India needs to speak up on sexual harassment of children: Here’s why

A disturbing figure of 94,172 cases of crimes against children was registered in India during 2015 which is an increase of 5.3% if compared to 89,423 cases during 2014.

In 2015, 10854 incidents of child rapes were reported in India, along with a total of 3,350 cases of 'Sexual Harassment' of children. The number of rapes is certainly less than the NCRB figure of 2014 which shows 13766 registered child rapes in the year, but not a nominal of an insignificant number in any case.

In order to understand the increasing issue of sexual harassment on children, one must understand that physical assault, rapes, molestations are not the only ways by which sexual violence could be inflicted on children, non-physical or verbal assault are also causes of concern for this growing issue.

For example, there is little or no awareness about crimes such as voyeurism which comes under Section 354C of the Indian Penal Code, and due to lack of awareness, such cases go unreported. The NCRB data shows a mere 51 cases of Voyeurism reported in India, in the year 2015.

Stalking (354 D, IPC) came to the limelight after Chandigarh stalking case involving the son of a political leader, but a total of 1,020 cases of 'stalking' of children were registered during the year 2015, most of which were not talked about.

11 cases of buying of minors for prostitution (under section 373 of IPC) and 111 cases of selling of minors for prostitution (under section 372 of IPC) were registered in the country during the year 2015 against 14 and 122 such cases registered in the year 2014 respectively, however one must note that these are just reported data.

To curb the problem, sensitization should start right from the beginning and also from the lower rung of the society - the ones not well exposed to the concept of sexual harassment. The key is to educate these people on what is harassment, physical or verbal.

Oneindia spoke to parents, educators, and activists, here's what they had to say:

S Anandhi, Professor of Gender in Asian College of Journalism, said, "Awareness of one's body is most important, especially for a girl child. She should understand that there is no mystery surrounding her body; hence nobody can touch her irrationally,"

She further said, "At schools, right from the very beginning, sense of respect should be instilled in the minds of young boys and girls, they should be made confident so that whenever they feel their privacy is being violated, they will speak up. The child should be capable of distinguishing between rational and irrational behaviour. Also, teachers should resist from touching students, in order to discipline them."

Most importantly she said, "Girls should be taught that there is nothing impure about their bodies, their bodies need to be respected, and it is the responsibility of the schools to instil this nothing, similarly boys should also not be made to feel entitled just for the virtue of belonging to a certain gender."

We also spoke to parents regarding how they feel about the increase in such crimes and interact with their children to make them aware of the appropriate and the inappropriate. Here's what they had to say.

Joydeep, Engineer, said, "I want to tell my daughter to live strong and free. But I worry how free she really is. When we chose a school for her, the bigger question was not how good the school was but rather how safe it is for her to commute. This is what such crimes do."

Shreyosi, Corporate Lawyer, said, "I monitor her activities, especially her play activities, very closely. If I see some remote sexual connotation, I speak to her about where she learned it. I also speak to her regularly about good n bad touch, and ask her if anyone, in particular, has touched her during the day."

Kawalpreet Kaur, Student Activist said, "The present educational system is not open to talking about issues such as sexual harassment, which needs to change. Workshops should be held at the primary level and the curriculum needs to change to make the children aware of good and bad touch. I feel, at present, there is a lot of taboo attached, and that should not be."

Clive Semmens, Ex-Professor, recalled how education institutes in the United Kingdom were trying to spread awareness of sexual harassment, "When I was a schoolchild in the UK (1954-1957), I think it was being ignored - but I wasn't aware of it myself anyway. When I was a teacher in the UK (1978-1992) I know that most of the authorities were trying to ignore it, mostly successfully - but some individual teachers, including me, were doing our best to deal with it, but meeting strenuous resistance from the authorities."

He added, "In some schools, the senior teachers also were trying to deal with it, but getting little or no support from the local authorities in some areas. My own children left school in 1993 and 1995, and I know that most of the staff in their school, including the headmaster, were aware of the problem and trying to deal with it, but with little support from the local authority and some resistance from other senior members of staff."

The only way by which the problem can be resolved is through a cultural change, where parents and teachers would freely interact with children on such issues, which in turn will encourage children to speak up whenever they feel they have been inappropriately treated.

OneIndia News