The Hindu Editorial Analysis
17 November 2025
The POCSO Act is Gender-Neutral by Design
(Source – The Hindu, International Edition – Page No. – 8)
Topic : GS Paper II: Indian Constitution – Fundamental Rights | GS Paper II: Governance – Vulnerable Sections, Child Rights, and Legal Reforms
Context
The Supreme Court of India recently issued notice in a case where a woman was accused of ‘penetrative sexual assault’ against a minor boy under Section 3 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
This raised a significant question: Is the POCSO Act gender-specific or gender-neutral?
The editorial argues that both the text and legislative intent of the POCSO Act confirm that it is gender-neutral, encompassing both male and female perpetrators and victims.
1. The Text Supports Gender Neutrality
- Section 3 defines “penetrative sexual assault” without limiting it to male offenders.
- The use of the pronoun ‘he’ for the perpetrator does not make the law gender-specific because under Section 13(1) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, masculine terms include the feminine unless expressly excluded.
- Therefore, the law, if read literally and purposively, applies to all perpetrators irrespective of gender.
Further, the section also covers cases where an adult compels a child to perform sexual acts on themselves or a third person, reinforcing its gender-neutral interpretation.
2. A Deliberate Legislative Choice
- Official sources confirm that the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) intended the Act to be gender-neutral.
- In 2019, when the POCSO Amendment Bill was tabled, the Statement of Objects and Reasons explicitly stated this intent.
- The wording contrasts with Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 (formerly Section 375 IPC), which explicitly makes rape a gender-specific offence — showing that Parliament knows how to limit gender scope when it wants to.
Hence, POCSO’s omission of gender-specific language is deliberate.
3. The Law’s Purpose and Normative Rationale
- The spirit of POCSO is to protect all children (below 18 years) from sexual offences, irrespective of gender.
- Interpreting it as gender-neutral aligns with the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence in Sakshi vs. Union of India (2004), which recognized that child sexual abuse involves a wide range of conduct, not confined to penile-vaginal intercourse.
- Research and survivor accounts show that women too can commit sexual offences against minors, and such experiences must not remain invisible under law.
- Limiting the Act to only male perpetrators would create gender bias in justice delivery and ignore the reality of abuse diversity.
4. Comparative Understanding
- Gender-specific provisions (like in rape law) aim to address patriarchal violence against women.
- Gender-neutral laws like POCSO, however, protect a vulnerable class — children — irrespective of the perpetrator’s sex.
- This balance maintains both constitutional equality (Article 14) and the right to dignity and protection (Article 21) for all minors.
Conclusion
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 must be read as gender-neutral both in text and spirit.
“When the law’s purpose is to protect children from sexual abuse, the identity of the abuser must not determine the scope of protection.”
The editorial thus highlights that Parliament’s silence is intentional — not an oversight — ensuring that India’s child protection framework remains inclusive, equitable, and constitutionally consistent.