Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai underscored that safeguarding young girls from emerging digital threats must be a core priority of digital governance, advocating for technology to function as a tool of liberation. He emphasized that dangers to girls are no longer solely confined to physical environments but extend significantly into the digital realm.
Justice B.V. Nagarathna of the Supreme Court echoed these concerns, pointing out the alarming rise of novel forms of violence against young girls facilitated by digital technologies. She articulated that true equality for an Indian girl means the freedom to aspire and thrive without experiencing gender-specific barriers.
Justice Nagarathna further presented data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) to illustrate both ongoing challenges and areas of progress for the girl child. She highlighted that the “first barrier” is often birth itself, noting a marginal improvement in the Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years) from 914 girls per 1000 boys in the 2011 Census to 929 per 1000 in NFHS-5. Nutritional concerns were also prominent, with NFHS-5 indicating that among surveyed children, 36% were stunted, 19% wasted, 32% underweight, and a substantial 59% of girls aged 15-19 were anaemic.
Positive developments included a steady decline in child marriages, which decreased from 47% in NFHS-3 (2005–06) to 23% in NFHS-5 (2019–21), attributed to a combination of policy interventions and community engagement. School attendance for girls aged 15-17 also significantly improved, rising from 56% to 77% according to NFHS-5. However, Justice Nagarathna cautioned that high dropout rates persist, hindering the pursuit of education for young women and girls beyond the secondary level.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/legal-news/protecting-girl-child-priority-e-governance-cji-br-gavai-10301237/