence of delinquency is much higher where there is
an unemployment, over-crowding, slum condition, lack of recreational facilities, social
disorganization.

The relationship of a child with his parents also plays an important role in making him an
offender. Parents who believe in always punishing their children because of some small fault
or force their children to do something not acceptable to the child may make their children
offenders.21

2. CULTURAL BACKGROUND

One of the reasons for delinquent behavior is the want of an end means with insufficient means
to achieve them. In developed and developing countries, Media has created the consumer
standards which are beyond the capacity of most families to achieve thereby making it a virtual
reality for many young people, who as a result will go to great lengths to maintain a lifestyle

20
Sarita Sahay (2008) Socio-Cultural Factors and Young Sexual Offenders: A Case Study of Western Madhya Pradesh (India),
International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 14:2, 113-134, DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2008.9747998
21
Ibid.

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and standard of living which they cannot afford.22 The problem of juvenile delinquency needs
to be examined from the viewpoints of the prevailing cultural norms, the perception of the type
of juvenile behavior to be taken cognizance of and the manner in which it manifests itself in a
particular country.

3. EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Sexual misconduct starts with education that shifts the paradigms and norms we have about
sex, relationships, and bodily autonomy.Adulthood is not the best time to start these
conversations—by then, our culture and media have already sent millions of messages in the
wrong direction. And making sex and sexuality the enemy is the least effective
approach. Research shows that the more we talk about sex and agency in the late childhood
and teen years, the less likely it is that abusive dynamics will arise—and, if they do, the more
likely that self-efficacy and personal advocacy will be present.23

Consent is not as simple as a cup of tea. We’ve all grown up in a culture that promotes assault
and harassment—through movies, music, and advertisements, we’re fed a steady stream of
stories about unhealthy relationships that are presented as romantic, seductive, or humorous.
Interpersonal communication continues to follow scripts that promote dishonesty and toxic
gender roles—with boys being depicted as sexually insatiable and never victimized, and girls
as either “good” and sexually pure, or “at-risk” and hypersexualized.

4. THE FAILURE IN LOVE AND FRUSTRATION

In some cases, it was found that frustration due to failure in love made a young boy an offender.
It was found that boys had approached the girls of their liking and the girls had refused. The
ego of the boys had been hurt. When the friends and the family members of the boys came to
know about the failure of their boys they made fun of his failure. It was quite humiliating for
the boys. The frustrated boys started abusing girls. The truant tendency of children if unchecked
may lead to eventual induction into criminogenic culture .the most usually innocent enough in
the beginning, as a result of his wandering brings him into association with all sorts of enemies
to society, and the necessity to secure food and lodging during his wandering leads him into

22
World Youth Report, at Ch 07, (2003)
23
Finkelhor D, Hotaling G, Lewis IA, Smith C. Sexual abuse in a national survey of adult men and women: prevalence,
characteristics, and risk factors. Child Abuse Negl. 1990;14(1):19-28. doi: 10.1016/0145-2134(90)90077-7. PMID: 2310970.

14
much evil crime.24 This tendency is in particular harmful to the juveniles if they remain under
the influence of such groups, and therefore for petty gains go for delinquency as their means
of resort.

5. URBANIZATION

But one of the most important benefits of mixed-use planning is what the urbanist Jane Jacobs
famously called “eyes on the street.” If an area is used for multiple purposes, there will always
be somebody—a homemaker, shopkeeper, pedestrian, peddler, or office worker—keeping a
passive watch, inadvertently but effectively policing it 24 hours a day. Street vendors, for
example, may be the most perennial pairs of eyes that monitor any streets, and even police have
tapped this human resource. Potential criminals are deterred because there are witnesses that
can intervene, even to prevent sexual harassment. Mixed-use planning provides a social
accountability system: much as it takes a “village” to raise a child, it can take a whole
neighborhood to keep her safe, a reality brought home by the recent “bell bajao” campaign that
urges neighbors to intervene against domestic violence.25

7. JUVENILE IN CONFLICT WITH LAW

Juvenile in a conflict of law means any person who is, under the age of 18 years, alleged to
have committed an offence or being suspected of committing an offence. "Child in Conflict
with Law12" means "A child who is alleged are found to have committed an offence and who
has not completed 18 years of age on the date of commission of such offence".

8. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

Cultural norms such as male honor, masculinity, and men's sexual entitlement, all foster
societal acceptance of sexual assault in many ways. "Where the ideology of male superiority is
strong—emphasizing dominance, physical strength and male honour—rape is more common."
In many societies, for example, "women, as well as men, regard marriage as entailing the
obligation on women to be sexually available virtually without limit." Even outside of

24
Olive M. Jones, Causes of Juvenile Delinquency at 351
25
Neil Padukone, “How Urban Design Could Help Reduce Rape in India”, June 12, 2014,
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-06-12/how-urban-design-could-help-reduce-rape-in-india

15
marriage, women may have "extremely few legitimate options to refuse sexual
advances." From World Health Organization.26

Therefore, emotional abuse, family tensions, poverty, broken homes, rural urban migration,
breakdown of social values, atrocities, faulty educational system, whose influence of media
besides the insalubrious living conditions of slums and such other conditions explains the
phenomena of juvenile delinquency.

26
Etienne G. Krug, Linda L. Dahlberg, James A. Mercy, Anthony B. Zwi and Rafael Lozano, World report on violence and
health, Geneva 2002.

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PREVENTION OF SEXUAL ABUSE BY ADOLESCENTS

Prevention is necessary for such children. Firstly, identification of such juveniles and then
providing them with the required treatment is of utmost importance. These adolescents become
habitual offenders if not timely stopped from committing offences. Moreover, the most
effective way to prevent Adolescence delinquency has indubitably been to assist children and
their families from the very beginning. The State programs attempt at early intervention,
allowing numerous groups to tackle this problem in a number of ways. There are many Jurists
and criminologists who suggest various provisions for the prevention of sexual abuse.

From the view point of prevention, the school, the home recreational and group work agencies
are the major institutions. If these fail to operate decently, children are the chief sufferers. The
strengthening of family relations is a must to understand their children. Voluntary social
welfare institutions are taking initiatives to organizing programs of education for family
planning and family counseling, to strengthen the home and parent-child relationships.

Preventive Programmes of Juvenile

There may be two kinds of programmes for preventing the juvenile delinquency;

(i) Individual Programme- Individual programme involves the prevention of delinquency

through counseling, psychotherapy and proper education.

(ii) Environmental programme- Environmental programme involves the employment of

techniques with a view to changing the socio-economic context likely to promote delinquency.

Educational Initiatives

The second major strain of child sexual abuse prevention efforts has focused on education.
Primarily targeted at children themselves, these efforts have also been aimed at families,
teachers, youth service workers, and others who may be in a position to intervene. One central
goal has been to impart skills to help children identify dangerous situations and prevent
abuse—identifying boundary violations, unwanted forms of touching and contact, and other
ways in which offenders groom or desensitize victims—as well as to teach them how to refuse
approaches and invitations, how to break off interactions, and how to summon help. But the
programs have also had clear secondary goals. One has been to short-circuit and report ongoing
abuse. Another, most important from the prevention perspective, has been to mitigate the
negative consequences of abuse among children who may have been exposed by helping them

17
not to feel guilty or at fault.Coordination, social action and planning bring together the men,
women of society to support services for the advancement of the interests of children and thus
the programs can be improved in which greatest possible number of people can work together.

COMMUNITY MEASURES

Improving the living and social conditions, encourage participation of individuals by

conducting programmes relating to behavior pattern of children are Indirect measures. Direct
measures are more specific in their objectives. It specifically includes programmes for the
detection and treatment of teenagers having the tendency towards sexual crime. Drawing on
other community-oriented (as opposed to clinic- or school-based) primary prevention strategies
in public health, one recent concept has proposed trying to target potential abusers (usually
through public advertisements) with messages that reinforce the awareness that their behavior
is wrong and harmful, and urging them to seek help.

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CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGETIONS

No strong scientific evidence points as yet in the direction of one strategy or program to prevent
sexual abuse. Clearly more research is needed to help develop and identify such strategies. In
setting priorities for further development, educational programs using school settings have
some claim. First, school-based educational programs have been more fully evaluated than any
other prevention strategies (with the exception of offender and victim mental health treatment),
and results have been encouraging. These evaluations provide a foundation on which more
sophisticated studies can be more quickly built. Second, school-based education programs have
proven to be a successful primary prevention strategy in other domains, some closely related
to sexual abuse by teenagers. State should emphasize more on perdurable long-term schemes
for Juveniles so that they feel motivated and are encouraged to join the society and regain their
poise, which is generally lost because of the insensitive attitude of the society cast upon them.
State along with the Union Territories administrations must motivate and pledge support to
voluntary organization to start or modernize rendering of juvenile services including
community services.

Juveniles account for a significant percentage of the sexual assaults against children and
women in our society. The onset of sexual behavior problems in juveniles appears to be linked
to a number of factors, including child maltreatment and exposure to violence and pornography.
Emerging research suggests, as in the case of adult sex offenders, that a meaningful distinction
can be made between juveniles who target peers or adults, and those who offend against
children. The former group appears to generally be more anti-social and violent, although
considerable heterogeneity exists within each population.

Clinical assessments should be comprehensive and include careful record review, clinical
interviewing, and the administration of both specialized psychometric instruments designed to
assess sexual attitudes and interests, and those related to more global personality adjustment
and functioning. 1~ Adjunctive assessment tools include the plethysmograph and the
polygraph.

Although available data do not suggest that the majority of juvenile sex offenders are destined
to become adult sex offenders, legal and mental health intervention is believed, by
professionals, to be important in deterring a continuation of such behavior. The most effective
intervention is believed to consist of a combination of legal sanctions, monitoring, and
specialized clinical programming. Programs reflecting the collaborative efforts of juvenile

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justice and mental health professions generally report low sexual recidivism rates. Practitioners
are advised to be aware of recent legislative reform within juvenile justice, and to adhere to
organizational guidelines when working with the population.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Source:

 The Constitution of India,1950

 The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, 2000

Secondary Source

Books

 William E Prendergast, Treating Sex Offenders: A Guide To Clinical Practice With Adults,
Clerics, Children, And Adolescents (Haworth Criminal Justice, Paperback – 1 January
2003, Routledge (1 January 2003)
 John A. Hunter, Help for Adolescent Males with Sexual Behavior Problems: A Cognitive-
Behavioral Treatment Program, Therapist Guide, Oxford University Press.
 Gail Ryan, Tom F. Leversee, Sandy Lane, Juvenile Sexual Offending: Causes,
Consequences, and Correction, Wiley; 3rd edition (2 February 2011).

Articles and Web Sources

 C.F. Amerasinghe, Principles of the Institutional Law of International Organisations 2nd ed.,
2005, Oxford Publishing Co, New Delhi
 Henry G. Schermers & Neils M. Blokker, International Institutional Law, 5th ed., 2011,
MartinusNijhoff Publishers, Netherlands
 Jan Klabbers, An Introduction to International Institutional Law, 2002, Cambridge
University Press, New York
 Malcolm N. Shaw, International Law, 6th ed., 2008, Cambridge University Press, New York
 Roland Portmann, Legal Personality in International Law, 2010, Cambridge University
Press, New YorkYogeshSnehi, “State and Child Justice: Stories of Delinquent Juveniles”,
Economic and Political Weekly, 2004, Vol. 39, No. 41, (Oct. 9-15, 2004), pp. 4512-4515, at
p. 4512, available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/4415641.

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