Changing paradigm of criminalizing adolescent sexuality in India

Abstract

Adolescence (between 10 and 19 years) is acrucial phase of life where the transition fromchildhood to adulthood occurs withsignificant biological and psycho-socialdevelopments (Kar et al., 2015; World Health Organization, 2022). Their sexuality attainsnew dimensions with increasing sexual desires,curiosity, and experimentation with theopposite gender due to the surge in hormones,especially after puberty. Further, present-dayadolescents have easier and instant onlineaccess to vast content than their previousgenerations. Not surprisingly, the influence ofcinemas and social media contributed toincreasingly prevalent romantic relationshipsduring adolescence which may result inunwanted pregnancies, physical, psychological,and social complications and legalconsequences. Also, the ignorance of existingstringent legislation seems to be one of themost common reasons for indulging in suchrelationships.