This week, the Supreme Court of India struck down a Madras High Court order from January, which had quashed criminal proceedings against an adult who had stored pornography involving children on his phone. The SC’s verdict contains a number of salient features. The one most directly linked to the case is that the consumption and possession of pornography involving minors must be regarded as criminal actions under the POCSO Act and IT laws.
Moreover, the use of the term “child pornography” itself has been challenged in favour of more sensitive vocabulary. Finally, and is crucial: the bench observed that sex education is necessary at the school level, and any bans on the same should be lifted. The judgment is a holistic one, looking at the larger context rather than focusing on a single case. Every time a high-profile sexual assault case occurs in India, pornography websites report a high number of searches for the name of the survivor/victim.
There is a mass expectation that the violation would have been recorded, and can be viewed for one’s own pleasure. This deriving of pleasure from another person’s abuse, humiliation or murder is profoundly disturbing, no matter whom it pertains to. When children are involved, such as in the monstrous case in Kathua in 2018, it is arguably even more horrific due to greater intrinsic vulnerability. That the Supreme Court has categorically stated that even without the intent to distribute, the use of explicit material involving children in a crime is a strong step forward in addressing these issues.
“Child sexual exploitative and abusive material” is the term that the SC has recommended in lieu of “child pornography”. The change in vocabulary is useful because it creates a distinction between material that involves minors and other sexual material, some of which may not be exploitative. This is more nuanced, and perhaps a bit ahead of its time. India is a very long way from being able to accept healthy sexuality, which means that concepts like ethical pornography may not operate here as they may elsewhere.
The SC’s emphasis on the need for sex education will over time, if implemented well, enable a better grasp of everything pertaining to sexuality — whether that is normalising that which is healthy, destigmatising that which is taboo but does no harm, or transforming injurious beliefs and behaviours that actively do damage to oneself or to others, directly or indirectly. How such a curriculum will be developed, how it will be transmitted and how it will be received — as well as the obstacles that conservative groups and institutions will pose — all remain to be seen. The SC has recommended that the Union of India set up an Expert Committee to bring sex education into the school level.
Still — those teething problems aside — sex education is a good thing, ultimately. If implemented in a progressive, intelligent way, it will radically transform the fabric of society for the better. Now that it’s on the SC’s radar, those of us willing — as educators, activists, healthcare professionals or parents — to openly have dialogue and influence such implementation may begin to have an opportunity to speak up and be heard.