POCSO Is Gender-Neutral: Why Courts Say Women Can Also Be Abusers

India Today

A Mumbai teacher’s arrest has reignited debate on child protection laws.

Transcript

00:00A 40-year-old teacher from a prominent Mumbai school was recently arrested.

00:04Why? For having a sexual relationship with her 17-year-old male student

00:09and allegedly giving him anti-anxiety pills.

00:12But this is not just one case.

00:14Just days ago, on August 18th, the Karnataka High Court confirmed something very important.

00:20Under the POCSO Act, women can also be held accountable for the sexual abuse of children.

00:26The law is gender-neutral.

00:28This ruling comes nearly a year after the Delhi High Court said the same thing.

00:33So why is this suddenly in the spotlight?

00:35Let's break it down.

00:41POCSO, that is the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,

00:44was always meant to protect any child under 18, whether boy or girl.

00:50But here's the catch.

00:51Adult rape laws in India only recognize women as victims and men as perpetrators.

00:56But that's not how POCSO works.

00:59Under POCSO, the law doesn't care about the gender of the abuser.

01:03What matters is that the victim is a child.

01:06And according to the NCRB 2022 data,

01:0837,907 child rape cases were reported under POCSO.

01:1337,511 were girls and 396 were boys.

01:18But in unnatural sexual assault cases, which is Section 377 IPC plus POCSO,

01:24out of 581 cases, 553 victims were boys.

01:30So yes, clearly, male children are victims too.

01:33And courts are finally making it clear.

01:36Women can also be abusers under POCSO.

01:38And how does the law define sexual assault on children?

01:43It's under various provisions.

01:44Section 3 is penetrative sexual assault,

01:47which means any penetration of the private parts of a child,

01:51object insertion or forcing a child to perform these acts.

01:55Punishment is from minimum 10 years to life.

01:58Aggravated penetrative assault comes in

02:00when these same acts are done by someone in authority,

02:03maybe a teacher, a police person, doctor,

02:05school or hospital staff or a relative.

02:08Any assault on a child under 12

02:10or an assault done by more than one person

02:12is aggravated assault,

02:14which carries minimum 20 years to life imprisonment.

02:18Section 7 defines sexual assault,

02:20which is touching or making a child touch private parts

02:24with sexual intent.

02:25This does not require penetration.

02:27And the punishment is minimum of 3 years.

02:29Aggravated sexual assault carries minimum 5 years in jail.

02:33Sexual harassment includes showing pornography,

02:35exposing your body or the child's body,

02:38stalking or contacting a child sexually,

02:41even if it is online.

02:43The punishment for this is up to 3 years.

02:45And for any child under 12,

02:47all assaults, remember,

02:48are treated as aggravated assaults

02:50with tougher punishments.

02:52Yes, schools now teach kids about good touch and bad touch.

02:56But awareness of POCSO needs to go much further,

02:59especially to parents, teachers and even law enforcement.

03:02Because child protection laws don't see gender,

03:06they see abuse

03:07and they're meant to keep all children safe.

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