While individual stories of child sexual abuse tend to horrify us all, most of us tend not to think of the problem as being widespread of as affecting us directly. This view, however is wrong. Child sex abuse is far more rampant than you and I would think; it affects boys as well as girls and none of us can afford to be complacent about it.
Recent reports about a survey conducted in this regard revealed a grim reality: 45,000 children across 26 Indian states were surveyed to reveal that one in every two children has undergone some form of sexual abuse.
Though numbers are so staggering, the whole issue of child sexual abuse continues to be shrouded in silence. Many families where the abuse is taking place refuse to acknowledge it or feel that they are powerless to report and stop it.
Though stories of girls being the subject to sexual abuse tend to be in the headlines much more, little boys are also at risk of being sodomized or subject to other forms of abuse. Mothers who tend to think that their sons are not at risk could be very, very wrong. Statistics reveal that as many as half of the victims of sexual abuse could be boys!
We also tend to think – erroneously – that child sexual abuse occurs in certain disadvantaged communities and uneducated sections of society. This is also not true; children are subjected to hideous abuse regardless of their level of affluence or education or the strata of society they belong to.
There are several misconceptions surrounding this phenomenon: people wrongly believe that very young children cannot be abused or that being abused early in life has no negative or lasting consequences. Some people also erroneously believe that women – most often in care giving roles – cannot be the abusers.
While parents take care to educate their children about being wary of strangers they may not educate children about peope close to them. In as many as half of the cases where the children were abused, the perpetrator was someone known to the child. Children face the possibility of abuse at home, in school, in other institutions. The abuse is not only penetrative; it may take very different forms but could be equally as scarring and traumatic for the child.
Poor awareness, the shame associated with sexual abuse and our deep reluctance to acknowledge and talk about the problem helps to perpetuate the problem. Not only are the children intimidated into remaining silent, when they do come forward, they are not believed or the abuse is kept under wraps for other reasons.
Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi is embarking on a historic 'Bharat Yatra' to initate a fight against child trafficking as well as child sexual abuse across the country. Rather than sweep the admittedly horrific issue under the metaphorical carpet, this is something Indians need to face squarely; a problem that we need to acknowledge as being widespread and endemic before we can hope that future generations will be safe.
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