Many a time, parents are not even aware that their child was subjected to sexual abuse
Picture used for representational purpose. (photo: DC/file)
Bengaluru: There is no accurate data on the number of child sexual abuse cases in the country as most of these are committed by people known to the child and the family.
“Families fail to report such cases as they don’t want their children stigmatized. Many a time, parents are not even aware that their child was subjected to sexual abuse,” asserts Dr Jagadish, Director of Neuropsychiatry and Critical Care, Abhaya.
"So far, cases reported at our hospital are of adults who come to seek help for psychological problems that have surfaced because of sexual abuse they were subjected to when they were young,” he adds.
The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, Prayas and UNICEF reported that in 2007, of the 12,447 children who were victims of crime, 53 per cent were subjected to sexual assault and 21 per cent were victims of severe sexual abuse.
Last year, 50 cases were booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Bengaluru and till May this year, 26 cases have been booked.
Ms Kushi Kushalappa, Coordinator, Enfold Proactive Health Trust, which works closely with children who are victims of abuse, says, “It is not that children were not abused in the past, but what has changed is the gravity of the crime. The intensity has escalated and the perpetrators are now from all ages, including young teenagers. The positive factor is that many cases are being reported and there is an act, POCSO, to book the perpetrators under. Though there seems to be an increase in the number of cases being reported, it is still a very small proportion of the actual occurrence.”
The Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), a rights-based child-centered community development organisation, on an average sees around 200 children. “Nearly 180 are girls and of them 70 per cent report that they had been sexually abused in one form or another,” says Ms Sheila Devaraj, director, APSA.
( Source : dc )
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