Centre to amend POCSO Act to make it gender-neutral

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The centre is planning to amend the POCSO Act to provide justice to male child victims of sexual assault, the Women and Child Development Ministry said, days after an ordinance promulgated by President Ram Nath Kovind provided the death penalty for rape of girls under the age of 12.

"The government has always strived to develop gender neutral laws. Government has proposed amendment in the POCSO Act to seek justice for survivors of child sexual abuse," it said on its official Twitter handle on Thursday.

WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi recently supported a petition by filmmaker-activist Insia Dariwala, who said "male child sexual abuse is an ignored reality in India". "Boys who are sexually abused as children spend a lifetime of silence because of the stigma and shame attached to male survivors speaking out. It is a serious problem and needs to be addressed," she said in her response on the campaign website.

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