Introduction:

• Police in India are caught up in the different nature of crimes committed in the country.
• If there are crimes such as frequent thefts in an area, it can be solved by increasing manpower, improving patrolling and using technology. But if the task is to deal with the recurrent rapes especially of minors, the above time tested methods prove to be futile.

Do you know?

• In 80-85 per cent cases of child rapes in our country, the offender is a known person. He can be a neighbour, someone from the local community, a relative or even a family member staying under the same roof.
•  This horrific data, from the National Crime Records Bureau, simply shows even the best of police systems and toughest of laws cannot ensure prevention of sexual violence against children.

Issues in dealing with child abuses

• The legal system in the country can punish the perpetrator only after the crimes are committed and before that damage has already been done.
• A jail sentence to the accused comes after years of legal battle, if at all, and hardly helps the victim in dealing with lifelong trauma.
• Indian penal laws on sexual violence were last changed in 2013. It was a comprehensive and well thought out amendment; even the definition of rape was widened. Some crimes, mainly crimes involving women, like stalking and human trafficking were made punishable.
• But 5 years down the lane after Nirbhaya rape case in 2012 we are presented with more horrific crimes in Kathua, Unnao and other places.

Steps taken to tackle sexual violence

•  Rape is punishable with death if the victim is below 12 years of age, this has become the law of the land now.
•  Today we have higher representation of women in the police force. Exclusive women police stations have been established.
• Gender sensitisation has become an essential part of the training curriculum in all police academies.
• Special cells to deal with crime against women and children are functional at all levels, starting from the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi to the office of SP in each district.

Have above steps really made difference in reducing sexual violence?

• During an awareness campaign conducted by the Odisha Police on sexual violence against children, many heart-rending stories were narrated by the victims. In most cases, the offender was either a relative or someone from the neighbourhood.
• A sexual offence by a known person is one of the worst things that can happen to a child. Due to the physical and social proximity with the offender, the crime gets perpetuated and the victims suffer continuously.
• Many a time, especially when the offender is a family member, the victims don’t resist or report due to fear of social stigma. Sometimes they are not supported by their own family.
• Sometimes minors do not even understand that they are being wronged. Even when such issues come to light, many families try to hush them up and offenders go unpunished.
• In many such incidents, victims are forced to change their statements in court just because the matter has been ‘amicably settled’ among the elders, who are mostly men.

What can be done to reverse the horrifying scenario?

• In social crimes, the family and the community have an equally important role to play.
•  Simple things like educating kids about ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’ can immensely help in preventing sexual abuse.
• Societal norms make it difficult for any fruitful discussion on sex including safety in the household. Children are left to fend for themselves.
• Similarly, families need to be educated that kids may need protection from people around them as the perpetrator is lurking in the vicinity all the time.
• Continuous community awareness programmes are highly essential in educating the possible victims, the affected families and even the likely offenders
• Community based programs like Anganwadi and Women Self Help Groups need to be recalibrated so that they can function as crèche because many rapes take place in urban slums, because children are left alone or with some person known to the parents.
• A regular discussion in the community on the issue of child sexual abuse can help change the mindset.

The way ahead

• The perceived stigma attached to a victim has functioned as an escape tool for offenders.
•  The recent “Me Too campaign” on social media has given courage to many women across the globe to speak up against the wrongs they suffered for years.
• The community awareness programs also have a similar impact. For example recently in a few cases of sexual abuse in Odisha, the victims said that the recent campaign gave them the courage to speak up.
• Along with stricter laws and effective policing, support from the family and society is needed to control the menace of child sexual abuse.
• Only when children are empowered to speak, when families are supportive and when the community is aware and joins hands with the police and other agencies, will we be able to keep our children safe.