The child sexual abuse is common in homes, schools and residential care facilities in India and Indian government has failed to curb child sex abuse, Human Rights Watch has disclosed in its report released today.

New Delhi, Feb 7/Nationalturk – The international human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch in its report released Thursday has disclosed that child sexual abuse is common in homes, schools and residential care facilities in India and slammed Indian government for failing to curb child sex abuse.

In the 82-page report titled, “Breaking the Silence: Child Sexual Abuse in India,” which was released today, HRW has examined how current government responses are falling short, both in protecting children from sexual abuse and treating victims.

The HRW report said many children are effectively mistreated a second time by traumatic medical examinations and by police and other authorities, who do not want to hear or believe their accounts. “Government efforts to tackle the problem, including new legislation to protect children from sexual abuse, will also fail unless protection mechanisms are properly implemented and the justice system reformed to ensure that abuse is reported and fully prosecuted”.

“India’s system to combat child sexual abuse is inadequate because government mechanisms fail to ensure the protection of children,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

She said children, who complain of sexual abuse are often dismissed or ignored by the police, medical staff, and other authorities.”

The report uses detailed case studies rather than a quantitative analysis to examine government mechanisms to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse. HRW has conducted more than 100 interviews with victims of child sexual abuse and their relatives, government child protection officials and independent experts, police officers, doctors, social workers, and lawyers who have handled cases of child sexual abuse.

Indian criminal justice system needs urgent reforms

“Addressing child sexual abuse is a challenge all over the world, but in India shortcomings in both state and community responses add to the problem. The criminal justice system, from the time police receive a complaint until trials are completed, needs urgent reform. Poorly trained police often refuse to register complaints. Instead, they subject the victim to mistreatment and humiliation,” HRW report said.

It quoted doctors and officials as saying that the absence of guidelines and training for sensitive medical treatment and examination of victims of child sexual abuse contribute to trauma.

“In four of the cases documented by HRW, doctors had used the ‘finger test’ as part of the examination of girl rape victims even though forensic experts say that the test has no scientific value,and a top-level government committee has called for it to be abolished. It is hard enough for a sexually abused child or their relatives to come forward and seek help, but instead of handling cases with sensitivity Indian authorities often demean and re-traumatize them,” Ganguly said.

She said the failure to implement needed police reforms to be more sensitive and supportive to victims has made police stations places to be dreaded.

Sexual abuse of children common in homes, schools, orphanages

The HRW report has revealed that sexual abuse of children is disturbingly common in homes, schools, and residential care facilities in India. “A government-appointed committee set up after the New Delhi attack to recommend legal and policy reform has found that child protection schemes have clearly failed to achieve their avowed objective.”

It said sexual abuse of children in residential care facilities for orphans and other at-risk children is a particularly serious problem. “Inspection mechanisms are inadequate in most parts of the country. Many privately run facilities are not even registered. As a result, the government has neither a record of all the orphanages and other institutions operating in the country nor a list of the children they are housing. Abuse occurs even in supposedly well-run and respected institutions because of poor monitoring.”

“Shockingly the very institutions that should protect vulnerable children can place them at risk of horrific child sexual abuse. The governments should immediately implement a more effective system to register and rigorously monitor government, private, and religious child care institutions,” Ganguly said.

India yet to take steps to address problems of discrimination, bias

Human Rights Watch said Indian government needs to ensure proper implementation of enactment of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act in 2012 and other relevant laws and policies so that there is a vigilant safety net. “The Indian government should provide training and resources to ensure that the police, doctors, court officials, and government and private social workers, including child welfare authorities, managers of children’s residential care institutions, and school authorities, respond properly when there are allegations of child sexual abuse. The government should take immediate steps to address the lack of faith in government institutions that prevents many people from reporting child sexual abuse by holding to account those that fail to handle such cases in a prompt and sensitive manner.”

“The Indian government at the highest levels recognizes that much more needs to be done to protect the country’s children from sexual abuse, but it has yet to take significant steps to address problems of discrimination, bias, and sheer insensitivity. As many officials have pointed out to us, creating laws or providing training is an important step, but this has to be followed up with concrete action. Just as important, a change in mindset is needed where both abusers and those who protect them by neglecting their duty are held accountable,” added Ganguly.

 

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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk India News

 

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