Justice Nagarathna Urges Systemic Shift to Prevent Re-Traumatizing Child Victims

NEW DELHI – In a powerful address calling for a fundamental re-evaluation of how the Indian legal system interacts with its most vulnerable, Supreme Court Justice B.V. Nagarathna has emphasized the critical need for trauma-informed procedures to prevent the re-victimization of child survivors within courtrooms and police stations. Her remarks underscore a growing consensus that the adversarial nature of legal proceedings can inflict "secondary trauma," compounding the harm already suffered by young victims.

Speaking at the Tenth National Annual Stakeholders' Consultation on “Safeguarding the Girl Child,” Justice Nagarathna, who also chairs the Supreme Court Juvenile Justice Committee, issued a clarion call to the judiciary and law enforcement agencies. "We must expand trauma-informed and child-sensitive procedures in our courts and police stations," she stated. "In the name of an inquiry or a court proceeding, a child victim must not be re-traumatized or face secondary trauma. We must also strengthen monitoring of the implementation of the various acts but wherein the justice is not only swift but also sensitive and tailored to the best interest of the concerned child."

This statement goes to the heart of a persistent challenge for legal practitioners: balancing the procedural rigors required for a fair trial with the psychological needs of a child witness. Justice Nagarathna’s intervention advocates for a system that actively protects, rather than passively processes, the children it is meant to serve.

A Multi-faceted Analysis of Systemic Challenges

Moving beyond procedural reform, Justice Nagarathna presented a comprehensive and data-driven analysis of the intersecting crises facing the girl child in India, framing them as legal and constitutional failures that demand urgent attention. Her speech methodically deconstructed the life-cycle of disadvantages faced by girls, from birth to adolescence, providing a stark reminder of the deep-seated societal issues that ultimately manifest in the nation's courts.

The "Right to be Born": A Foundational Barrier

Justice Nagarathna began with the most fundamental right: the right to life. Citing the 2011 Census and the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), she expressed grave concern over India's skewed Child Sex Ratio. The marginal improvement from 914 to 929 girls per 1,000 boys, she noted, conceals worsening ratios in some states due to the persistent evils of female foeticide and infanticide. This, she argued, is the "first barrier" a girl child faces, a pre-natal negation of her right to exist and a violation that precedes all others.

Health, Education, and Early Marriage: The Legal Nexus

The Justice meticulously connected the dots between social indicators and legal frameworks. She highlighted the alarming statistic from NFHS-5 that 59% of adolescent girls (15–19) are anemic, often a direct result of gender-based discrimination in nutrition within the family. This malnutrition, she explained, directly impacts a girl's ability to be "physically active and mentally alert," critically affecting her educational attainment and future prospects.

On child marriage, while acknowledging the significant decline from 47% (NFHS-3) to 23% (NFHS-5), she cautioned against complacency. Attributing the progress to policy interventions like the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, and community engagement, she stressed the need for "holistic solutions that are adequately tailored to regional peculiarities." For legal professionals, this serves as a reminder that the efficacy of a statute is deeply intertwined with its localized implementation and the socio-economic context it operates within.

Education was framed as the "fulcrum" for empowerment. "You educate a girl, you educate a nation," she quoted, reflecting on her own journey. While school attendance has risen, the high dropout rate for girls after secondary school remains a critical issue. She pointed out that girls are often compelled to sacrifice their educational ambitions for their brothers, calling for an education system free from stereotypes and gender bias.

Scathing Critique of Implementation and Enforcement

Justice Nagarathna reserved some of her most pointed critiques for the implementation of protective laws, presenting statistics that paint a grim picture of the justice delivery system's effectiveness.

Violence, Trafficking, and Abysmal Conviction Rates

The speech addressed the pervasive threat of violence—physical, emotional, and sexual—and the emerging dangers of digital exploitation. Highlighting that perpetrators are often known to the victims, she revealed a staggering failure in the prosecutorial system: between 2018 and 2022, out of 10,659 human trafficking cases, a mere 4.8% resulted in convictions.

This statistic is a direct challenge to the legal community, from investigating agencies to prosecutors and the judiciary. It suggests systemic weaknesses in evidence collection, witness protection, and trial management in complex trafficking cases, which disproportionately affect young girls.

Furthermore, Justice Nagarathna drew attention to a critical procedural lapse that exacerbates vulnerability: "delays in payment of victim compensation." This administrative failure can leave survivors and their families in financial distress, making them susceptible to further exploitation or pressure to withdraw from legal proceedings.

A Call for Renewed Commitment and Action

Despite the sobering analysis, Justice Nagarathna concluded on a note of resolve. She acknowledged the significant progress made over the past decade, including the nationwide establishment of Juvenile Justice Boards, Child Welfare Committees, and Special Juvenile Police Units. The proliferation of dedicated POCSO courts with child-friendly infrastructure and the expansion of legal aid services were also recognized as vital steps forward.

However, she positioned the consultation not as a moment for self-congratulation but as a "platform for commitment" to confront the deep-rooted challenges that remain. She urged all stakeholders—judges, lawyers, police officers, and policymakers—to recognize that every protective action and every responsive service "breaks a cycle of harm and creates a pathway for girls to thrive."

For the legal profession, Justice Nagarathna’s address is more than just a speech; it is a judicial mandate. It calls for a paradigm shift from a case-disposal mindset to a child-centric approach, demanding greater sensitivity, specialized training, and a renewed commitment to ensuring that the process of seeking justice does not become a source of further trauma.