- Union Women and Child Development Ministry has announced setting up of a compensation fund to provide financial help to children who are victims of sexual crimes under POCSO Act.
- The finances for this fund will be drawn from Nirbhaya Fund.
- Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was formulated in 2012 to address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children.
- At present different states have different victim compensation schemes, many cover rape but not sexual offences against children.
- States like Maharashtra, Odisha and Delhi have amended their scheme to include POCSO cases.
- Nirbhaya Fund with corpus of INR. 1000 crores was announced by government for empowerment, safety and security of women and girl children.
More on POCSO Act:
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012 was created in order to effectively address sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children.
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 obtained the President’s assent on 19th June 2012.
- It was notified in the Gazette of India as on 20th June, 2012.
- The Act defines a child as any person below 18 years of age.
- It defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as sexual harassment and use of child pornography.
- It deems a sexual assault to be “aggravated” under certain circumstances, such as when the abused child is mentally ill/unwell.
- It is also aggravated when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or authority like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor.
- The Act also assigns the police in the role of child protectors during the investigative process.