Good touch, bad touch and ugly reality of sex abuse—school children of Ranchi on Friday came face-to-face with the issue of the most serious nature that kills the childhood of those who unfortunately fall prey to lascivious people. Children were informed about what qualifies a good touch and what is bad and potentially abusive in nature.
The occasion was the launch of a three-month long awareness and capacity building drive which will cover all districts simultaneously with special emphasis on children- the most vulnerable section of the society in terms of repelling such acts.
“Earlier we did not know how to read a person’s mind with the nature of touch. Now we realize that until now we missed the most vital aspect of human behaviour that is significant for us to protect ourselves,” said student of Class-8 at government middle school at lulgutwa, Priya Kumari.
The drive was launched by Crime Investigation Department (CID) with support from UNICEF and various other non-government agencies working for child rights. Also, the capacity building drive will be aided by Jharkhand State legal Services Authority (JHAlSA) and the drive will also include educating police about various acts promulgated for the safety of children.
Remarkably, students acknowledged that the threat is real and even boys are susceptible to lecherous acts of people who could be anyone- relative, near ones and offenders habituated by the silence of a victim. The lesson learnt could have wide implications as few asserted that those who do not go to school also need to be enlightened about the necessity of self protection through better information.
“Yes, this could also happen to a boy. It is my duty to spread the information to those who do not go to school,” said student of class-7 at government middle school at Namkum, Sanjay Bedia.
Information holds the key to the success of the drive coined as ‘Break Silence on Violence’ to encourage reporting of incidents of child sex abuse. During the 3-month long campaign, 65 lakh children in all 40,000 schools will be covered. The activities include sessions in schools on END violence against children across the state; legal awareness camps in 10 schools each in all 24 districts with support from JHAlSA; and capacity building programs on child protection laws and cyber-crime for paralegal volunteers and legal aid lawyers. Besides, capacity building program for senior police officers on key legislations for protection of children from violence; and six divisional level workshops with adolescents are planned. A mobile campaign will run for two weeks to reach out to adolescent girls groups, parents and community members.
“All children have a human right to survival and development. They need to be aware of good and bad touch and must raise their voice against abuse. Children can speak to a person they trust and report all such incidents on the helpline number,” said ADG of Jharkhand Police, SN Pradhan.
Information and education material on child abuse and protection measures was released during the programme by the Yuwa Girls (NGO for sports for development). A help line number (88 77 44 44 44) was launched to register cases of abuse against children.
“I will share the number with everyone of my age in my village and will encourage them to not report such incidents whether it happens with them or with anyone else,” said Sandeep Khalkho a resident of Nagri and student of Class-7 at government upgraded middle school.
The launch programme was attended by Chairperson SCPCR, Rooplaxmi Munda; SP(CID) Tamil Vanan; SP (CID) Mayur Patel; Member Secretary of JHAlSA ,SK Dubey; Secretary of High Court legal Services Committee, Manoj Srivastava among others.