Sexual Offences on Children—Principles of Child Jurisprudence and NCPCR

Abstract

The issue of child sexual violence violates each one of us and our sensibilities. Its prevalence in its myriad forms interrogates us, both at a personal level and at a societal level. It questions existing social norms and values, our ethical and moral fiber, and state (in)action. It pushes us out of our comfort zone, to experience a fugue of emotions of helplessness, indignation, sense of urgency or wanting to act. What it does to children is unfathomable! It compels one to reckon with what the child is at the present, her “being” and dignity and take cognizance of her “becoming” a person with agency and confidence in future. Justice for children cannot be dealt with in a fragmented manner but is seen in totality of her life from being a child to becoming an adult.