A SURVEY sponsored by Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development was carried out by a NGO "Prayas" in association with Unicef and save the children clearly depicted that more than 53 per cent of children in India were sexually abused and the majority of victims didn’t dare to report the abuse. The government commissioned survey report released by the Ministry of Women and child Development on April 9 astonished the whole country after presenting the accurate figures and facts regarding child abuse in India.
The report covered different types of child abuse like physical, sexual, emotional and the report also highlighted the neglect of the female child by some people. The survey claimed that two out of every three children have been victims of the sexual abuse. Renuka Chowdhury, Minister for Women and Child Development while releasing the report stated, "The child abuse needs immediate attention and our ministry is trying its level best to eliminate and fight child abuse problems. The issue of child abuse should be placed on the national agenda."
About the ’Prayas’ NGO
Prayas Institute of Juvenile Justice undertook the national level survey in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development with support by UNICEF & Save the Children Fund (UK). Prayas is a non-profit organization working for the betterment of children and also working with international organizations on many projects. Mr. Amod K Kanth was the Team leader of the National Child Abuse Survey and he is the member of Prayas.
Objective of the Study
The overall objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive information of child abuse in India. The other objective was to study the profile of the abused children and the social and economic circumstances leading to their abuse. Amod K Kanth defines sexual abuse as rape of the child, forcible kissing, taking naked pictures of the child, seductive talking to child, using vulgar language with a child, compelling the child to play with the private parts and the forcible child prostitution.
Strategy of the Study
The study was concentrated in India and a multi stage sampling design was used to conduct the study. The four stages of sampling constituted state, district, block and respondents. A protected system of taking the interview of the children was made so that the children didn’t feel insecure. The team of people who conducted the survey comprised of social workers, college students and other intellectual people who were trained by the NGO and the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
How the States Were Selected
The states were arranged in descending order of literacy and one state was selected from the upper quartile and one from the lower quartile from each different zone. Literacy was taken as an indicator, as it is expected that the higher level of literacy lessened the chances of child abuse. The states selected were arranged as:
North Zone Delhi & Rajasthan. Central Zone Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh. Eastern Zone West Bengal & Bihar. Western Zone Maharashtra, Goa & Gujarat. Southern Zone Kerala & Andhra Pradesh. North Eastern Zone Mizoram & Assam.
How the Respondents Were Selected
The child was defined as a person not exceeding 18 years of age for the purpose of the study. Five types of categories of respondents identified for the study were street children, working children, school children, children under any Trust and Institutional care and children in family groups who didn’t attend school. Amod K Kanth says that they had taken all the lower to educated class children for the study.
The above-mentioned three categories were highly deplorable because most of the children didn’t have homes, some were orphans and some were spending their lives on the roads. School children and children who didn’t attend school, didn’t escape from sexual abuse despite having a good environment.
How the Survey Was Conducted
The method used for conducting survey was “focus group discussion”. In this technique, a safe and sound method was adopted so that the children didn’t feel insecure. Children were collected in the groups and they were asked questions indirectly through the photographs, small tales and other methods so that without feeling insecure they could give the answers. The team members also conducted the survey and collected the data from children in the form of face-to-face focus group discussion technique.
The Major Findings of the Report
The findings of the report pointed that the children from 5-12 age group reported the higher levels of abuse compared to other age groups. The ratio of abused children is same between boys and girls. The findings also claimed that more than 70 per cent of the affected children never report against the matter to anyone. The report covered three types of child abuse physical, sexual, emotional and the statistical facts derived from the survey are shocking.
The Highest Percentage of Sexual Abuse in Four Big Indian States
The four Indian states, New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Bihar reported to have the highest percentage of the sexual child abuse incidents between the both genders as compared to other states. The survey was carried out in 13 different states in India and 12,447 samples were taken which revealed that 53.22 per cent of children are victims of sexual abuse in one or more forms.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse means, assault to child, beating the child, punishing the child, denying food and detainment. The report revealed that two out of every three children are physically abused and 54.68 per cent of the affected are boys. It was found that 69 per cent children in the sample states were subjected to physical abuse. 88 per cent were found to have been physically abused by their own parents and about 65 per cent of the school going children underwent corporal punishment and more than half of the percentage of children worked for the whole week.
Sexual Assault
The report found that more than 53 per cent of children faced one or more forms of child abuse and 5.69 per cent were sexually assaulted and that in most of the cases the abusers were known to their victims. The astonishing facts presented that the street children, working children and children under the Trust or Institutional cares reported the highest incidences of sexual assault.
Emotional Abuse
The report on the emotional abuse pointed that every second child faced emotional abuse and mostly the parents were the abusers in more than 83 per cent of such cases. 48.4 per cent of girls wished that they were boys because of the discriminating behaviour of their parents towards them. The neglecting of the girl child was also highlighted in the report. Some people preferred to have boys instead of girls. The girl child had been neglected by most of the parents and the boy child in the same family enjoys special rights.
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