|
who we are what we do volunteer contribute contact us arpan in news links arpan in news
DNA (Daily News and Analysis) Article
by Haima Deshpande NGOs and authorities are trying their best to bring such offenders to the book. Though there is a rise in child sexual assaults, few come up with complaints. As World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse passes, DNA looks at the scenario. Spotted some erratic behaviour in your child? Then, watch out, s/he could have been sexually abused by someone. Like 11-year-old Deepak. His mother was horrified to find him surfing pornographic websites. Severely beaten up, the boy had to be taken to a doctor. The child was then referred to a counsellor. There the boy spoke his heart out: he had been repeatedly sodomised by his maternal uncle. Tapti, 7, suddenly started behaving strangely. Worried, her mother rushed her to her favourite school teacher. Persistent questioning and veiled threats to the child brought out the answer: She was sexually fondled by her father. Such tales are unending. As yet another World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse on November 19 is passed, social activists and law-enforcing agencies face the toughest hurdle of getting parents to acknowledge such cases and register complaints. A sustained effort is now being made by a group of non- government organisations (NGOs) to generate awareness among parents and teachers to bring such offenders to book. As
new cases of child sexual abuse emerge, the once conservative
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meetings are now stages for NGOs to
inject awareness. Specific training programmes and modules are being
developed to help parents and teachers tackle the growing menace of child
sexual abuse. “Besides, as most children do not report sexual abuse, both the parents and teachers should spot a kid’s behavioural changes,” she said. Interestingly, there is no data available on child abuse either with NGOs or the law-enforcing bodies. “That’s because we are busy with individual cases and cannot sit together to collect such data,” said Preeti Patkar, director of the NGO, Prerana. “Though more and more cases are getting reported, it is still the tip of an iceberg. Enforcing agencies are not proactive and the onus of the blame is put on the victim. There is a gender bias as well. If a boy child has been sodomised, such abuse never surfaces,” said Patkar. “There is a strong need for such a law to secure convictions for offenders. Many times evidence is lost before the case comes up for trial as offenders walk scotfree,” said Patkar. Prerana, in collaboration with Asia Foundation, is publishing an elaborate trilingual (English, Hindi and Marathi) handbook on the victim-witness programme. It will be distributed to public and at the PTA meetings. “It is difficult to prove child sexual abuse and the victim is not clear with the language or the names of the private body parts,” said Venkatraman. Though social activists and NGOs have been applying pressure on government for a comprehensive anti- abuse policy, it will be a long time before even a draft policy is ready, said Mantralaya sources. They say there is also pressure on the government to draft the victim-witness protection programme to stop witnesses from turning hostile. Spot the signs. How to spot behavioral changes in sexually abused
children
Sexual activity at early age |
