With the weight of the Supreme Court, an increasing chorus of experts is calling to reduce the relationship of consent, even if the age of consent is not reducedNew Delhi : The Supreme Court hearing an important case whether to reduce the statutory era of consent for sexual activity by 18 to 16 years, focus on various complications and challenges to deal with the matters and experts working with children or experts or “consent romantic relationships”.There is a strong view at one end that highlights the plight of boys and girls caught in such cases – putting their dignity, freedom and right to protection at stake. At the other end, there are activists who take precautions that try to change the age of consent, presenting a situation that can misuse and enabling child marriage in the apparel of “romantic relationships”.For example, in the pre -SC case, senior advocate and amicus Curia Indira Jaising has urged the court to read the current legal limit of 18, arguing that the existing provisions criminalize juvenile relations and violate constitutional rights.
On the other hand, the union government has insisted that the age should remain 18 to protect the minors from exploitation, warning that the country’s child protection structure can be reduced by reducing age.In 2023, an attempt was also made by the Law Commission to address complications by the Law Commission in its report on this issue. It had advised against reducing the age of consent for 18 years. This suggested amendment to the POCSO Act, which to present the judicial discretion directed by the Special Court in the case of sentence in cases related to the “silence approval” of minors between 16 and 18 years.Swagata Ra, the founder of NGO, a child rights NGO, has reiterated his demand to reduce the sexual relations that are considered “consent” – by creating an exception in POCSO for people aged 16 to 18 years. “We are not saying that there is a need to bring the age of consent to 16,” he said. times of India “The current provision under POCSO, which determines the age of 18 years of consent, presents a situation where a romantic consensus between teenagers is considered as a criminal act, on the equilibrium with sexual abuse and rape. It is clearly harmful, and has a long -term effect on the life and dignity of young people. To restore the balance in the law, it needs to be replaced through the introduction of exceptions to recognize the consent above 16 years.He said, “At least one of the four cases of criminalization under POCSO is” romantic “in nature, he said, citing empirical studies based on the decision.
On the other hand, Bhuwan Ribu, the founder of Just Rights for Children, warned that by reducing the consent, it would open the box of Pendora, which will give validity to various forms of child rape as well as smuggling and child marriage. He said, “The law is being misunderstood and misinterpreted in the so -called consent debate,” he said, “PocSo should not be amended until the current law is implemented in letters and emotion. With compensation in less than 10% punishment rate and less than 1% cases, with compensation in cases, we need to implement the law before applying the law.,Ribhu suggested that in “real matters” of romantic consent relations, with proper investigation and balance, it was possible to ensure security without tampering with consent. He felt that PocSo could be modified to reduce the situation, says, where there is a history of a romantic relationship between a boy and a girl and where later the child protection agencies and courts have been consistent in their statements, and where there is no gang rape or pre -criminal history.However, child justice and criminal lawyer Anant Ashthana feel that the issue can be addressed through amendments in POCSO – to create rooms to use discretion for judges with necessary investigations to protect the real affairs of romantic relationships. Drawing attention to the lack of child-friendly policing, he highlighted the need to equip the police before a protocol to deal with such cases to protect the identity of the boy and the girl.Advocate and founder of independent idea, Vikram Srivastava said that any attempt to change the age of consent, the costume of consent will be seen by themselves by the parents, as seen in many states. He said, “Amidst social relations, in most cases we find that they are entangled in a series of illegals.In the context of adolescents affected by such cases, Sonal Kapoor from Protashan, who works with the survivors of the child of misconduct, said that under POCSO, the consent of adolescent relationships with consent, even when it is inherent in non-intelligent and interesting consent, took away the voice, choice and young people of the agency.He said, “Reducing the age of consent weakens security against force. But giving strict results to drag young couples through criminal trials, humiliated by laws and inhumanly to protect them,” he said. “Law should develop. It should be a place for both safety of children and autonomy of young people.”
