Support persons key to healing child sex abuse victims

The right to justice can be a long and arduous journey at times. For child victims of sexual abuse, including their families, this journey is often lonely, helpless, distraught, disempowering, and complex; often with no end in sight. In their pursuit of justice, external factors such as societal apathy, ostracisation, prolonged trials, indifferent attitudes of police and courts, and even coercion and threats result in their lives being defined and lived under the shadow of the crime.

What if someone was around to handhold the child victim and the family at every stage, bringing them closer to achieving their rights? Imagine a single, accountable institution responsible for delivering on the plethora of their needs and requirements, literally transforming child victims into survivors, and giving hope and empowerment to their families.

Thanks to the Supreme Court of India’s July 30 judgment, more than 2.39 lakh child victims of sexual offences will be able to avail the benefits of this new institution mandated in the form of ‘Support Persons’. The court has directed all states to appoint support persons in all Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases, and give the status of the implementation of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ (NCPCR) model guidelines in this regard within four weeks.

Now, every time a POCSO case is filed, the State will be duty-bound to inform the parents of the child victim that they have the right to a support person. They would be a trained individual assigned by the government to provide emotional and psychological support, with a duty to ensure the well-being, protection, education and rehabilitation of child victims and their families, as well as help them navigate the legal process.

This judgment comes in a POCSO case that is a grim reminder of an unapologetically irresponsible and insensitive legal and judicial system. In November 2021, two men allegedly gang-raped a 13-year-old Dalit girl in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The police refused to register an FIR (non-registration of FIR in a rape case is itself an offence under both the Indian Penal Code and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita). The girl approached the local court, but even after 11 hearings, nothing moved. After five months of the ordeal, she was again allegedly kidnapped and later, allegedly raped in the police station by the station house officer (SHO). All her rights and multiple laws were violated, as she was victimised and revictimised.

The victim’s family approaching the court or even writing letters to the superintendent of police, Lalitpur district collector and Uttar Pradesh chief minister yielded no results.

While the case was registered thereafter, the responsible (or irresponsible) police officers suspended, the accused identified and prosecuted, and the child’s case was taken up by the apex court, this case shows the distress and tribulations that a victim and family might have to go through.

The Supreme Court has approved guidelines that may come as a blessing for all such children and their families.

The support person may become the light for child victim and family, showing the path through the legal process and courtroom jargon by enabling the understanding of day-to-day court procedures and explaining to the family, the details of their case in simple language.

The support person will help the child victims and family access their right to mental healthcare as such children may have developed deep emotional and psychological trauma, Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and other such issues. This is specifically true where children or families are approached to turn hostile or where a child becomes a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, identifying and empathising with their perpetrators.

For example, in situations of trafficking and online child sexual abuse, children are often groomed to think that it is in their best interest to continue to be exploited. Through an understanding of psychological first aid and when and how to access the aid of skilled professionals such as special educators, psychiatrists, translators, a support person may become an integral cog in the justice delivery process itself.

It is also important to note that child sexual abuse crimes are hugely underreported. The victims approaching the police and courts to seek justice form a minority, and their faith in the justice delivery system will be further strengthened, bolstered, and cemented.

The support person’s role will also be instrumental in child marriage or trafficking situations where the children and families need to decide a future course of action for annulment of child marriage or access to rehabilitation services. When handling such cases, the support person can counsel the child victim and the family to make them understand the situation and the offences being committed by the perpetrator and what legal recourse they could avail.

If the support person believes that the child is under the influence of the accused and/or their associates, they can seek immediate assistance of the child welfare committee or the police, and also intimate the same to the court.

The support person may also be especially important for a child victim who does not have a family for support as they will provide the assistance and access to protection, rehabilitation, reintegration, healing, and justice to the child.

Now that the states will start appointing and training support persons to comply with the apex court’s directions, the government must ensure dedicated budgetary allocations through schemes such as the Nirbhaya fund. Since there are over 2.39 lakh ongoing POCSO cases, at least 25,000 people (support persons shall be in the ratio of 1:10, according to NCPCR guidelines) will have to be appointed and oriented to think, act, and serve in the best interest of the child. The role of NGOs is especially important to take this responsibility.

Additionally, the NCPCR should strengthen the national portal to monitor access to the right to justice for POCSO victims, and open it to the public
and NGOs to enable their participation and service.

Before appointment, details of all the support persons must also be mandatorily checked on India’s National Database on Sexual Offenders, maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau.

Only with these provisions, the impact of Supreme Court’s directions will reach the poorest of the poor people living in far-off tribal areas, remote mountains, and forests.

We, as a society, failed these children when a crime against them could not be prevented. We will fail them again if we are unable to rehabilitate them, punish the guilty, and ensure compensation and justice in the stipulated time-frame of one year. A child’s development, protection, and well-being maybe the primary responsibility of the family, but ensuring their rights, including justice, is the overall responsibility of the society, and the support person may just become the face of this responsibility. While the wrong done to the child may not be corrected, we must do everything possible to assist the child in the journey of justice and life.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer and activist)