THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At least 60 percent of the 250-odd sexual abuse victims lodged in the eight Nirbhaya homes in the state, a large chunk of them aged below 18 years, cannot be sent back to their homes.
It has been found that they were abused either by their fathers or a sibling, and in some cases it was revealed that the mothers had pushed them into sex trade. At least three victims were impregnated by their own fathers. Shockingly, many of these families are now demanding their children back.
Such soul-scarring information was generated during the unique documentation process undertaken by the Social Justice Department.
The exercise has also thrown up another alarming fact: nearly 80 percent of the victims are what has been termed “second-generation victims,” meaning daughters of mothers who had experienced some sort of abuse in their childhood.
“These mothers just don't know how to handle the suffering of their child. Like the victim, such mothers too slip into depression,” a top social justice official said.
The documentation process involves a thorough background check of the victim’s family, the financial and emotional condition of her family members and her life before the abuse.
The 'probe into the past' is done a couple of days after a victim is brought to the Nirbhaya home.
The objectives are to identify the factors that led to the abuse and to evolve a future course of action not just for the tormented child but also for her family.
The victim's house will be visited by a team of two: a trained social worker under the Nirbhaya project and a local-level volunteer working for the Kerala Mahila Samakhya Society.
In certain cases, if the need is felt, the victim will also be taken along. Both will file reports separately offering two perspectives; one of an academic and the other of a local woman with long experience in dealing with female issues.
The re-integration of victims back into society is complicated. “Even where neighbours or close relatives are found to be the culprits, we have to be careful while sending the children back,” said Ms P.E. Usha, the state project director of Mahila Samakhya Society.
The background checks have also revealed a shocking absence of some kind of local support mechanism for the family. “It is a scary scenario where even the local Kudumbashree unit or the local panchayat cannot offer some sort of societal relief to such families,” Ms Usha said.
