Bangalore, India (July 18, 2014): Child sexual abuse (CSA) is one of the worst perils that India is facing today. The rape of a six-year-old child in school premises on July 17 in Bangalore is just an example which has thrown open a can of worms.
The rape of a six-year-old child in a well-known school, Vibgyor High School in East Bangalore, has brought back the focus on child sexual abuse. In India, this issue has been long ignored. Though, recommendations by Justice Verma Commission Report were followed and changes were made in rape laws. Still, such cases are increasing day by day.
A file photo of anti-rape protest.
This case is not of the first-of-its-kind in Bangalore. The first such case emerged on January 21, 2012 when the Bangalore police arrested Paul Francis Meekan, the headmaster of the Trio World School in Kodigehalli, on charges of sexually abusing a school boy, according to a news report in The Telegraph.
April 19, 2014: A security guard sexually abused a seven-year-old girl in Marathahalli. Raju (28), from Assam, took her out of a building on the pretext of buying her chocolates.
November 6, 2013: A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped repeatedly by Ashwin Tabrekar, a software engineer from Hulimavu. She was his wife’s niece.
A study conducted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007 reported that two out of three children face physical abuse, and 42 per cent of children face sexual abuse in some form. According to Asian Centre for Human Rights, number of reported child rapes had gone up from 2,113 in 2001 to 7,112 in 2011.
According to major findings of Ministry of Women and Child Development study which was conducted with the help of UNICEF, Save the Child and a Delhi-based NGO, PRAYAS:
a) Across different forms of abuse, the younger children (5-12 years of age) have reported higher levels of abuse.
b) Boys, as compared to girls, are equally at risk of abuse.
c) Fifty per cent abuses are persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility.
d) Seventy per cent of abused child respondents never reported the matter to anyone.
e) 53.22 per cent children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse.
f) Children in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi reported the highest incidence of sexual assault.
g) Children on street, children at work and children in institutional care reported the highest incidence of sexual assault.
The study offers revealing statistics on the extent and magnitude of various forms of child abuse – an area by and large unexplored. The study has also thrown up data on variations among different age groups, gender variations, variations across different States. The findings will help to strengthen the understanding of all stakeholders, including families, communities, civil society organisations and the State.
Above-writeup is partial reproduction of a detailed write-up published by niticentral.com under title: “Child sexual abuse in India: An alarming problem” by: Aliya Abbas at source url: http://www.niticentral.com/2014/07/18/child-sexual-abuse-in-india-an-alarming-problem-233698.html