Crimes against children rise by 20 per cent: CRY report

News:The Child Rights and You has released a report titled “How Vulnerable are Children in India to crime?”.

Facts:

• The report is based on the analysis of National Crime Records Bureau for 2016-17.

Key takeaways from the report:

• The report says that the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh topped the list of states for crimes against children.There were over 19,000 cases in both the states.
• Jharkhand saw the highest increase in crimes against children at 73.9 percent while Manipur had a significant decline of 18.7 percent between 2016 and 2017.
• The Child labor in the country also saw a substantial increase of 126%. The report says that in 2016 child labor was 204 and it increased to 462 in 2017.
• As far as Child Marriage is concerned there was an increase of 21.17%. The numbers were based on the cases registered under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act(PCMA),2006.
• However,the report sees this as a positive development as both child marriage and child labour often get social sanction and go unreported.

Recommendations:

• The report suggests that there has to be an increase in the financial investments in child protection. 
• The focus should be on capacity building among officials working in child protection systems.

Additional information:

About CRY:

• Child Rights and You commonly abbreviated as CRY is an Indian non-governmental organization which aims to restore children’s rights.
• The organization was founded in 1979 by Rippan Kapoor.

About Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006:

• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 came into force on 1st November 2007 in India.It replaced the earlier legislation of Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929.
• The act aims to prohibit child marriage, protect and provide relief to victim and enhance punishment for those who abet, promote or such marriage. 
• The Act also calls appointment of Child Marriage Prohibition Officer for whole or a part of a State by the State government.

About NCRB:

• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is an attached office of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The agency is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).