Why age of consent laws need a nuanced rethink

Across India, there is a growing dissonance between the spirit of child protection laws and their real-world consequences, particularly when the setting of adolescent relationships is considered.

- AL Sharada

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, enacted in 2012 to shield minors from sexual exploitation, sets the age of consent at 18. While this offers a clear safeguard in theory, it has often become a tool for families to penalise relationships that cross lines of caste, community, or gender norms.

What began as a shield has, in many instances, turned into a sword. Romantic love is reframed as rape. Adolescence becomes another battleground for families to reassert control — often at the cost of the boy's future and the girl's agency.

This legal rigidity ignores the rapidly changing world adolescents inhabit. Teenagers today grow up in a hyper-connected environment — exposed early to sexual content, peer influence, and evolving norms around intimacy. Public displays of affection no longer scandalise the urban middle class.

Smartphones, dating apps, and social media shape adolescents’ understanding of love and identity. Yet, our laws pretend that teenage desire does not exist — or worse, that it must be punished.