Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Thursday said more children are at the risk of sexual abuse than child labour.
On a visit to the city as part of his Bharat Yatra campaign for child safety, Mr. Satyarthi said: “When India marches the world marches, when India awakens the world awakens, and when India acts the world acts.”
He said yatras in the past helped ratify global laws on child labour and made education a fundamental right, but this yatra is different. “We are fighting against fear, silence, apathy and inertia. Child sexual abuse is often considered a social taboo where even parents often ask children to stay silent. We need to synergise efforts across departments to tackle this challenge. It cannot just remain a child labour or juvenile justice issue.”
Addressing government officials and NGOs fighting for victims of child sexual abuse at Y.B. Chavan auditorium, he said, “If you are in the government in any capacity, you have a moral and social responsibility. Just save one generation of Maharashtra and I promise that the subsequent generations will take care of themselves.”
Mr. Satyarthi said of the 15,000 criminal cases in the State, nearly 4,800 cases have been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. There is 90% pendency of such cases across India.
‘Reduce pendency’
He said, “If no other cases are added to this list, Maharashtra will still need 17 years to dispose of the existing POCSO cases. I demand that you should bring this pendency down to 17 months or lesser. Each one of us needs to to rise above the ‘chalta hai’ attitude to deal with the rising incidence of child sexual abuse and trafficking.”
Pravin Guge, chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said, “Mr. Satyarthi has brought this issue before the nation. When government officials work together with the public at large then it has an effect.”
