Experts call for halt to child abuse

A series of suggestions made for overall development of child. Launching a poster that read children have every right to lead a fuller life, Narava Prakasa Rao of Bala Vikas Foundation said that most Acts, including Right to Education, have not been implemented effectively.

Women listening to a speaker at a meeting on child rights in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. --- photo: C.V.Subrahmanyam

It is a shame to note that children are considered as soft targets for violence and sexual abuse. With repeated incidents of rape against the little ones, Bengaluru, which is known as Garden City, has been in serious contention to be tagged as one among the top five rape capital cities of India, former Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University K.V. Ramana has said. He was addressing a group of NGO representatives, child activists, members of Integrated Child Development Services and Integrated Child Protection Scheme who gathered for a meeting here on Thursday to mark the observation of Child Rights Day as the United Nations General Assembly adopted the convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1989.

Organised jointly by Visakha Forum for Child Rights (VFCR) and Child Rights Advocacy Foundation, Vijayawada, Prof. Ramana spoke on how the government, schools and every section of society play a key role in safeguarding the child rights and help provide social security to the most vulnerable group.

Poster launched

Launching a poster that read children have every right to lead a fuller life, Narava Prakasa Rao of Bala Vikas Foundation said that most Acts, including Right to Education, have not been implemented effectively.

As part of the week-long celebrations of Child Rights Day that began on Children’s Day, representatives of the forum have visited a number of institutions to educate children on child rights and POCSO Act. “Apart from Payakaraopeta and Araku Valley, we organised seminars on the subject at social welfare hostels in a couple of mandals like Devarapalli and K. Kotapadu. Prevention of child abuse should be a year-long drive. Unless all the stakeholders come together to plug gaps, heinous crimes against children will continue to rise,” Convener of VFCR R.D. Sampath Kumar said.

To enhance child’s overall development and put an end to child labour, the experts advocated introduction of sub-plan for children, vocational training to help develop survival skills and facilitating a range of summer camps.