In a super cool moment for India’s legal and human rights scene, Bhuwan Ribhu, the famous child rights champion and lawyer, has snagged the first-ever ‘Medal of Honour’ from the World Jurist Association (WJA). The big award was handed over during the World Law Congress, currently happening in the Dominican Republic from May 4 to May 6.
The WJA, which is the oldest global gang of jurists set up in 1963, decided to tip its hat to Ribhu’s twenty-year-long fight for safeguarding kids and ensuring justice through a mix of legal moves and getting regular folks involved. This year’s conference is seeing over 1,500 legal smarty pants and 300 speakers from more than 70 countries.
Ribhu is now rubbing shoulders with a fancy-pants crew of WJA awardees that includes big shots like Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, René Cassin, Kerry Kennedy, and King Felipe VI of Spain.
The medal was handed over by Eddy Olivares Ortega, the Labor Minister of the Dominican Republic, and Javier Cremades, the Big Cheese of the World Jurist Association. The Dominican Republic’s Women Minister, Mayra Jiménez, was also in the house during the ceremony.
In his speech, Ribhu said, “Kids should never have to go to bat for justice solo. The law needs to be their shield, and justice should be their birthright.”
Over the last two decades, Ribhu has led more than 60 Public Interest Litigations (PILs) about children’s rights, many of which have brought back game-changing rulings from the Supreme Court of India and different High Courts. In 2011, he was behind a big case that made India’s legal definition of human trafficking jive with the UN Protocol, while a 2013 campaign shone a spotlight on India’s missing kids crisis.
He’s the brains behind Just Rights for Children (JRC), which has ballooned into the planet’s biggest legal intervention squad for safeguarding kids, with over 250 organizations worldwide. Through JRC, Ribhu has helped jazz up India’s response to crimes against kids, making sure prosecution systems are stronger and there are more ways to prevent bad stuff from happening.
Ribhu’s also been a key player in shaping India’s stance against online and offline child sexual exploitation, especially the spread of Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM). His work has chipped in on efforts to end child marriages by 2030.
His advocacy gig is summed up in his book titled “When Children Have Children,” which introduced the PICKET strategy to fight child marriages. The Supreme Court gave the thumbs up to the strategy in 2024, marking a big policy change.
Giving Ribhu a big shout-out, WJA President Javier Cremades said, “Bhuwan is all about how justice is the strongest pillar of democracy. His grind has saved tons of kids and women and set legal frameworks that will keep future peeps safe.”
Ribhu’s hustle is proof of how law can be a game-changer in shaking things up. With India wrestling tough child protection challenges, his global recognition is a pat on the back and a nudge to keep pushing for changes.
