Indian children are not safe

It has been a long time since i was reduced to tears on reading something. But this unthinkable happened on reading the report from Ministry of Women and Child Development on Child Abuse in India - 2007.

A few statistics from the report that shook me

• Two out of every three children were physically abused
• 53.22% children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse
• 50% abuses are persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility
• Every second child reported facing emotional abuse
• 48.4% of the girls wished they were boys

On reading the report, my first reaction was to to discredit the report rather than accept the precarious situation, the children of our country live in. For those(like me) who could not accept the fact that the report could be reflective of the true situation, here are a few facts:

• Survey was conducted among 17,220 people and in 13 states
• Focused Group Discussion and One to one Interaction were the technique used to collect data among children(5-18 years) and interview technique was used among young adults(18-24 years).
• Largest Survey ever taken to find out about Child Abuse in India

Age-wise: Sample Size of Child Respondents

The report clearly points out the monumental task, each of has in ensuring the safety and well being of the future leaders of India(Just remember Indian children constitute more than one third of our population and 19% of world's children)

P.S: This is just an introductory post. Planning to write a series of posts about the different kind of child abuse in India - Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Emotional Abuse and Girl Child Neglect

Key Terms:

1. Physical abuse is inflicting physical injury upon a child. This may include hitting, shaking, kicking,beating, or otherwise harming a child physically.
2. Emotional abuse (also known as verbal abuse, mental abuse, and psychological maltreatment) includes acts or the failure to act by parents, caretakers, peers and others that have caused or could cause serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or mental distress/trauma.
3. Sexual abuse is inappropriate sexual behaviour with a child. It includes fondling a child's genitals,making the child fondle an adult's genitals, sexual assault (intercourse, incest, rape and sodomy),exhibitionism and pornography.
4. Child neglect is an act of omission or commission leading to the denial of a child's basic needs. Neglect can be physical, educational, emotional or psychological.