The State unit of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) will implement a two-pronged action plan in a bid to curtail sexual crimes against children.
“Making doctors, parents and teachers aware is the first step as many are still unaware about what constitutes a crime,” said I. Riaz, IAP State secretary. Paediatricians would make parents and teachers aware about it through the school contact programme, he said. “Sometimes, parents will not know what the child is undergoing when he or she is spending more time on the Internet. Intimate chats make children vulnerable to blackmail,” he said.
Telltale signs
The school contact programme would be used to tell parents and teachers about the telltale signs of a disturbed child, the changes in behaviour and mannerisms that could be linked to sexual abuse, he said. “A bad touch is not restricted to touching the private parts . It refers to anything that the child is not comfortable with, like pulling the cheek or a kiss on the face. The child must be taught to resist this politely,” he said.
The second stage of the plan focusses on paediatricians, who are the first-contact persons for parents. Doctors should be aware of the law and should report the abuse cases to the legal authorities, he said.
“Children should be encouraged to be open with their parents. Parents should spare some time to discuss with their children the problems they face. Parents and teachers have to make them aware that abuse of any kind, physical, mental or verbal, should be resisted,” he said.
According to a study conducted by the UNICEF and Mahila Samakhya Society, 95 per cent of the abusers were known to children. It could be parents, siblings, uncles, teachers or someone close to the family. An alarming rise in sexual crimes against children has been reported in the State in recent years. Till September this year, there were 286 cases of rape, according to the Crime Records Bureau. Sexual crimes against children had been steadily increasing as per the data provided by the police, Dr. Riaz said.
