Juhi Damodar.
Advocate Juhi Damodar, Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Udupi, says a child can be pulled away from a parent by someone other than either parent, and the law is yet to catch up.
Picture a child caught in a custody battle. The usual story has two sides: one parent accused of turning the child against the other. But what if neither parent is the one doing it? That is the question Advocate Juhi Damodar has been asking, and it sits at the heart of her work.
It is called third-party parental alienation, a term Juhi uses for situations where "a person other than either parent may influence or contribute to the alienation of a child from a parent or family member." "The discussion is often limited to one parent allegedly alienating the child against the other," she says. "In reality, family dynamics can be considerably more complicated."
Juhi knows these courtrooms well. A legal professional practising since 1998, she began at the Mumbai High Court, Maharashtra and Goa Bench, and has built a 28+ year career across criminal law, civil litigation, family law and social issues. Today she is the Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Udupi, bringing nearly three decades of legal experience into institutional child protection. She is also a published author and anthology writer.
What troubles her most is how often a child gets lost in the noise. "In many family disputes, the voices of adults become louder than the voice of the child," she says. Children may be caught between parents, pressured to take sides, or kept from meaningful access to a parent. Her concern is that a child should never be "reduced to the subject of a dispute between adults", but recognised as an individual with rights, dignity, emotional needs and a voice.
That belief runs through her book, Justice for Every Child: The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Going beyond a section-by-section commentary on POCSO, it brings together law, psychology, investigation, trial, rehabilitation and post-trial care, with practical checklists and model formats for professionals working in child protection. The book has been covered by ANI, The Tribune, Punjab Kesari, WebIndia123, Herald Globe and Ahmedabad Mirror, among others. Its message: protecting a child takes more than applying legislation. It takes knowledge, sensitivity and accountability.
Her voice now travels well beyond the courtroom. Juhi is a TEDx Speaker, has spoken at an ECIPH Dialogue on public health and law, and discussed third-party parental alienation on "Manthan with Laxman." Her writing on family law, child rights, POCSO and social justice has appeared in legal and literary publications, including Jus Corpus. In 2025, she received the Global Women in Business and Leadership Award.
At the core of it all is a simple idea: the law must keep pace with how people actually live. "Social relationships, family structures, technology, medical practices and human behaviour are changing rapidly, while the law does not always evolve at the same pace," she says. That gap shows up in places many do not expect, from marriages that last only days but litigation that drags on for years, to people falsely implicated in criminal cases, whose liberty, reputation and livelihood can suffer.
She is also looking ahead. Deepfakes, online grooming, cyberbullying and image-based abuse, she says, are creating harms that traditional laws were not necessarily designed to address. AI will help with legal research and access to information, but she is firm that "technology should remain a tool rather than a substitute for professional judgment," especially where children, families and individual rights are involved. Her interests also include public health and law, medico-legal issues and senior-citizen protection. Animal welfare, in particular, is a cause she hopes to develop further, believing compassion should reach those who cannot speak for themselves.
What next? Juhi says she has several substantial projects and legal works in development, but keeps the details under wraps until the time is right. Her long-term vision is clear: law that is contemporary, responsive and grounded in lived realities, with work that goes beyond explaining what the law is to asking what it needs to become, through research, writing, advocacy and law reform.
For Juhi, the courtroom is only one place where justice happens. "The law must therefore translate into awareness, protection, accountability and meaningful change," she says, "so that it ultimately serves those who are aggrieved and gives them a stronger voice." Her endeavour, in her own words, is to contribute to a world where every child is heard, protected and given a stronger voice.
