Child Abuse

''Children are like wet cement, whatever falls on them leaves an impression'. Child abuse occurs far more commonly than most people realise. It violates the most basic rights of children and adolescents. This painful reality wich occurs behind closed doors is an underreported crime largely affecting Latin American, American, African and  Asian populated countries. One of the factors that makes them highly vulnerable is their lack of autonomy due to their young age and the consequent high levels of emotional, economic and social dependency on adults or institutions which make it difficult for them to put a stop to abuse, request help or report the situation.                

Child Abuse refers to intended, unintended and perceived maltreatment, whether habitual or not of the child. There are various ways a child can be abused including any of the following;

1. Psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual and emotional maltreatment.
2. Any act,deed or word which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child or human being.
3. Unreasonable deprivation of his/her basic needs for survival such as food and shelter or failure to give timely medical treatment to an injured child resulting in serious imparement of the childs growth and development or in his/her permanent incapacity or death.

A National Study on Child Abuse was undertaken and released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India in 2007 with the support of UNICEF. The study has provided revealing statistics on the magnitude of various forms of child abuse prevalent in India. Findings indicated that children on the street, children at work and children in institutional care reported highest incidence of sexual assault. The cases stems within the family environment, the perpetrators being close family relatives. The intention of conducting such a study was to develop a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of child abuse & formulating of appropriate policies/programmes to effectively curb the same.

Evidence suggests that only a small part of the violence perpetrated against children is reported to the legal system and investigated by authorities and only a few offenders are brought to trial.

Luckily, we now have a special law passed in India addressing the issue of sexual offences against children - The Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act 2012, the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 22nd May 2012 & earlier passed by the Rajya Sabha on 10th May 2012.

The Act was drafted to strengthen the legal provisions for the protection of children from abuse and exploitation. Sexual Offences are currently covered under the Indian Penal Code. However, the code does not distinguish between adult and child victims neither does it provide for all types of sexual offences against children.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act 2012, defines a child as any person below the age of 18 years and provides protection to a child below 18 years from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography. These offences have been clearly defined for the first time in law. It provides for stringent punishments depending on the gravity of  the offence.

Inspite of  this special law being passed many police and medical personnel still need to be sensitized on it.Authorities often tell parents not to report abuse. Even a single childs silence is massively dangerous because on average a single molester will abuse 48 more victims. Despite this risk , police and doctors often make statements like '' the child's hymen is torn. Dont report it. No one will marry her''.  The subtext of these statements is the quintessential indian fear- What will people say? Also sadly everyone absorbs the myth that males arent victims. The myth implies that a boy or man who has been sexually abused will never be a 'real man'. Our society expects male to protect themselves. But boys are not men. They are children. They  are weaker and more vulnerable than those who exploit and abuse them. As a result of the patriarchal mindset boys find it more difficult to report abuse. However what happens to the children at young age does not define them as adults.

Child Abuse is largely preventable.Unfortunately the burden of prevention rests on the tiny shoulders of our children. A  parent's support is the single best predictor of a childs recovery, mostly in the form of reassurance- without fear, sadness or anger-  which will set the tone of recovery.We have to take charge of prevention by talking about sexual abuse to our children early and often. Pedophiles have themselves said that they would find it much harder to abuse children who were aware of the abuse. Talking to children about body parts and inappropriate touching ia an important first step. Thus we need to break cultural taboo on sex and talk about it openly. And while we teach our kids to respect elders, let's also teach them to scream loudly if the elders do something hurtful. Childhood knows no worry or anxiety, no good or evil.

Therefore

''Children should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.''