|
who we are what we do volunteer contribute contact us arpan in news links arpan in news
The
Free Press Journal “Free
Press Journal and Karmayog.org have entered into a collaboration to
promote the involvement and empowerment of citizens and community groups
in civic and social issues. We will jointly present a special column every
Thursday for featuring articles on social, civic and development issues.
The articles carried herein will cover a diverse range of topics ranging
from disaster management to public health, improving city governance to
senior citizens, etc. November
19th is the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse. Arpan, an
NGO shows how to make this day a call for action to increase prevention
measures and protective skills, raise public awareness and increase
denunciation of abuse. Children are often vulnerable to abuse, be it
physical, verbal, emotional or sexual. One
in every 5 girls and one in ever 7 boys is sexually abused! The abuser is
often a family member, close relative, friend or neighbour, a person who
is more knowledgeable than the child and is trusted by the child. Child
Sexual Abuse: A definition Child
sexual abuse is any sexual act directed at a minor. Sexual abuse affects
the child negatively causing many ill effects such as:
“We
need to talk about child sexual abuse for prevention and cure because
children can’t!” Pooja Taparia, Founder, Arpan. Aware
parents and children can help prevent child sexual abuse. Recognising an
abusive situation is a skill for both children and parents, which can help
them stay away from such situations. Understanding the concept of “Good
Touch – Bad Touch” is the first building block to this. Good
Touch – anything that makes us feel good and leaves us feeling happy and
comfortable such as holding hands with friends, sharing meals, warm hugs
from loving parents. Bad
Touch - anything that makes us feel bad confused and leaves us uneasy,
excited or uncomfortable; touches involving our special parts that are
private to us, touches that are to be kept a secret. Say
‘NO’ to any action that causes discomfort or unease to the child.
Teach your children to say NO to the Bad Touch. You teach your children
about crossing the road, you should also teach them about good touch and
bad touch – it is as important! IF
YOUR CHILD BECOMES A VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE: Step
1: Recognize that the child has been sexually abused. Step
2: Help the child talk about this experience. Step
3: Seek professional support to help the child heal. Step
1: Recognizing that the child has been sexually abused. Most
children don’t report abuse so parents need to understand abuse based on
the child’s behavioral changes. No single behaviour alone determines
that a child has been sexually abused. Some of the behavioural changes
that children elicit after undergoing sexual abuse are:
These
behavioural changes may be indicative of sexual abuse, but are not
necessarily as a result of sexual abuse, there could be other factors as
well. Step
2: Helping the child talk about the abuse. Talking
about the trauma of sexual abuse is the first step to recovering from it.
It is however, first important to understand why they don’t talk about
sexual abuse themselves, and what enables them to talk about it sometimes
later. Why
they don’t talk about the abuse:
Why
they talk, eventually:
When
children finally do talk about abuse, it is very important to handle it
carefully. Rule
# 1: Remember that the child is not at fault Rule
# 2: Make sure the child understands Rule #1. TIPS
TO HANDLE DISCLOSURE
Disclosure
is difficult for children. It may be months, years or maybe even never,
for a victim to talk about sexual abuse. Be patient and supportive. Step
3: Seeking professional help to help the child heal. Sexually
abused children often feel guilt, shame, anger, sadness and confusion.
Child sexual abuse is not the child’s fault – but the child doesn’t
understand, make sure you do! This
is where professional counseling helps the child and the family:
One
Ngo that provides professional help and support in dealing with all stages
of support for Child Sexual Abuse, ranging from counseling to legal steps
in Arpan - an informal body of volunteers who have compiled this article. Contacts: |
