CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN IN

INDIA

ARMY INSTITUTE OF LAW

SECTOR 68, MOHALI
Submitted in partial fulfilment of
requirements for B.A.LLB
Submitted to:
Submitted by:
Mrs. Amita Sharma
Ojas Kainthla
Roll No. - 1425

I Year

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to
my teacher ______________________________ who gave me the
golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the
topic ________________________________
_____________________, which also helped me in doing a lot
of Research and I came to know about so many new
things

am

really

thankful

to

them.

Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and

friends who helped me a lot in finishing this project
within

the

limited

time.

I am making this project not only for marks but to also

increase my knowledge. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL WHO
HELPED ME.

INDEX
1.
INTRODUCTION
1
2.
MEANING
OF
CHILD
2
3.
CHILD
ABUSE
IN
3-4
4.
PHYSICAL
5
5.
SEXUAL
6-7
6.
EMOTIONAL
8
7.
GIRLD
CHILD
9
8.
CONCLUSION
10
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
11

ABUSE
INDIA
ABUSE
ABUSE
NEGLECT
NEGLECT

INTRODUCTION
Child abuse is a state of emotional, physical, economic and
sexual maltreatment meted out to a person below the age of
eighteen and is a globally prevalent phenomenon. However, in
India, as in many other countries, there has been no
understanding of the extent, magnitude and trends of the
problem. The growing complexities of life and the dramatic
changes brought about by socio-economic transitions in India
have played a major role in increasing the vulnerability of
children to various and newer forms of abuse.
Child abuse has serious physical and psycho-social
consequences which adversely affect the health and overall
well-being of a child. According to WHO: ''Child abuse or
maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional
ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or
commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential
harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in
the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.''
Child abuse is a violation of the basic human rights of a child
and is an outcome of a set of inter-related familial, social,
psychological and economic factors. The problem of child abuse
and human rights violations is one of the most critical matters
on the international human rights agenda. In the Indian
context, acceptance of child rights as primary inviolable rights
is fairly recent, as is the universal understanding of it.

MEANING OF CHILD
ABUSE
Definition of child abuse
The term 'Child Abuse' may have different connotations in different
cultural milieu and socio-economic situations. A universal definition of
child abuse in the Indian context does not exist and has yet to be defined.
According to WHO :

Physical Abuse: Physical abuse is the inflicting of physical injury

upon a child. This may include burning, hitting, punching, shaking,
kicking, beating or otherwise harming a child. The parent or
caretaker may not have intended to hurt the child. It may, however,
be the result of over-discipline or physical punishment that is
inappropriate to the child's age.

Sexual Abuse: Sexual abuse is inappropriate sexual behaviour with

a child. It includes fondling a child's genitals, making the child
fondle the adult's genitals, intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy,
exhibitionism and sexual exploitation. To be considered child
abuse, these acts have to be committed by a person responsible for
the care of a child (for example a baby-sitter, a parent, or a daycare
provider), or related to the child. If a stranger commits these acts, it
would be considered sexual assault and handled solely by the police
and criminal courts.

Emotional Abuse: Emotional abuse is also known as verbal abuse,

mental abuse, and psychological maltreatment. It includes acts or
the failures to act by parents or caretakers that have caused or
could cause, serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or mental
trauma. This can include parents/caretakers using extreme and/or
bizarre forms of punishment, such as confinement in a closet or dark
room or being tied to a chair for long periods of time or threatening
or terrorizing a child. Less severe acts, but no less damaging, are
belittling or rejecting treatment, using derogatory terms to describe
the child, habitual tendency to blame the child or make him/her a
scapegoat.

Neglect: It is the failure to provide for the child's basic needs.

Neglect can be physical, educational, or emotional. Physical neglect
can include not providing adequate food or clothing, appropriate
medical care, supervision, or proper weather protection (heat or
cold). It may include abandonment. Educational neglect includes
failure to provide appropriate schooling or special educational

needs, allowing excessive truancies. Psychological neglect includes

the lack of any emotional support and love, never attending to the
child, substance abuse including allowing the child to participate in
drug and alcohol use.

CHILD ABUSE IN
INDIA
Nineteen percent of the world's children live in India. According
to the 2001 Census, some 440 million people in the country
today are aged below eighteen years and constitute 42 percent
of India's total population i.e., four out of every ten persons.
This is an enormous number of children that the country has to
take care of. While articulating its vision of progress,
development and equity, India has expressed its recognition of
the fact that when its children are educated, healthy, happy
and have access to opportunities, they are the country's
greatest human resource.
CRITICAL CONCERNS

Every fifth child in the world lives in India

Every third malnourished child in the world lives in India
Every second Indian child is underweight
Three out of four children in India are anaemic
Every second new born has reduced learning capacity due
to iodine deficiency
Decline in female/male ratio is maximum in 0-6 years: 927
females per 1000 males
Birth registration is just 62% (RGI-2004)
Retention rate at Primary level is 71.01% (Elementary
Education in India Progress towards UEE NUEPA Flash
Statistics DISE 2005-2006)
Girls' enrolment in schools at primary level is 47.79%
(Elementary Education in India Progress towards UEE
NUEPA Flash Statistics DISE 2005-2006)
1104 lakh child labour in the country (SRO 2000)
IMR is as high as 58 per 1000 live births (SRS- 2005)

 MMR is equally high at 301 per 100,000 live births (SRS,

2001-03)
Children born with low birth weight are 46% (NFHS-III)
Children under 3 with anemia are 79% (NFHS-III)
Immunization coverage is very low (polio -78.2%, measles58.8%,
DPT-55.3%,BCG-78%(NFHS-III)

Crime against children increased by 3.8% nationally (14,975 cases in 2005

from 14,423 in 2004).

Child rape increased by 13.7% (4,026 cases from 3,542 in 2004); Madhya
Pradesh reported the highest number (870) followed by Maharashtra (634).Together
they accounted for 37.3% of rape cases.

Delhi tops a list of 35 Indian cities on crime against children (852 cases of
violence against children in 2005, 27% of all cases) followed by Indore (448), Pune
(314) and Mumbai (303).

1,327 children were reported murdered in 2005 up from 1,304 in 2004 (an
increase of 1.8%).Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number (390) accounting for
29.4% of cases.

Nearly 45,000 children go missing every year; more than 11,000 are never
traced.

3,518 children were kidnapped in 2005 (301 from Delhi, 3,196 in 2004, 2,571 in
2003).

PHYSICAL ABUSE
Physical abuse has been defined as beating manifested as
kicking, slapping, punishing through corporal punishment,
beating by family members and others including peers, police,
employer, caregivers, etc. It also includes beating which may
result in physical impairment or damage to the child.
The Indian society, like most societies across the world, is
patriarchal in structure where the chain of command is definite
and inviolable. In such power structures parents, both fathers
and mothers, consider their children as their property and
assume a freedom to treat them as they like. The underlying
belief is that physical punishment encourages discipline in
children and is for their betterment in the long-run. There is
enough scientific proof to the contrary and evidence suggests
that sometimes it is parent's inability to raise their children, and
their frustrations find a manifestation in the form of beating
them or causing other physical harm.
Severe physical maltreatment also takes place outside family
situations and the most common and known forms of it are
corporal punishment in schools and physical abuse at work
place. Working children have a high probability of being abused
by their employer or supervisor. the vulnerability of the child,

who is a soft and available target for the anger and frustrations
of the employer. The same goes with teachers in schools and
every other person resorting to physical abuse of children.

SEXUAL ABUSE
As defined by the World Health Organisation, child sexual abuse
is the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she
does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent
to, or that violates the laws or social taboos of society.
Severe forms of sexual abuse include:
a) Assault, including rape and sodomy
b) Touching or fondling a child
c) Exhibitionism- Forcing a child to exhibit his/her private body
parts
d) Photographing a child in nude
Other forms of sexual abuse include:
a) Forcible kissing
b) Sexual advances towards a child during travel

c) Sexual advances towards a child during marriage situations

d) Exhibitionism- exhibiting before a child
e) Exposing a child to pornographic materials
The subject of child sexual abuse is still a taboo in India. There
is a conspiracy of silence around the subject and a very large
percentage of people feel that this is a largely western problem
and that child sexual abuse does not happen in India. Part of
the reason of course lies in a traditional conservative family
and community structure that does not talk about sex and
sexuality at all. Parents do not speak to children about sexuality
as well as physical and emotional changes that take place
during their growing years. As a result of this, all forms of
sexual abuse that a child faces do not get reported to anyone.
The girl, whose mother has not spoken to her even about a
basic issue like menstruation, is unable to tell her mother about
the uncle or neighbour who has made sexual advances towards
her. This silence encourages the abuser so that he is
emboldened to continue the abuse and to press his advantage
to subject the child to more severe forms of sexual abuse.
The WHO estimates that 150 million girls and 73 million boys
under 18 have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other
forms of sexual violence involving physical contact, though this
is certainly an underestimate. Much of this sexual violence is
inflicted by family members or other people residing in or
visiting a child's family home- people normally trusted by
children and often responsible for their care.

EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Emotional and psychological maltreatment of children is the
most complex type of abuse - invisible and difficult to define.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has defined
emotional abuse as:
"Emotional abuse includes the failure to provide a
developmentally
appropriate,
supportive
environment,
including the availability of a primary attachment figure, so that
the child can develop a stable and full range of emotional and

social competencies commensurate with her or his personal

potentials and in the context of the society in which the child
dwells. There may also be acts towards the child that cause or
have a high probability of causing harm to the child's health or
physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. These
acts must be reasonably within the control of the parent or
person in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Acts
include restriction of movement, patterns of belittling,
denigrating, scapegoating, threatening, scaring, discriminating,
ridiculing or other non-physical forms of hostile or rejecting
treatment".

GIRL CHILD NEGLECT

Girl child neglect is the failure to provide for the all round
development of the girl child including health, nutrition,
education, shelter, protection and emotional development. This
also includes aspects of gender discrimination.The indicators
for 'neglect' included lack of attention to girls as compared to

boys, less share of food in the family, sibling care by the girl
child and other forms of gender discrimination.

CONCLUSION
The gravity of the situation demands that the issue of
child abuse be placed on the national agenda. The
Ministry on its part has taken measures such as the
enabling legislation to establish the National and State
Commissions for Protection of Rights of the Child, the
Integrated Child Protection Scheme, the draft Offences
against Children Bill etc. These are a few important
steps to ensure protection of children of the country.
But clearly, this will not be enough, the government,
civil society and communities need to complement each
other and work towards creating a protective
environment for children. The momentum gained needs
to enhance further discussion on the issue amongst all
stakeholders and be translated into a movement to
ensure protection of children of this country.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Study on Child Abuse: INDIA 2007
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Government of India
Brown, Louise. (2000). Sex Slaves: The Trafficking of
Women in Asia. London.
Bitter Chocolate: Child Sexual Abuse in India. Abhinav
Agarwal