Child abuse requires greater public attention in Nagaland. According to NCRB (National Crime Record Bureau) data, in India, 21,605 child rapes were recorded in 2018 which included 21,401 rapes of girls and 204 of boys. Also, since the inception of Childline in Dimapur in 2011, it has intervened in 1457 cases pertaining to various “Child protection risk areas”. According to the records, most of the victims belong to the poorer sections of the society.. It is important to develop effective child abuse prevention messages as well as effective public awareness activities. Rasule Kemp’s article serves as one step in this direction.
Child Abuse is a Social Problem
“To those who abuse: the sin is yours, the crime is yours, and the shame is yours. To those who protect the perpetrators: blaming the victims only masks the evil within, making you as guilty as those who abuse. Stand up for the innocent or go down with the rest.”
~ Flora Jessop
In our day to day life, child abuse has become a serious issue in every corner of the country. Children are being abused in various forms such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, mental abuse and these are neglected by parents or family members. Child abuse can be over a period of time but can also be a one-off action as child abuse can happen at any platform. Abuse can also be lack of love and care or lack of attention by parents or any other person.
We all know that child abuse has become a very common issue so it is very important to understand or reduce the risk of abuse for your child and familiarize yourself with the sign of abuse your child may be encountering.
Approximately 3 million cases of child abuse involving almost 5.5 million children are reported every year. Studies show that the majority of the cases reported are of physical and sexual abuse. In sexual abuse, children are being used for the pleasure of sex. This sexual abuse also includes exhibitionism (extravagant behavior by a person) and voyeurism (sexual activity) or exposure to pornography. Studies have suggested that up to one in four girls and one in eight boys will be sexually abused before they are eighteen years old. Most of the abuse cases are seen in a family due to parental depression or parental mental disorder. According to the studies, many children in India face some form of child sexual abuse. The cases of rape and murder of children in India are increasing every year.
Today India is leading in sexually abusing the girl child physically and mentally where the innocent little girls are being tortured and raped mercilessly. The act of inhumanity done against them is unimaginable. No sense of humanity is seen but hatred and lust towards the girl child is seen every hour and every second. It is saddened to see such act of inhumanity against them. Inspite of helping them, the girl child is seen suffered in a way that they are not even able to face the society. Cases of a girl child sexually being abused by the abuser have been reported every year almost all over India. They are being raped in a way that it leaves permanent scars on their body. And due to this reason, a number of suicide cases are seen. Injustice is done to them as their voices remain unheard and their cases are ignored and neglected by the media and some organization. It is a shame to see the Indian society rising in sexually abusing the innocent little girl. Such act should be stopped and should be looked into immediately.
Tracing on the severity of child abuse is necessarily needed in our life. So, the question is why is it important to know about child abuse? Well, it is important as it can lead to negative consequences like depression, developmental delay or risk of developing substance abuse during adulthood. In this case, one should give serious attention in order to save a child from being abused in any form as we all know that protecting the child from all these issues will give them a better future and fruitful life as the very word ‘child’ is the future of our society.
One should always take precautions in order to save the child from being abused. One can take the following precaution-:
- One should always have better communication with his or her child when he or she is silent as it means something is wrong.
- One should always ask questions when your child tells you he or she doesn’t want to be with someone else as this could mean a red flag.
- One should create awareness on how to tackle the issues of abusing as this could help them in understanding themselves in a better way.
- Instead of physical harm, it is always advisable to comfort your child and give them positive advice to tackle any kind of unwanted situation.Last but not the least, in order to save the child from being abused, we need to observe the safety of the child at home, school or at any other places as protecting them and having an awareness or education can help them address the issues they are encountering.
In conclusion I would like to point out that being a brother or sister or parent of a child it is our duty to save them from any kind of unwanted situation and should always avail our time to them whenever it is needed. If one happens to see a child being abused, we should immediately take action against them so that one will think twice before committing the same crime. Therefore, we should not turn our face away, once we’ve seen. We can no longer act like we don’t know; we should open our eyes to the truth as it is all around us. We should not deny what the eyes have revealed to our souls. Now that we are aware of the problems, we cannot pretend we don’t know as to be concerned is to be human and to act is to care. It shouldn’t hurt to be a child. Let us all be sensible and be sensitive to this issue because the children need to be cared for, loved and protected. Let us be the voice against child abuse because all children deserve a great childhood because they are our future.
Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editors are Dr Hewasa Lorin, Dr. Aniruddha Babar, Dr. Pfokrelo Kapesa, Rinsit B Sareo, Meren Lemtur and Kvulo Lorin.
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