Sex with child brides is equivalent to rape: so ruled India's Supreme Court. The ruling closes the gaps in the previous law, under which sex with underage brides was legal.
India's Supreme Court has issued a ruling establishing that sexual intercourse within a marriage in which the bride is under 18 years of age constitutes an act of rape, and therefore a criminal offence. Under Indian law, the age of consent for sexual intercourse is 18. However, prior to the passing of the new decree on 11 October — which coincided with the International Day of the Girl Child — an exception to the rule existed: sexual intercourse between a husband and a wife aged 15 or over was considered legal.
Overturning the exception provided for in the legislation in force, the Court established that "sexual intercourse with a woman under the age of 18 is an act of rape, regardless of whether she is married or not. The exception (…) creates an unnecessary and artificial distinction between a married girl child and an unmarried one and has no rational nexus to any unclear objective sought to be achieved. This artificial distinction is arbitrary and discriminatory and is certainly not in the best interests of the girl child."
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The Court also highlighted the fact that sexual intercourse with underage brides is widely accepted by Indian society, and that this serves as an incentive for parents to marry off their daughters in order to gain financial benefits. Indeed, 30 per cent of girls marry before reaching the legal age, and nearly 12 million girls under the age of ten are married, as national census data show. In this sense, the decision is a historic one for the nation, given that it affects a significant portion of the population.
Although the decision has been welcomed enthusiastically by advocates of women's rights and child protection, many point to its limitations. First and foremost, the law will be difficult to enforce because there are currently no mechanisms in place to support girls in reporting abuse, and families are often reluctant to put an end to these situations. Furthermore, the measure does not address domestic violence from a broader perspective. In India, rape by a husband still does not constitute a criminal offence.
Finding solutions to the systematic abuse of minors in India requires acknowledging the limitations of the new law. It is equally important, however, to recognise the significance of this step, as a signal that the judicial system is ready to take ownership of the social reforms that the country — and above all its most vulnerable sections of society — so urgently needs.
Translated by Elisabetta Scuri