The Hindu : Combating paedophilia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 15, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

Combating paedophilia

THE BILL RECENTLY passed by the Goa Assembly prohibiting paedophilia is by far the most comprehensive and holistic piece of legislation enacted by any State covering a wide gamut of issues pertaining to the overall development and well-being of children under 18 years of age. The foremost objective behind the conception of the Goa Children's Act of 2003 is the urgency of the need to control all forms of commercial exploitation of children including prostitution,

pornography and trafficking for sexual purposes. However, taking a holistic view of the closely inter-related issues involved, the architects of the Goa law have made a conscious attempt to incorporate provisions that take on board the larger dimensions of the problem. Accordingly, persons who reside with children not related to them by ties of blood are required by law to disclose the same to the Director of Women and Child Development. There are also significant incentives for school attendance such as a ban on corporal punishment and provision for participatory evaluation in place of the much-dreaded conventional examinations. Zero rejection is to be the avowed policy of all school managements, including children affected with HIV/AIDS. Both the Government and private sector employers would have to provide maternal and child care facilities. While some of these are novel steps, the law takes advantage of existing measures to enhance the socio-psychological and nutritive health of children, besides prohibiting child labour. On the punitive side, crimes of child abuse are to be treated as non-bailable offences under the Criminal Procedure Code. While most of these measures are part of separate legislation to curb specific forms of child abuse and exploitation, the real merit in the Goa law pertains to the holistic model it provides for combating the exploitative features of an emerging contemporary market-oriented society. To that extent, the new law constitutes an important value addition in the area of legal jurisprudence in the country.

The background to the Goa legislation can clearly be traced to the State's particular proneness to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and women, given its highly tourism-driven economy that has seen a rapid expansion. An ugly manifestation of this phenomenon — also witnessed in other countries of the Asia-Pacific region — was in the form of high incidence of paedophilia in the mid-1990s with a close nexus between international tourists and local players. Although two of the key accused in the crime have been convicted and are serving a life sentence, many have escaped punishment owing to lacunae in existing laws. Governments are better equipped to deal with tourism-related crimes today with around 12 countries having enacted laws to prosecute nationals at home for offences committed against children overseas. The first World Congress against the Commercial Exploitation of Children held in Stockholm in 1996 called on Governments to criminalise all forms of sexual exploitation of children, involve children in fighting their exploitation and promote cooperation among various sectors. The 2nd Congress held in Yokohama in 2000 laid special emphasis on stricter enforcement of national laws and the relevance of the International Labour Organisation Convention on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

The importance of putting in place legal instruments to deal with emergent and more sophisticated crimes can hardly be exaggerated. But the effectiveness of all such legislation depends ultimately on the extent to which it is enforced effectively. Whereas the Centre and the States have not lagged behind in terms of enacting laws in compliance with international Conventions, their performance has been found clearly wanting with respect to their enforcement. Lapses in this area cannot be condoned especially when they affect the most vulnerable sections of society. A model law is at best a small beginning.

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