On October 11, 2025, Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai raised serious concerns about the increasing vulnerability of girl children in the digital age. He pointed to dangers like online harassment, cyberbullying, digital stalking, misuse of personal data, and deepfake imagery, advocating for new specialized laws and comprehensive training for law enforcement and policymakers.
The CJI shared these critical observations during the National Annual Stakeholders Consultation, titled “Safeguarding the Girl Child: Towards a Safer and Enabling Environment for Her in India.” This important event was organized by the Supreme Court’s Juvenile Justice Committee (JJC) in partnership with UNICEF India.
He highlighted a stark reality: despite constitutional and legal protections, countless girls nationwide are tragically deprived of their fundamental rights and even basic necessities. This heightened vulnerability leaves them susceptible to severe risks, including sexual abuse, exploitation, and harmful practices like female genital mutilation, malnutrition, sex-selective abortions, trafficking, and forced child marriage.
The CJI eloquently stated, “Ensuring her safety goes beyond just physical protection; it means liberating her spirit. Our goal must be to build a society where every girl can live with dignity, and where her dreams are nurtured through education and equality. We have a collective responsibility to challenge and dismantle the deeply entrenched patriarchal norms that still prevent girls from claiming their rightful position.”
Drawing inspiration from Rabindranath Tagore’s powerful poem, “Where the Mind is Without Fear,” Justice Gavai noted that its core message perfectly encapsulates the vision for safeguarding girl children.
He emphasized that this vision remains unrealized as long as any girl in India lives in fear—fear of violence, discrimination, or being denied the opportunity to learn and dream. He asserted that only when every girl child thrives in an environment of freedom and respect can India truly claim to have entered the “heaven of freedom” so beautifully envisioned by Tagore.
The CJI, joined by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annapurna Devi and UNICEF India’s country representative Cynthia McCaffrey, urged a thorough investigation into the persistent social, economic, and cultural obstacles hindering girls’ progress. He warned that the dangers faced by young girls have transcended physical boundaries, now permeating the expansive and often unregulated digital sphere.
He further explained that while technology can be a powerful tool for empowerment in our innovative age, it simultaneously introduces new vulnerabilities, particularly for girl children. The challenges have grown in both scope and complexity, ranging from online harassment, cyberbullying, and digital stalking to the misuse of personal data and the creation of deepfake images.
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g the critical need for specialized training, the CJI asserted that all institutions, policy frameworks, and enforcement agencies must adapt to contemporary realities. He recommended that training programs for police, educators, health professionals, and local administrators should adopt a sensitive approach, enabling them to respond with empathy, nuanced understanding, and awareness of specific contexts.
He also highlighted that laws designed to combat online sexual exploitation, digital trafficking, and cyber harassment must be complemented by robust enforcement, public education, and comprehensive awareness campaigns.
He passionately argued that safeguarding girl children must be a central pillar of digital governance, ensuring that technological advancements are always balanced with strong ethical safeguards. In the digital future, technology should be a force for liberation, not exploitation.
He concluded by stating that protecting girl children today means securing their future in every aspect of life—from classrooms to workplaces, and across every digital screen they interact with. His address resonated with an audience of Supreme Court and High Court judges, child rights activists, lawyers, and other stakeholders present at the apex court.
Justice B.V. Nagarathna, who chairs the Supreme Court’s Juvenile Justice Committee, articulated that a young girl in India can only achieve true equality when she is free to pursue any ambition her male peers can, receiving identical support and resources, without facing any gender-specific obstacles.
She further elaborated that a girl’s chances of birth, access to proper nutrition, care, education, and resources, and the opportunity to grow in a secure, safe environment, develop a unique identity, and achieve her aspirations must be equal to those of any boy born in India. Her objective, she stressed, is not just survival, but for every girl to truly thrive.
Justice J.B. Pardiwala, another member of the JJC, emphasized that protecting girl children entails guaranteeing every girl’s right to live, learn, and develop with equality, free from harm, discrimination, and violence like female foeticide and child marriage.
He added that this protection includes ensuring equal access to education, healthcare, and resources, fostering her sense of value within families and society, and empowering her to make informed decisions and achieve her full potential as a respected, contributing member of the community.
Justice Pardiwala also unveiled a new handbook titled “Child Rights and the Law,” developed by the Supreme Court’s Centre for Research and Planning with guidance from the JJC.