SILENT VICTIMS Sexual abuse of children is a very real problem in India

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SILENT VICTIMS Sexual abuse of children is a very real problem in India
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SDA-RF-CH-1A.13

SILENT VICTIMS
PILAR CAPURRO/AP

Sexual abuse of children is a very real problem in India, and the situation is aided by the absence of
effective legislation and the silence that surrounds the offence.
CR - 1 A■
ASHA KRISHNAKUMAR

/ am filled with shame, disgust. guilt and
self-esteem. What I thought all along
^:as affection, I realise now — after 12 years
ofsexual relationship with my uncle — was
sexual abuse.
- Anjana, 15 years.
HOCKINGLY, over half the children
in the country share Anjana’s anguish.
India has die dubious distinction of having
the world’s largest number of sexually
abused children with a child below 16 years
raped every 155th minute, a child below 10
every 13th hour, and one in ever}' 10 chil­
dren sexually abused at any point in time.
These figures resoundingly break the silence
that surrounds sexual abuse of children and
perpetuates the evil.
According to the World Health Orga­
nisation (WHO), one in every four girls and
one in ever}' seven boys in the world are
sexually abused. But Lois J. Engelbrecht, a
researcher working on die problems of child
sexual abuse, quotes studies showing that
over 50 per cent of children in India are
sexually abused, a rate that is higher dian in
any odier country (see interview). Huma

S

90

Khan of the Kanpur-based Centre for the
Study of Human Rights terms child sexual
abuse as one of the least documented vio­
lations. But studies made across India, docu­
mented in Grace Poore’s resource book The
Children We Sacrifice (which accompany
the documentary on sexually abused girls)
show the wide prevalence of the problem.
The Delhi-based Sakslii Violation In­
tervention Centre in a 1997 study diat in­
terviewed 350 schoolchildren, found that
63 per cent of the girl respondents had been
sexually abused by a family member; 25 per
cent raped, and over 30 per cent sexually
abused by the father, grandfadier or a male
friend of the family. A 1999 study by the
Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sci­
ences revealed that 58 of the 150 girls in­
terviewed had been raped before they were
10 years old.
RAH I, a Delhi-based organisation that
provides support to victims of sexual abuse,
reports diat of the 1,000 upper and highermiddle class college students interviewed, 76
per cent had been abused as children, 31 per
cent by someone known to the family and
40 per cent by a family member, and 50 per
cent of them before die age of 12.
“It is time we acknowledged the prob­

lem and did something about it,” says Dr.
Preedii Menon, a Chennai-based paediatric
psychiatrist dealing with child sexual abuse.
“Very simply,” she says, “sexual abuse is
when a powerful person uses a vulnerable
person for sexual gratification.” It can take
several forms - from verbal, visual, tactile,
exhibitionist and pornographic offences and
fondling to anything that sexually stimulates
the offender. The strategy of the offender
can vary from tricking, luring, forcing and
pressuring to threatening the victim. Ac­
cording to Dr. Preethi, it is an abuse of
power and a violation of the child’s right to a
normal and trusting relationship.
The main cause of the high prevalence
of child abuse in India is the way children
are perceived - virtually as properties of
adults. Says Lois: “It is also important how
boys are treated as over 90 per cent of the
abusers are men.” Also, says the Bangalore­
based child psychiatrist Dr. Shekar Seshadri,
often, in protecting the family structure, de­
cisions and judgments are based on the con­
cept diat the individual derives strength
from the family, and it, in turn, from the
communit}', and the community, from the
count!}'; this tends to drown the needs and
trauma of the individual.
FRONTLINE, OCTOBER 24. 2003

The jeevan shala at Manibeli, one of the first of its kind.

their primary education in/eerww shalas.
This changed in 1992, and/now the
NBA’s work is recognised by the State.
After a recent visit to the valley, R.R.
Patil promised to provide the jeevan sha­
las with facilities that included uniforms
and midday meals. The schools have so
far been run by village/ communities,
who contribute cash and grain. Parents
either pay for tuition qr donate grain.
Much of the materials c^jme from private
supporters outside. Teachers are skilled
in making teaching aids and die children
have been taught to use the pedal gener­
ators that produce electricity for the
schools.
/
FRONTLINE, OCTOBER 24. 2003

The Minister was introduced to the
jeevan shalas by 25-year-old Geeta Vasave, the first woman panchayat leader of
the region. Geeta, who is from Nimgavan, was the first Adivasi woman in the
Narmada Valley to graduate in Marathi.
Like her father, she is the elected sarpanch of Undya Roshmal Panchayat.
“There were four other women contes­
tants but I was the most educated and so
I won,” she said. With 20 villages, Un­
dya Roshmal is rhe biggest panchayat in
Akrani tehsil. In the recently held elec­
tions, NBA representatives won 10 out
of 13 seats in this panchayat.
Inspired in every way by NBA leader

Medha Patkar, Geeta is one of
the key Adivasi activists of the
NBA and has been involved in
the activities of the non-gov­
ernmental organisation since
she was in the sixth standard.
Determined to do what she can
to save the valley, Geeta be­
lieves that “the only way for
Adivasis to progress is to con­
vert forest villages into revenue
villages. All these government
yojanas (schemes) have been
useless. Adivasis have a bett^L
idea of their rights after
Andolan came here,” she said.
The NBA is primarily seen
as an organisation that fights
for the rights of displaced peo­
ple. But the fact is that the
NBA is not just about protests.
Keenly aware that the govern­
ments of the three States in­
volved in the Narmada Valley projects
are likely to remain unresponsive to the
plight of the displaced, the NBA, along
with volunteers and other NGOs, has
undertaken the task of reconstructing
their lives and proving that there are al­
ternative, sustainable forms of develop­
ment.
Amid the prevalent loss and de­
struction in the Narmada Valley, Bilgaon’s micro-hydel project, the jeevan
shalas and the presence of an educated
Adivasi woman sarpanch are instances
that prove that decentralised alterna­
tives are a part of the new development
paradigm. ■
89

Says Radliika Chandiramani, coordina­
tor of the Delhi-based TARSHI, an orga­
nisation that deals with reproductive and
sexual health issues: "In India, children are
expected to respect and obey adults. This is
a major problem that perpetuates child sex­
ual abuse.” As Radhika points out. the chil­
dren. taught to obey adults implicidy are
abused only by adults and that too, from
within the family. "How can the child say
‘no’?” she asks. “Yes” has no meaning when
the child has no option to say “no”. Yet,
every child that is abused suffers from guilt
and shame throughout his/her life.
According to Dr. Preethi, no child is
safe; every child is vulnerable to sexual
abuse. In her documentary “The Children
■7e Sacrifice”, Grace Poore calls sexually
abused children the victims of a culture that
prioritises family harmony, honour and du­
ty more than individual trauma and pain.
The “silence about sex” culture forbids par­
ents from talking to their children about
sexuality, and frowns upon any non-sexual
intimate relationship with the opposite gen­
der. The problem, according to the Chen­
nai-based psychiatrist Dr. S. Vijayakumar,
does not appear big simply because it is sup­
pressed. These factors contribute to a high
rate of child sexual abuse in India.
There are, according to Lois, primarily
four driving factors that lead to child sexual
abuse - the need to abuse a child sexually;
convincing oneself about the act; building a
good relationship with the people around
the child; and gaining the child’s trust.
“There is thus,” she says, “much time and a
number of wav's to stop child sexual abuse.”
prevention, a recent report by the Delhileased Voluntary Healdi Association of In­
dia argues, is easier especially as over 85 per
cent of the offenders are those whom the
children know and trust. Invariably, die fa­
miliarity' and the trust they enjoy with the
children - usually' built over time - make
them abuse the power over the children.
Prevention can be focussed at diree lev­
els. At the primary level, the focus can be on
removing the causes, strengthening the
child’s competence to recognise and react,
increasing parental awareness, strengthening
social vigilance, and bringing in effective
and punitive penal policy. At the secondary
level, the emphasis should be on early detec­
tion, quick intervention and provision of a
supportive environment in schools and fam­
ilies. Tertiary intervention should involve
coordination among the police, courts,
counsellors, doctors and social workers.
The offenders generally fall into two
broad categories - paedophiles or fixated
persons, and regressed individuals. While
the first category plans the incident well and
is more dangerous, the latter, which is more
FRONTLINE, OCTOBER 24. 2003

common in India, comes mosdy from with­
in the family. According to Lois, while sex
abusers in general are clever, intelligent and
manipulative, paedophiles are even more so
- they fix their target and plan and execute
the act meticulously. The regressed offend­
ers usually abuse children to relieve die stress
they are unable to cope with. Hence the
victims of die regressed are usually children
from within the family who are accessible
and over whom they on exert power. Pae­
dophiles, on an average, have 300 victims in
their lifetime - though some are document­
ed to have had over 1,000 - and die re­
gressed five to seven victims. Anita Ratnam
of the Bangalore-based Samvada, which
suppons victims of sexual abuse, says that
sexual abuse episodes are die results of op­
portunistic, calculated and rational moves.
According to Lois, boys are equally af­
fected by sexual abuse. She argues that it
may be worse for them when men abuse
them sexually. Many sexually abused boys
develop the fear that they are homosexuals
themselves or have been infected and have
to become homosexuals. Also, Indian fam­
ilies do nor protect boys as much as they do
girls. This may also be responsible for over
90 per cent of sexual abusers being men.
Says Dr. Preethi Menon: “Sexual abuse
has immediate as well as long-term effects
on die child, from emotional and behaviou­
ral problems to abnormal sexual behaviour
and psychiatric disorders. Suicidal tenden­
cies and drug abuse are common long-term
effects.”
According to Dr. Vijayakumar, sexual
abuse leaves a deep emotional scar in chil­
dren primarily because the act is done secre­
tively. He says: “There is a clear behavioural
and emorional partem in die abused.” To
begin with, the child hardly talks about the
incident. And, even if the child does, no one
takes her seriously. The child then begins to
feel that there is something wrong with her
and develops a low self-esteem. This pushes
her into a guilt trap. As she grows up, her
compulsive behaviour further reinforces her
guilt. Several adult problems, according to
him, have their roots in abuse in childhood.
The report by the Department of
Women and Child Development on the
implementation of the Convention of Child
Rights in India, prepared for the United
Nations Committee on the Rights of die
Child, has identified child sexual abuse as a
priority issue for immediate action.
Although child abuse is rampant, India
has no separate legislation to deal with it.
The legal remedies available include the laws
on rape (Section 375 of die Indian Penal
Code), sexual molestation (Section 354 of
the IPC) and sodomy (Section 377 of the
IPC). But rape laws only recognise sexual

crimes involving penile penetration, and are
totally dependent on medical evidence.
Such evidence is very difficult to get, as child
sexual abuse is usually not one isolated in­
cident but a series of incidents; it even in­
volves episodes in which rhe offender does
not touch the victim. The sexual molesta­
tion law covers all sexual offences “diat out­
rage die modesty of the victim”, other than
penile penetration. However, these two are
bailable offences and attract only puni­
shments of a maximum of two years in jail
and/or a fine of few diousand rupees. Only
Section 377, which criminalises sodomy, is
harsh. Though diis section can be used in
the case ofchild sexual abuse, its reference to
“unusual sexual offences makes it difficult
for child victims to use diis option as a legal
remedy. As there is no clear definition of
sexual abuse, the victims are largely ar the
mercy of the judiciary’s discretion, says
Chennai-based lawyer R. Rajaram.
According to the VHAI report, a child
victim suffers four times - at die time of the
offence, when narrating die incident, during
medical examination and if brought to die
court. According to the study, the silence
about sex-related matters and the lengthy
and cumbersome legal procedures perpetu­
ate the problem in India. The average time
taken for a sexual abuse case to find its way
from the lower courts to die higher courts is
10-15 years. Between 1992 and 1994, 48
cases of child sexual abuse were reported in
the newspapers. The children affected were
in the 8-10 age group, barring one who was
six mondis old. The VHAI report argues
that if and when the cases come to die
courts for hearing, die children would have
become adults and may want to erase the
nightmare of their experiences from their
consciousness. Dragging the children and
their mothers to court for years, the report
argues, is “secondary victimisation”, and is
often worse than die offence itself.
Child sexual abuse seems to be pervasive
because, as Lois says, it is hardly spoken
about, and even if it is, there are hardly any
legal measures to deal with it. Court pro­
ceedings, if things come to that level, are a
long-drawn, traumatic process. This, she ar­
gues, is what the abusers rake advantage of.
Most often, sexually abused children
make no noise about their traumatic experi­
ences. It is diis diat encourages offenders.
Dr. Preedii agrees diat “this secrecy has to be
broken”; for this, she lays stress on talking to
children about sexual abuse, listening to
diem, believing diem, and recognising
symptoms such as physical complaints and
behavioural and psychological changes. She
says: “Silence does not mean all is fine with
the child.” A child’s silence can be eloquent.
Only, if we care to listen. ■
91

I CHILD RIGHTS

‘Every child needs to learn
personal safety’
Interview with Lois J. Engelbrecht.
“Some habitual child sexual abusers are
guilt}' of over 1,000 offences in their life­
time,” says Lois J. Engelbrecht, foun­
der of the Centre for the Prevention and
Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse in the
Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. Now
in Chennai to set up Tulir, a centre to
deal with child sexual abuse, Lois insists
that child sexual abuse is not a problem of
individuals alone but a public health issue
that has to be dealt with by the commu­
nin'.
Author of over a dozen books and
training material on addressing child sex­
ual abuse, the Riyadh-based Lois has put
together innovative teaching material for
children, called “Personal Safety”. Cre­
ating awareness, writing curricula for
schools, and equipping parents, teachers,
children and social workers with skills to
deal with the problem have been part of
her crusade against child sexual abuse.
The Tamil Nadu-born Lois, who has
conducted seminars in several cities in
Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, Viet­
nam and the Philippines, was award­
ed the Honour of Recognition by the
Philippines President for developing
a non-governmental organisation
(NGO) movement against child sex­
ual abuse.
A member of the International
Society for the Prevention of Child
Abuse and Neglect as well as the Na­
tional Association of School Work­
ers, United States, Lois says that
putting in place a law to deal with the
problem alone is not a solution.
What is most important is to talk
about the issue and create awareness
among children and those concerned
about them. She agrees that this may
not be easy, but she insists that a
beginning has to be made.
Lois spoke to Asha Krishnakumar on the complex issue of child
sexual abuse, including the factors
contributing to the problem, the
trauma faced by the abused children
and the need for support groups at
the local level. Excerpts from the in­
92

terview:
► What constitutes child sexual abuse?
Very broadly, sexual abuse occurs
when a powerful person uses a vulnerable
person for his/her sexual gratification. A
child is defined as someone less than 18
years. The offender is older and more
powerful, though not necessarily an
adult. Increasingly, we find more and
more sex offenders starting off even in
their adolescence. There are so many
ways to get sexual satisfaction - physical
such as touching and manipulating pri­
vate body parts, and penetration; or ver­
bal such as cracking a bad or vulgar joke;
harassment such as making obnoxious
telephone calls; or visual such as pornog­
raphy (forcing children to look at or par­
ticipate in it).
► How common is child sexual abuse in
general, and in India in particular?
According to a number of studies
made in India, more than half of the chil­
dren here are sexually abused. This is ap­

palling. The victims are boys as often as
girls. In the Philippines, our study
showed that about 30 per cent of the
children were seriously abused and nearly
48 per cent complained that they
receiving unwanted physical contacts. iWi
the U.S., the figure is one in four for girls
and one in five for boys (according to
some studies, one in seven for boys). In
Hanoi (Vietnam), informal research
shows that 15-20 per cent of the children
were sexually abused. In general, rhe fig­
ures seems to be higher in India than in
any other country for which data are
available.
► Why is it higher in India?
Partly because of how children are
treated in India. In India we own our
children. A lot of it is also because of the
poor understanding sexuality and sex. In
a culture that does not allow you to talk
about sex or does not permit you to have
a non-sex intimate relationship with the
opposite sex, there is a good chance for
higher rates of sexual abuse. The lim­
its set for relationships are important.
Here there is a male right to sexu»
access. Therefore, it is seen as always
the girl child’s fault if she is abused.
► What factors contribute to child
sexual abuse within the family and
in society?
David Finkelhor, the prolific
U.S.-based researcher on this issue,
has come up with four preconditions
for child sexual abuse. That these
four pieces have to fit together for the
crime to happen means that there are
a lot of ways to prevent it. And yet, so
many children are sexually abused,
which shows our failure in prevent­
ing it.
First, there needs to be a person
with a desire to have sex with chil­
dren or is aroused by children. There
are many paraphiliacs (sexually per­
verse people) in society. There are
those who are aroused by amputees,
by the smell of the feet, sweat and so
on. The causes for all this are com­
plex.
FRONTLINE, OCTOBER 24, 2003

The “White March” rally organised in Lisbon, Portugal, to protest against the sexual abuse of children, on September 27. The
rally, attended by 4,000 people, took place ahead of the opening on October 7 of the trial of a man formally charged with 35
acts against four minors.

It was earlier believed dial sex offend­
ers were diemselves abused. Bui this is
noi often true. Maybe about half of them
were. Bur all sex offenders do come from
chaotic backgrounds that introduced
them to sex inappropriately; something
in their life that affected their sexual be■aviour. A lot of it is depends on how
society' treats boys, how they are trauma­
tised and how it reflects in their beha­
viour later. This is important, as 85-90
per cent of the offenders are men.
Second, after needing sex with chil­
dren, they have to overcome their inter­
nal inhibitions that stop them from doing
the wrong things - conscience, empathy
and so on. We learn what is right or
wrong from our families, religious teach­
ings, societal laws and so on. The sex
offenders have to convince themselves.
This depends on the grooming process.
Many sex offenders do not have good
mechanisms to cope with stress. They are
called regressed offenders. They indulge
in sexual abuse to relieve their stress.
They generally abuse children in their
own families as they are easily accessible.
There are also those who plan the act.
These are the most dangerous. They are
generally intelligent and manipulative.
They' convince themselves that what they
are doing is not wrong. In fact, they think
FRONTLINE, OCTOBER 24. 2003

it is good. For example, there are families
that believe that incest should be legal­
ised, for, according to them, rhe best per­
sons to teach children about sex are rhe
family members themselves because they
love them. And the best way to learn is by
doing.
It is very common for fathers to abuse
their children sexually. And, it actually
makes cognitive sense but does not pass
muster with empathy, conscience and so
on. This is called cognitive distortions.
The paedophiles have their own net­
work; they get onto the Internet and so
on and develop a support system and ac­
tually feel good about themselves.
After overcoming the internal inhib­
itions, the offenders have to overcome the
external inhibitors - society and the peo­
ple around the children. He has to culti­
vate those people. Offenders usually lead
a double life - of a pervert and of a suc­
cessful, good person. They may get the
best teacher award, become pastors or
priests, are the best scour volunteers and
so on. They do every thing to get society’s
trust so that they have better access to
children. They say the right words, are
very kind and behave very well. No one
suspects them.
Once they convince the people
around them, they have to pass rhe fourth

precondition - to overcome the child.
Society does a great disservice to children
by not teaching them the whole truth. It
is said that a half truth is a full lie. We
teach children to respect adults. This is
good. But that is only the half truth. Par­
ents also must respect children. That is
never taught to the child. Therefore, with
this half truth, we create vulnerabilities in
children. A child is good if she obeys el­
ders. So, when the abuse happens, and it
is by elders in the family, the child is
confused. She is taught only to obey. On­
ly the child is blamed. Society believes
adults more than it does children, be­
cause children are believed to tell stories,
make up things, imagine things, fantasise
and so on.
► Given that there are thesefourfactors
that contribute to child sexual abuse, can
it be prevented?
Definitely. But because these factors
are so strongly ingrained, it may not be
easy to deal with them in one gener­
ation. That is why we have the pro­
gramme “Personal Safety”, wherein we
teach children about safeguarding
themselves. This is very sad because we
would want children to be children.
What we are doing is to try and remove
their vulnerability. This is not about
preventing child sexual abuse. It is only
93

about protecting “myself’.
► What does this programme teach
children?
It teaches low-risk children the differ­
ence between safe and unsafe touch. It
teaches diem whom they can tell if it
happens, which is most important. It
teaches children how to say ‘no” to an
elder person or someone you love, or to
someone your mother or father likes. We
are helping children who cannot say “no”
to “tell” (others about the incident).
Then for the children who will never
“tell” and have already been abused, we
tell them “it is not your fault”. They tend
to internalise the shame and fault. It is
this that leads to long-term effects such as
suicides and difficulties in intimate rela­
tionships in life and so on. The sexually
abused children learn about sex inappro­
priately and they misbehave sexually and
otherwise. After the “personal safety” ses­
sions they calm down, and there is a sig­
nificant reduction in their misbehaviour.
Most important is that it teaches the chil­
dren of today not to become offenders of
tomorrow.
► What would be the emotional, psycho­
logical and social impact ofsexual abuse
on the child during her childhood and
later as an adult?
That is a difficult question to answer
because the effects vary. It depends on
each child, who the offender was, wheth­
er the child was believed when the in­
cident was told to the elders, the age of
the child, the gender and so on. But, gen­
erally, the child is sexually traumatised as
she was taught about sex inappropriately.
This makes the child love, hate or be
afraid of sex. Some behavioural manifes­
tations occur to protect themselves some become fat and ugly and some do
not bathe to remain dirty and untidy so
that no one approaches them for sex. In
fact, they do not know that being ugly
and dirty makes them more vulnerable.
Then there are those who become sexual­
ised and are reviled for being “prosti­
tutes”.
When fathers abuse their daughters
sexually, they are made to believe that sex
is love; they feel good about it. They get
traumatised only when they grow up and
want to have boy friends. Some are not
traumatised until they have sex with their
husbands or when the first child is born.
Something triggers rhe trauma.
► What is the difference between child
sexual abuse and child sexual assault?
Child abuse is when there is a rela­
tionship. An assault is when the child is
attacked. Thus when one talks about
child abuse it means someone has abused
94

a relationship for sexual gratification.
Child abuse begins long before the actual
act. It begins in the mind of the offender.
That is why it is difficult to take such
cases to the court; the question is not the
relationship between the child and the
offender but the event, which is much
more than the actual act. The children
may love the offender or the act. They
just cope as they feel there is nothing they
can do. They feel trapped. They convince
themselves that it is all right. They keep
quiet to protect the ‘family name’.
► How common is it for abused chil­
dren, boys in particular, to become
homosexuals?
When men offend girls, they may be­
come afraid of men. But the real problem
is when men offend boys. There is then
rhe fear of homosexuality. I believe India
is a homophobic country. Boys have to
prove they are not homosexual. So when
they are abused by men it is very traumat­
ic. They ask themselves: “Am I homosex­
ual? Is it why he chose me?” Or, “I have
been infected. Now I am a homosexual.”
Actually, most offenders are heterosexual.
When they choose a boy, it is not because
of homosexuality but because they may
have more access to boys. The abused
children respond in a number of ways.
Some of them turn offenders. According
to available data, 30 per cent of the
abused boys will have some kind of sexual
behaviour problems while 10 per cent of
them become offenders.
The other problems are - they lose
trust in people, have eating or sleeping
disorders or a sudden change of beha­
viour while some hate themselves out of
shame or guilt leading to drug use, sui­
cide and so on. There is a direct correla­
tion between sexual abuse, alcohol and
drug use.
► What are the different approaches or
schools of thought on child sexual abuse?
There is the feminist thought that
talks about power differentials. Then
there are those who say that it is more
than power, it is inappropriate sex. Stud­
ies all over the world show that men can
have sex with girls under two circum­
stances - he can buy sex (not commercial
sex, but by giving gifts) and when he is
aroused.
► What are the laws that deal with
child sexual abuse?
I believe people are talking about that
now. While a law is necessary to set stan­
dards, it is certainly not enough. I believe
child sexual abuse is a public health prob­
lem. Social workers, teachers and those
on the ground are best equipped to deal
with it. Medical professionals, lawyers

and the police have to help. Ver/ few
cases can go to court, and fewer still qin
win a prosecution. But the problem is
that once you have a law, everyone pins
all hopes on it. Going to court also trau­
matises the victims. So, it is a very com­
plex issue.
► What institutional support systems are
needed to deal with child, sexual abuse?
The reason why Tulir is being set up
in Chennai is that there is a need for it.
First, every child needs to learn ‘personal
safety’. Children need to know their
rights. Parents need to be taught to pro­
tect their children. Most important, par­
ents should be taught to listen to their
children when they tell them their prob­
lems. Parents should understand tha^
they are not making it up, are not lying
exaggerating. The children have to be
taken seriously. Adults should know how
to respond appropriately to the child.
There is a need in every society of some
kind of a body that takes the reports of
rhe children to the mother or the father
or whoever that matters, and find the cul­
prit and take appropriate action, such as
treating the child and punishing the
offender.
As far as I know, no one is teaching
‘personal safety’ in India. There are very
few counselling centres. There are very
good psychiatrists. But most children do
not need a psychiatrist’s help. They only
need counselling.
In the Philippines, we are working
with the Education Department to man­
date ‘personal safety’ in every class. We
have written a curriculum of 10 lessons
for every grade. This means the teacheng
need to be trained too. The best person™
to impart this are teachers. But as it is also
a public health issue, we need to get out­
side help. So we also set up, close to the
schools, local support systems consisting
of a doctor, a lawyer, a social worker, a
police officer and also someone from the
school. All of them need to be sensitised
first. The teachers concerned or the vic­
tims can then call on this body when the
need arises.
► What is the role ofthe state in dealing
with the issue, particularly as child sexual
abuse is a public health issue?
The state definitely has to be in­
volved. Sex offenders abuse their author­
ity. They build relationships in which
they are the big bosses. The only way we
can manage the sex offender is through
more authority. There has to be some
kind of presence of a higher power telling
the offenders: "We are watching. And
this is against rhe law.” Logically, that
makes a lot of sense. ■
FRONTLINE. OCTOBER 24. 2003
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SDA-RF-CH-1A.13.pdf

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