In a remarkable and welcome turn of events, the central government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it is ready to introduce comprehensive sexuality education in schools and colleges following the recommendations of a 26-member national committee.

Once the Supreme Court approves the recommendations, students from class six onward can expect “age-appropriate” lessons that include safety, body image, hygiene, “good touch/bad touch” and the idea of consent.

The push for sex ed—or to use its more proper name, comprehensive sexuality education—comes from the Supreme Court itself. It stems from an apparent disconnect between the law and teenage sexual behaviour. For teenagers sex is a “normal process of development”, as one study puts it. But, under the law, the age of consent is 18 and, so, sex with a girl below the age of 18, even if she initiates it, is deemed rape.

Very often it’s the parents of the girls who file rape complaints—sometimes after they find out she’s pregnant, or sometimes because they simply disapprove. A three-state study by the Enfold Proactive Health Trust found that 80.2% of ‘romantic’ cases were filed by parents or relatives after a girl had eloped or become pregnant.

It was one such case that a two-judge Supreme Court bench was hearing in 2024. In West Bengal, a 14-year-old girl had run off with a........

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