News > POCSO Act must stop turning consensual relationships between adolescents into a crime
POCSO Act must stop turning consensual relationships between adolescents into a crime
26/07/2023 06:43 PM | Click to read full article
Decades of relentless advocacy by civil society and urging by the Supreme Court for a special law led to the enactment of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) in 2012. However, the law's strict criminalisation, high age of consent, and mandatory reporting requirements have inadvertently affected adolescent sexuality in India, sparking concerns over their bodily autonomy.
