Protection of Children from Offences of Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment and Pornography: A Law Enforcement View and Review

Abstract

‘Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim’ is a famous quote of the Nobel laureate Elie Wisel. Although children have been maltreated in the course of our entire history, since they have no knowledge of the wrong and the right, hence ‘interest theory’ of jurisprudence remains true.[1] Child abuse and neglect are serious global issues and can be physical, sexual or psychological. Many research studies have shown that children under the age group of 5-12 are at a higher risk of suffering from child abuse and neglect. The statistical analysis says that 40 million children become victims of child abuse all over the globe and 1,850 die due to extensive abuse and lack of affection and attention. An attempt has been made to differentiate the types of abuses and neglect, the signs and symptoms, the impact of the trauma on the well-being of the child. Drawing inferences from previous research works on the global issues, the paper has been prepared on the national context as the child sexual abuse is an under-reported offence in India. The study conducted by the Government of India in 2015 estimates the burden of sexual abuse which revealed shocking results and showed that every second child in the country was abused; among them, 52.94 per cent were boys and 47.06 per cent were girls. Highest sexual abuse was reported in Assam (52.27%) followed by Delhi (41%), Andhra Pradesh (33.87%) and Bihar (33.27%).[2] There is a causal connection between child abuse and pornography; specifically child pornography depraves and corrupts the young minds which pose more danger to the child abuse. However, arguments frequently presented to defend pornography; such dichotomy stands between law and morality. The research paper tries to review the above issues focusing on recent legislations and views of policy makers in this regard.

[1]Padmaja K., Child Interests- Socio Legal Perspectives, A Amicus books, First Edi., The ICFAI University Press, 2007, pp. 4-27

[2] Tamuli RP Paul B Mahanta P. A statistical analysis of sexual assault-a retrospective study. J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol 2013;13(1):7-13