Blog 3: Child Sexual Abuse in India

On February 7, 2013 the BBC published an article about a report that the group, Human Rights Watch, recently issued about the high rate of child sexual abuse that occurs in India, titled "Breaking the Silence: Child Sexual Abuse in India". The report's findings state that more than 7,000 children, including infants, are sexually abused each year, with much of it taking place in homes, schools, and other child care facilities. Another study is also cited that reports that two-thirds of the children in India experience some form of sexual abuse, though most cases are thought to go unreported. It is suspected that most cases go unreported because of the fear of social stigma by the parents and families members. The article goes on to say that many human rights activists are claiming that India isn't dealing with this issue in an effective manner, and stating that the victims are often mistreated and ridiculed by police, medical personnel, and other authorities once the abuse has been reported. Claims are made that the authorities often do not care about or even believe the children's accusations. The report also states that there has not been enough effort put into abuse prevention, even though India passed a new law last year entitled the "Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act". According to the article, the rate of child sexual abuse in India will not be curbed until more methods of protection and prevention are implemented, the abusers are fully prosecuted, and social attitudes are changed.
This particular situation in India is an example of how social pressures and cultural/religious standards can dictate how such a horrendous act is dealt with. As the article stated, parents and other authorities are often reluctant to report an act of child sexual abuse because the topic of sex is considered taboo and they want to avoid any scandals and the bad stigma it can bring to the victim and the victim's family. As is common knowledge, India has a very collectivist society. Because of this the families of the sexually abused children may be discouraged from informing any authorities of the crime because they are afraid it might reflect badly on the rest of the family. the country's major religion, Hinduism, also likely plays a big role in the reluctance to report or confront the abuse. In Hinduism there is a lot of social importance placed on purity and the avoidance of things that may be considered contaminants. If a child is sexually abused they would likely no longer be considered "pure" and that might affect the child's social standing or ability to be married later in life, both of which are of high importance in the Indian society.

Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21352102

Brittany Briceno

02.15.2013

4:21PM