Justice BV Nagarathna raises alarm over falling sex ratios and barriers facing the girl child

Supreme Court judge BV Nagarathna on Saturday voiced serious concern over the deteriorating sex ratio in certain states, warning of the underlying causes such as female infanticide and foeticide. She stressed that girls in India must not only survive but thrive.

She pointed to the ongoing disappointment in some families when a girl is born and noted only a marginal improvement in the child sex ratio — from 914 girls per 1,000 boys (2011 Census) to 929 girls (NFHS-5).

“There are also recent concerning reports of worsening sex ratios caused by likely female infanticide/foeticide in certain states,” she added, though acknowledging that some states have shown improvements.

Justice Nagarathna was speaking at the national annual stakeholders' consultation themed on 'Safeguarding the Girl Child: Towards a Safer and Enabling Environment for Her in India' organised by the Supreme Court’s Juvenile Justice Committee in collaboration with UNICEF India.

The event was attended by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Union Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi, Justice JB Pardiwala, and several other apex court judges.

She stated that true equality for girls would only be achieved when they are afforded the same opportunities, aspirations, and support systems as boys. “Put differently, the odds of her being born at all, having access to the right nutrition, care, education and material resources, a secure and safe environment, developing a distinct sense of self and being able to achieve whatever she sets her mind to have to be equivalent to that of a boy child born in this country. She should not merely survive but actively thrive,” she said.

Multifaceted issue

As chairperson of the Juvenile Justice Committee, she also drew attention to the vital role of nutrition in empowering girls.

“It is often the case that girl children are deliberately fed lesser or lower quality food than their brothers. While schemes such as the midday meal scheme, the 'anaemia mukt Bharat' programme and the POSHAN abhiyan have made large strides in ensuring access to quality nutrition for young girl children, it is important that the cascading and deleterious effects of early years' malnutrition on the girl child's ability to be physically active, think and problem-solve be sufficiently publicised,” she stated.

Barriers to girl's education

On the issue of child marriage, Justice Nagarathna cited positive trends.

“Through the enactment of laws such as the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and in accordance with India's international obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, both state and Union Governments, occasionally in collaboration with UNICEF, have undertaken several positive steps. The need of the hour is to adopt holistic solutions that are adequately tailored to regional peculiarities, to ensure that interventions undertaken are most effective,” she said.

Education was highlighted as a cornerstone of empowerment. She noted progress in school attendance for girls aged 15–17, but warned of persistent challenges.

“However, the pursuit of education after the secondary level by young women and girls is still frustrated by high dropout rates. What are the reasons why young girls drop out of school?" she asked.

"The girl child may be expected to sacrifice her education in its entirety or study a course that she is not very interested in so as to ensure that her brother is able to pursue his dreams. It is crucial that such virulent factors are adequately addressed. Education thus being provided must be free of stereotypes, of bias and ideology and must be able to mould the individual who undergoes it to become an upstanding member of society,” she added.

Conclusively, she underlined the need for trauma-informed and child-sensitive judicial and policing procedures.

Between 2018 and 2022, only 4.8 per cent of individuals arrested for human trafficking were convicted, despite numerous charge sheets being filed.

With inputs from PTI