The Hindu : Campaign against child sexual abuse launched

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 04, 2003

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Campaign against child sexual abuse launched

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MARCH 3. A recent study of 357 female students in Delhi reveals that 63 per cent of them had suffered some form of child sexual abuse (CSA). Sakshi, the organisation that conducted the study, also found that 22 per cent fell in the category of very serious abuse, and the abusers in 20 per cent of the cases were persons they had complete faith in -- fathers, relatives or family friends.

Recognising the need for collective action to combat such abuse, which is rampant but insidious, six non-government organisations (NGOs) from the Capital today launched a national campaign against child sexual abuse. The campaign, by the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), Snehi, Angaja Foundation, Saarthak, Butterflies and Haq, aims to create awareness and sensitise stakeholders including the police, judiciary, lawyers and doctors in dealing with cases of CSA, break the myths and social stigma associated with the offence, provide a platform for people to discuss the issue, and work with the stakeholders to establish an alternative support system for the victims.

The vice-chairperson of Snehi, Jyoti Uplenchwar, called for the police, judiciary and doctors to cooperate with NGOs so that the victim was comforted and not traumatised further.

Ms. Uplenchwar spoke of the immense psychological trauma a child goes through after he or she is abused. "The trauma also affects the future of the child,'' she said. Representatives from other NGOs also highlighted the fact that several cases of CSA went unreported due to parents' fear of social ostracism and the child was often made to feel ashamed and guilty, resulting in self-blame and long-term psychological damage to the child.

``Unless NGOs intervene, the child receives no help from any government agency,'' said Raka Sinha Bal of the Angaja Foundation. She said that the system was not sensitive to the child victim. Some of the NGOs are involved in sensitising and training judges of the lower courts and police officers in dealing with such cases.

Convenor of the campaign and Director, HRLN, Aparna Bhat, pointed out that there was much delay and harassment to the victim through the justice delivery system itself. Javed Abidi, uncle of a four-year-old child abused by a teacher in the recent case at Mirambika school, said the family's experience with the system had been extremely frustrating. After the child gave his statement to the Metropolitan and Link Magistrates, the case was transferred to the court of another magistrate after an application filed by the defence lawyers without the knowledge of the victim's family. "We have found that many other countries have far more child-friendly laws than India,'' he asserted.

Ms. Bhat felt that the law did not deal with the offence adequately. This was also reportedly the complaint of judges and prosecutors in a study conducted in the lower courts. As of now, punishment for child sexual abuse is handed down after interpretation of laws related to offences against women. She advocated amendment of the law providing for in-camera hearings, in cases where children were the victims, to allow a person they were comfortable with and an NGO representative to assist them during the trial. Ms. Bhat added that the accused need not be present at the trial, as this only added to the child's mental agony.

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