Child: -

In common saying or in ordinary sense “Child” means a person who is unable to maintain itself.
According to the provisions of various Acts dealing child exclusively one can come to know that it is
the age of the child which determines as to who is child. In another words child may be determined
according to his/her age subject to a particular Act to which he is subjected.
In India various Acts describe various age of the child and they are as follows: -
 According to section 2(b) of the Beedi & Cigar workers (condition of
Employment) Act, 1966-Child means a person who has not completed his
fourteenth year of age.
 According to section 2(ii) of the Child Labour (prohibition and Regulation)
Act, 1986- Child means a person who has not completed his fourteenth
year of age.
 According to section 2(bb) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948-
Child means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age
 According to section 2(c) of the Factories Act, 1948-
Child means a person who has not completed his fifteen year of age
 According to section 2 (k) of the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of
children) Act, 2000- Juvenile or Child means a person, who has not completed
eighteenth year of age .
 According to section 2(a) of the prohibition of child marriage Act, 2006-
Child means a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age,
and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age.

“(Also at international level it is acceptable that any person below the age of eighteen years is
called Child).”

I n Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2000 there is no distinction provided
between Juvenile and child. T h e term Juvenile is derived from a Latin word “Juvenis” meaning
young. T h e term Juvenile is defined by each member state of the United Nations in a manner
which is compatible with its legal system and social welfare objectives.

Juvenile:
The Juvenile Justice Act of 2015 is a law in India that deals with the care and protection of
children. It was enacted in 2015 and replaced the previous Juvenile Justice Act, 1986. The Act
defines a child as a person who is below the age of 18 years. It also defines different categories of
children. This includes children in need of care and protection, children in conflict with the law,
and children in institutional care.

Definition:

According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, a juvenile is defined
as a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years.

The Act also defines a child in conflict with the law as a juvenile who is alleged to have committed
an offence or has been found guilty of committing an offence.

Causes of offence against Child:

Any offence or offences, committed against a child or children is/are regarded as offences against
children or juveniles. offences for being considered as offences against juveniles need not be
criminal activities like kidnapping, murder, rape, or coerced beggary; but also verbal, physical, or
mental abuse inflicted upon children.

Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer said: “The hallmark of culture and advance of civilization consists in the
fulfillment of our obligation to the young generation by opening up all opportunities for every child
to unfold its personality and rise to its full stature- physical, mental and spiritual. It is the birth
right of every child to demand justice from the whole world.

In a civilized society, the importance of child welfare cannot be underestimated because the
welfare of the entire community, its growth and development, depends on the health and well-
being of its children. Children are a “supremely important national asset” and the future well-
being of the nation depends on how its children grow and develop. Jawaharlal Nehru has said
about children that: “Today’s child is tomorrow’s future’.Some factors which are known to affect
the volume and type of crime occurring from place to place are as follows:-

 Population density and decree of urbanization (particularly the concentration of

youth)
 Stability of population with resident’s mobility, community patterns and
transient factors.
 Economic condition (medium, below poverty line and job availability)
 Cultural factors and educational, recreational and religious characteristics.
 Family conditions with respect to divorce and family cohesiveness.
 Effective strength of law enforcement agencies.
 Chronic hunger, lack of education, over work and forced labour.

Possibly, there are many reasons for crimes against children. Few of them are mentioned
below:
 Poverty:
Poverty is the main reason which forces many people to choose the path of crime
and somehow, children are the preys to these crimes. Sometimes, due to the
problem of poverty parents often sell their own children just for the sake of money,
in the hands of criminal minded people and then they have to face the various
crimes.

 Lack of awareness and carelessness by parents:

In rural parts of the country there are many poverty-stricken families with number of
children's, which ultimately results into inadequate care to each and every child and
eventually they become the victims of various crimes.

 Society:
Well, society is equally responsible for the increase in crime rate against children.
People who indulge children in such heinous offences, and people who overlook the
crimes taking place etc. are all equally responsible for the current scenario. And
another area of concern is the dramatic increase in the rape incidents, which is also
a serious issue.

 Internet:
Internet has played a major role in increasing the crime rate against children, as a lot
of inappropriate stuff is being provided over there which somehow affects the
mentality of an individual. So, more care and stricter measures must be taken so
that these types stuffs do not reach the non-desirable audiences.
  Television:
Television has somehow changed the mind set of people. As the crime shows which
are being aired on television. They have their pros and cons. Where somehow, it
focuses on how to be safe and what all is going in the society, whereas on the other
hand, it provides people with criminal mind the new ideas as how to prey kids.

Offences against Children

o Cruelty
o Employment of child for begging
o Intoxicating a Child
o Kidnapping and Abduction
o Sale and procurement
o Other offences
 Child Prostitution
 Child Pornography
 Child molestation and rape