A woman or child subject to assault, sexual or otherwise, may face more humiliation during interrogation or trial, rather than at the time of offence. It is perhaps due to the lack of sensitivity on such issues among the investigating agencies that often leaves the victims embarrassed.
At a workshop on ‘Crime against women and children’, organised by the police and judicial department at Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV) campus here on Sunday, Principal District and Sessions Judge Ch. Kanaka Durga Rao advised the investigating agencies to observe restraint and exhibit sensitivity towards cases involving women and children.
“Rather than the crime, the humiliation caused during interrogation is much more, which amounts to secondary victimisation of the victim,” Mr. Rao said, pointing to instances of the police writer, station house officer, prosecutor and others demanding the victim to repeatedly narrate the horrendous crime, thus forcing him/her to revisit the trauma again.
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“The Government is required to take care of children by providing them education, avoiding employment and protecting them from exploitation. However, in the changed context of globalisation, the forms and nature of crime against children are on the rise and it is our duty to rescue such children as well as punish the perpetrators,” he added.
While stressing the need to identify and post a single official to deal with all such crimes to avoid repetitive queries, Mr. Rao suggested to the department as well as the courts against exposing the victimised women and children before the media or revealing their names.