The recent alleged molestation of a four-year-old girl by a female peon at a Mazgaon school has once again thrown the spotlight on sexual abuse by predators of the same gender. Police officers and experts agree that in such cases, the stigma is greater, which makes it even more difficult for victims to open up about their plight.
On April 23, the Byculla police arrested the female peon for allegedly molesting a student in the bathroom during the recess. The victim told the police that she faced sexual assault more than once till she refused to go to school at all.
Police officers said the reason such cases are not much highlighted is due to lack of reporting. “There is a huge scope for registration of FIRs in such cases. If most of the victims came forward, the number would go up significantly. On an average, 40% of all rape cases go unreported. Victims of heterosexual rapes, too, are very reluctant, and victims of abuse by offenders of the same sex are more unwilling,” a senior officer with the Mumbai Police said.
Harrish Iyer, an activist who has worked in the field of child sexual abuse, says while a study into the cases where women are the offenders has not been possible due to lack of data, it remains a fact that such cases are not uncommon.
“One of the problems is the need to be politically correct. The fact that a woman can do something like this is still not acceptable to many. I once made a statement at a conference about the need for a provision in the law to deal with cases where women are offenders, and that created an uproar,” Mr. Iyer said.
Experts said the trauma in such cases also includes a certain sense of betrayal, and concern on part of victims as to whether they will be believed if they speak out. “For example, young girls are taught to look at the male as their enemy. If they do tell their parents about being targeted by a woman, they are afraid that their parents might not believe them, and tell them that they are imagining things,” Mr. Iyer said.
In order to encourage reporting of sexual abuse, regardless of the gender of the offenders, the police try to impress upon minors through Police Didi programmes. The programmes, which are held in all schools in the city on a regular basis, consist of female police officers holding sessions. “Our officers educate children about good touch and bad touch, and time and again reiterate that a bad touch can be from anyone, regardless of relation or gender. During these sessions, we urge children to confide in their parents or any elder they trust about incidents of abuse that they may have faced or are aware of,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti said.
