Parents and teachers agonise over how to tell children about sexual abuse. If the children are very young, their job becomes even trickier. This is where Kanal, a charitable organisation that works with children to create awareness of sexual abuse, has a huge role to play.
Pavakutti, as Kanal’s safe touch campaign that centres around school is named, tells children about good and bad touch through songs, stories, skits and games, added with dollops of humour.
Anson P.D. Alexander, president of Kanal, says it is necessary to provide children information about abuse. But it has to be done with sensitivity, without scarring them. Many aspects have to be kept in mind. A majority of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are not those unknown to a child but those whom they trust such as a parent, relative, neighbour, or teacher.
So, if a child is told to inform his/her father about sexual abuse and it is the father who is the perpetrator, then the purpose itself is defeated. Similarly, it is not enough to tell children that no one should touch their body parts; children may be forced or cajoled to touch perpetrators’ private parts without being aware it too is a form of abuse.
There is no roadmap or one way of doing this. Neither is telling children once enough. Children should be able to recognise that abuse can take place in different ways. That understanding can happen only if the concept of safe touch is reinforced repeatedly through innovative ways such as songs or stories, says Anson.
Kanal recently conducted its safe touch campaign at Government Lower Primary School, Thycaud. Nearly 200 children were present and child rights and Kanal activists were present.
Next phase
The next phase of Pavakutti involves conducting a painting competition for children next month. Children will be asked to paint themselves or a doll with the aim of developing a cloth doll (Pavakutti) to create awareness of body parts. Anson says safe touch drives involve use of dolls to get the message across to children. They are, however, not able to relate to dolls that don’t look like them or are dressed differently. The figure in a painting zeroed in following the competition would be used to develop the cloth dolls that the children can identify with, resulting in effective dissemination of information. The dolls will then be handed over to children, Anson says.
