SEWA NYAYA UTTHAN FOUNDATION
Service. Justice. Inclusion
New Delhi: Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation (SNU), along with Sudarshan Vahini, conducted an awareness workshop on 19 July 2026 in Jain Nagar, Delhi, on the Supreme Court petition seeking to lower the age of sexual consent.
The workshop covered the Supreme Court petition seeking to reduce the age of consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 from 18 to 16 years, and a separate Supreme Court matter in which the Court observed that the 15 to 18 age group is a period of experimentation. SNU opposes both the plea to lower the age of consent and any dilution of the POCSO Act, and has filed and enabled 14 intervention petitions in the matter.
The session also addressed the issue of exploitation of women through relationships built on concealed identity, where an adult partner’s true name or religion is hidden from a minor or her family, and how lowering the age of consent risks such cases being reclassified as consensual, making prosecution more difficult.
SNU has filed 11 intervention petitions in the matter concerning the plea to lower the age of consent, and four intervention petitions in the separate matter concerning the Court’s observations on the 15 to 18 age group.
Most residents in the area were not aware of these developments before our session. The workshop helped them understand the seriousness of the matter.
SNU will continue to conduct such awareness workshops in communities across Delhi and to pursue its interventions before the Supreme Court until the protective framework of the POCSO Act is preserved.
