Child Sexual Abuse in India and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012: A Research Review

Abstract

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is most heinous crime against children and in most instances, it is hidden in nature. It is the most under reported crime. The effect of CSA lingers across the lifetime of an individual. It is now being recognized as toxic stress which emotionally can harm the child irreparably. This paper presents studies on CSA in India. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act was enacted in 2012. POCSO has many difficulties in implementation. The paper also presents the researches done on POCSO putting across issues related to mandatory reporting, consensual sex, doctors preparedness for handling CSA victims, and status of special courts under POCSO.