Bhuwan Ribhu is an Indian lawyer and child rights activist known for his work in combating child labour, child marriage, child sexual abuse, and human trafficking. He is the founder of the Just Rights for Children network, a coalition of organisations working on legal and policy reforms related to child protection.
Career.
Legal career.
In 2005, Bhuwan Ribhu filed a public interest petition in the Delhi High Court in the case Save the Childhood Movement vs. NCT of Delhi, which led the court to define specific responsibilities for government agencies in addressing child labor. His legal actions were connected to the 2016 amendment of India’s child labor law, which expanded the prohibition on employing children under 18 in hazardous occupations. Over time, he was involved in more than 60 public interest litigations in the Supreme Court and various High Courts concerning child protection laws.
In 2011, he argued a case in the Supreme Court that resulted in the legal definition of trafficking of persons being aligned with the UN Palermo Protocol. This development was followed by the introduction of a specific anti-trafficking provision in the Indian Penal Code in 2013, which broadened the legal scope for prosecuting human trafficking offenses.
In the same year, Ribhu submitted an evidence-based petition to the Supreme Court on the issue of missing children. The resulting judgment required all states to register every missing child as a police case and to implement standard operating procedures for investigations, based on the presumption of trafficking or kidnapping.
In March 2025, he joined the Board of Trustees of the World Law Foundation, an international body focused on promoting the rule of law.
Missing Children Case: In 2013, Bhuwan Ribhu was the petitioner in Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India, a case concerning the large number of missing children reported annually in India. The Supreme Court issued an order mandating that every missing child case be registered as a FIR and investigated promptly. The Court adopted a presumption that a missing child could be a victim of kidnapping or trafficking, placing a legal obligation on authorities to take immediate action. It also summoned state chief secretaries to address failures in enforcement and directed the development of national protocols for search and rescue operations.
Child Sexual Abuse and CSEAM: In September 2024, Bhuwan Ribhu served as the lead petitioner representing the Just Rights for Children network in the Supreme Court case Just Rights for Children Alliance & Anr. v. S. Harish & Ors., which addressed the issue of online child sexual exploitation material. The petition challenged a lower court’s decision that had taken a lenient view on the possession of such material. The Supreme Court ruled that the mere viewing or storage of sexually exploitative images or videos of children constitutes a punishable offense under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, even if the material is not distributed.
The Court criticized the High Court's judgment as a serious legal error and underlined the harm such material causes to victims. It also directed a change in judicial terminology, replacing the term child pornography with Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material, stating that the former fails to adequately convey the gravity of the crime. The Court emphasized that the term CSEAM more accurately reflects the exploitative and abusive nature of the content. Additionally, the Court urged Parliament to amend the POCSO Act to formally adopt this terminology.
Child Marriage: In October 2024, the Supreme Court of India issued a judgment addressing the continued practice of child marriage, in response to petitions filed by child rights groups, including the network represented by Bhuwan Ribhu. The Court outlined a framework under The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, focusing on prevention, victim protection, and prosecution. It held state governments responsible for enforcing anti-child-marriage laws and proposed closing legal gaps, such as recommending that even the betrothal of minors be made a punishable offense through legislative amendments.
Activism.
He founded the Just Rights for Children network in 2022, a network of over 250 civil society organizations operating across India and internationally. The network focuses on ending violence against children and has a presence in 416 districts in India, as well as in Nepal, Kenya, and the United States.
Bhuwan Ribhu launched the Child Marriage Free India campaign, which sought to reframe child marriage as a criminal offense rather than a cultural or social issue. Central to the campaign was the characterization of child marriage as a form of child sexual abuse. Ribhu introduced the PICKET strategy—focusing on Policy, Institutions, Capacity-building, Knowledge, Economics, and Technology as a structured approach to address the problem. This strategy was outlined in his 2023 book When Children Have Children and has been adopted by local administrations in over 230 districts across India.
In November 2024, the Government of India launched the Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat (Child Marriage Free Bharat) campaign. Introduced by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development at a national event in New Delhi on November 27, 2024, the campaign set a target of reducing child marriage rates to below 5% by 2029.
Soon after, Ribhu helped launch Child Marriage Free Nepal. On December 31, 2024, Nepal’s National Child Rights Council and JRC Nepal formally kicked off the nationwide campaign in Kathmandu. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli pledged to end child marriage in Nepal by 2030.
In 2024, Ribhu was invited to speak at the WeProtect Global Alliance summit.
Recognition.
He was recognized by the Justice Verma Committee in 2013 for his contributions to trafficking and child safety.