By IANS
New Delhi : Millions of children across the world have been victims of sexual abuse, trafficking and forced labour among other crimes. The International Day for Prevention of Child Abuse being observed Monday is an attempt to prevent such crimes and return the innocence of childhood back to exploited children.
Kailash Satyarthi of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), an organisation which fights child labour and abuse, said that this day provided an ideal opportunity to make people aware of the menace of child abuse which plagues society.
“Our aim is to build a child friendly society and all our activities on the International Day for Prevention of Child Abuse in the different states of the country would be in the same vein.
“We would be talking to the panchayats of various villages to organise a children’s panchayat where the kids get to voice their problems, their ideas and thoughts. The main panchayat of the village can then synchronise its activities with the children’s panchayat and help the kids in whichever way it can,” Satyarthi told IANS.
He said that members of the BBA working in different states would also advocate against child labour in the villages and encourage education.
“What generally happens on such days is that politicians and other important people give lectures but the real message meant for the masses never trickles down to the actual target. With these activities we hope to bridge the gap,” he said.
According to the national study on child abuse conducted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development along with the UN International Fund for Children (Unicef) and NGOs Prayas and Save the Children (UK), whose report was released this year, child abuse is rampant in India.
The report says that more than 400,000 children in India are reported to be victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
It goes on to say that the extent of abuse inflicted on children is reflected by the crime records data. Incidents of crime against children showed a rising trend from 1999 to 2001 — 4,957 cases were registered in 1999 as against 6,087 cases in 2001.
According to the study, 53.22 percent of the children surveyed faced one or more forms of sexual abuse while 21.9 percent of them faced severe forms of sexual abuse.
Internationally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 40 million children below the age of 15 suffer from abuse and neglect, and require health and social care.
The International Day for Prevention of Child Abuse was observed first by the Women’s World Summit Foundation, an NGO coalition of women and children organisations along with the American Psychological Association (APA) to mobilise and educate governments and societies to take action to prevent child abuse.