India's endemic problem of violence against children under renewed spotlight

The brutal murder of a young girl in India has reignited public outrage over the persistent violence against women and children, where more than 80 rapes are reported to police every day.

Those figures come from the National Crime Records Bureau, but activists say the true scale of sexual violence is likely far greater, as a Reuters article points out, as many survivors never report assaults because of stigma, victim-blaming and social pressure.

Deep-rooted patriarchy and misogyny, overstretched police forces and chronic delays in the justice system all contribute to a culture of impunity, in which many perpetrators believe they can escape punishment for crimes against women, according to reporting by the news agency.

"India's economy has surged since then and the nation has been ​propelled into the ranks of the world's elite, but its dismal record on sexual violence remains unchanged," the outlet notes.

The incident has also put Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party under pressure just months after it won power in West Bengal for the first time, with improving women's safety among its key campaign promises.

But activists argue that no change in government can address deeply entrenched problems such as patriarchal social norms, the lack of gender-sensitive leadership within the police and judiciary, and sexual violence linked to India's caste hierarchy.

India recorded 29,536 rape cases in 2024, a figure that has changed little in recent years, while sexual offences against children have risen sharply over the past decade. Cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act reached a record 69,191.

"Nothing is going to change simply because the regime changes. This is a deep-rooted problem embedded in our patriarchal culture, not just in West Bengal but across India," Satabdi Das, a gender rights activist based in Kolkata, told the outlet.

The government had originally projected that it would establish 2,600 fast-track special courts for sexual offences by 2026. However, the latest official data shows that only 755 have been set up so far, including 410 dedicated POCSO courts.

India's National Commission for Women, a government-appointed watchdog, said the incident in Rajasthan reflected "serious administrative lapses, policing gaps and inadequate monitoring mechanisms that allowed such criminal activities to continue."

By Nazrin Sadigova