CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN INDIA: SHATTER THE SILENCE 

Shadows are beautiful, but not when they are forced upon someone...

Child Sexual Abuse, which has had been unnoticed and cautiously ignored for a long period of time, has come to acquire deserving attention with the growing trends in India whereby every one out of two children faces sexual abuse. The worst part of the problem lies in the fact that in most of the cases, it is the child’s own family member abusing the child- mentally, physically or emotionally. 

Despite the passing of the “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act” in 2012, abuses on children continue to take place at an increasingly alarming rate. The problem lies in the fact that most of the families fear to come out and lodge a complaint regarding the abuse. They feel that any knowledge regarding the same in their community will lead to a loss of their dignity and prestige in the society and may cause further problems for the child in future whereby people may refuse to accept the child as a normal individual and may ‘name and shame’ the child instead. Thus, Child Sexual Abuse remains a taboo / a social stigma in India.

While majority of the children do not develop an understanding through which they can differentiate between a ‘good touch’ and a ‘bad touch’, the few who understand are taught to be silent regarding any act of abuse, as if, it is a common thing to face for a children of that particular age. Among the umpteenth number of cases of adults taking advantage of a child’s innocence, only a few of them are actually reported and even fewer on which stringent measures are taken. 
 

Abuses take place in the form of molestation/rape which is most commonly inflicted upon a child from the following -

• Own family members 
• Teachers in Schools and tuitions 
• Strangers that a child comes into contact while travelling 

Apart from molestation, Child pornography, Prostitution and child trafficking and sexualizing children are also common forms of abuse faced by a child.  In certain cases, children are forced to touch the abuser, exposes oneself to the child and performs certain sexual acts upon the child.  This kind of actions permanently hampers the growth of a child and creates everlasting damages upon minds of the Child, sometimes creating traumas that last for a long period of time necessitating counselling and psychological treatments. 

‘Consent for kids’ is what should be prioritized. All Children must have the right to lead a life as Children. The solution does not lie in the passing of an innumerable number of acts. The solution lies in identifying the problem as a ‘social problem’ and finding solutions from the grassroots level itself. Awareness campaigns must be introduced and parents need to develop a cautious attitude towards their children and encourage children to share any difficulty they face with them freely. Also, small Children cannot differentiate between good and bad. It is the adults who can.

As we are stepping into the 21st century, if educated individuals cannot upgrade their mentality, problems dealing with children cannot be solved. As is said, Children are great imitators.

So, Why not give them something worth imitating? 

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