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Child abuse and violence - Criminal law amendment bill - NCPCR (National commission for the protection of Child Rights)

Child abuse and violence - Criminal law amendment bill - NCPCR (National commission for the protection of Child Rights) Part of: GS-I- Social issue (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST) 336% increase in child rape cases from 2001 to 2011. Figures are underreported as the majority of child rape cases are not reported to the police. 9/10 rapes and sexual assaults are carried out by people known to the victim. Insensitivity and unhelpful attitude of the police, lawyers and untrained hospital staf

Children in South Asia could face health crisis amid COVID-19: UNICEF

Children in South Asia could face health crisis amid COVID-19: UNICEF Part of: GS-I- Child issue (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST) Almost a quarter of the world’s unimmunised or partially immunised children – about 4.5 million children – live in South Asia. Expressing concern over the disruptions caused by immunisations due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that South Asia could face yet another health emergency

Impact of COVID-19 on adolescent girls and Education

Impact of COVID-19 on adolescent girls and Education Prelims Pointers: Education is in the Concurrent List. It was put into the Concurrent list (List III under Article 246) after the 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1976. Like the rest of the population, as many as 120 million adolescent girls (data for Mains) — roughly one-tenth of the nation — are experiencing a never-before situation. However, the disruption they are facing is likely to push back the gains made in the pre

POCSO doesn’t brook dilution

Dangerous precedent The recent judgment of the Bombay High Court, in Satish Ragde v. State of Maharashtra, in which the accused was acquitted under the POCSO Act, came under massive criticism. The Bench acquitted a man found guilty of assault on the grounds that he groped his victim over her clothes and there was no skin-to-skin contact between them. As this judgment was likely to set a dangerous precedent, the apex court stayed the acquittal. The UN Convention on the Rights of the C

Illegal adoption in COVID

Illegal adoption in COVID What is the issue? The Supreme Court has directed the States and the Union Territories to take stringent action against private individuals and NGOs who invite people to illegally adopt children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose, in an 18-page order published, directed the government to step in and prevent private entities from revealing the identities of affected children, usually on social media and i

Adoption issues in COVID

Adoption issues in COVID The Supreme Court has directed the States and the Union Territories to take stringent action against private individuals and NGOs who invite people to illegally adopt children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ministry asked the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to add a column in hospital admission forms asking patients to specify in whose custody their children could be left in case of any eventuality. Only the district-level child welfare committee can de

Tele Counselling through SAMVEDNA for Children impacted by COVID-19

Tele Counselling through SAMVEDNA for Children impacted by COVID-19 With the objective of providing psychological first-aid and emotional support to children affected during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is providing Tele-Counselling to children through SAMVEDNA(Sensitizing Action on Mental Health Vulnerability through Emotional Development and Necessary Acceptance) - a Toll-Free Helpline launched to provide psycho-social mental suppo

Policies for Child Beggars

Policies for Child Beggars The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated a scheme “SMILE - Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise”, which includes a sub-scheme - ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’. This scheme covers several comprehensive measures including welfare measures for persons who are engaged in the act of begging. The focus of the scheme is exte

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill 2021

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill 2021 The Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. The amendments include authorizing District Magistrates including Additional District Magistrates to issue adoption orders under Section 61 of the JJ Act, in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability. The District Magistrates have been further empowered under the Act, to ensure its smo

Homeless Children

Homeless Children Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) is the primary law for children in the country. As per Section 2 (14) (vi) of the JJ Act, a child who does not have parents and no one is willing to take care of, or whose parents have abandoned or surrendered him is included as a “child in need of care and protection.” The Act provides a security net of service delivery structures including measures for institutional and non-instituti

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 The Act seeks to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children as ratified by India on December 11, 1992. It specifies procedural safeguards in cases of children in conflict with the law. It seeks to address challenges in the existing Activities such as delays in adoption processes, high pendency of cases, accountability of institutions, etc. The Act further seeks to address children in

Overcrowding of Childcare Institutions

Overcrowding of Childcare Institutions Children in distress situations merit care and protection under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The Act mandate a safety net of service delivery structures along with institutional and non-institutional care for these children. The Ministry is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely Child Protection Services (CPS) in pa

Validity of Child Gang-Rape Law

Validity of Child Gang-Rape Law A 29-year-old man who is currently serving a life sentence for the gang rape of a nine-year-old in Maharashtra has filed a petition in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will review the constitutionality of a statute that sentences a convicted man to death or life in prison for gang raping a child under the age of 12 without giving him the opportunity to repent or change. The issue highlighted in the petition: Limit the trial judge's options

Police Officers for Child Welfare to be Appointed

Police Officers for Child Welfare to be Appointed According to the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) advice, the Ministry of Home Affairs has requested that each state and union territory appoint a Child Welfare Police Officer (CWPO) to deal exclusively with children, whether they are the victims of crimes or the perpetrators of them. The warning comes amid a rise in crimes against children, including homicides and violations of the Protection of Children fr

Child Marriage Reduction in India

Child Marriage Reduction in India The steering committee of a global program to end child marriage is visiting India to see state interventions that have helped reduce child marriage prevalence. Important Findings The Committee: The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage team is visiting. Child brides are becoming more common: It is in response to an estimated increase in the number of child brides as a result of the pandemic. As a result of the globa

Age of Adolescent Consent

Age of Adolescent Consent The Karnataka High Court (HC) recently stated that the Law Commission of India would have to reconsider the age criteria in the case of age for consent in order to take into account the ground realities. Important Points HC's Position: A case filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012, was dismissed by the Karnataka High Court. It stated that if it is an offense under the Indian Penal Code and/or the POCSO Act, consen

UN Reports on Child Mortality

UN Report on Child Mortality Global studies on child mortality and stillbirths have been released to show if India is doing enough to ensure the health and survival of every kid. The United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) published two global studies on child mortality (Levels and Trends in Child Mortality) and stillbirths (Never Forgotten) Findings of the Report: Rate of child mortality (under-five mortality rate): It is the probabilit

Marriage Laws for Minors

Marriage Laws for Minors The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, considers such marriages to be crimes, and the Supreme Court will determine whether minor girls can marry based on custom or personal law. Men who marry teenage girls would be subject to strict regulations dictating imprisonment ranging from two years to life, the Assam Cabinet has announced. Key points about Marriage Laws for Minors The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) f

National Policy on Child Labour

Recently, a detailed report on the implementation of the Centre’s policy on child labour was tabled in Parliament. Based on the recommendations of Gurupadaswamy Committee, the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986 and the National Policy on Child Labour was declared in August, 1987. Prepared by – The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour. Findings - The number of working children has decreased from 1.26 crore (2001 censu

Child Marriages in INDIA

A recent study published in the Lancet noted overall decrease in child marriage in India except 4 States. What are the key findings of the Lancet report? India – 1 in 5 girls are still married below legal marriage age Skewed achievements – Some States have achieved dramatic decreases while other states like West Bengal have struggled. Bihar (16.7%), West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra accounted for more than half of the total he