Assessing the Effectiveness of the POCSO Act in Delivering Child-Centric Justice in India

Since children are among the most vulnerable individuals in the world, we must provide them with extra safeguards from harmful things like exploitation and abuse. Sexual abuse is a major global issue that negatively impacts children's social, emotional, and physical development. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, or POCSO Act, was created in India in 2012 after more cases were reported and the country's legislation were deemed insufficient (UNICEF, 2024) This measure is significant because it protects children in ways that earlier legislation did not. Regardless of the child's gender, it prevents various types of sexual abuse and prioritizes the child's best interests (Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2024). Additionally, it has regulations to ensure the comfort of victims, including child-friendly procedures, private identities, and expedited proceedings in special courts. In order to prevent the trauma from worsening while navigating the judicial system, there is additional assistance, such as psychological support (Sharma & Gupta, 2025). According to recent stats, there's been an ongoing increase in POCSO case registrations in India. Now, while this uptick might show that folks are becoming more aware and trusting of the law, it sadly also shows a surge in crimes against kids and how much this is overwhelming the justice system (National Crime Records Bureau, 2024). There are real issues that prevent enforcement, according to experts, even in the face of strict rules. Significant backlogs of cases, investigation delays, and insufficient resources in Special Courts are a few of these problems.. In addition, there is a lack of qualified workers, including experts, and inadequate victim rehabilitation services (Rao & Mehta, 2025; Verma, 2024).Punishing wrongdoers is only one aspect of child-centric justice. It is about making sure the youngster is safe at all times. This entails treating them with dignity, preventing further trauma, offering them emotional assistance, and letting them voice their opinions when appropriate (Das & Roy, 2025). However, several brilliant minds have noted that it is quite difficult to implement this consistently throughout India (Kumar & Singh, 2024). Victims may be more likely to seek justice than they actually do, and that seeking justice may face significant obstacles, including social stigma, fear of retaliation, lack of awareness, and complicated procedures (Patel & Nair, 2025). Furthermore, concerns include low conviction rates and less than optimal victim support services (Joseph et al., 2026). So there is a definite need to ensure that the Act is functioning as it should. This study examines the effectiveness of POCSO Act in providing justice to children in India. It seeks to observe the effectiveness of the Act in terms of protection of the victims, speedy justice, child friendly procedures and rehabilitative support. Meanwhile, it will identify the difficulties that have continually hampered the progress of the Act.