What exactly is Child Sexual Abuse?
It is,
according to the medical and legal authorities, any behaviour committed by an
older or more powerful person on a younger or more vulnerable person for
his/her own sexual gratification. The abuser may be an adult or an older child;
the victim is always a child. The child is defined legally as a minor or anyone
below the age of 18 years.
Whether one
is a parent, grandparent or aunt or uncle, or even a mere neighbour -- we are
what can be termed as “significant adults” in the lives of the children around
us. Thus we should all be concerned about their well being and safety. I
personally believe this to be of paramount importance and in an effort to
create greater safety and prevent harm or abuse would like to share some facts
regarding Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) with you.
First of all
it is important that one becomes aware of CSA. This is because it there all
around us and most of us are blissfully unaware of it while those who know
about it choose to turn a blind eye towards it for various reasons.
Some facts
about CSA are . . .
· 69% of Indian Children are victims of physical, emotional or sexual abuse
· 89% of the crimes are perpetrated by someone the child knows and trusts – often a family member
· 80% of the cases go unreported or even un-shared with parents/family
Some news reports from India are given below – I have provided the
links for you to delve deeper if you so wish:
Hear these stories and then imagine them amplified thousands of times —
in every brutal variation — in every part of the country. Imagine 48,838 children raped in just 10 years. Imagine what
it means when you are told this staggering figure — which is a National Crimes
Record Bureau statistic — is possibly only 25 percent of the actual child rapes
going on in the country. And that only 3 percent — a mere 3 percent — of these
make it to the police. Imagine what it means when you are told child rapes have
seen a chilling 336 percent jump from 2001 to 2011.
If you search there is no dearth of statistics
about this matter. But what matters is what WE do, as concerned citizens,
concerned adults.
I invite comments and suggestions from all . . .
please contribute.
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