A new report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India, (supported by Save the Children and UNICEF) reveals the extent and magnitude of child abuse and neglect in India. This is one of the world's largest empirical, in-country studies covering nearly 12,500 children and 4800 young adults in 13States.The Study looks at three different forms of child abuse - physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse and girl child neglect in families, schools, work places, on the street and institutions. The Study complements the UN Secretary General's Study on Violence against Children, 2006.
The Study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of child abuse, which will help formulate appropriate policies and programmes meant to effectively end child abuse in India.
Major findings of the Study:
* Every fifth child in the world lives in India
* Every third malnourished child in the world lives in India
* Every second Indian child is underweight.
* Three out of four children in India are anaemic
* Every second new born has reduced learning capacity due to iodine deficiency
* Decline in female/male ratio is maximum in 0-6 years: 927 females per 1000 males
* Birth registration is just 62%
* Retention rate at Primary level is 71.01%
* Girls’ enrolment in schools at primary level is 47.79%
* 1104 lakh child labour in the country (SRO 2000)
* Children born with low birth weight are 46%
* Children under 3 with anemia are 79%
* Immunization coverage is very low
* Boys, as compared to girls, are equally at risk of abuse.
* Persons in trust and authority are major abusers.
* 5-12 year old children are in the high risk category: across the forms of abuse, the percentage of abuse among them is the highest.
* 70% of the children have not reported abuse to anyone.
* Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Delhi almost consistently report high rates of abuse in all forms as compared to other States.
* 2 out of every 3 children have been physically abused.
* Two out of every three school going children are victims of corporal punishment. Half of these incidents are in government run schools.
* More than half of the child respondents reported facing one or more forms of sexual abuse.
* Every second child reported facing emotional abuse. In more than 80% of the cases parents were the abusers.
Just to visualise the problem let us take four major forms of child abuse in India:The are:
#Trafficking in Children in India
Trafficking in children is a global problem affecting large numbers of children. There is a demand for trafficked children as cheap labour or for sexual exploitation. Children and their families are often unaware of the dangers of trafficking, believing that better employment and lives lie in other countries. Child trafficking is lucrative and linked with criminal activity and corruption. It is often hidden and hard to address.
India has been identified as a source, transit and destination point in the international circuit; large numbers of children are also trafficked within the country. According to a study conducted by Shakti Vahini in 2006, Trafficking in India”, 378 of the 593 districts in India are affected by human trafficking. 10% of human trafficking in India is international, while almost 90% is interstate.Children are trafficked for several reasons including sexual exploitation; adoption; entertainment & sports (for example, acrobatics in circus, dance troupes, beer bars; as camel jockeys); marriage; labour; begging, organ trade (though only anecdotal evidence of this is available); drug peddling and smuggling. Trafficking of children usually happens through well organized networks. Family, relatives, friends, community leaders, brokers, the pimps and owners of brothels, the police, political connections and the criminal nexus: all or any of these have been found to be involved in the process of child rafficking.
Legal protection
Though there is an ‘Immoral Traffic Prevention Act’ that exists in India, it only refers to trafficking for prostitution and so does not provide comprehensive protection for children. Nor does the Act provide a clear definition of ‘trafficking’. There is a UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (the Palermo Protocol) that will, when implemented, give a comprehensive definition of trafficking, but this has still not been ratified.
#Physical abuse:
Physical abuse often is described as a situation in which a child sustains injury due to the willful acts of an adult. This type of abuse can be defined very loosely, where abuse is defined as the illtreatment of children. However, the definition may be as specific as stating that the injuries are inflicted by particular acts such as hitting, biting, kicking, or slapping; and/or occur through the use of objects such as belts, sticks, rods, or bats. These more specific definitions are usually the result of laws created to protect children. However battering of children in India is not seen as detrimental to the child,as it is in the US.However there is very little research on physical abuse in India owing to the fact that Most children did not report the matter to anyone . Only two studies are available which shows that two out of three children were physically abused &out of 69% children, 54,68% were boys.The state of Andhra Pradesh, Assam,
Bihar and Delhi have almost consistently reported higher rates of abuse in all forms as compared to other states. In different age categories, the higher percentage of physical abuse was reported among younger
children (5-12 years).
Physical abuse can also be a result of parental and/or school discipline in which a child is punished by beating or other forms of corporal punishment. It should be noted, however, that there are large cultural
differences in the interpretation of corporal punishment as abuse.Out of those children physically abused in family situations, 88,6% were physically abused by parents. 65% of school going children reported facing corporal punishment i.e. tow out of three children were victims of corporal punishment.62% of the corporal punishment was in government and municipal school. NGO run schools also reported high percentage of
corporal punishment.
#SEXUAL ABUSE
Child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater, because the children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened, and the legal procedure for validating an episode is difficult. The problem should be identified, the abuse stopped, and the child should receive professional help. The long-term emotional and psychological damage of sexual abuse can be devastating to the child.Child sexual abuse can take place within the family, by a parent, step-parent, sibling or other relative; or outside the home, for example, by a friend, neighbor, child care person, teacher, or stranger. When sexual abuse has occurred, a child can develop a variety of distressing feelings, thoughts and behaviours.No child is psychologically prepared to cope with repeated sexual stimulation.
Even a two or three year old, who cannot know the sexual activity is wrong, will develop problems resulting from the inability to cope with the overstimulation.The child of five or older who knows and cares for the abuser becomes trapped between affection or loyalty for the person, and the sense that the sexual activities are terribly wrong. If the child tries to break away from the sexual relationship, the abuser may threaten the child with violence or loss of love. When sexual abuse occurs within the family, the child may fear the anger, jealousy or shame of other family members, or be afraid the family will break up if the secret is told.A child who is the victim of prolonged sexual abuse usually develops low self-esteem, a feeling of worthlessness and an abnormal or distorted view of sex. The child may become withdrawn and mistrustful of adults, and can become suicidal.Some children who have been sexually abused have difficulty relating to others except on sexual terms. Some sexually abused children become child abusers or prostitutes, or have other serious problems when they reach adulthood.Often there are no obvious external signs of child sexual abuse. Some signs can only be detected on physical exam by a physician.
The study on sexual abuse on children shows,53.22% children reported having faced one of more forms of sexual abuse.Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Delhi reported the highest percentage of sexual abuse among both boys and girls.21.90% child respondents facing severe forms of sexual abuse and 50.76% other forms of sexual abuse.Out of the children respondents, 5.69% reported being sexually assaulted.Children in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi reported the highest incidence of sexual assault.Children on street, children at work and children in institutional care reported the highest incidence of sexual assault.50% abuses are persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility.However most of the children did not report the matter to anyone.
#Child labour
Child labor is done by any working child who is under the age specified by law. The word, “work” means full time commercial work to sustain self or add to the family income. Child labor is a hazard to a Child’s mental, physical, social, educational, emotional and spiritual development. Broadly any child who is employed in activities to feed self and family is being subjected to “child labor’. Child labor in India is a grave and extensive problem. Children under the age of 14 are forced to work in glass-blowing, fireworks, and most commonly, carpet-making factories. While the Government of India reports about 20 million children laborers, other non-governmental organizations estimate the number to be closer to 50 million. Most prevalent in the northern part of India, the exploitation of child labor has become an accepted practice, and is viewed by the local population as necessary to overcome the extreme poverty in the region.ILO estimates that 218 million children were involved in child labour in 2004, of whom 126 million
were engaged in hazardous work. Estimates from 2000 suggest that 5.7 million were in forced or bonded labour, 1.8 million in prostitution and pornography and 1.2 million were victims of trafficking.
There is a high percentage of children in the age group 5-12 years among all the child labor (always around 50%).It is a matter of serious concern that so many children are working as CDW’s, particularly in view of the invisibility of children working in this occupation. The recent ban on use of children in domestic work is yet to show any result. Earlier research showed that almost 70% of the child domestic workers had been abused physically.50% children worked seven days a week.56.38% of the children were working in the illegal/hazardous occupations. 65% of the children were working because of parental pressure and 76% of them handed over their earnings to their parents.Children at work reported the highest incidence of sexual assault (8.7%).
National + international legislation
* Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
The act was formulated to eliminate child labour and provides for punishments and penalties for employing children below the age of 14 years in form various hazardous occupations and processes. The Act provides power to State Governments to make Rules with reference to health and safety of children, wherever their employment is permitted. It provides for regulation of work conditions including fixing hours of work, weekly holidays, notice to inspectors, provision for resolving disputes as to age, maintenance of registers etc. Through a recent notification, child domestic workers up to 14 years of age working in hotels and dhabas have been brought within the purview of the Act. It is one step towards the total elimination of child labour.
* Constitution of India: especially article 21A (free and compulsory education for all children of the age of 6 to 14 years), article 23 (prohibition of traffic in human being and forced labour), article 24 (prohibition of employment of children in factories etc. “hazardous employment”).
* International conventions and declarations: especially United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1992; Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989.
* The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000: section 26 Exploitation of Juvenile or Child Employee.
* The Commissions for the Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005
* Schemes and programmes: Scheme for Working Children in Need of Care and Protection; National Child Labour Project (NCLP); INDO-US Child Labour Project (INDUS).
Conclusion:
This is shocking & heart breaking that how the future of the society is in a serious condition.It is sad that there are several dishonest and evil people who use these poor souls for their own benefit and pleasure.With little help of the legislative loopholes.Economical backwardness & lack of education also plays a major role.The most important is fear.Children are easily threatened not to report the 'situation' to anybody.So most of the offence remain unreported.If these children could have speak it can be said that the statistics mentioned above can easily be doubled.But that is not to be possible.However the common people could a little concern about the fact and if everybody tries to make a difference those poor souls suffering from ages can be survived and can be taken back to normal life.Normal life with the very right of education ,food &a healthy childhood.
Source:
Study on Child Abuse: India 2007
Wikipedia-The free encyclopaedia
UNICEF
