child abuse case study in india

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• Published: 03 January 2023

Implications of the POCSO Act and determinants of child sexual abuse in India: insights at the state level

• Shrabanti Maity   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5791-3140 1 &
• Pronobesh Ranjan Chakraborty 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  10 , Article number:  6 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Child sexual abuse is a worldwide phenomenon, and India is not an exception. The magnitude of this grave crime is underrated because of under-reporting. The reality is that the incidence of child sexual abuse has reached epidemic proportions in India. In 2021 only there were 53,874 cases registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act of 2012. To enable the all-around protection of children, the Indian government administrated the “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)” Act of 2012. The act is a comprehensive piece of legislation designed to protect children from crimes including sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography. The degree to which this act has improved child protection is therefore an important issue for interrogation. Here, we consider the implications of the POCSO Act (2012) in enhancing children’s protection from sexual abuse and pin-point the role of quality of life together with other social, economic, and demographic determinants in foreshortening POCSO incidences. The empirical analysis of the paper is conducted based on secondary data compiled from National Crime Records Bureau. Our empirical results reveal that the POCSO Act has reduced the Growth rate of incidents of sexual offences against children in India from 4.681% to −4.611. Moreover, our empirical results also reveal that by enhancing the quality of life it is possible to restrict the POCSO incidences across Indian states. In addition, favourable sex-ratio, the increased gross enrolment ratio at the elementary level, the improvement in the judiciary and Public Safety Score of the state also enables the state to restrict the POCSO incidences. Based on our empirical result we recommend that future policies could include, for instance, aiming to improve the quality of life as well as the law and order conditions of the state, and increasing the enrolment of the girl children in higher education.

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Introduction

Around the globe, millions of children irrespective of gender face exploitation and sexual abuse every year. According to UNICEF ( 2022 ), “ About 1 in 10 girls under the age of 20 have been forced to engage in sex or perform other sexual acts ”. In 90% of cases, the accused is known to the victim (UNICEF, 2022 ). Globally, the highest prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is observed in Africa and the corresponding figure is 34.4% (Wihbey, 2011 ; Behere and Mulmule, 2013 ). The reported CSA cases in Europe and America are 9.2% and 10.1%, respectively (Wihbey, 2011 ). The lowest figure may not reflect controlling such horrendous crime but rather may be the consequence of under-reporting (Wihbey, 2011 ). The lowest prevalence of CSA should not be ignored as its scar on the victim should never be ignored (Wihbey, 2011 ). The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data reported in 2006 in the U.S.A., 8.8% of children were victims of child sexual abuse (Miller et al., 2007 ). The reported sexual abuse cases recognised that in 60% of cases victims are within the age of 12 years (Collin-Vézina et al., 2013 ). Barth et al. ( 2013 ) reported every year globally 4% of girls and 2% of boys are victims of CSA and the consequences become extremely severe for about 15% of girls and 6% of boys. The prevalence of CSA in urban China is 4.2% (Chiu et al., 2013 ). The identification of actual global figures concerning CSA is a challenging task because of under-reporting of such crimes (Miller, et al., 2007 ).

India is the home of 472 million children (Chandramouli and General, 2011 ). Children constitute more than one-third of the Indian population (39%). In India, we celebrate “ Children’s Day ” on 14th November, the birthday of the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, who is popularly known as “ Chacha Nehru ”. He dreamt of making India a “ Children’s paradise ”. However, the reality is something else. On 17th November 2020, a 6-year-old girl was raped and then murdered brutally to perform black magic and the accused were arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act (Kanpur (UP), November 17, The Tribune). On 26 th August 2020, a 17-year-old girl was found dead near her house in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district (August 26, 2020, The Indian Express). Before that, another horrendous incident was reported in the same state for a forlorn 13-year-old Dalit girl. Because of the societal status, this case was less talked about. In India, “ child sexual abuse ” is an understated transgression. Only a handful of cases get media attention and the people of India sought justice. Most of the cases remain unexplored. The most talked about “ POCSO ” incident in India was the “ Kathua rape case ”. The case was about “Asifa Bano”, an 8-year-old girl from Rasana village near Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, India, who was gang-raped and then killed in January 2018 Footnote 1 . By closing our eyes, we cannot deny the reality and the reality is that “ child sexual abuse ” in India has reached an epidemic proportion (Moirangthem, et al., 2015 ; Kshirsagar, 2020 ; Tamilarasi et al., 2020 ; Pallathadka et al., 2021 ; Maity, 2022 ). According to the “ National Crime Record Bureau ” in 2019 the highest “ rate of POCSO ” was reported for Sikkim (44.8%).In that list, Uttar Pradesh(8.6%) was ranked 16th among the twenty-eight Indian states (Crime in Indian, 2019 ). This simply evidences the under and/or un-reporting of “ child sexual abuse ” (Crime in Indian, 2021 ), the report shows that in 2021 only 36.5% of crimes against children are registered under POCSO Act (The Indian Express, September 23, 2022).

The Indian government has administrated the “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)” Act, 2012 (Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2013 ; https://wcd.nic.in ), a specified law, to ensure children’s protection from mal treatment. “ The Act has come into force with effect from 14 th November 2012 along with the rules framed there under. The POCSO Act, 2012 is a comprehensive law to provide for the protection of children from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography while safeguarding the interests of the child at every stage of the judicial process by incorporating child-friendly mechanisms for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and speedy trial of offences through designated Special Courts ” (Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2013 ; https://wcd.nic.in ). This act includes “Special Courts”, where the victim child is allowed to record his/her statement on camera in a child-friendly circumstance and simultaneously the child’s identity also remains un revealed. However, this special act is not infallible to protect children from sexual abuse. In 2019, 1510 rape cases in specific and 2091 reported POCSO cases, in general, were filed in Kerala (Kartik. The New Indian Express, 31/01/2020).In fact, in Kerala, children—both boys and girls, have had such horrid experiences at least once in life and the corresponding figure, in this case, are 36% and 35%, respectively (Krishnakumar et al., 2014 ; Moirangthem et al., 2015 ). However, it is not the exceptional one. Between January to June 2019, the total number of registered POCSO cases all over India was 24,212 (Ali, 2019 ).

Child sexual abuse is a global phenomena and a matter of concern for comprehensive existing literature. Researchers observe that CSA health professionals play a crucial role in the identification and protection of children (Fraser et al., 2010 ). Sometimes even a genuine allegation made by a child against a powerful person is reported casually based on the accuser’s disownment. Such reporting reduces the credibility of the incidence (Rubin & Thelen, 1996 ). Researchers also recognise that in most cases assailants are known to the victims (Haque et al., 2019 ; Maity, 2022 ). Concerning the Indian scenario we can say that 90% accused are known to the child (The Times of India, March 1, 2018 ; Maity, 2022 ). Economically weaker and vulnerable are always found to be the soft target for any crime, particularly in developing countries (Bower, 2003 ; Bywaters, et al., 2016 ; Sexton and Sobelson, 2018 ). In India, aged 40 and above, alcoholic, addicted to pornography, illiterate or minor literate, are the common characteristics of the accused of the POCSO Act (2012) (Chowdhuri & Mukhopadhayay, 2016 ).

On the contrary, quality of life indicates the well-being of a state or nation. The “Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI)” helps in quantify the qualitative aspect of life (Morris, 1978 ). The variables utilised for index calculation are well defined (for details see Table 9 in appendices) in Morris’s ( 1978 ) article. To avoid the limitations of GDP as a measure of well-being this measure was developed by Morris ( 1978 ). An improvement in PQLI is supposed to be transmitted to minimise the ethnocentricity of culture and development. Accordingly, a favourable PQLI may indicate an environment for equal opportunities for all, and equal safety for all. Thus, it will be interesting to explore the implication of PQLI in protecting children from sexual offences. Childhood experiences of sexual exploitation adversely affect adulthood’s psychological, physical, and socio-economic well-being and thus deteriorate the adult’s physical quality of life (Downing et al., 2021 ). Childhood experiences of sexual abuse may result in permanent scars on a child’s well-being and quality of life (Chahine, 2014 ). It is noteworthy that earlier studies were concentrated on exploring the consequences of CSA on the physical quality of life. However, the present study unlike the earlier involves in self exploring the consequences of the improvement of PQLI on CSA. It is not worthy that the relation between CSA and PQLI is rare in literature and almost absent in empirical studies where improvement of PQLI’s effect on CSA is explored.

This back drop motivates us to explore the research questions, viz., does the POCSO Act, 2012 has any implication in creating India as a children’s paradise? Simultaneously, we also want to explore, does amplification of the quality of life of Indian citizens and Judiciary and Public Safety Scores help in reducing POCSO incidences? These research questions when unfold, result in twin objectives. Initially, the study explores the aftermaths of the “ Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act ” (POCSO) (2012), on protecting children from sexual offences. Then the paper tries to unfold different socio-economic factors, including “ Quality of Life ” that helps in revamping children’s safety across Indian states. The novelty of the study is that it is the first attempt to explore the role of the POCSO Act (2012), on child sexual abuse. The earlier studies, such as Kshirsagar ( 2020 ), Tamilarasi et al. ( 2020 ), are non-empirical documentation of the POCSO Act (2012).The study by Pallathadka et al. ( 2021 ), is an experimental study investigating the effectiveness of the inclusion of the knowledge of the POCSO Act (2012).

In a teaching programme in reducing CSA the only empirical study we find is Maity ( 2022 ). However, this study mainly focuses on the efficacy of the enhancement of police efficiency in reducing POCSO incidences across Indian states. In this sense, it is the first attempt of such type. Moreover, this study also explores the implication of the improvement of quality of life and improvement of Judiciary and Public Safety (JPS) in the foreshortening of child sexual abuse. This study perhaps is the first attempt of such kind. The present study explores the role of PQLI and JPS scores in foreshortening the CSA and this establishes the novelty of the study. Thus, our contribution to the existing literature is this study tries to test empirically the inevitability of the act in foreshortening CSA in India. Beyond that, this study tries to explore with other factors the role of quality of life in reducing CSA in India.

The study follows the aforementioned sequence: Section “Methods” deals with the materials and methods required for exploring the above-mentioned objectives. Section “Results and Discussion” presents the empirical results with a discussion concerning the implication of POCSO on children’s protection and the identification of the influencing factors of recorded POCSO incidences. Finally, Section “Conclusion and policy implications” concludes and presents policy implications.

The theoretical foundation of the economics of crime is discussed in this section. In conjunction with that, the major data sources and the concerned variables are described in this section. The econometric models, which are utilised to investigate the said objectives are also presented in this section.

Conceptual framework

According to Becker ( 1968 ), criminals possess different attitudes concerning costs and benefits and this difference in viewpoint is the principal imputes for them to commit a crime. These attitudinal differences motivate a person to commit a crime despite the likelihood of being arrested by police, convicted and to be imprisoned by the legal system. In this regard, the “Economic Theory of Crime” is based on the assumption that a person will devote his/her time and other resources to commit a crime/offence if the person believes that his/her expected utility by committing the crime exceeds the expected utility from other activity utilising the same time and resources. The theory can be formulated mathematically by using vonNeumann and Morgenstern ( 2007 ), expected utility function.

Ehrlich ( 1996 ) defines that a person may decide to divide his/her total working time between criminal activities ( \(b_{{\mathrm{crime}}}\) ) under uncertain conditions and legitimate activities ( \(b_{{\mathrm{legal}}}\) ) under certain conditions. The income generated from devoting specific time to legal activities is denoted by \(W\left( {b_{{\mathrm{legal}}}} \right)\) . On the contrary, the income generated from devoting specific time to illegal activities is denoted by \(W\left( {b_{{\mathrm{crime}}}} \right)\) depending on the probability of being arrested p and not arrested ( 1–p ). If the person involves in both legal and illegal activities simultaneously and he/she has an initial wealth \(W_{{\mathrm{Initial}}}\) , then the income obtained from both legal and illegal activities and not being apprehended is given by:

On the contrary, if the person is convicted and arrested he/she has to pay a penalty \(Y_2\) depending on whether he/she is devoted to the criminal activities \(Z_{{\mathrm{crime}}}\left( {b_{{\mathrm{crime}}}} \right)\) . Under such circumstances the income generated is:

The objective of the individual is to maximise his/her expected utility by dividing his/her entire time into legal and illegal activities. Thus, the expected utility can be presented by the following equation:

To determine the optimal time to be devoted for criminal activities ( \(b_{{\mathrm{crime}}}\) ) we determine the first-order-condition as follows:

where \(w_{{\mathrm{legal}}} = \frac{{dW_{{\mathrm{legal}}}}}{{db_{{\mathrm{crime}}}}}\) , \(w_{{\mathrm{crime}}} = \frac{{dW_{{\mathrm{crime}}}}}{{db_{{\mathrm{crime}}}}}\) , \(z_{{\mathrm{crime}}} = \frac{{dZ_{{\mathrm{crime}}}}}{{db_{{\mathrm{crime}}}}}\) and \(U^\prime (Y_i) = \frac{{dU\left( {Y_i} \right)}}{{db_{{\mathrm{crime}}}}}\forall i = {\mathrm{crime}},{\mathrm{legal}}\)

We assume that the concerned person is a risk averter and thus the person copes with both legal and illegal activities simultaneously. This implies equilibrium is ensured by the condition \(U^\prime \left( {Y_1} \right) = U^\prime \left( {Y_2} \right)\) given that equal wealth is generated from legal and illegal activities, that is, \(Y_1 = Y_2\) . Therefore the necessary condition to devote time to illegal activities is given by the equation:

Díez-Ticio and Brande´s ( 2001 ), mentioned the propensity of criminality can only be reduced in society through a reduction in economic inequality. The economic paradigm discloses two types of incentives for crime, viz., positive and negative (Domínguez et al., 2015 ). The negative incentives will demoralise and prevent criminals to commit a crime. On the contrary, positive incentives will encourage delinquents to choose legitimate alternatives (Ehrlich, 1973 ; Domínguez et al., 2015 ).

Stationarity checking

The stochastic process must be stationary for the reliability and validity of the result. The prediction and policy prescription based on the non-stationary stochastic process is not reliable. The checking of “ stationarity ” of the time series variable is the primal concern for the time series analysis. This is particularly because stationarity of the time series variable ensures universality of the estimated result as well as applicability of the variable for prediction and policy prescription. Two non-parametric tests, viz., “ Augmented Dicky Fuller Test (ADF)” and “ Phillips Perron Test (PP)” are available for this purpose. However, we will conclude about “ stationarity ” of the stochastic process based on the “ Phillips-Perron (PP)” test. As the test is more robust for testing heteroscedasticity in error variance (Phillips and Perron, 1988 ) and has greater powers than the “Augmented Dickey and Fuller (ADF)” test (Banerjee et al., 1993 ). Moreover, the test is free from the specification of the lag length, which is mandatory in the case of the ADF technique (Debnath and Roy, 2012 ).

Test equations in two cases are presented below.

Augmented Dicky Fuller Test:

Phillips Perron Test:

In both cases the hypothesis to be tested is \(H_0:\delta = 0\) and the corresponding test statistic is

Structural break and growth rate

The implication of the “ Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act ” (POCSO) (2012), for revamping children’s security in India can only be explored by considering structural breaks together with analysing the growth of POCSO incidences. The study period for the empirical analysis is from 2001 to 2019. As the natures of crimes against children have changed over time we have included only those crime heads, which are common during the entire study period as well as in POCSO Act (2012). This practice enables us to ensure uniformity of the data and allows us to conduct time series analysis. The selection of the study period is guided by the availability of data. The study period is susceptible to various policy changes for the “ Protection of Women and Child Rights ”. The “Ministry of Women and Child Development” has been administrating various special laws focusing on women and child protection. It is noteworthy that India is a signatory to the “ United Nations Convention on Right of Child (UNCRC) ” since 1992. In adherence to its commitment to ensuring child rights, the Government of India has framed different national policies to protect child rights from time to time, viz., “The Commissions for Protection of Child Right (CPCR) Act, 2005”, “The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006”, “The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012”, “Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015”. The Government of India has also framed the National Policy for Children, 2013 and the National Plan of Action, 2016 (Ministry of Women and Child Development, Press Information Bureau, 2019). Naturally one can expect to have structural breaks during this period. The existence of the structural break makes the normal time series analysis and growth rate calculation inapplicable. Consequently, the identification of the switching point is essential and an appropriate growth rate can only be obtained by calculating the same for different regimes as depicted by the switching points. The identification of the break or switching point should be facilitated by some statistical criterion, viz., “ Chow Test ” (Chow, 1960 ), “ CUSUM ” and “ CUSUMQ ” tests. As “ Chow Test ” is criticised for the arbitrariness problem, we have utilised the “CUSUMQ” test. Brown et al. ( 1975 ), introduces the CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests for stability checking in parameter. Based on the scaled recursive residuals the break points are identified by the CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests. The identification of the break points is also facilitated by the Chow ( 1960 ) tests. However, the greatest advantage of the CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests is that these tests do not require prior knowledge of the point where the hypothesised structural switching points are expected to occur. The mathematical underpinning of the CUSUMQ test is as follows:

We consider a generalised linear regression model as

where x is a ( k  ×  1 ) vector with unit first element and ( k–1 ) are the observed value of the independent variables at time t . \(\beta _t\) is the ( k  ×  1 ) vectors of parameters. \(u_t\) is IID and \(u_t \sim N(0,\sigma ^2)\) . The recursive residuals are defined as:

where \(X_r = \left[ {x_1,x_2,....\,,x_r} \right]\) and \(y_r^\prime = \left[ {y_1,y_2,....\,,y_r} \right]\) and \(\hat \beta _{r - 1}\) is the vector of OLS estimates of the regression Eq. ( 9 )

The test statistic corresponding to CUSUMQ test is developed based on the recursive residuals are defined in (10). The corresponding test statistic is given as follows:

where \(\hat \sigma ^2 = \frac{{\mathop {\sum}\limits_{t = 1}^T {(y_t - x_t^\prime \hat \beta _r)^2} }}{{T - k}}\)

Under the null hypothesis that the parameters are constant, that is,

\(H_0:\beta _t = \beta\) with \(\sigma _t^2 = \sigma _t^2\) \(\forall t = 1,2,....\,,T\) Eq. ( 11 ) follows a distribution with parameters r   –   k and T   –   k . In the conventional CUSUMQ test we use symmetric error bands and the corresponding pairs of lines are given by \(\left[ { \pm critical\,value + \frac{{(r - k)}}{{(T - k)}}} \right]\) . The critical value is obtained from the Durbin ( 1969 ), table.

After the identification of the switching points, the growth rate will be calculated following the “ Poirier’s Spline function approach (Poirier & Garber, 1974 )”. Poirier’s Spline function approach (Poirier & Garber, 1974 ), helps us to determine the trend in the growth of the variable of interest in different regimes.

Assuming a linear time trend, the postulated model is presented as follows:

where, \(t_1\) is the switching point.

We next define following variables:

By reparameterisize we rewrite the function as follows:

For the i th (i  =  1, 2) regime the growth rate in percentages will be obtained by using the following formula:

where \(\beta _1 = \gamma _1\) and \(\beta _2 = \gamma _1 + \gamma _2\) . The Eq. ( 15 ) helps in computing the growth rate for different regimes. Based on the change in economic policy or structure we may obtain more than one structural break point and accordingly, the corresponding model for analysing the growth rate will be modified. The growth rate for the entire study period will be computed by utilising the following equations:

Regression analysis

One of the objectives of the study is to explore the implications of the improvement in the “ quality of life ” and “ Judiciary and Public Safety Score (JPSS) ” in revamping children’s safety and security. This objective is explored based on the cross-sectional information of bigger Indian states’ on a list of relevant variables, including “PQLI” as one of the regressors. Another interesting regressor is the JPSS , which is used to portray the law and order condition of a state. This score is calculated using a number of indicators that reflect a state’s law and order situation (for more information, see Table 1 ). The selection of the sample period and the Indian states is strictly guided by data availability. The list of the regressors along with their definitions and data sources are presented in Table 1 . It is noteworthy that the regresand here is the rate of recorded POCSO cases. We didn’t pursue panel regression here because of the non-availability and decadal nature of data. The specified regression equation is:

where, x is a ( 1XK ) vector of regressor and \(\beta = (\beta _1,\beta _2,.....\,,\beta _K)^\prime\) is a ( KX1 ) vector. To incorporate an intercept term we will simply assume that \(x_1 \equiv 1\) , as this assumption makes interpreting the conditions easier (Wooldridge, 2016 ). y is a scalar. The equation-(17) can be estimated by using OLS method. The OLS estimators will be Best Linear Unbiased Estimators (BLUE) iff all the “ Gauss-Markov ” assumptions are satisfied.

It is noteworthy that “ quality of life ” here is proxied by the “ Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) ”. The index was developed based on Morris ( 1980 ) (see Tables 9 and 10 in the appendices for details). Thus, PQLI is calculated by using the following formula:

The regression analysis is conducted based on the latest available information of all concerned regressors as well as regressand (Bhaumik, 2015 ).

However, the regression analysis to explore the determining factors of POCSO incidences across Indian states will be meaningful if there is variation in the reported POCSO incidences. Thus, before conducting regression analysis, the appropriateness of such analysis is tested by performing non-parametric ANOVA.

The present study is entirely based on published secondary data. The major data sources are “ National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) ”, “ Census of India (2011) ”, “ Sample Registration System (SRS) ”, “ Central Statistics Office (CSO)” , “ Ministry of Human Resource Development ”, “ Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India ” and “ National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).” The crime statistics in the present paper have mainly been compiled from NCRB for different years. It is noteworthy that concerning the “Incidents of sexual offences against children”, we have considered statistics related to the crime heads, which are common in the entire study period. As such, we have considered only those statistics related to child sexual abuse that are included later in the POCSO Act (2012). We did not include all crimes committed against children in this paper. By summing some specific crime heads, we have calculated “Incidents of sexual offences against children” for this paper to ensure uniformity in the data to facilitate the time series analysis. On the contrary, the empirical analysis of the second objective is facilitated by various regressors, including a composite index, the “Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI”),” which is compiled from various published sources. The composite scores of “ Judiciary and Public Safety Score ( JPSS )” reflecting the law and order condition of any state are obtained from the “ Good Governance Index, Assessment of State of Governance 2020–21 ” report. The detailed descriptions of the variables together with their sources are presented in Table 1 .

The variables utilised for delineating the PQLI are narrated in Table 9 in the appendices. It is noteworthy that the exploration of the first objective is executed by considering the “ total number of reported cases of sexual offences against children, viz., Rape (Section 376 IPC), Unnatural Offence (Section 377 IPC), Assault on Women (Girl Child) with Intent to Outrage her Modesty (section 354 IPC), Sexual Harassment (Section 354A IPC), etc .,” during the time period 2001 to 2019. To ensure uniformity of data we have considered selected crime heads, which are common to entire study period and also included in the POCSO Act (2012). The uniformity of crime heads authorises us to conduct time series analysis over the study period. Moreover, we have considered here “Incidents of sexual offences against children” for the time series analysis and not the rate to avoid further normalisation. The “Incidents of sexual offences against children” are calculated by summing different crime heads committed against children. These crime heads are common for the entire study period as well as also included in the POCSO Act (2012) (see Table 1 for more information). The choice of the sample period is dictated by data availability. On the contrary, pin-pointing the socio-economic determinants of the “ Rate of cases reported under POCSO ” is accomplished by considering the cross-sectional data across Indian states. Because of the cross-sectional data we have considered the “ Rate of cases reported under POCSO ” as regressor and not the actual incidences to facilitate cross-sectional analysis. The empirical analysis of the second objective is facilitated by the latest available information for the twenty bigger states in India (Bhaumik, 2015 ). The selection of the states and the sample period is purely based on the availability of relevant information on the concerned variables.

Results and Discussion

In this section, we will present the empirical results related to the objectives obtained by applying the said methodology and the possible reasons behind such empirical results.

Summary statistics Sexual Offences Against Children

Sexual offences against children (SOAC) have been a hidden problem in India and are largely ignored both in social discourse as well as by the criminal justice system. Table 2 presents the summary statistics of the sexual offences committed against children over the time period from 2001 to 2019.

The table reveals that the mean incidence of SOAC is 13097.42 while the mean rate of the same is ~3%. Considering the huge population of India, this 3% figure is amounted to more than 13,000 incidences. The minimum incidence is a petrified figure (2113), and the corresponding maximum incidences are more than 47,000. As we are considering only the Indian scenario concerning SOAC, the impact of the POCSO act is analysed considering the “ Incidences of Sexual Offences against Children ”.

The incidences of sexual offences against children over the time period are also presented graphically in Fig. 1 .

Authors’ own presentation based on NCRB data.

The figure discloses a sharp increase up to 2013 and then, in 2014, it decreased marginally. In the next 2 years, India witnessed a sharp escalation of the incidences of sexual offences against children. In 2017, India witnessed a marginal decline in incidences. However, this decrease only lasts a year before the incidences rise again until 2019. The extreme fluctuations of the “ Incidences of Sexual Offences against Children ” indicating that there may be switching points in the study period and further investigation is required to understand the influence of different act legislated by the Indian government time-to-time for the protection of children.

Unit-root test

The stationarity of the time series is tested by using both the “Augmented Dickey and Fuller (ADF)” and the “Phillips-Perron (PP)” tests. However, to conclude about the stationarity of the stochastic process, we emphasise the “Phillips-Perron” test as it has greater power than the ADF test (Banerjee et al., 1993 ). The test result of the “ Incidents of sexual offences against children ” is presented in Table 3 .

The table reveals that we must accept the null hypothesis of unit root at the level. This means the variable is non-stationary and to make it stationary we consider the first difference of the variable. Further application of both tests on the first difference ensures the stationarity of the concerned variable. Therefore, for the analysis of the implication of the POCSO Act (2012), we must precede with a first difference as the differencing makes the stochastic process stationary. However, because of differencing, we lost one observation. Thus, the empirical investigation of the first objective will be executed by considering the “ Incidents of sexual offences against children ” for the time period 2002 to 2019. The apriori conditions for time series analysis, such as uniformity of statistical information and stationarity, are ensured, and thus we can proceed to structural break analysis.

Structural breaker switching points

Figure 1 discloses that there are fluctuations in the incidences of sexual offences against children in India. Moreover, the results related to PP and ADF tests suggest that the stochastic process is non-stationary at the level. Figure 1 and Table 3 together provide evidence to suspect that there may be structural breaks in the series. The structural break appears when there is an unexpected shift in the series. The possible reasons for that may be a change in the policy or structure of the economy, etc. In the present paper, the identification of the switching point of the time series variable is facilitated by the application of the “CUSUM squares test (CUSUMQ)” because of its superiority over the “Chow test”. When the switching points are unknown, the “CUSUM squares test (CUSUMQ)” is thought to be the most suitable method for determining the same. Figure 2 presents the test result of the CUSUMQ test.

Authors’ own calculation based on NCRB data.

The CUSUMQ test result reveals that the series has two break points, viz., in 2008 and 2015 and the result is significant at a 5% level. These two switching points divide our entire study period into three regimes viz., Regime-I (2002 to 2008), Regime-II (2009 to 2015), and Regime-III (2016 to 2019). Therefore, based on the switching point as dictated by the CUSUMQ test, we have divided our study period into three regimes. The critical question is, why do such unexpected changes occur with SOAC cases? In search of this question, we came across that the “Ministry of Women and Child Development” has been administering various special laws relating to women and children, such as “The Commissions for Protection of Child Right (CPCR) Act, 2005”, “The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006”, and “The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012”. Any policy change to protect children from any form of sexual abuse will take time to become effective. Consequently, if any policy change materialises in some period of time, say, 2005–2006, its implications will be felt after 1 or 2 years. Therefore, the first break point we obtain may be because of the influence of “The Commissions for Protection of Child Right (CPCR) Act, 2005”, “The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006”, and because of “The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012”, the second switching point appears. This is because although the act was passed in the Indian parliament in 2012, the implementation of the act takes time and was executed fully from 2016 onwards. NCRB also provides POCSO statistics from 2016 only. Consequently, the implications of these acts on children’s protection can be analysed by calculating the growth rate of SOAC for different time regimes by satiating the switching points.

Growth rate of incidents of sexual offences against children in India

We now consider the exploration of our first objective—the implication of the POCSO act in controlling the incidences of sexual offences against children in India. Based on the CUSUMQ test, we have divided our entire study period into three regimes, viz., Regime-I (2002 to 2008), Regime-II (2009 to 2015), and Regime-III (2016 to 2019). The third regime will enable us to analyse the implication of the POCSO act in revamping children’s paradise in India. To investigate the objective, we separately estimate the growth rate of SOAC incidences during these three different regimes, and the empirical result is shown in Table 4 . The estimations of the growth rates for different regimes are derived from Poirier’s Spline function approach (Poirier & Garber, 1974 ).

The growth rate of SOAC in Regime-I (2002 to 2008) was 1.219, a positive but controlled figure. As mentioned earlier, the Regime-II (2009–2015) may be expected to reflect the impact of two laws, viz., “ The Commissions for Protection of Child Right (CPCR) Act, 2005 ” and “ The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 ”, that have been administrated by “The Ministry of Women and Child Development” in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Unfortunately, our empirical findings indicate that these two laws do not protect children from “sexual offences.” The growth rate of SOAC during Regime-II escalated to 4.681. This may be because perhaps these laws are not focused on giving protection to children from sexual abuse. The former one was addressing the protection of children’s rights and the focus of the latter one was to forbid child marriage. None of these acts focus on terminating the sexual abuse of a child . Consequently, none of the act becomes king pin for minimising the sexual abuse of a child. On the contrary, on May 22, 2012, the Parliament of India passed the “ Protection of Children against Sexual Offence Bill, 2011 ” concerning the sexual abuse of a child (Bajpai, 2018 ) and, based on that, the “ Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 ” was enacted. The act is centred on ensuring a strong legal framework for protecting children from sexual offences of any kind, including rape, sexual harassment, and pornography (Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2013 ). Consequently, the “ POCSO Act, 2012 ”, becomes the first safeguard law for protecting children from sexual offences. The act was enacted in 2012, so we can expect the implication of this policy change to materialise from 2015 onwards. The NCRB provides recorded POCSO incidences, victims, and rates from 2016 onward. Therefore, we can expect the implication of the “ POCSO Act, 2012 ” to materialise in the Regime-III . Legitimately, the empirical result suggests that the “ POCSO Act, 2012 ” helps in reducing the sexual abuse of children . The growth rate of “ sexual offences against children ” in Regime-III declined to −4.611. Therefore, we can conclude that the “ POCSO Act, 2012 ” helps to reduce the sexual abuse of children and revamp children’s safety and security.

After exploring the implication of the “ POCSO Act, 2012 ”, in revamping children’s paradise, we next explore if there is any variation in reported POCSO incidences across Indian states or not. If variation exists, then only there organisation of the factors responsible for the successful implementation of the “ POCSO Act, 2012 ” across Indian states will be meaningful.

Variation in POCSO incidences across Indian states

To understand the variation in the “ Rate of cases reported under POCSO ” across Indian states, we performed a non-parametric ANOVA test considering 20 bigger Indian states for the time period 2016 to 2019. Table 5 presents the test result.

The table shows that the 1% threshold of statistical significance rejects the null hypothesis, H 0 : no inter-state variation , in the “Rate of instances reported under POCSO” across Indian states. The high F -statistic’s value of 19.417 demonstrates that there is considerable inter-state variation in the “Rate of instances reported under POCSO”. This result elucidates that there must be some determining factors for the inter-state variations. This test then authorised us to perform regression analysis in an attempt to identify the factors influencing the “ Rate of cases reported under POCSO ”.

Factors influencing the rate of reported POCSO cases

We next consider the pin-pointing of the role of PQLI along with other regressors in reducing reported POCSO cases for Indian states. The “ Ordinary Least Squares ” is our estimation technique, and thus the post-estimation of the validation of the OLS is also verified in this paper. The apriori condition for cross-sectional analysis, representative data, is primarily scrutinised by the descriptive statistics of the regression variables, which confirms the appropriateness of the regression analysis (see Table 11 in appendices). Table 6 presents the regression result.

A close perusal of the table divulges that the percentage of SC population, 0–19 Sex-ratio, Urbanisation, POCSO Percentage Share of Known Persons Cases to Total Cases, Secondary Gross Enrolment Ratio, PQLI, Judiciary and Public Safety Score (JPSS), and Employment relate male migration (Male migration) have a Significant footprint on the rate of reported POCSO cases . The regressors SC and ST are both positively related to POCSO . Historically, it is patently true that the lower castes, vis-à-vis weaker sections of society, are always as of target for any form of crime (Bower, 2003 ; Bywaters, et al., 2016 ; Sexton and Sobelson, 2018 ).

Here, we are also getting the reverberation of the paten fact. It is noteworthy that the estimated coefficient for ST is not statistically significant. The negative role of the JPSS demonstrates that enhancement in the law and order condition in the state results in the reduction of POCSO incidences. The result is pronounced. The improved law and order condition reflects the state’s efficacy in protecting its citizens. The state can provide a safe environment for normal daily life activities. Consequently, improvement in the JPSS fore shortens POCSO incidences in particular and crime as a whole. The absence of the implication of such an independent variable on POCSO cases in earlier studies prevents us from presenting any earlier study in support of our findings. The negative and significant value of the estimated coefficient 0–19 Sex-ratio enables us to pin-point that a favourable sex-ratio at any age will help to minimise any form of sexual offence.The favourable sex-ratio may give the voice less a voice and make it possible to recognise sexual offences, including sexual abuse of children (Kansal, 2016 ; Maity & Sinha, 2018 ; Maity, 2019 ). Based on our research, it is clear that most often it is a close family who abuses a child, the corresponding estimated coefficient, 0.438 is significant at 1% level. The well-established truth is confirmed by this finding. According to a research, the victims are familiar with 90% of the perpetrators (The Times of India, March 1, 2018 ; Maity, 2022 ). We draw two paradoxical results from our regression analysis, viz., an increase in both urbanisation and secondary gross enrolment ratio (elementary GER turns out statistically insignificant), and increase in the reported POCSO incidences. This may be because lower-class residents in urban regions frequently work in low-wage, ad hoc occupations. Even the primary female members need to work to pay the bills. Children become an easy target for any type of sexual assault when their parents are not present. Additionally, young kids are sometimes hired as domestic an assistant, which renders them more susceptible to this kind of crime. Education improves view points and gives the voice less a platform. The positive correlation between SGER and POCSO occurrences may be due to this. Here, we solely take into account recorded POCSO incidents. Because of their increased knowledge and awareness, the parents were eventually able to report the crime to the police after overcoming a variety of social stigmas, prejudices, and beliefs. The most interesting result is the relationship between POCSO-reported cases and PQLI. The estimated coefficient is not only statistically significant but also the sign of the coefficient is desirable. The estimated coefficient envisages a juxta position of the “ quality of life ” and “ reported POCSO cases ”. Consequently, the estimated coefficient allows us to conclude that by enhancing the “ quality of life ”, it is possible to deplete “ reported POCSO cases ” and revamp children’s paradise on earth. Finally, employment-related male migration is found to influence the reported POCSO cases positively. The result reflects the Indian societal structure where in the male is the undisputed leader of the family (Maity & Sinha, 2018 ; Maity, 2019 ). When the family’s main bread winner moves to another location, state, or country, the female members of the family become easy prey for others. Under such a scenario, the little one becomes more exposed to crime reported under POCSO. Only by speaking out against such crimes by other family members, including females, can such incidents be avoided. The absence of earlier literature concerning this prevents us from presenting any earlier study in support of our study. The table also presents the “ beta coefficient ”. A perusal of “ standardised coefficients ” discloses the paramount factor for reducing “ reported POCSO cases” Is the “quality of life” , followed by “ JPSS ” and a favourable “0 – 19 Sex-ratio ”. On the contrary, the “ standardised coefficients “reveal that “ POCSO known person ” and “ urbanisation ” is the most important factor in enhancing “ reported POCSO cases ”. The possible reasons for such results are explained earlier.

The testaments of the five basic assumptions which are necessary for the OLS estimators to be BLUE are examined thereafter.

The “ Adjusted Coefficient of Determination ”, \(\bar R^2\) is a measure of “ goodness of fit ” in a multiple regression model. The rule of thumb is higher the value better the fit. In the present model, \(\bar R^2\) is 0.8664, means best fit. The model is also well-specified, with a high F -statistic of 6.67 and a Prob >  F of 0.0062.

The normality of the error term is the primary condition for the OLS estimators to be BLUE. Graphical and statistical verification of the normality of the error term is performed here. For statistical verification of normality, we have used the “Shapiro–Wilk W -test for normal data.” The results are depicted graphically in Figure 3 and statistically in Table 7 .

Authors’ own calculation.

The null hypothesis of the test is that the corresponding distribution is normal. As disclosed in Table 7 , the large p -value (0.11) indicates the acceptance of \(\hat u_i\) is normally distributed. Thus, the normality of the residuals is established.

Heteroskedasticity

Based on the cross-sectional information, an empirical inspection of the determinants of the rate of reported POCSO cases across Indian states is performed. Accordingly, non-constancy of the error variance is a common phenomenon. To ensure homoscedasticity of the error variance, we conduct the Breusch-Pagan/Cook-Weisberg test for heteroskedasticity and Cameron and Trivedi’s decomposition of the IM-test. Here,

\(H_0\) : Constant Variance ,

The test results are presented in Table 7 ensures constancy of error variance or homoscedaticity .

Multicollinearity

Only in the absence of multicollinearity can independent effects of the regressors on the regressand be obtained. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) of the regression helps us to confirm the absence of multicollinearity. The corresponding result is presented in Table 8 .

Both VIF and the tolerance (1/VIF) are to be checked for the confirmation of the absence of multicollinearity. The table shows that for all regressors, the VIF and the tolerance (1/VIF) are within the prescribed level and thus corroborates the absence of multicollinearity .

Consequently, the OLS estimators presented in Table 6 are BLUE, and the conclusions drawn from these estimators are universal.

Conclusion and policy implications

The present study pivot around two research questions, viz., firstly, does the “ Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act” (PCSO) (2012), contribute to reducing “ sexual abuse of children ” in India? Secondly, does the escalation of “ Quality of life ” also entail a reduction of “sexual abuse of children”? Our empirical findings authorise us to conclude affirmatively in both cases. Based on our empirical findings we can suggest the following policy prescriptions to fore shorten “ child sexual abuse ” in India.

Firstly , improvement of “ quality of life ” will benefit everyone in society and that is the rudimentary reason for the negative sign. Improvement of the “ quality of life ” also ensures child protection together with the up-gradation of human capital. This yields in the enhancement of socio-economic conditions and that results in enhancing the safety and security of all. Therefore, both the state and the central governments must focus to improve the “ quality of life ” of their citizens. Secondly , the positive sign of the estimated coefficient of the “ secondary gross enrolment ratio ” encourages us to prescribe that emphasis should be placed on the enrolment of children in schools and encourage them for continuing education. Education will empower them, equip them to recognise “ good and bad touch ”, give them to voice against any “kind of sexual offence” without fear, and ultimately empower them to break “ irrational social stigma ”. In fact, only education empowers them to recognise and protest when they are the victims of “ sexual abuse ” by the “ known person ” Hence, only by encouraging parents to enrolment and continue of education of their children, including girl children, it is possible to fore shorten “ reported POCSO cases ” one day. Thirdly , recognising that lower cast people are soft targets of crime including “ child sexual abuse ”, a special provision in the law is demanded to protect these people. In fact, the “Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989”,is there to protect SC and ST people. However, the mere existence of such acts does not guarantee the protection of SC and ST people. Only detecting and punishing such offences on a fast-track basis can foreshorten such crimes. The concentration of power among the high-caste people is one of the sources of such crimes. The distribution of powers, especially political power may furnish some solution. Identifying this, the Government of India reserved certain numbers of political positions for specific groups of the population including “ Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes ”. However, without changing the mentality of people, it is not possible to stop these cast-based crimes. Fourthly , the scenario of law and order condition of any state is proxied by the “Judiciary and Public Safety Score”. A higher value of JPSS indicates improved law and order conditions in any state. This means greater protection for all. By improving law and order conditions the concerned state will be able to provide an appropriate environment for social and economic activities. Accordingly, irrespective of the JPSS status Indian states are recommended to improve their law-and-order conditions. Finally , recognising the positive correlation between “ reported POCSO cases ” and “ urbanisation ” it is patently true that “child protection” is an emergent issue in urban India. In this respect, the local-state-central governments need to work in one line appropriately.

In the present study the pin-pointing of the determinants of the “reported POCSO act” is conducted by considering cross-sectional data. However, such a study can be better understood by considering panel data. Unfortunately, because of the unavailability of such statistics, we cannot pursue this. This can be considered a limitation of the study. However, based on the availability of the data, this extension is a future plan.

Data availability

The present study is based on secondary data. All relevant data are available at free of cost. The data sources are mentioned in the text.

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Maity, S., Chakraborty, P.R. Implications of the POCSO Act and determinants of child sexual abuse in India: insights at the state level. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 6 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01469-x

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PolicyBristol

Seen but not heard: addressing the silent epidemic of child maltreatment in india.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 calls for a reduction in exposure or experience of any form of child abuse and neglect., particularly in children from lower- and middle income countries. The term ‘child maltreatment’ encompasses physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse, and physical and emotional neglect.

India has the largest population of children in the world (over 200 million) and data from UNICEF shows that Indian children are disadvantaged in their rights, access to education and healthcare, and are often exposed to physical labour and early marriages. A third of all child brides in the world are from India.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 is the only active child protection legislation in India specific to sexual abuse. However, its implementation has been poor, with delays in prosecutions due to the overburdened nature of courts and stigmatization of reporting child abuse.

This systematic review is the first of its kind, examining the evidence of all types of abuse and neglect in Indian children to determine how common child maltreatment is, and identify any differences by sex, population density, and legislation.

We identify specific risk factors and assess the effectiveness of the current legislation at tackling abuse and neglect.

Half of the girls interviewed from the largest study 4 of over 12,000 children wished they were born as boys.

Policy recommendations

Government of india.

• Current nationwide legislation is ineffective at countering specific cultural practices, such as child marriage, particularly in states with rural and tribal populations. Prioritise state-specific legislation.

• Prioritise policies and safeguards for those children most at risk: homeless or orphaned children, girls from rural or tribal regions and girls living in poverty or within urban slums.  

• Create better social welfare frameworks for both home and school environments in which better safeguarding measures are put into place to identify vulnerable children or those who have had an experience of maltreatment.

• Implement and enforce the ban on corporal punishment across all Indian states.

Ministry of Women & Child Development

• Target policy and research funding to end corporal punishment as a normative cultural practice, such as focusing interventions on positive disciplining methods within homes and schools.

• Encourage behavioural change in parents/caregivers (positive parenting), helping to protect children from maltreatment at home.

• Prioritise measures that empower children with knowledge of their rights and builds core life skills (e.g. resilience and de-stigmatisation) in schools 

• Raise awareness of all safe, accessible, and available channels to report abuse and neglect for children of all ages.

'Parents are the most common perpetrators of violence against girls'

– Rose-Clarke et al., 2019. 6

Research findings

The systematic review 1,2 consisted of evaluating 21 relevant studies published between 2005 and 2020 to determine the extent of child maltreatment, and any effects by sex, population density, population groups and POCSO implementation.

Twenty quantitative studies were state-specific, and one was nationwide. The studies included were based on self-report, child-report and assessment of child maltreatment by teachers or health professionals.

We excluded any study based on retrospective recall of maltreatment. Therefore, this review could be considered a snapshot of the time during which the studies were conducted.

This work builds on an earlier systematic review of child sexual abuse in India 3 providing more detailed findings about all types of abuse and neglect over a 15 year period and the specific impacts of these on children by their sex, where they live, and housing and family status.

• We estimate that up to 74% of Indian children report physical abuse; up to 72% report emotional abuse and up to 69% report sexual abuse.

• Up to 71% of Indian children report overall neglect, up to 60% report emotional neglect and up to 58% report physical neglect.

• Physical, sexual and emotional abuse and overall neglect is higher in rural and urban slum settings compared to urban settings.

• Children in socioeconomically advantaged households are four-times more vulnerable to physical violence compared with disadvantaged households. This is associated with academic achievements and expectations.

• Homeless children and orphans or runaways living in observation homes, particularly boys, are at increased risk of physical abuse.

• Girls who live in rural or tribal regions, urban slums, or socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, are at increased risk of child pregnancy and more likely to have restricted access to food, health services and education.

• Within tribal populations, almost 70% of girls report a pregnancy during childhood (under the age of 18 years).

• In addition to being at higher risk of many types of abuse and neglect, the studies reveal a common theme for girls: the futility of reporting maltreatment, as girls were often ignored, judged as being ‘at fault’, and not provided with any protection from perpetrators.

’Grandparents sent this girl to the observation home and her brother stays with them as they are taking care of her brother because he is a boy and they have left her, to live in an observation home because she is a girl’

– Kacker et al., 2007. 4

Red: locations of individual-site studies Blue: locations of the nationwide study by the Ministry of Women and Child Development

Taken from Figure 2. ‘Map of Indian states and union territories with red color showing the locations of studies selected for this systematic review and blue color showing the locations of Kacker’s nationwide study locations’, The prevalence of child maltreatment in India: a systematic review and narrative synthesis, Fernandes et al., 2021.

The effect of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012

Reported physical and emotional abuse and all types of neglect were higher after 2012 (post-POSCO implementation) but not for sexual abuse. However, our review found that abuse and neglect often occur in tandem, rather than in isolation, though sexual abuse is often least reported of all types of child maltreatment.

This is attributed to the stigma associated with reporting child sexual abuse; the draconian punishment, the daunting procedures involved (in terms of time, resources and money) mean that parents and carers are less likely to pursue legal redress.

There is also a lack of multi-agency, collaborative, approaches to tackling child maltreatment (healthcare, legislation, social services, research).

We found emotional and physical neglect were only evaluated in studies conducted after 2012. The improved clarity around definitions of abuse and neglect and improved study design (e.g. robust and generalisable sample size) and methodologies may explain these findings.

’The fallout from eve-teasing include restrictions on a girl’s movements, ending her education, questioning her sexual purity and bringing forward her marriage’

– Beattie et al., 2019. 5

Figure 2 Prevalence percentages of different forms of child maltreatmentmeans (%) by urbanisation

Prevalence percentages of different forms of child maltreatmentmeans (%) pre- and post POCSO

• Studies within mixed populations, i.e. including vulnerable children from both rural and urban slum settings, reported higher rates of physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Overall, neglect was also higher in mixed populations.

• Introducing child sexual abuse legislation in 2012 corresponds with an increase in overall reporting and evaluation of neglect and abuse.‌

Examples of good practice

ARPAN, a Mumbai based non-governmental organisation whose Personal Safety Education Programme aims to build core life skills in children between the ages of 5 and 16 years including interpersonal relationships, resilience, selfawareness and gender-awareness. The programme further provides counselling support for children and their families at schools following a disclosure of maltreatment.  www.arpan.org.in

TULIR, a Chennai based non-governmental organisation that provides a personal safety education combined with therapeutic and socio-legal support to families and children with experience of maltreatment.  www.tulir.org

The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation use a holistic approach to address pressing issues of children such as child labour, child trafficking, child marriage, child sexual abuse, education, health & nutrition and livelihood for parents.  www.satyarthi.org.in

The Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care & Rehabilitation) Bill 2021 This bill aims to create a dedicated institutional mechanism at district, state and national level to prevent and counter trafficking practices, and to further dedicate resources to the protection and rehabilitation of victims. It also covers all aspects of human trafficking, such as sexual oppression, enslaved labour, slavery and organ smuggling.

'Over 80% of child domestic workers are girls under the age of 18 years, and over 80% of children working in tea shops and restaurants are boys under the age of 18 years. Almost 70% of child domestic workers have experienced physical abuse.'

Research next steps

The study team are mapping the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child maltreatment experiences in Indian children.

Further information

1. The prevalence of child sexual abuse and associated adverse childhood experiences in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. PROSPERO. www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=150403

2. Fernandes, GS, Fernandes, MK, Vaidya, N, DeSouza, PE, Holla, B, Sharma, E, Plotnikova, E, Geddes, R, Benegal, V., Choudhry, V., 2021. The prevalence of child maltreatment in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol. BMJ Open. In press

3. Choudhry, V., Dayal, R., Pillai, D., Kalokhe, A. S., Beier, K. & Patel, V. 2018. Child sexual abuse in India: A systematic review. PLoS One, 13, e0205086. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205086

4. Kacker L, Vardan S, Kumar P, 2007. Study on Child Abuse: Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/study-child-abuse-india-2007

5. Beattie, T. S., Prakash, R., Mazzuca, A., Kelly, L., Javalkar, P., Raghavendra, T., Ramanaik, S., Collumbien, M., Moses, S., Heise, L., Isac, S. & Watts, C. 2019. Prevalence and correlates of psychological distress among 13-14 year old adolescent girls in North Karnataka, South India: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 19, 48. doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6355-z

6. Rose-Clarke, K., Pradhan, H., Rath, S., Rath, S., Samal, S., Gagrai, S., Nair, N., Tripathy, P. & Prost, A. 2019. Adolescent girls’ health, nutrition and wellbeing in rural eastern India: a descriptive, cross-sectional community-based study. BMC Public Health, 19, 673. doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7053-1

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the study co-authors Miss Nilakshi Vaidya (NIMHANS, India), Dr Phillip De Souza (Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, United Kingdom), Dr Evgeniya Plotnikova (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom), Professor Rosemary Geddes (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom) and to Mrs Sarah Harding (University of Bristol).

Dr Gwen Fernandes (University of Bristol), Dr Megan Fernandes (Norwich and Norfolk University Hospital), United Kingdom Dr Vikas Choudhry (International Planned Parenthood Federation), Professor Vivek Benegal (NIMHANS), India

Policy Report 66: Oct 2021

Addressing the silent epidemic of child maltreatment in India (PDF, 476kB)

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Research Article

Child sexual abuse in India: A systematic review

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliations Public Health Foundation of India, Institutional Area, Gurugram, Haryana, India, Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd., Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Public Health Foundation of India, Institutional Area, Gurugram, Haryana, India

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Global Health, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Roles Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Luisenstraße, Berlin, Germany

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Public Health Foundation of India, Institutional Area, Gurugram, Haryana, India, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America

• Vikas Choudhry, 
• Radhika Dayal, 
• Divya Pillai, 
• Ameeta S. Kalokhe, 
• Klaus Beier, 
• Vikram Patel

• Published: October 9, 2018
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205086
• Reader Comments

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a pressing human right issue and public health concern. We conducted a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies published in the past decade on CSA in India to examine the distribution of the prevalence estimates for both genders, to improve understanding of the determinants and consequences of CSA and identify gaps in the current state of research.

For this systematic review, we searched electronic literature databases (PubMed, POPLINE, and PsycINFO) for articles published in English on Child Sexual Abuse in India between January 1, 2006 and January 1, 2016 using 55 search terms. Data were extracted from published articles only.

Fifty-one studies met inclusion criteria for the review. The review indicates that prevalence rates of CSA is high among both boys and girls in India. Due to heterogeneity of study designs and lack of standardised assessments, reported prevalence estimates varied greatly among both genders in different studies. There is a need to conduct representative studies using a validated instrument to obtain valid epidemiological estimates. Commercial sex workers, men who have sex with men, and women with psychiatric disorders were at higher risks for sexual abuse during childhood. In addition, the synthesis of qualitative data across studies included in the review suggests that exposure and perpetration of CSA is a multifaceted phenomenon grounded in the interplay between individual, family, community, and societal factors. The review indicates poor physical, behavioural, social, and mental health outcomes of CSA in India. We conclude with a research agenda calling for quantitative and qualitative studies to explore the determinants and perpetration of child sexual abuse in India from an ecological lens. This research agenda may be necessary to inform the development of a culturally tailored primary prevention and treatment strategy for CSA victims in India.

Citation: Choudhry V, Dayal R, Pillai D, Kalokhe AS, Beier K, Patel V (2018) Child sexual abuse in India: A systematic review. PLoS ONE 13(10): e0205086. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205086

Editor: Alexander C. Tsai, Massachusetts General Hospital, UNITED STATES

Received: November 12, 2017; Accepted: September 19, 2018; Published: October 9, 2018

Copyright: © 2018 Choudhry et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

Funding: The funder (Bayer Crop Science, Mumbai, India) provided support in the form of salaries for authors (RD and DP), but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The commercial affiliation (Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd.) of the lead author (VC) had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.

Competing interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest financial or non-financial with regard to the study. The interpretation and presentation of the facts and figures given in the paper is not influenced by any personal or financial relationship with any individual or organisation. The funding agency or commercial affiliation (Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd.) of the lead author does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare.

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) as “ the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend , is unable to give informed consent to , or for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent , or that violates the laws or social taboos of society… ”[ 1 ]. CSA includes an array of sexual activities like fondling, inviting a child to touch or be touched sexually, intercourse, exhibitionism, involving a child in prostitution or pornography, or online child luring by cyber-predators [ 2 , 3 ].

CSA is a serious problem of considerable magnitude throughout the world. A recent systematic review of 55 studies from 24 countries found much heterogeneity in studies in terms of definition and measurement of CSA and concluded that rates of CSA ranged from 8 to 31% for females and from 3 to 17% for males [ 4 ]. Despite similar methodological challenges, other systematic reviews which included studies conducted worldwide across hundreds of different age-cohort samples have observed alarming rates of CSA, with averages of 18–20% for females and of 8–10% for males, with the lowest rates for both girls (11.3%) and boys (4.1%) found in Asia, and highest rates found for girls in Australia (21.5%) and for boys in Africa (19.3%) [ 5 , 6 ].

CSA has profound consequences for the child. It is known to interfere with growth and development [ 7 , 8 ]. CSA has also been linked to numerous maladaptive health behaviors, and poor social, mental and physical health outcomes throughout the lifespan [ 2 , 9 – 11 ]. In accordance with that, there is evidence that CSA can affect neuro-biological systems, e.g. the cortical representation of the genital somatosensory field [ 12 ]. Other common sequelae for adult survivors of CSA may include relational challenges (e.g., increased risk for domestic violence), violent behaviors, and increased risk of perpetration of CSA as adults [ 2 , 13 ].

Children, under the age of 18, contribute to 37% of India's population [ 14 ] with large proportions experiencing great deprivations such as lack of access to basic education, nutrition or health care [ 15 ]. In addition, they are susceptible to different forms of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) including various forms of abuse, neglect, and maltreatment with child protection remaining largely unaddressed [ 16 – 18 ]. A large-scale national study conducted in 2007 by Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), to assess the extent and nature of child abuse in India, uncovered some alarming statistics; that among the 12,447 children interviewed, more than half (53 percent) reported experience of sexual abuse, defined as “sexual assault, making the child fondle private parts, making the child exhibit private body parts and being photographed in the nude” and over 20 percent reported severe sexual abuse [ 19 ]. While these statistics need to be interpreted with caution as it was conducted in a convenience rather than nationally representative sample, the numbers speak to the significance of the problem and highlight particularly high-risk groups. Smaller studies from India have also reported very high prevalence of CSA [ 17 , 20 , 21 ].

Increased attention in the public discourse and activism around child protection led to the Government of India passing the, ‘The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)’ law in 2012. This act criminalizes a range of acts including rape, harassment, and exploitation for pornography involving a child below 18 years of age and mandates the setting up of Special Courts to expedite trials of these offences. However, the issue of CSA remains a taboo in India. As around the world, the research findings in India support significant underreporting of CSA to authorities versus reporting in protected research settings [ 17 , 22 ]. Only 3% of CSA offences uncovered by national level study in 2007 were reported to the authorities. Renuka Chowdhury, the then minister of women and child development, in her introduction to this national survey report of MoWCD referred CSA as “…shrouded in secrecy with a conspiracy of silence around the entire subject” [ 19 ].

A systematic review of prevalence estimates, determinants, and impact of CSA are important for the development of prevention programs and the provision of support. Even though some literature on CSA, from India, has been published as an epidemiological overview and narrative reviews, and some empirical studies have been included in the international literature, there is no systematic review of the literature on CSA in India. This paper presents a systematic review of a wide range of studies, both quantitative and qualitative, conducted over the past decade on CSA in India. It aims to examine the distribution of the prevalence of CSA estimates for both genders, improve understanding of the determinants and consequences of CSA, and identify gaps in the current state of research.

The research questions, inclusion criteria, search strategy, search terms, search engines, and study protocol for the proposed study were developed in consultation with a panel of experts who have been working in the field of sexual violence in India (names included in Acknowledgments) and along the guidelines as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) [ 23 ] ( S1 Checklist ). We searched electronic literature databases (PubMed, POPLINE, and PsycINFO) to search for articles published on CSA in India. Searches were conducted using both medical subject headings (MeSH) and keywords. An example for the use of search term like sexual assault among 55 other terms ( Table 1 ) that was used is “… . (("sexual assault"[MeSH Terms] OR ("sexual"[All Fields] AND "assault"[All Fields]) OR "sexual assault"[All Fields] OR ("india"[MeSH Terms] OR "india"[All Fields])” OR ((“sex offenses"[MeSH Terms] OR ("sex"[All Fields] AND "offenses"[All Fields]) OR "sex offenses"[All Fields]” AND ("india"[MeSH Terms] OR "india"[All Fields]) across the three databases. The same search strategy was used across all three databases.

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Study selection

We included studies that were published in English between January 1, 2006 and January 1, 2016, involved human subjects, and collected primary data on experience, perpetration, or response to CSA in India. Grey literature, reports, studies not collecting or analyzing original CSA data (i.e. epidemiological overview, meta-analyses, systematic reviews), commentaries, and editorials were not included in the study. The study period was chosen to report results from the recent literature on prevalence, correlates, and consequences of CSA in Indian context.

We included observational studies ( e . g . cross-sectional studies, cohort studies, and case-control studies) that examined prevalence and incidence of CSA and/or associations of CSA with other independent or dependent variables. The qualitative studies that examined the experiences of respondents that had been victims of CSA were also included. Articles examining sexual abuse experience at ≤ 18 years were included. The review also included 1) articles in which CSA data were collected retrospectively from adults and 2) articles which use age bands which cross the 18-years cut-point (i.e. they collect aggregate sexual violence data for youth aged 10–19, 15–24 etc.). In the latter scenario, authors were contacted for disaggregate data on CSA for ages ≤ 18 years. CSA perpetration studies were also included if they measured perpetration of sexual violence against an individual ≤ 18 year of age (irrespective of the age of the perpetrator). Finally, interventions to prevent and/or treat CSA including randomised control trials were also included in this review.

The peer reviewed articles identified from the electronic databases were transferred and stored in EndNote software X7.5. The relevancy check for all the articles at the step of title and abstract screening was conducted by one of the authors (DP or RD) designated as primary reviewers. In addition, the secondary reviewers (VC or AK) conducted relevancy check for 10% of the randomly selected articles at this step along with relevancy check for all the articles that were deemed as “cannot determine” by the primary reviewers. The primary and secondary reviewers conducted relevancy checks in teams that constituted of one primary and one secondary reviewer for the articles that were selected for full text screening (n = 965). The discrepancies on relevancy of the articles between primary and secondary reviewer were noted and discussed by the entire team in a monthly meeting.

Data extraction and quality assessment

The eligible articles went through a standardized data extraction and quality assessment process. The data extraction form was refined during the extraction of the first few articles to ensure that the forms were comprehensive. The primary reviewers extracted the relevant data in MS Excel for each of the articles that were deemed suitable for inclusion. A few studies were based on same datasets, but we decided to include these studies as different if they assessed different forms of CSA or measured different outcomes associated with CSA. We extracted descriptive characteristics of the sample (e.g. publication date, age of the sample, gender, etc.) from each quantitative (Tables 2 – 8 ) and qualitative study (Tables 9 and 10 ). As contextual moderators, we extracted data on the setting (i.e. schools, colleges, community, shelter homes), and data collection methods (face-to-face interview, focus group discussions or anonymous self-reports). Data on perpetration was also extracted and reported depending on the information available.

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Among quantitative studies we extracted three methodological moderators: (a) design of study (primarily cross-sectional, case-control, or otherwise); (b) sampling strategy (random, purposive, or convenience sampling); (c) measurement instrument (name, whether standardised, number of items, etc.). We also extracted the data on the time frame for which CSA was measured (childhood experience or past 12-months experience) for quantitative studies. Three categories of CSA were used: (a) non-contact sexual abuse (e.g., exhibitionism, indecent exposure, sexual harassment or voyeurism); (b) contact sexual abuse without penetration (e.g., non-genital fondling, kissing, or genital touching); and (c) forced intercourse (i.e. anal, oral, or vaginal intercourse), as previously classified in a WHO publication [ 24 ]. Depending on the information available for each study, we report prevalence on the total sample or separately on boys and girls.

A synthesis of the qualitative evidence, guided by the review questions, was conducted across the qualitative and mixed-methods studies that are included in the review. The synthesis was performed using an interpretive perspective in which themes were identified in the original papers, compared across studies, and then combined into a whole via a listing of descriptive themes in line with the determinants and perpetration of CSA informed by the socio-ecological framework [ 25 ], and the impact of CSA on the study participants ( S1 File ). The analysis included coding of text 'line-by-line' as a first step that was conducted by one of the authors (RD). The coding was followed by the development of descriptive themes by two authors (VC and RD) independently, followed by discussions to reach consensus. The categorisation of the respective descriptive themes under the individual, family, community, and societal factors was finalised after discussions among the authors (RD, VC, and AKK). The majority of the qualitative and mixed-methods studies focused on high risk populations such as Men Having Sex with Men (MSMs) and Commercial Sex Workers (CSWs) including assessing the HIV risk among these populations, identifying potential pathways for sex workers or trafficked girls to enter sex work, and experiences of abuse and neglect during childhood among such populations. There were only a few papers that exclusively focused on CSA experiences of the participants. In order to account for this, our study coded the relevant sections of each study that focused on CSA experience of the participants.

A separate quality assessment tool for quantitative and qualitative studies was developed for this review. The quality assessment tool for quantitative studies was adapted from Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) Quality Assessment Tool [ 26 ]. The quality assessment tool for qualitative studies was adopted from Consolidated criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) guidelines [ 27 ]. Each article was assessed using the quality assessment tool and then all articles were summarized together (Tables 11 – 14 ) to give an impression of the overall quality of the studies included in the review.

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Article yield of systematic search

Fig 1 illustrates the flow chart of articles. The initial search of CSA articles published in electronic literature databases (PubMed, POPLINE, and PsycINFO) identified 4,186 potentially eligible studies based on the inclusion criteria. After removal of duplicates, we were left with 3,725 potentially relevant studies that were screened for title and abstract relevancy. After title and abstract screening, 2,760 studies were excluded, leaving 965 for full-text screening applying the same inclusion criteria. Of the 965 articles, 762 articles were excluded because they (1) focused on extraneous topics, (2) lacked Indian context, (3) surveyed a time frame of exposure to sexual abuse for study participants after they attained 18 years of age, or (4) did not collect or analyze original data on CSA. We were unable to retrieve 21 articles through searching our institutional libraries or through contacting the authors ( S2 File ). Additionally, 131 more articles were excluded from the final analysis, as the articles provided insufficient information to assess eligibility for inclusion and two attempts to contact authors for additional information failed. The final list of included articles consists of 51 studies.

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Study designs and study populations

Among the 51 studies included in the review, 35 studies were based purely on quantitative methods, 11 studies were based purely on qualitative methods while five studies utilized mixed-methods. Most quantitative studies were conducted among respondents from general population (Tables 2 – 5 ) while a few of them were conducted among populations at risk (Tables 6 – 8 ). The majority of quantitative studies utilized a cross-sectional design with only a few using other designs like case-control or utilizing the case records from medical case histories.

A quarter (13/51) of studies that were included were based in educational institutions. A fifth of the studies (10/51) included community samples of young men and girls while a few other studies (5/51) included women or young adolescents attending gynecology, mental health facilities, or health camps organized by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Approximately half of the other studies (24/51) were conducted in specific populations such as commercial sex workers, children in shelter homes, sex-trafficked young girls in observational homes, adolescent street boys, runaway children, men who have sex with men (MSM) and children in conflict with law. Most qualitative studies were conducted with specific populations as discussed above.

Almost half the studies included in this review evaluated CSA through interviews with children below 18 years of age (25/51) while the rest of the studies evaluated retrospective recall of CSA experiences among adults. Twenty-one studies were exclusive with girls or women with 17 of these studies among female sex workers and trafficked girls. Nine studies were conducted exclusively with boys including runaway or adolescent boys living on the streets and MSMs. The rest of the studies (20/51) included both boys and girls either from the educational institutions, community samples, health camps, or children in conflict with law.

CSA definitions and measurement

Around 50% of the studies that utilized purely quantitative methodology, assessed all forms of CSA (forced intercourse, contact, and non-contact). Most of these studies were conducted among students in educational institutions or community populations. All the studies that utilized mixed-methods approach and seven studies among purely quantitative studies used a narrower definition (forced intercourse or rape) of CSA and majority of these studies were conducted among female sex workers. While most of these studies (36/40) evaluated childhood experience of CSA while four studies included the question on experience of CSA in the past year.

Among the 37 studies using quantitative methods, only 16 studies reported use of standardized tools. The various tools that were used were 1. ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool (ICSAT)–C and ICSAT- R, 2. Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, 4. Adapted Questionnaire from MoWCD study, 5. Finkelhor’s Sexual Abuse Scale (used in community studies), and 6. Sexual Abuse Screening Tool. Two studies were based on validation of ICSAT-C and ICSAT-R for measurement of CSA in six countries including India [ 28 , 29 ].

Prevalence estimates

The prevalence of CSA ranged from 4%- 41% in studies conducted exclusively among young women below 18 years of age and who are current students while the studies reported a lifetime CSA prevalence of 3–39% among women above 18 years of age. There was a much wider range of CSA prevalence (4%- 57%) reported among boys in educational institutions. One third of the study sample of adolescent street boys reported forced intercourse [ 30 ], while almost a quarter of the study sample of men who have sex with men (MSMs) reported experiencing contact sexual abuse with or without forced penetration during childhood [ 31 ]. The studies also reported variations in prevalence estimates when they included all forms of CSA (contact, non-contact, and forced intercourse). For example, 35% prevalence of any form of CSA was reported in the age group 15–19 in one study [ 32 ] as opposed to 4% among young girls in age range 12 years to 16 years when CSA was specified as “ sexual abuse” in general [ 33 ]. The prevalence estimates of CSA experiences reported among select populations like sex trafficked girls and women ranged from 4% to 66%.

Determinants of CSA

The social-ecological model guided the emergence of determinants of CSA as one of the themes in the synthesis of qualitative data across studies included in this review as shown in Fig 2 . The synthesis suggests that CSA is a multifaceted phenomenon grounded in the interplay between individual, family, community, and societal factors. The patriarchal societal norms and power differentials in such societies based on class, gender, and sexual preferences emerged as common descriptive themes that increased the risks of CSA across the qualitative studies on CSWs and MSMs [ 31 , 34 , 35 ]. Individual factors like poor socio-economic status, death of a parent or husband, and being born to a commercial sex worker were descriptive themes that emerged as pathways to be initiated in commercial sex work and resultant CSA experiences for minor girls that had been trafficked. Early childhood experience of CSA was also documented as a risk factor for re-victimization as well as initiation into commercial sex work. Lack of proper family support, family and personal history of mental health pathology, and pathological family exposures to sexual images were some of the other potential risk factors, that emerged in the review [ 36 ] [ 37 – 43 ]. Lack of sanitation and poor safety of women were also found to be community level factors that increased the risks for CSA from the review of qualitative studies [ 44 ]. There were conflicting results in the review of quantitative studies regarding age, gender, family structure (joint vs. nuclear family), and monthly family income as covariates of CSA [ 30 , 45 – 49 ]. However negative perception about parents, lower education of mother, and perceived congeniality of family were found to be significantly associated with CSA experience [ 50 ]. Domestic child laborers were also found to be at higher risk of all forms of abuse including CSA in one study [ 51 ].

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Perpetration of CSA

Few studies (11/51) among the quantitative and mixed-methods studies included in the review reported about the characteristics of the CSA perpetrators [ 31 , 49 , 52 – 61 ]. The studies conducted among the community sample indicated that perpetrators of CSA in India are known to the abused children, and many of them are family members [ 49 , 58 , 59 , 62 ]. The qualitative synthesis of studies that included perpetration as a sphere of enquiry suggests that multiple factors at individual, family, and societal levels play a significant role in perpetration of CSA. The offenders, often known to the victims, take advantage of their accessibility to potential victims and with lack of severe punishment by family members and protective nature of the family members towards the abuser, often leads to the incident getting unreported [ 58 , 59 , 62 ]. However, studies that included adolescent boys as samples reported higher percentage of perpetration by strangers as compared to adolescent girls [ 49 ]. The synthesis of data from qualitative studies conducted among MSMs indicated that these perpetrators may be older boys or other men in power like police [ 31 , 57 , 63 ]. A qualitative study among adolescents in our review indicates pathological family atmosphere with precocious exposures to sexual behaviors and sexual acts, traumatic sexual experiences in childhood, sexual interests and exploration, deprivation and failure in romantic relationships, and young boys who have been coerced into homosexual acts are at increased risk of becoming young sexual offenders [ 58 ]. Gender inequitable norms were found to be significantly associated with CSA perpetration in a study on evaluation of an intervention to promote gender equality among adolescent boys [ 57 ]. However, we need to exercise caution with drawing conclusions about the determinants of perpetration considering the limited number of studies that evaluated the associations, cross-sectional and qualitative study designs, and small sample size of these studies.

Health outcomes of CSA in India

The health outcomes of CSA can be grouped into mental health, physical health, behavioral and interpersonal ( Fig 2 ). The studies, both quantitative and qualitative, reported high risks for psychiatric disorders [ 33 ] including obsessive compulsive disorders [ 52 ], suicidal behaviors [ 64 ] and depression [ 32 ]. The victims of CSA were also found to have increased risks for temperamental problems, poor social adjustment, lack of trust, and insecure relations with parents [ 48 , 55 , 65 – 68 ]. Lower academic performance was also associated with reporting CSA in one study [ 50 ]. Only one quantitative study evaluated the associations between increased risk of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and CSA [ 69 ]. The studies suggest that sexually trafficked women and MSMs involved in commercial sex work and had experienced CSA also report high prevalence and risk behaviors for HIV infection [ 31 , 34 , 37 – 39 , 45 , 70 – 74 ]. However, their HIV status in this study could be an outcome of sex work rather than the experience of CSA itself.

Interventions for CSA in India

Our review found only five intervention studies [ 54 , 57 , 65 , 66 , 75 ]. One study examined the 12-month efficacy of Parivartan (English: transformation ), a primary prevention program for young boys that aims to prevent perpetration of gender-based violence through promotion of gender equitable norms [ 57 ]. The program resulted in statistically significant increase in gender-equitable attitudes but no change in sexual abuse perpetration among the boys who participated in the intervention. Two studies based on the same dataset that included 120 abused girls as cases and 120 non-abused girls as matched comparisons focused primarily on positive effects of general counseling on symptom reduction for CSA survivors in rehabilitation homes set up by the government or an NGO [ 65 , 66 ]. An exploratory controlled evaluation of a multi component intervention, Yuva Mitr (friend of youth), involving educational institution-based peer and teacher training, and information material to the youth led to decrease in prevalence of sexual abuse among urban youth at end of 18 months as compared to baseline data [ 75 ].

Quality assessment of the published studies

Of all included quantitative studies, approximately half the studies had high risks of selection bias with poor sampling strategy or sample sizes (Tables 11 – 13 ). Half of the quantitative studies rated poorly for representativeness of the sample, whereas the same number of studies did not use an acceptable case definition. Among all quantitative studies only ten studies reported risk of any other bias including bias due to social desirability responses, observer bias, or recall bias. Only a quarter of the included studies used a validated tool for measurement of CSA. Majority of studies rated poorly on data analytical techniques while none of the studies met all criteria of quality assessment. Limited information on prevalence estimates for each type of sexual abuse, and heterogeneity of study designs and CSV measures precluded conduct of a meta-analysis.

Among qualitative studies none of the studies included a description of the moderator or the interviewer´s characteristics while half the included studies did not report any theoretical framework in the study design ( Table 14 ). In addition, majority of the studies did not describe the recruitment process for the study participants and their relationships with the research staff. Most of the included studies rated poorly on qualitative data analysis and reporting.

Discussions

Our systematic review summarizes what is known about the characteristics of CSA and the status of the research on CSA in India during the last decade. It adds to the scant knowledge of CSA and draws attention to the magnitude and severity of the ongoing epidemic in India. The reviewed literature estimates that 4–41% of the girls and 10–55% of the boys in school and college samples have experienced one form (contact, non-contact, forced) of CSA in India. The prevalence figures are much higher among commercial sex workers, street adolescents and children, children working as domestic laborers, MSMs, and women with mental health problems. In addition to highlighting the high frequency of occurrence, the studies in this review begin to highlight the ecological determinants of CSA experience and perpetration along with adverse impact of CSA on social functioning, behavioral issues, mental health, and physical health.

The review highlights the heterogeneity of the methodologies utilized between the included studies. It is difficult to generalize the estimates of CSA in India noted in this review because of the small sample sizes and non-random samples. Further, the different sampling strategies, varying operational definitions of CSA, different study populations (child, adolescent or adult; vulnerable populations, e.g.- street children, children with mental health difficulties etc.), different study settings (in school, colleges, shelter homes, health clinics, or community based), and various instruments for measurement of CSA add to the practical, methodological, and statistical challenges of presenting pooled prevalence estimates, inter-study comparisons, and cross-population comparisons. Our review suggests that the studies that included standardized instruments and comprehensive definitions of CSA (contact, non-contact, and forced intercourse), reported higher prevalence of CSA. A currently available standardized instrument, like ICSAT- C and R, used globally and validated in Indian context could be a tool for methodologically robust measurement across studies for national and international comparisons.

As per the NCRB statistics for 2015, the legislative framework in India- The POCSO Act, 2012 has resulted in increased reporting of CSA [ 76 ]. However, the issues related to mandatory reporting of the CSA incidents, lack of clarity of legislation among professionals (medical officers and police), and general lack of professional support for victims of CSA create potential problems for implementation in the Indian context [ 77 ]. The socio- cultural beliefs and practices suggested in our qualitative synthesis and others pertaining to parental rights and styles in a closely-knit patriarchal family system, as existing in India, often do not acknowledge that children are individuals with their own rights and often neglect the sexual and other forms of abuse that the child may report [ 17 , 22 ]. The underreporting of CSA in India can be attributed to the fear of indignity, guilt, denial from the community, associated socio-cultural stigma (especially if the abuse is in the context of the family), not being able to trust government bodies, and a gap in communication between parents and children about this issue [ 16 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 78 ]. An upcoming paper, based on data extracted for this review, highlights the ethical and measurement issues with respect to training of interviewers on data collection in addition to non-standardized tools for data collection can result in underreporting of CSA in research studies [ 79 ]. Another major concern in India is dearth of good monitoring of various juvenile residential institutes. In addition, majority of the healthcare professionals do not have the abilities and are not trained to examine and manage cases of CSA. Hence the few cases that reach these institutions also often go unreported [ 22 ].

Our review also exposed gaps in the current understanding of CSA in some populations in India. The findings suggest that young boys in India have similar and sometimes higher prevalence of CSA as girls. This is in accordance with current understanding of CSA in India [ 16 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 80 ] but the high prevalence of CSA among boys is in contrast with the majority of global trends [ 4 , 6 , 81 ] However, patriarchal society and existing social norms around masculinity and focus on young girls as primary targets for CSA programs leave vulnerabilities of young boys largely unexplored [ 31 ].

The studies with at risk populations for CSA, like trafficked girls, also reported substantial variations with higher estimates from studies where the respondents were below 18 years of age and study included all forms of CSA. The few qualitative studies among MSMs and trafficked girls for commercial sex work included in the review suggest early childhood sexual abuse experiences that often reflect power differences between the child and the perpetrator are pathways that lead the victims into commercial sex work. In addition, our review points to increased risks of CSA among certain populations that include children of commercial sex workers, young girls with mental health issues, and adolescent boys and girls out of schools and in labor force (like domestic laborers etc.)

Evidence suggests deviant sexual interests are a major risk factor for CSA [ 82 ]. According to research sexual offenders against children can be distinguished into two groups. The first group account for about 60% of officially known offenders and show no sexual preference disorder, but who, for different reasons, sexually abuse children (e.g., sexually inexperienced adolescents seeking a surrogate; persons with poor mental health, or those with antisocial personality disorders, or from traumatizing family constellations). The other groups are those showing a sexual preference disorder, namely pedophilia (erotic preference for prepubescent children) or hebephilia (erotic preference for early pubescent children) who account for about 40% of officially known offenders [ 83 , 84 ]. A study included in our review that focused on sexual preferences, estimated sexual preferences for children among 3.3% of the respondents (majority of married and women respondents) [ 56 ]. We need to exercise caution with drawing conclusions from a single study that was based on small sample size and poor methodology. However, keeping in mind that the prevalence of paedophilia is at least 1% in the male population [ 85 , 86 ], it is obviously important to do more research in this direction in India, because there are indicators that many paedophiles are reachable before acting out their impulses [ 87 , 88 ].

While our review yielded a combination of cross-sectional and qualitative studies that provides an insight into the linkages between a few psychological, physical, and behavioral health outcomes and CSA, it also reveals some knowledge gaps and potential research agenda. There is extensive research literature from high-income countries that links any Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) like CSA, abuse, neglect, parental violence etc. with poor psychological, social, and physiological outcomes across the lifespan [ 89 ]. All ACEs including CSA tend to have a dose-response relationship with many unwanted health and social outcomes including perpetration and victimization of intimate partner violence, sexual re-victimisation, depression, drug abuse, and even mortality [ 89 – 92 ]. Amongst the significant challenges to addressing ACEs including CSA, other forms of abuse, maltreatment, and neglect in India are its huge population of children, poor child welfare service coverage, poverty, gender inequality, and illiteracy. The limited literature in India suggests that CSA does not necessarily occur in isolation and may co-occur with other forms of ACEs in the same child [ 16 , 17 , 93 ]. There is a need to assess the associations between CSA and physical health outcomes like menstrual irregularities; behavioral issues that persist in adult life of CSA survivors including increased risk of perpetration of CSA, increased participation in sex work, re-victimization as adults, high risk sexual behaviors and psychosexual dysfunctions; and delays in developmental milestones leading to deficits in motor, emotional, behavioural, language, psychosocial, social, and cognitive skills among children in Indian context as has been indicated in global literature on consequences of CSA [ 11 , 81 ]. The qualitative literature [ 58 , 59 , 62 ], included in the review, based on the experiences of sexually abused girls indicated that the reactions of the families to the discovery of CSA often caused re-traumatization and hindered the healing process. More research is needed to understand the complex familial and social factors that influence the wellbeing among victims of CSA to inform programs and policies for prevention and treatment of CSA victims.

The review also highlights the need for research aimed at designing and evaluating programs for primary prevention and treatment of CSA victims. The high prevalence of CSA in India calls for a multi-faceted ecological approach that also includes strategies for impacting policies, laws, and social and cultural norms of patriarchy and gender inequality that surround CSA [ 16 , 17 , 94 ]. There may be potential value in primary prevention approaches, such as adopted in Yuva Mitr (friend of the youth), through multiple components like information dissemination to young people and universal educational programs that could be delivered in schools and aimed at potential victims of all genders, their parents, professionals, and the general public about CSA [ 75 ]. In addition, a culturally tailored intervention module with specific adaptation of trauma and abuse-focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) could also be developed for an Indian context for victims of CSA [ 95 ].

In addition to the limited causal inferences that can be drawn due to near exclusive cross-sectional study designs of most studies, this systematic review suffers some further limitations. Publication bias is a common and well-documented problem in systematic reviews. Despite comprehensive efforts to retrieve all the available data on CSA prevalence rates in India, we might still have failed to identify some non-referenced publications such as reports from civil society organizations that work in the field of CSA in India, other grey literature and literature such as journalistic articles, commentaries, and other reports available in local languages of India. Furthermore, it is likely that the results of this review are biased because not all unpublished data could be accessed. Furthermore, methodological weaknesses of studies limit the reliability and validity of the results. In addition, we included studies whose main aim was to evaluate the CSA experience among Indian children along with studies whose primary objectives may not have been CSA but included CSA as a covariate. However, our goal was not to critically evaluate each individual study, but to comprehensively review the information currently provided in the literature. Despite its limitations, this systematic review makes a significant contribution to research on CSA in India, since it systematically and comprehensively reviewed, structured, and summarized previous research on the prevalence of CSA, and in doing so, provides a future research agenda.

Conclusions

CSA is a dark reality that is highly prevalent in India and adversely impacts health. Our literature review underscores the need for the development of a standardized definition of CSA and a validated tool for accurate measurement of CSA across India. Moreover, additional in-depth studies of CSA among the general and specific populations like commercial sex workers and MSMs are needed to develop effective ecological models for prevention and treatment of CSA that are sensitive to the diversity of vulnerabilities of children and adolescents in the Indian context. Furthermore, there is definitely a great need for more research concerning the perpetrators of child sexual abuse, including gathering more knowledge about paedophilia in India, in order to enhance primary preventive strategies.

Supporting information

S1 checklist. prisma 2009 checklist for systematic reviews..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205086.s001

S1 File. Coding sheet for synthesis of qualitative data.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205086.s002

S2 File. List of artciles that could not be retrieved.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205086.s003

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the advisory board members and experts for their constructive feedback on the study protocol: Dr. Ravi Verma (International Center for Research on Women, New Delhi); Dr. Vidya Reddy (Tulir, Chennai); Dr. Bela Ganatra and Dr. Avni Amin (World Health Organization, Geneva), Dr. KG Santhya (Population Council, New Delhi) and Geetha Nambiar (Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon). We would also like to acknowledge FIC (grant K01 TW009664) for supporting Dr. Ameeta Kalokhe’s contribution to this study.

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10 years of POCSO: An analysis of India’s landmark child abuse law

A decade after the law’s enactment, a nationwide study throws light on high acquittal rates and the pendency of cases..

Ten years after the enactment of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which deals specifically with child sexual abuse, an analysis of POCSO cases across India has found gaps in its implementation – including increasing pendency of cases and a high rate of acquittals.

The analysis, titled ‘A Decade of POCSO’, was carried out by the Justice, Access and Lowering Delays in India (JALDI) Initiative at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, in collaboration with the Data Evidence for Justice Reform (DE JURE) program at the World Bank. It analysed a total of 230,730 cases from 486 districts spanning 28 states and Union Territories, from 2012 to February 2021. Case laws, policy interventions and case metadata was collected from the eCourts, the digital platform which gives information on pending cases, court orders, etc.

What is POCSO, and why was it enacted in 2012?

The Constitution of India has incorporated several provisions to protect the rights of children and India has also been a signatory to landmark international instruments, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, etc., However, India lacked any dedicated provision against child sexual abuse. Cases would be tried under different provisions of the Indian Penal Code, which was found to be ill-equipped.

In the 1990s, a child sexual abuse racket was busted in Goa , following which the state government enacted a law to promote child rights in 2003. Also, the Special Expert Committee under Justice VR Krishna Iyer presented a draft code for child rights in India – the Children’s Code Bill, 2000.

These two initiatives established the basis for dedicated legislation against child sexual abuse. In 2005, the Department of Women and Child Development prepared a draft bill to address different offences targeted against children.

The Study of Child Abuse, a 2007 report published by the Ministry of Women and Child Development covering 13 states with a sample size of 12,447 children, 2,324 young adults and 2,449 stakeholders, looked at different forms of child abuse and found that 50.76% of children surveyed reported having faced one or more form of sexual abuse. Contrary to the general perception then, the overall percentage of boys reporting experiencing sexual abuse was much higher than that of girls.

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In September 2010, the Ministry of Women and Child Development prepared a draft Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2010 which after several rounds of revisions came into force as the POCSO Act on Children’s Day – 14 November, 2012.

What are the key findings on crimes against children?

The analysis has found that 43.44% of trials under POCSO end in acquittals while only 14.03% end in convictions. For every one conviction in a POCSO case, there are three acquittals.

Acquittals are significantly higher than convictions for all the states studied. For instance, in Andhra Pradesh , acquittals are seven times more than convictions; and in West Bengal , acquittals are five times more than convictions. In Kerala, the gap between acquittal and conviction is not very high with acquittals constituting 20.5% of the total disposals and convictions constituting 16.49%.

Out of 138 judgements looked at in detail by the study, only in 6% of the cases were the accused people strangers to the victim. While in 44% of the cases, the relationship between the victim and accused had not been identified, 22.9% accused were known to the victims, 3.7% were family members and 18% of cases had a prior romantic relationship.

As per data published by the National Crime Record Bureau in 2021, in 96% of the cases filed under the POCSO Act, 2012, the accused was a person known to the child victim – in 48.66% of cases, the accused is either a friend or a romantic partner of the victim.

In these 138 cases, the study has found that 5.47% of victims were under 10 years of age, 17.8% between 10-15 years and 28% between 15-18 years. The age of the victim in 48% of cases was not identified.

While the age of the accused was not identified in 63.6% of cases, in the rest around 11.6% of accused were between 19-25 years of age and 10.9% were between 25-35 years; 6.1% of accused were between 35-45 years and 6.8% were more than 45 years old.

Offences of penetrative sexual assault (31.18%) and aggravated penetrative sexual assault (25.59%), which prescribe the most stringent punishments under the POCSO Act, together comprise over half of all POCSO cases.

What is the quality of justice under POCSO?

The study has found on average, it takes 509.78 days for a POCSO case to be disposed of – whereas it has been stipulated under the Act that such cases need to be disposed of within a year.

Though the pendency of POCSO cases was increasing gradually over the years, there was a sharp increase in the number of pending cases between 2019 and 2020, which could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report has observed that one of the primary reasons for this is the slow pace of investigation by the police and the delay in depositing samples with the Forensic Science Laboratories.

A total of 22.76% of cases were disposed of by virtue of transfers from one court to another, and “one-fifth of the cases in this dataset ended in transfers’’, said the study. Since POCSO cases are supposed to be tried by the Special Court, the transfers indicate “either administrative mismanagement or wrongful appreciation of facts by the police”.

While the percentage of transfers out of total disposals was only around 8% in 2013, it rose to a little over 19% in 2019 and a startling 42% in 2020. The report has found this trend “concerning’’ for the time wasted as cases are transferred from one court to another.

How do different Indian states fare?

Delhi has the highest number of POCSO trials in the country with 13.54 cases per 100,000 population in 2018 – which does not necessarily mean the number of incidents of sexual offences is higher, but that there is increasing awareness and reporting of cases.

But Delhi also had the highest average case length in the country in 2020, at 1,284.33 days.

Chandigarh and West Bengal are the only states where the average time taken for convictions is within one year. States like Chhattisgarh , Haryana, Kerala, Sikkim, Chandigarh and the NCT of Delhi seem to have a much higher reporting of POCSO cases.

The five districts with the highest number of POCSO trials (pending and disposed) are: Namchi (Sikkim), New Delhi, Central Delhi, Medak ( Telangana ) and West Garo Hills (Meghalaya).

Uttar Pradesh has the highest pendency with more than three-fourths (77.77%) of the total POCSO cases filed between November 2012 and February 2021 pending. On the other hand, at 80.2%, Tamil Nadu has the highest disposal percentage.

Five districts with the highest pendency percentages include Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Hardoi (Uttar Pradesh), Budaun (Uttar Pradesh), Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Howrah (West Bengal).

What are the gaps in implementation?

According to the study, “support persons” are not being appointed in most POCSO cases. The Supreme Court had also noted that in 96% of cases, a support person was not provided to the victim.

A support person may be a person or organisation working in the field of child rights or child protection, an official of a children’s home or a shelter home having custody of the child, or a person employed by the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), who hand holds the victim through the entire legal process.

The analysis further notes POCSO courts have not been designated in all districts. As of 2022, 408 POCSO courts have been set up in 28 States as part of the Government’s Fast Track Special Court’s Scheme. There is a lack of Special Public Prosecutors appointed specifically to handle POCSO cases, and even when they are appointed they are often employed for non-POCSO cases.

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Child Rights Resource centre

Study on Child abuse: India 2007

Publication year:

pdf (4.7 MiB)

Ministry of Women and Child Development, New Delhi

A National Study on Child Abuse, released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India with the support of UNICEF, Save the Children and Prayas. The study, which covers 13 states in India and a sample size of 12,447 children, looks at the extent and characteristics of child abuse and girl neglect in India.The purpose of the study was to develop a dependable and comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of child abuse, with a view to facilitate the formulation of appropriate policies and programmes meant to effectively curb and control the problem of child abuse in India. Findings show that children on the street, children at work and children in institutional care reported the highest incidence of sexual assault, while the majority of abuse cases take place within the family environment, the perpetrators being close family relatives. The study has provided revealing statistics on the extent and magnitude of various forms of child abuse and has generated data on variations among different age groups, gender variations, state variations and variations within evidence groups. The findings will help strengthen the understanding of all stakeholders including families, communities, civil society organizations and the state, and pave the way for more informed programming and further research to strengthen the protection of children.

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Loveleen Kacker

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Child Sexual Abuse in India: Alarming statistics, lifelong impact, how to heal

Child sexual abuse in india is a prevalent and devastating issue, with a shocking 28.9% of children experiencing some form of sexual crime, and a devastating 92,105 calls reporting abuse and violence against children during the pandemic-induced lockdown..

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“I used to love being a kid, but everything changed when the secret began. I didn't understand what was happening to me, and I felt scared and confused. It felt like a dark cloud was always hanging over me, and I didn't know how to make it go away. I wish I could tell someone, but I was too afraid and ashamed. No child should ever have to carry such a heavy burden. Please, if you see something wrong happening to a child, be their voice, be their protector, and help them find the light again," says Pooja (name changed) who is a victim of child sexual abuse by one of her cousins. Pooja is currently working as HR head in a multinational company.

According to the NCRB data from 2020, approximately 28.9% of the entire child population experienced some form of sexual crime, yet only 65.6% of these crimes were reported.

90 percent of these cases occur within the family

In India, an alarming statistic reveals that one in every two children has endured sexual abuse before turning 18, predominantly at the hands of family members or individuals known to them. Tragically, this issue has escalated further during the pandemic-induced lockdown. In the initial 11 days of the lockdown, CHILDLINE, an organisation dedicated to helping distressed children and supported by the Ministry for Women and Child Development, received a staggering 3.07 lakh calls.

Shockingly, out of these, 92,105 calls were distressing reports of abuse and violence against children. Notably, during this period, CHILDLINE observed a significant 50 percent surge in the number of calls seeking assistance.

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Child Sexual Abuse in India

Last updated on October 31, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

A range of sexually illicit behaviors are included in Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), including fondling, enticing a child to engage in sexual conduct, intercourse, exhibitionism, involving a child in prostitution or pornography, and online child enticement by cyber-predators.

Moreover, Child sexual abuse (CSA) is described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “the participation of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent, or that violates the laws or social taboos of society.”

Table of Contents

A child is defined as any individual between the age bracket of zero to eighteen years of age.

India is home to over 19% of the world’s children or 42% (more than one-third) of India’s total population. Among them, approx 50% of these children need protection and care.

As per the latest census of 2011, the total child population in India is 4441.5 lakhs. As per the NCRB data, in 2020, a total of 28.9% of the total child population faced some kind of crime against them but only 65.6% of the total crime committed is reported.

In 1992, when India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it pledged to safeguard its children from all types of sexual exploitation and abuse.

Why do abuse cases go unreported in India?

In India, only 3 % of Child Sexual Abuse related offenses were reported to the police.

It happened because of the social stigma associated with such abuse, the criminal justice system consistently fails to adequately address the needs of children who have experienced sexual assault.

Given the shame and associated sociocultural stigma, particularly if the abuse occurs in the setting of the family, it is not surprising that CSA is significantly underreported.

This issue is not unique to India but is widespread in collectivist cultures in other Asian nations, where an individual’s experience is disregarded to save the family from the humiliation of sexual assault.

Landmark Case Of Tuka Ram And Anr V State Of Maharashtra, 1979

This case is famously known as the Mathura case.

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Here, a young tribal girl was raped in custody by two policemen. The session judge determined that the woman had given her permission, which shed light on India’s rape laws. Later, the Bombay court ruled that although the justices of the session court had distinguished between rape and sexual intercourse, they had neglected to do so when defining consent and passive submission.

These observations led to the defendants’ rape convictions. Later, the Supreme Court ruled that there was a potential that the girl may have provoked the males because there was no evidence of an assault on the girl’s body and no attempt to resist. Our rape laws have changed significantly as a result of such judgmental rationalization. Several of them are listed below.

The Indian Evidence Act, of 1872 was amended by the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act, 1983, which added section 114(A), which states that in a rape prosecution where it has already been established that the accused engaged in sexual activity if the victim claims she did not consent, the court shall presume that she did not consent as a rebuttable presumption of law.

For offenses that occur when a victim is in the custody of the state, section 376(2) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 was introduced to include custodial rape.

The person who violates section 376(2) is subject to a fine as well as strict imprisonment for a time that must not be less than 10 years and may be for life.

The burden of proof, which is always on the prosecution, was changed by the Act. The burden of proof will now be on the accused in rape cases where sexual intercourse was already established.

Therefore, the Mathura rape case was significant from a social and legal standpoint. It was the first time that rape cases at a significant scale in India sparked such large-scale protests and public outcry, and it also paved the way for numerous reforms to the Indian rape law through the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act of 1983.

Government Initiatives to Curb Child-Related Sexual Abuse

The government has taken several steps to prevent the child from such hideous crimes.

• POCSO Act, 2012
• Creation of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
• Several operations were conducted by CBI to deal with CSAM such as Operation Megh Chakra and Operation Carbon.
• Integrated Child Protection Scheme
• Mission Vatsalya
• Operation Smile, and many more.

Misuse Of POCSO Act, 2012

The Kerala High Court has ruled that any attempt to abuse the POCSO Act’s provisions to settle personal scores with an adversary must be stopped right away. This is due to the prevalence of filing fake sexual assault accusations against people to seek revenge.

The court determined that the claim of child sexual abuse was a highly serious issue that affected the public’s conscience. The POCSO Act offers extremely deterrent penalties to the guilty. In light of this, it was noted that false accusations of child sexual abuse must also be taken very seriously.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was established under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.

The commission ensures that all policies, laws, and programs, are working in connection with the child rights perspective as laid by the Constitution of India as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child .

The commission also said that its function will be fruitful only with the participation and involvement of society.

What is Needed to be Done?

Child sexual abuse is preventable. Our understanding of child sexual abuse has improved as a result of CDC monitoring systems, violence prevention programs, and efforts to support field partners. But there are still significant gaps.

More than 30 nations now demand mandatory reporting of CSAM by ISPs, according to the ninth edition (2018) study of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children on “Child Sexual Abusive Material: Model Legislation & Global Review.” India unexpectedly appears on this list as well.

The Convention on Cybercrime and the Convention for the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of the Council of Europe both call on member states to address the problem of corporate accountability.

It is time for India to join INHOPE and launch its hotline to use Interpol’s secure IT infrastructure.

The recommendations made by the Jairam Ramesh committee (the committee recommended wide-ranging suggestions on “the alarming issue of pornography on social media and its impact on children and society as a whole” in its 2020 report) must be seriously implemented.

India must consider all available options and develop a suitable plan of action to combat both the creation and dissemination of online child sexual abuse material.

Additional efforts in child sexual abuse prevention are needed to:

• Improved surveillance systems and data collection for monitoring Child Sexual Abuse (CSA).
• Increasing the understanding of risk and enhancing the protective factors
• Strengthening of existing and development of new evidence-based policies, and programs.
• Increased dissemination and implementation of evidence-based strategies for child sexual abuse prevention

Long-Term Effects of Sexual Abuse on Child

Preadolescent sexually abused children fall for posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis, depression, conduct disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Adolescent children who experience CSA have a strong feeling of hopelessness, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempts.

Owing to various emotional, social, and cultural factors, CSA has long-lasting negative effects on mental health. Effects can be immediate, intermediate, and long-term.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) established Sakhi: One Stop Centers (OSC) in 2015. It is established preferably within a hospital/medical facility to provide support and assistance to victims of gender violence.

As a result, “under one roof” services like medical, police, psychosocial counseling, legal aid, shelter, referral, and video conferencing are provided.

Preventive Measures for Child Sexual Abuse

• CSA is a significant public health issue, necessitating public health interventions.
• The population must be the focus of the preventive measures, and the most prevalent and important CSA-affecting factors must be addressed.
• Parents should create a trustworthy environment and should ask if any questionable activity by adults or older children should be reported by the child to the parents.
• The child should be assured not to feel guilty by their parents.
• Children between the ages of 3 and 5 can be instructed on “good” touch, “acceptable touch,” and “poor touch.”
• Teenagers require more in-depth instruction on topics like body physiology, sexual activity, pregnancy, healthy relationships, and sexual abuse, which is best delivered in the classroom by trained teachers.
• Teachers in India’s schools use innovative methods to teach students about adolescent health, including puberty, as part of the “Health and Wellness Curriculum.”

An act was introduced in 2012 to deal with child sexual abuse.  However, without the committed and coordinated efforts of the implementing agencies, no law can be executed successfully and efficiently. In this regard, a multifaceted strategy is necessary, and it is the responsibility of the state governments, police departments, legal systems, and medical communities to carry out the law in letter and spirit and respond to these situations with urgency, empathy, and compassion.

The number of reported cases has increased in comparison to former years, and this is due to the greater knowledge of various training and awareness campaigns. In such a situation, it is crucial to get the investigation and court case along quickly to increase the conviction rate and avoid compromising the survivor’s credibility. Additionally, the procedure as a whole needs to be more child-friendly.

Related articles:

• Child trafficking in India
• Child marriages in India
• Children in Armed Conflict

Article Written By: Priti Raj

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Laws of child abuse in Indian perspective: A review

Theertha dinesh.

Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Mahe Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Mahe, Pondicherry, India

Ambili Ayilliath

Rena ephraim, ramnesh parikkal.

Child abuse is harm or neglect toward a child by another person, whether an adult or child. It is common in all cultural, ethnic, and income groups. It can be physical, emotional–verbal, sexual, or even neglect. Abuse may cause serious injury and may even result in the death of the child. The aim of the paper is to review the child abuse laws prevalent in our country. Literatures were collected from the Google Scholar and E-Journals of legal services to get a sight of the child protection laws and to enlighten indigent children. Even though our country has different sections in the Indian penal code and many laws for the protection of children, still at the zeroth hour many corrupt rises.

Introduction

“Children do not constitute anyone’s property: they are neither the property of their parents nor even the society. They belong only to their freedom.”

Child abuse is a detriment to, or neglect of, a child by another person, whether adult or child. Child abuse happens in all cultural, racial, and income groups. Different types of child abuse are physical, emotional–verbal, sexual, or can be child neglect. Abuse may beget serious injury to the child and may indeed affect death.[ 1 ]

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child maltreatment as “all forms of physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, development or dignity.”[ 2 ]

Child abuse laws live on the civil, state, and local levels. More than 250 statutes in India, going by the Union and State Governments, affect children. In addition to those child protection laws, we have several criminal laws which give protection to children. These statutes include the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.[ 3 ]

The main aim of our study is to review the laws for the protection of children and to give awareness about those laws.

Giving awareness to the common people that, offences against children are punishable, is the only way to stop the crimes against children otherwise our state may rise to the top most position in the cases of child maltreatment.

Materials and Methods

Google Scholar, E-Journals of legal services PubMed, Medline, and Web of Science databases were screened for preparing this narrative review article. Articles other than those in the English language were excluded. For the review, the complete texts of 51 papers were acquired, with 20 of them being included in the review. Only articles that were pertinent to the review’s substance were included. Keywords, such as child abuse, laws, the IPC, child rights, protection act, and sexual abuse, were used to search the databases. Articles based on case reports, reviews, and cross-sectional studies were all included in the literature.

PRISMA CHART

Child Protection Laws in India

According to The Constitution of India, Article 15 (3), State makes special provisions for children.[ 4 ] List of child protection laws prevalent in our country is cited in [ Table 1 ].

Child protection laws

Children occupy a special place in the law. Legal systems presume that children do not have the mental capacity to care for themselves or make their own choices. Instead, many of the choices a child has are often made by the child’s parent, legal guardian, or custodian. Hence, the need for the protection of their rights and the need for their protection against abuse is the responsibility of each and every individual.

Child abuse is a very serious charge, one that can not only result in criminal or civil sanctions but can also lead to social exclusion and loss of reputation. State laws on child abuse can be very difficult to apply in every situation, which is why anyone facing child abuse charges should consult a qualified local attorney as soon as possible. Only an experienced criminal defense attorney can give legal advice about child abuse in that particular case.

Juvenile Justice Act

The Apprentice Act was the primary Act that laid the inspiration for the Juvenile Justice System in India in 1850. First Juvenile Justice Act, came into existence in 1986. With the enactment of the Juvenile Justice Act, the weal approach was replaced by the justice approach. The Act handed for the care, protection, treatment, development, and recuperation of neglected or tardy juveniles.

The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act of 2000 was in accordance with UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and did down with the age difference between boys and girls. The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is the umbrella Act on child protection. Under this Act, the term juvenile does not only describe any order of youngsters. It caters to their requirements through care, protection, development, treatment, and social reintegration, through its child-friendly approach by addressing matters in the best interest of youngsters.[ 5 ]

The Juvenile Justice Act: Principles in Practice

Children meet with their families every month and exchange a weekly phone call when possible. Juvanile offences varies from countries [ Table 2 ].

Age limits in different countries for juvenile offence

Children deposit complaints and suggestions in a dedicated box which are reviewed weekly during the staff meeting in presence of the child representative.

Children are supervised round the clock by competent, reliable, and trained adults.

Children are supervised at night by dedicated night staff who complete half-hourly checks during this most vulnerable time.

Girl children are always surrounded by at least one female staff.

JJ Act in India is different from other countries?

Indian Penal Code, 1860

According to Section 82 of the IPC, nothing is an offence that is an offence done by a child under the age of 7 years and Section 83 states that, nothing is an offence that is done by a child above 7 years of age and under 12.[ 7 ]

He is incapable of understanding good and bad, which means he/she is totally Dole incapx.

Things like desertion of the child are usually seen in the cases of the female child only. This behavior and mindset which is spread in the society have to change and many reforms are being performed. The IPC in accordance with the legal code has recognized annoying types of offences that are performed against children. Minors are still prone and are exploited in the working of crimes. Therefore, strictly enforced mechanisms are to be used to counter the issue so as to make sure that the protection of infants and newborns and to ensure their safety of them. IPC consist of different sessions which stands for the protection of children as cited in [ Table 3 ].

Sessions in Indian penal code

Child Marriage Act

Child marriage prevents a child from attending school and the child is forced into domestic chores and abuse. Child marriages are legally punishable, India has articulated its commitment to eliminating child marriage through numerous policies, laws, and programs, but the economic conditions of the parents or the myths that may be existing in the society make child marriages to still exist.

Rai Sahib Harbilas Sarda introduced the Child Marriage Restraint Bill in 1927, which set the minimum age of marriage at 14 years for girls and 18 years for boys. In 1929 British government enacted the Child Marriage Restraint Act, which was the first secular law to curb the practice of child marriage. In 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act was passed. This act had increased penalties for conducting child marriages.[ 8 ]

A widely publicized rape case in Delhi in 2012; the Nirbhaya case played an important role in influencing the Indian government to increase the age of sexual consent to match the age of marriage.[ 9 ]

The government of India has proposed raising the minimum legal age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 years. Currently, the minimum legal age for girls to marry is 18 years; for men, the corresponding age is 21 years. This is to overcome mental health problems, as per studies, so increasing the legal age shall reduce the possibility of mental health issues among young brides.

Finally, the decision is also projected as one affirming the principle of gender neutrality, by making the minimum marital age for women the same as that for men.[ 9 ]

Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986

According to Article 24 of the Indian constitution “No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any plant or mine or waged in any dangerous employment.”[ 10 ]

The child labor act exists in the country to date, but due to poverty or various unavoidable circumstances children are made to do menial jobs, and thus, this act gets violated. Child labor leads to illiteracy and crimes. Cases of child labor that are reported get punished by the judiciary of different states, but unreported cases are far too many in India.

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA), 1987

Specialized legislation deals with trafficking in India, a country that receives, supplies, and transits multitudinous trafficked individuals. Criminalizing the act of prostitution begins in Sec. 7, where prostitution in or in the vicinity of public places is a punishable offense.[ 11 ]

Different sections

The ITPA of 1986, colloquially also called PITA, an amendment to the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act of 1956 (SITA), and the “child” under ITPA means a person who has not completed the age of 16 years and “prostitution” means the sexual exploitation or abuse of persons for commercial purposes.

Neither law prohibits prostitution per se, but both forbid commercialized vice and soliciting. Aside from lack of enforcement, SITA is problematic in several ways. One of the negative drawbacks is that the prescribed penalties discriminate on the basis of sex: a prostitute, defined under SITA as always a woman, who is arrested for soliciting under SITA could be imprisoned for up to a year, but a pimp faces only 3 months.

Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005

The NCPCR, which is under The Ministry of Women and Child Development, has the accreditation to assure that all: laws, policies, programs, and administrative mechanisms align with the child rights perspective as enthroned in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child different sections and articles under CPCR is listed in [ Tables 4 and ​ and5 5 ].[ 1 ]

Sessions according to CPCR

Articles in CPCR

Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009

Free and compulsory education for all children of India in the age group 6–14. Until the completion of elementary education, no child shall be held back, expelled, or needed to pass a board examination. If a child is above 6 years of age, has not been admitted to any school, or could not complete his or her elementary education, also he or she shall be admitted to the appropriate class for his or her age.[ 12 ]

The Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012

An Act to hold on children from offenses of sexual assault, sexual importunity, and pornography and furnish for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of parallel offenses and matters interconnected.[ 6 ] POCSO qualifies penetrative sexual assault on a child below the age of 12 as exacerbated penetrative sexual assault, a crime punishable with a fine and a minimum term of rigorous imprisonment of 10 years, which can be extended to life captivity.[ 4 ] Section 19 of the POCSO Act makes it obligatory for any person, including the child him/herself, to report that an offense is likely to be committed or has been committed.[ 11 ]

Still, the crimes continue because of the lack of sexual education at home and in schools, or due to the unawareness of the severity of the punishment or the overconfidence of the abuser that this may go unreported due to the consequences that follow to the victim and their family. Thus, many an abuser goes scot-free.

Children Have Rights as Equal Citizens of India

The recognition of the child’s interests and their rights became a reality on 20 November 1989 with the adoption of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child which is the first international legally binding text recognizing all the fundamental rights of the child.[ 13 ]

Agencies/campaigns/institutions for protection of children.

The National Policy for Children (NPC)

On August 22, 1974 NPC was adopted by the Government of India. This policy relates children as a supremely important asset and makes the State responsible for providing them basic services, both before and after birth, during their growing years, and different stages of development.[ 19 ]

CHILDLINE 1098

CHILDLINE is a national emergency toll-free number outreach service for the children in need of care and protection and is supported by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WMCD), Government of India, and works in partnership with state governments, NGOs, Bilateral/Multilateral Agencies and Corporate Sector.[ 14 ]

As of now, CHILDLINE is operational in 82 cities/districts in India. Under the XI th Plan CHILDLINE India Foundation has been mandated to extend the CHILDLINE service all over the country as part of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.[ 15 ]

The service focuses on the needs of children living alone on the streets, child laborers, domestic workers, runaway children, children of sex workers, and sexually abused children. Table 6 shows different agencies and campaigns that stands for the protection of children

Different agencies and campaigns for the protection of children

Bachpan Bachao Andolan

It aimed to create a child-friendly society, where all children are free from exploitation and receive a free and quality education. Its main focus is on ending all types of labor, and human trafficking, as well as demanding the right to education for all children.[ 16 ] CHILD HELPLINE NUMBER: 1800 102 7222 Anyone can call our helpline 24 × 7, reporting any form of abuse against children Email us: [email protected][ 17 ]

BAL MITRA GRAM

An alternative and transformative grassroots solution to prevent child exploitation, the BMG™ model empowers children to take democratic actions to protect their rights and enables parents and other stakeholders to stand up for their rights and build a protective community.[ 18 ]

Prevent Abuse and Neglect through Dental Awareness (P.A.N.D.A.)

Over 3 million reports of child abuse are recorded each year. According to state law, dentists in every state are required to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect to authorities. The P.A.N.D.A. program aims to educate and help dental professionals, and others, about how to identify the warning signs of child abuse and neglect.[ 20 ]

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

UNICEF provides children with clean water, life-saving food and vaccines, education, and protection from violence than any other humanitarian organization. In 1949 the organization started its function in India with three staff members and 3 years later with an established office in Delhi. Currently, it advocates for the rights of Indian children in 16 states.[ 21 ]

Child Welfare Committee (CWC)

It is mandatory to establish one CWC in each district[ 21 ]

As pediatric dentists, awareness of these laws is important as they may be the first persons who encounter these children and can be instrumental in bringing them justice.

A child who is abused is more likely to abuse others as an adult so that violence is passed down from one generation to the next. It is therefore critical to break this cycle of violence, and in so doing create positive multi-generational impacts. Preventing child maltreatment, before it starts, is possible and requires a multisectorial approach. Effective preventive approaches include supporting parents and teaching positive parenting skills and by giving awareness to children and teachers about sexual abuse. Enhancing laws to prohibit sexual abuse and violation of child rights can go a long way in discouraging individuals from committing these crimes.[ 22 ]

India has one of the largest populations of children in the world—census data from 2011 shows that India has a population of 472 million children below the age of 18.[ 22 , 23 ] Protection of children by the state is guaranteed to Indian citizens by an expansive reading of Article 21[ 24 ] of the Indian constitution, and also mandated given India’s status as a signatory to the UNCRC. India has a wide range of laws to protect children and child protection is increasingly accepted as a core component of social development. The challenge is in implementing the laws due to inadequate human resource capacity on the ground and quality prevention and rehabilitation services. As a result, millions of children are prone to violence, abuse, and exploitation.

The nation has a fairly comprehensive policy and legal framework addressing rights and protection for children, providing opportunities to ensure that all children have equal access to quality protection services. The core child protection legislation for children is enshrined in four main laws: The Juvenile Justice Act/Care and Protection (2000, amended in 2015); the Child Marriage Prohibition Act (2006); the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (2012), and the Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation (1986, amended in 2016).

Over the past 5 years, notable efforts have been made to set up fast-track courts and deal with cybercrime against children and women. As pediatric dentists, we should be aware of these laws and orders because we may be the first person who encounters these children.[ 25 ]

“All the crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such” so educate and make aware our children that the country’s judiciary system is always there to protect them.

Child abuse and neglect can have ruinous and long-timeless goods on a child and can affect mischievous societal impacts,[ 26 ] including high costs for services and increased involvement in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. However, communities can act to stem the goods of maltreatment and verily obviate it.

Our country’s judicial systems as well as the NGOs are working hard for the protection of our coming generations. Still, child maltreatment is reported as a result our country stands among the top 10 in the list.

Children are like wet cement whatever falls on them makes an impression, so we must make sure that their impressions are for a better tomorrow.

Key message

Child abuse and maltreatment are on the rise.

Educate and make aware our children that the legal service of our country is there for protection.

Support the law system by reporting the cases.

Primary care physicians and healthcare faculty and the pediatric dentist can play a delicate role in determining whether or not an incident of abuse has occurred.

Take home message

Adequate formal education, steer clear of the cultural myths, and the religious beliefs make aware of the society that all the offences against children are punishable and that our country’s judicial system stands with children.

Financial support and sponsorship

Conflicts of interest.

There are no conflicts of interest.

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Ex-assistant principal charged with child neglect in case of boy who shot teacher

The Associated Press

Signs stand outside Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., Jan. 25, 2023. Denise Lavoie/AP hide caption

Signs stand outside Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., Jan. 25, 2023.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school has been charged with felony child neglect more than a year after a 6-year-old boy brought a gun to class and shot his first-grade teacher .

A special grand jury in Newport News found that Ebony Parker showed a reckless disregard for the lives of Richneck Elementary School students on Jan. 6, 2023, according to indictments unsealed Tuesday.

Parker and other school officials already face a $40 million negligence lawsuit from the teacher who was shot, Abby Zwerner. She accuses Parker and others of ignoring multiple warnings the boy had a gun and was in a "violent mood" the day of the shooting.

Criminal charges against school officials following a school shootings are quite rare, experts say. Parker, 39, faces eight felony counts, each of which is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The Associated Press left a message seeking comment Tuesday with Parker's attorney, Curtis Rogers.

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'say something' tip line in schools flags gun violence threats, study finds.

Court documents filed Tuesday reveal little about the criminal case against Parker, listing only the counts and a description of the felony charge. It alleges that Parker "did commit a willful act or omission in the care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life."

Newport News police have said the student who shot Zwerner retrieved his mother's handgun from atop a dresser at home and brought the weapon to school concealed in a backpack.

Zwerner's lawsuit describes a series of warnings that school employees gave administrators before the shooting. The lawsuit said those warnings began with Zwerner telling Parker that the boy "was in a violent mood," had threatened to beat up a kindergartener and stared down a security officer in the lunchroom.

The lawsuit alleges that Parker "had no response, refusing even to look up" when Zwerner expressed her concerns.

When concerns were raised that the child may have transferred the gun from his backpack to his pocket, Parker said his "pockets were too small to hold a handgun and did nothing," the lawsuit states.

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With gun control far from sight, schools redesign for student safety.

A guidance counselor also asked Parker for permission to search the boy, but Parker forbade him, "and stated that John Doe's mother would be arriving soon to pick him up," the lawsuit stated.

Zwerner was sitting at a reading table in front of the class when the boy fired the gun, police said. The bullet struck Zwerner's hand and then her chest, collapsing one of her lungs. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has endured multiple surgeries as well as ongoing emotional trauma, according to her lawsuit.

Parker and the lawsuit's other defendants, which include a former superintendent and the Newport News school board, have tried to block Zwerner's lawsuit.

They've argued that Zwerner's injuries fall under Virginia's workers' compensation law. Their arguments have been unsuccessful so far in blocking the litigation. A trial date for Zwerner's lawsuit is slated for January.

Prosecutors had said a year ago that they were investigating whether the "actions or omissions" of any school employees could lead to criminal charges.

What schools can (and can't) do to prevent school shootings

Howard Gwynn, the commonwealth's attorney in Newport News, said in April 2023 that he had petitioned a special grand jury to probe if any "security failures" contributed to the shooting. Gwynn wrote that an investigation could also lead to recommendations "in the hopes that such a situation never occurs again."

It is not the first school shooting to spark a criminal investigation into school officials. For instance, a former school resource officer was acquitted of all charges last year after he was accused of hiding during the Parkland school massacre in 2018.

Chuck Vergon, a professor of educational law and policy at the University of Michigan-Flint, told The AP last year that it is rare for a teacher or school official to be charged in a school shooting because allegations of criminal negligence can be difficult to prove.

More often, he said, those impacted by school shootings seek to hold school officials liable in civil court.

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