Prevent Child Exploitation
Across the world, societies are judged by how they protect their children. In India, that protection is anchored in the POCSO Act, which sets the legal age of sexual consent at 18.
A recent petition before the Supreme Court seeks to reduce this age to 16, arguing that current laws “criminalise adolescent relationships.” Behind this benign framing lies a dangerous design – one that could legalise sexual access to school-going children, destabilise families, trigger a surge in premarital pregnancies, and expose minors to exploitation, trafficking and coercive relationships disguised as “romance.”
As non-stop hearings begin in the Supreme Court from 12 November 2025 onwards, Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation (SNU) stands at the forefront of a nationwide pushback to protect India’s children and preserve the 18-barrier that safeguards them from manipulation and lifelong trauma.
What Is This Project
Prevent Child Exploitation is SNU’s flagship child-protection initiative working to stop the sexualisation of teenagers and preserve scientific, legal and ethical boundaries around childhood.
The project emerged from SNU’s leadership in convening the historic Round Table at the Constitution Club of India, where leading jurists, activists and policymakers united to oppose the move to lower the age of consent.
Key milestones so far:
Release of Research Report: Titled ‘Intrusion on Civilisation: Lowering the Age of Consent, Analysing Its Impact‘, the research report was prepared by Network for Access to Justice and Multidisciplinary Outreach Foundation with Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation as Support Partner and Shanti Suraksha Aur Sadbhav Trust as Research Partner.
The report, containing a crucial research paper by Sanjeev Newar warning about the neuroscience of consent and the health and social costs of teen sex, was launched on 18 August 2025 at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi. It can be accessed here.
Legal Interventions: SNU founders Sanjeev Newar and Swati Goel Sharma, along with Uday Mahurkar, filed an intervention petition before the Supreme Court opposing the plea to lower the age.
Second Round Table: Convened at the India Habitat Centre, sponsored by SGT University (Gurugram) and supported by National Medicos Organisation & Aarogya Bharti.
Attended by NHRC Member Shri Priyank Kanoongo, senior advocates, doctors and academics.
Consensus: India must oppose any dilution of POCSO and strengthen enforcement instead.
This initiative has become the intellectual cornerstone of the national resistance against the push to normalise teen sex under the guise of “freedom”.
What We Are Doing
Legal Front: Coordinating with allied organisations and experts to file more intervention petitions in the matter scheduled for Supreme Court hearing from 12 November 2025 onwards.
National Awareness Campaign: Over 2,000 print copies of Intrusion on Civilisation being distributed to MPs, ministries and educational institutions.
Network Building: Creating a coalition of doctors, child psychologists and educators who can intervene in state-level discussions before any legislative proposal is tabled.
Why It Is Critical
Biological and Psychological Evidence: Studies show that the human brain’s decision and impulse-control centres mature only after 18; consent below that age is neurologically compromised.
Social Reality: Early sexual exposure increases risk of abuse, trafficking, depression and school dropouts, particularly among girls from vulnerable backgrounds.
Legal Consistency: Lowering the consent age while keeping the marriage age at 18 creates a contradiction that will legitimise exploitation but deny legal protection.
Civilisational Impact: India’s cultural foundation treats childhood as sacred learning years. Diluting age thresholds erodes that foundation and invites irreversible moral and demographic consequences.
Global Perception: Weakening child-protection laws will tarnish India’s international credibility as a defender of minors’ rights.
National Human Rights Commission member Priyank Kanoongo summed it up well when he wrote, “Do we want to give our children condoms instead of kalam (pen)?”
What Your Support Will Do
Your contribution enables:
• Continued legal defence in the Supreme Court
• Publication and national dissemination of scientific research
• Awareness drives across schools, universities and media not only about this petition but about dangers of premature exposure to sex in general.
Vision
To build a Bharat where every child grows into adulthood free from sexual manipulation, coercion or premature exposure – where schools nurture learning, not exploitation, and where law, neuroscience, and civilisational ethics align to protect the innocence and integrity of adolescence.
LOCATION
Pan India. Legal fight is in the Supreme Court of India.
Who We Are
Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation – known for real ground-level impact
(In collaboration with Network for Access to Justice and Multidisciplinary Outreach Foundation – domain experts, legal support)
Together, we bring legal precision, field strength and results.
Support this Crucial Fight
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