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ABSTRACT 3 INTRODUCTION 3 NEED FOR A NEW LAW 3 MORE ABOUT POCSO 5 CRITIQUING POCSO 7 PROBLEM WITH AGE OF CONSENT 7 PROBLEM WITH MANDATORY REPORTING 9 OTHER ISSUES 10 POCSO AMENDMENT ACT OF 2019 11 CONCLUSION 12 BIBILOGRAPHY 13 RESEARCH PAPER TOPIC: EFFECTIVENESS OF POSCO ACT ON CURRENT JUDICIAL SYSTEM ABSTRACTThis research paper would center around the aftereffects that the establishment of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has had on the criminal justice system specifically and on society generally. The POCSO Act, when it was passed in the year 2012, aimed to protect children from offences committed against them that are of a sexual character, with provisions that also aimed at the court procedure being smooth and child-friendly. However, it comes to the realization that although comprehensive, it is still filled with contradictions and loopholes that prove to be very detrimental to the victims mentioned in the Act. INTRODUCTIONIndia, with its population of over 1.3 billion contributes its part to the growing crime rates as much as it contributes to its growing economy. Perhaps the most heinous out of all the crime that a person can do is crime against children. Still, out of all the crimes that can be carried out against children, there is nothing as debilitating and traumatizing to a child than the offences committed to them that are of a sexual nature. Having one’s own innate and private parts exposed is a horrifying experience to adults, who are aware of the nature and its consequences; so, the effects that it will have on a child is something that one cannot even imagine. A lot of the times, the children cannot even sense that something is wrong, and if they do, the adults mostly ignore it by labelling it as childish ignorance. These are some of the reasons why the government decided to enact the abovementioned Act. NEED FOR A NEW LAWEarlier to the establishment of this Act, the provisions that were given under the Penal Code of 1860 were inadequate when compared with the magnum of abuse inflicted upon children on a daily basis. Till the year 2012, even though the country should be ashamed to admit, only three offences could have been raised with regards to sexual offences against children, and ironically none of these three offences were specific to children. Following were those provisions:
“Young or old, intelligent or imbecile, awake or sleeping, the woman possesses a modesty capable of being outraged.”
It must have been due to numerous reports such as the above that Sonia Gandhi, who is the president of the Congress political party and chairman of the then National Advisory Council, urged the ministries concerned with women and child development to quickly submit a fresh draft on new protections that should be available to children of abuse cases. Therefore, due to fairly successful national studies and media reports, the Indian government finally decided to enact the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the year 2012. The POCSO Act of 2012 refers to the very extensive legal document on the protection and assistance to children on whom sexual offences such as harassment, assault, pornography, etc. are committed. In fact, the act briefly gives an overview as to the purpose of the act as follows: “comprehensive law to provide for the protection of children from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography, while safeguarding the interests of the child at every stage of the judicial process by incorporating child-friendly mechanisms for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and speedy trial of offences through designated Special Courts.” MORE ABOUT POCSOThe POCSO Act did prove to bring in a lot of systematic, administrative, and global changes:
CRITIQUING POCSO However, seldom have provisions and plans been used or implemented in our country in a way that benefitted the citizens. The same goes for the act at hand. There were a lot of problems and issues that the Act faced. In fact, a 2014 Maharashtra stakeholders survey showed that there were huge problems that arise from scarcity of resources and lack of proper training to the investigating officers that rendered the provisions of the Act virtually useless. These issues have a negative consequence both socially and legally in relation to the judicial system. PROBLEM WITH AGE OF CONSENT The age of consent according to the provisions of the Act is 18 years, and this section has been one of the most controversial and often disputed sections when this act is concerned. The definition of age of consent is that it is the age at which an individual is said to be legally capable of giving consent for engaging in sexual acts with another person. Before enactment of the bill, the age of consent was 16 years (even below that for the girl who is married to the accused). When the bill was made, the provision with regards to age of consent was that if the victim was between the ages of 16 and 18, the court shall consider whether the consent was actually taken against the will of the minor. The bill (before enactment) was sent to the Standing Committee on Human Resource Development for recommendations and suggestions. The committee, on its report that they sent back to the Parliament, suggested a change with regards to the abovementioned category. It basically said that if the law goes according to the provision in the Act at the moment, then the focus would shift onto determining the presence or absence of consent, and therefore, suggested that the provision should be amended by making all sexual acts (consensual or otherwise) of an individual below the age of 18 years a crime. The Parliament voted in favor of this suggestion and passed the Act with the above amendment. However, the debate that started between the two houses of Parliament still continue with regards to this amended age of consent section. Those in favor of the amended section contended that the earlier unamended provision gave freeway and a huge sense of legal protection to prospective offenders who will get away easily by committing rape on children between 16 years and 18 years, as the onus of proving the crime would be on the victim. The whole legal proceeding would be entirely pointing fingers at the victim and his/her capability of giving consent to the accused whereas the brunt of the trial will never fall up on the accused. That kind of method could do more harm than good to a potential victim of sexual abuse. The opposite side, on the other hand, refuted along the lines of sexual autonomy and independence of youth. This kind of law vehemently goes against what is known as ‘elopement marriages’. They refer to marriages that are contracted between a man and a woman without any consent or permission from parents. A 2013 judgment on the case State v. Suman Dass even held that a 15 – year – old willingly eloping with a 22 – year – old and marrying will not be a criminalizing behavior as explained by the POCSO provisions. The Special Court judge also stated that if the justice systems keep criminalizing such actions, then it would mean that the body of every person who is less than 18 – years – old would be the ‘property of the state’, and therefore restricts these people from finding bodily pleasures. They further argue that such kind of limitations relating to ‘consent’ go a long way in promoting the still prevailing social evils such as sexism and patriarchies where women are supposed to be obey whatever is said by the head of the family which is usually a man, and not have any independent thoughts, emotions and feelings of her own. Moreover, due to these problems, the term ‘consent’ gets connected with notions of parental authority and ‘rational’ choice instead of the actual choices made by women. It serves as a useful tool for police to harass young couples or for parents to curb the sexual behavior of their older children. A recent case in the year 2019 supported this notion by suggesting that the age of consent should be lowered. The court, while acquitting a young accused, said that the age of consent can be lowered to 16 years and that it may lead to the following implications: As it is human nature to like and be in a relationship with somebody, young couples who are above 16 years of age can breathe a sigh of relief if this provision is implemented. Any consensual act or bodily contact between people who are 16 years and above, can then be excluded from the rigorous punishment prescribed in the Act. If a sexual assault does happen, then it can be defined in another section under the same Act and can also be differentiated between sexual assault on children who are below 16 years. The judge also stated that there can be further amendments based on consensual sex. The age gap of the offender and the victim in what was pleaded to be sex of consensual nature should not be more than 5 years. This helps by not letting someone much older than the girl take advantage of the latter due to the latter’s impressionable age. Such kind of restrictions that are placed in the POCSO at the present concerning age of consent continue to deter young adults from engaging in a perfectly consensual sexual relation and from young girls from seeking safe abortion. PROBLEM WITH MANDATORY REPORTING The act states that anyone (even the child victim) has gotten knowledge about the fact that an offence under this act is about to be committed or has been committed, then s/he should immediately report it to the police. However, there are severe loopholes in this provision too. According to a famous study ( Wortley & Smallbone, 2006), the greatest number of abuse where the victims are children occurs in their own domestic surroundings, that is, with their family, relatives, etc. This means that almost always there is a power imbalance in the relationship between the offender and victim. The study also says that such domestic abuse encounters will majorly be frequent, and the continuity of those situations will automatically result in the children withdrawing to themselves, as it often becomes a situation in which the dominant person would be the offender and the child cannot possibly go against the wishes of his or her very own predator, thereby increasing the amount of cases not reported by the victim themselves. Therefore, a section such as this does little to no good in such situations. Another problem to be weary about is how it is such a set-back for institutions and individuals who work closely with young people and whose primary aim is to build trust between themselves and the youth. Mandatory reporting would mean a breach of trust as it would very much jeopardize all earlier efforts and progresses on communicating and empathizing with young people as these institutions, individuals and organizations would be legally obliged to report any consensual, but underage, sex. The Indian system of handling social evils have always been filled with prejudices, harassment, and judgements. The doctors, teachers and even counsellors are almost always not fully or aptly trained in this area regarding how sexual abuse victims are to be treated, and almost always, they themselves instill senses of ‘unworthiness’ and ‘tainted’ into the minds of the victims. Another problem is how police officers are more concerned in finishing off the case rather than bringing justice to the victim, that they even make victims create false statements to ‘shoo’ the case under the table quickly. A legal obligation, without thinking about how the provision should be enforced, paired with a lack of accountability from these very law enforcement officers leads to the failure of achieving the aim envisioned by mandatory reporting. OTHER ISSUESThere are also other comparatively smaller issues that the 2012 Act faces. The Act is extremely silent on describing the documents with which the age of the child victim can be proved. Therefore, Juvenile Justice Rules have to be referred and that piece of legislation only recognizes three documents that are fit to prove the age of the child:
Another point of issue is that, similar to a lot of laws that are embedded in our justice system, the POCSO act also assumes that the perpetrator will always be a man by use of the pronoun ‘he’. This is an extremely prejudiced and traditional manner of identifying perpetrators as it is absolutely untrue that women cannot become offenders who inflict sexual abuse towards children. Therefore, one whole gender is able to escape the punishments provided by this Act. POCSO AMENDMENT ACT OF 2019The POCSO Amendment bill was introduced to the Upper House of the Parliament by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in the year 2019 in order to add or amend the following –
However, this also poses another issue as scholars state that it goes against the constitutional principle embedded in Article 14 – Right to Equality. Only a reasonable classification of things is permissible under this article to not violate its core. The case of Anwar Ali helped in identifying what constitutes as ‘reasonable classification’. They are:
CONCLUSION The POCSO Act is very well an extremely comprehensive legislative piece that was established to protect one of the most vulnerable age groups in our society from sexual abuse and harm. The legislature has also done well in making a separate law for children and it is absolutely not inefficient in any way. However, there will always be the presence of loopholes, and my suggestion would be for the law – making bodies to carefully try to think more into the future with regards to execution of provision and connect them with how our society functions today in terms of justice personnel. BIBILOGRAPHY
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ABSTRACT 3 INTRODUCTION 3 RURAL V. URBAN 4 THE RURAL SCENARIO 5 INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 5 INDIAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IMPACT (IECEI) 6 FACTORS UNDERLYING THE IECEI OUTCOME 7 SAMAGRA SHIKSHA SCHEME 7 ECCE 8 RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT (2009) 8 STUDY BY SAVE THE CHILDREN ORGANIZATION 9 A SNIPPET OF THE URBAN SCENARIO 9 IMPROVEMENTS – RURAL AND URBAN 11 CONCLUSION 12 BIBILOGRAPHY 13 RESEARCH PAPER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ABSTRACTIndia is a country that is known for its diversity, and this distinctiveness of the country also covers how different our development statistics are in different states. Usually (there are exceptions), the lesser developed area will be known as the rural area, whereas the more developed area will be known as the urban one. India is a country that is known for its villages and cottage industries. The education that is imparted will quite obviously be very distinct between these two types of areas of development, and that depends on a lot of factors which will be touched up on in this paper. The paper mainly discusses as to the ways in which education that is imparted during the early stages of a person’s childhood differs in both these areas, and the various improvements that both stages could definitely try to seek. INTRODUCTION The definition of early childhood education can best be defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which is recognized as one of the most important international organization that focuses on education. According to UNESCO, Early Childhood is the age between 0 years to 8 years of a child and is a stage for exceptional growth and development due to high brain development. It is also the stage in which children get the most influenced by people and the environment around them. Therefore, as an educator, it is important to realize that, for the child, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is way more than just mere preparation for the next stage, that is, the primary level of education. The main aim of ECCE is to ensure an all-round development of a child’s emotional, cognitive, social, and physical needs so that the child is able to grow with a well-developed foundation of learning and well-being. Therefore, the main aim of social projects such as ECCE is to nurture capable, kind, and caring citizens of a country. RURAL V. URBAN Even though differences are extremely easy to pinpoint between these two terms, one has to analyze both of them with the educational and thereby economic development of India in the long term. According to a survey conducted in 2019, only about 34 million people are engaged in labour in the organized sector in India, which is a very small percentage of the total population, thereby showcasing the overall literacy rate and education development of the country. India is supposed to be the embodiment of ‘unity’ in diversity; however, our nation still continues to show a rural-urban divide in almost all of our matters, and education, unfortunately, is not an exception. Therefore, when the urban population comparatively lives quite a luxurious life when it comes to educating their children, the rural population would always have to sacrifice either quality, finance, or other basic necessities in order for their children to go to school. Even today, a huge part of the Indian population resides in the rural areas of the country; and hence, once cannot solve any national problem without paying attention to these people. However, the surprising finding is that there is still not much attention being paid to the type of system of learning that is existing in these abovementioned areas that constitute at least 75% of our country. If the Indian government focuses on upgrading the current rural education systems, then the impact that it would have on our economy will be magnanimous. Due to all these concerns and outcomes, the Indian government has embarked on executing numerous policies, programs, and surveys in order to understand and develop rural education systems, the results of which are mentioned below. THE RURAL SCENARIOINTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), the world’s biggest community-based program, was initiated by the Indian government in the latter part of 1975. It is a scheme that is aimed at children who are less than 6 years, because till now, there are not any definite policies for preschoolers of these ages. In addition to the children, the scheme is also targeted at pregnant and nursing mothers. The main purpose of this is to provide adequate supplementary nutrition, health-checkups, immunization, and pre-primary education. The whole framework of ICDS was to ensure a holistic development of the child (and the mother), by delivery of the abovementioned services in an integrated manner, that is., by trying to see to it that every child is offered services with reference to his or her background circumstances. There were several surveys that had indicated that this scheme was a good decision of the government, and results were there to prove its good effects – studies conducted by private organizations, educational institutions as well as governmental agencies have arrived at the conclusion that the effects of the scheme have proved to be that much beneficial for the targeted group that they were in support of the continuous implementation of ICDS. In fact, a governmental agency, who, in the late 90s, evaluated the results of the ICDS scheme, stated that the children under the ICDS areas had much better nutritional levels in their body than children who were not under the ICDS scheme. Preschool education is also another important aim of the scheme. The scheme also promotes early stimulation of what education will feel like to children below the age of 3 years through their mothers. As the best teachers of children below the age of 3 are their mothers, these mothers, with their children, are trained through an informal education system in Anganwadi Centres. Anganwadi Centres are places wherein children can learn, play, gain nutrition and develop other necessary skills that will assist them a long way in their lives. Such type of learning has also been seen to develop the health, nutrition, and education (KAP) of the mothers. With regards to the children, it is argued that there must be some sort of direct education that should be imparted to the children between the ages of 2 and 3, as intellectual development gets established by 3 and a half to 4 years. However, that is not to say that there have not been any criticisms for the scheme. In fact, it was widely criticized that the achievements and utilizations of the scheme were overstated, along with the differences in the development of ICDS areas as compared to the non – ICDS areas. A significant criticism that existed after the introduction and first round evaluation of the scheme was that the scheme unknowingly had focused more on the means rather than results. However, it also needs to be said that the popular opinion is that the ICDS was a successful venture, as the government still approves projects done under it. Anganwadi schemes, Child Protection services, etc., which are sub-schemes under the ICDS scheme have been given the approval by the Indian government as late as 2017. INDIAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IMPACT (IECEI) In order to have some data regarding the current levels of early childhood education in India, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED) situated in the Ambedkar University in Delhi along with ASER created the Indian Early Childhood Education Impact (IECEI). IECEI was a five – year study conducted from 2011 to 2016 to assess the impact of participation in early child education programs in children living in the rural areas of three states – Assam, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Out of the 676 children that were sampled for this survey, it was realized that at least 70% have attended pre-school at the age of 4 years. It was found out that, children who attended pre-school regularly had a much higher ‘school-readiness’ levels than their counterparts who attended less regularly. Overall, there was a positive correlation between preschool participation and school readiness, which again draws out the importance of early education. However, the report also drew up areas where the education was lacking. It was highly disconcerting to find out that most children entered primary levels of education with school readiness levels that were far below than what was expected of them. The children were unable to meet the learning demands that the curricula in primary school demanded from them and hence it was concluded that the quality of pre-school education was not up to the mark at all. FACTORS UNDERLYING THE IECEI OUTCOMEFollowing are a few of the factors that might have caused the results of the report:
This scheme tries to extend what should otherwise be basic necessity, education, to the rural parts of India by envisaging ‘school’ as an institution from pre-school to Grade 12. This way, it underlines the importance of pre-school for a child’s educational development, and sets up pre-school centers, also known as anganwadis, nursery schools, etc. in these rural pockets of the country. This is in accordance with the National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) policy of 2013 whose vision is to promote the holistic development and an active learning capability of children below the age of 6 years by establishing free, universal, joyful and equitable opportunities for laying some sort of foundation in order to achieve full potential in the future. The scheme is also in line with the Right to Education Act of 2009. ECCEECCE realizes the importance of learning during the formative years ( 0 to 6 years usually) of a child, and therefore prescribes programs, methods, etc. to conduct such learning practices, especially in rural households. ECCE therefore consists of an elaborative plan that tries to cater to the needs of the children that will assist them in achieving holistic development. The program states that emphasis needs to be given on the kind of indoor ( which includes classroom space, interactions between children to children and between children to teachers, materials provided for creating arts and crafts) and outdoor ( playground space, social interactions, physical movements and balance, developing environment – conscious activities) environment. RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT (2009)The RTE Act, which came into effect in the year 2010, also tried dispelling away the criticism of the absence of any specific regulation on the rights of education of children in their formative years. At the time of coming into effect, Section 11 of the Act stated that the Indian government ‘may’ take required steps for ensuring preschool education. However, advocates of early childhood learning widely criticized this provision, due to which the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill of 2017 put forward the suggestion of replacing the word ‘may’ with ‘shall’. This suggestion was allowed. Therefore, the RTE Act is also in favor of formative years of learning by stating the following – “ With a view to prepare children above the age of three years for elementary education and to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years, the appropriate Government may make necessary arrangement for providing free pre-school education for such children.” STUDY BY SAVE THE CHILDREN ORGANIZATION One of the rationale because of which the authorities are stressing on the importance of early childhood education is due to the study conducted by the well-known Indian NGO ‘Save the Children’ that works for children’s rights. The organization had partnered with the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies (CBPS) in order to understand the results of the implementation of the ECCE program in Indian rural population. The study states that ECCE has been gaining attention all across the country and abroad, due to the realization that costs borne during the implementation of the ECCE structures are far outweighed by the benefits it grants to children in the long run. However, one important issue that was realized by the study was that there was an absolute lack of importance given to preschool or early childhood education by the ICDS scheme, and that the achievements of the ICDS with regards to ECCE were frankly overstated. This disregard was evident by the absence of budget heads for the education component of the ICDS budgets across most of the states. There were numerous provisions made for supplementary nutrition and growth monitoring which also tells us that ICDS and related Anganwadis became associated as mere feeding centers for the poor, by completely disregarding the learning and skill-developing component of these schemes. A SNIPPET OF THE URBAN SCENARIO The urban population always had it much better than their rural counterparts when it comes to anything regarding development, and education is no different. According to the Economic Survey of 2019 to 2020 conducted by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, the financial cost borne by the rural students as opposed to their urban counterparts are on an average, over 10 percent points higher. Rural people already have many factors that tilt them onto the side of stopping their education and it was studied that such high costs only serve as further encouraging factors for rural students to drop out of school. High financial costs coupled with the absence of an adequate financial support system forces the underprivileged and poor to drop education altogether. In fact, according to the 'Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India 2017 – ‘18’, conducted by the National Sample Survey (NSS), the percentage of people from age 3 to age 35 who never enrolled in any education system was about 13.6 percent. Most of their reasons for non-enrollment was because of ‘financial constraints’. However, a phenomenon that is unfortunately unique to the urban areas is the presence of slums. Needless to say, children living in slums do not get any kind of education – neither in their formative years and nor in their later ones. The fairly recent industrialization and globalization have resulted in a rapid increase in the urban population growth. This growth, along with a lack of attention to the growing urban poverty only serves to further increase multi-dimensional deprivations, including deprivation of education (earlier and later) in the urban areas, especially urban slums. In a research study conducted on the Delhi slums in 2009 regarding schooling of children aged 5 years to 14 years. Based on this survey, it can be seen that early childhood education is not even an option that is considered by the slum people. Nevertheless, the report indicates that only just over half of the children in slums attend schools. The report also states that there is a high dropout rate in these areas due to exhaustion of financial services, lack of school capacities for all children, requirement of documents that is almost always not present with these children, etc. The recent issue surrounding these children is the issue of ‘identity proof’. Identity proofs and access to school education are related when the absence of identity proofs such as birth certificate poses a problem in estimating the correct number of children who are homeless, living in slums, etc. Prior to the passing of the RTE Act in 2009, if preschool facilities were not present in the urban slums, then primary schools were used for educating children between the ages of 4 years and 5 years. However, after 2010, school authorities began to interpret that a child below the age of 6 years shall not be admitted to class 1 which limited the access to education of the younger children. A 2007 Global Monitoring report stated that urban areas are still neglected in terms of government ECCE facilities as only 13% of all ICDS projects are located in urban areas. IMPROVEMENTS – RURAL AND URBAN URBAN The strangeness of the problems that are faced by the urban children needs to be looked upon by a new set of policies, rules and regulations that will specifically cater to the legal rights of these children as the existing policies are very much to the preferences and capabilities of the rural folks. As ECCE was not exactly covered in the urban areas, there should be the establishment of preschools that are public funded with an extremely carefully designed curriculum and trained teachers. There can also be national – level institutional tracking of the enormous number of migrating children to get better data on children that are always on the go. Special focus should also be given on children that are at risk of dropping out, by ensuring that some sort of bridging or provision for providing support classes is present in the laws. RURAL With regards to the rural community, it should first be ensured that there are enough number of schools that are available for the rural children to access without any difficulties as most of the parents do not even entertain ideas of schools because of its unavailability of distance. A huge financial sum should be kept away with regards to rural education as that can be used up in building institutions with better infrastructure, hiring more teachers, providing children with better materials and bringing innovative forms of teaching into the rural educational sphere. Digital literacy should be a strict learning component for the teachers – it will help them both personally, professionally, and socially to become digital literate. Free education must be a thing for preschoolers, and their attendance should be carefully monitored by government agencies and non-government agencies alike. CONCLUSION It should be kept on everyone’s minds that without building a strong learning foundation in our preschooler’s minds, there is no hope for any kind of holistic development for these children’s futures. Our country, therefore, needs to be much stricter when it comes to ensuring that by the age of 5 years, children can at least read basic texts and express their views and opinions into the outside world with no restrictions. Such a phenomenon will happen only if these children are taught the roots of education from a young age. India has been doing a whole lot of programs, both with national and international connections, and it has been giving us results, but India has to step up on their games and implementation strategies if it wants to see a much better figure of holistic education in individuals from a young age. It will be difficult due to our county’s preoccupation with diversity in a negative manner that leads to discriminations based on socio – economic status, caste, gender, etc. However, all of this needs to be surpassed in order to achieve the dream education goal of our country. BIBILOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION
Child Rights gained momentum in the 20th century. Children were considered “young adults” until then and there was a lack of special laws to protect their vulnerability. Parents and caregivers often exploited children’s gullibility. Child abuse occurs when parents or caregivers abuse the child physically, emotionally, sexually and neglects to give the child proper care. The abuse can have negative impacts and can shun the emotional and physical growth of the children. Today, child abuse is a global issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child abuse and child maltreatment as “all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power”. Nearly 3 in 4 children suffer physical violence at the hands of their parents or caregivers. According to WHO, child abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. It is important to identify the symptoms of such abuse to provide utmost care to the victims. Child abuse can be a single episode or several episodes taking place over time. Child Abuse is a criminal offence. Every State has its procedure and laws that deal with child abuse. India has one of the largest child population in the world. Regardless of the laws and policies implemented to curb child abuse, the condition is yet to become better in the country. The number of child sexual abuse cases increases every year in the country. “As many as 109 children were sexually abused every day in India in 2018, according to the data by the National Crime Record Bureau, which showed a 22 per cent jump in such cases from the previous year.” TYPES AND SYMPTOMS OF CHILD ABUSE According to WHO, child abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. It is important to identify the symptoms of such abuse to provide utmost care to the victims. Child abuse can be a single episode or several episodes taking place over time.
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT Aside from the immediate physical injuries, children can experience through maltreatment, a child’s reactions to abuse or neglect can have lifelong and even intergenerational impacts. Childhood maltreatment can be linked to later physical, psychological, and behavioural consequences as well as costs to society as a whole. These consequences may be independent of each other, but they also may be interrelated. For example, abuse or neglect may stunt the physical development of the child’s brain and lead to psychological problems, such as low self-esteem, which could later lead to high-risk behaviours, such as substance use. The outcomes for each child may vary widely and are affected by a combination of factors, including the child’s age and developmental status when the maltreatment occurred; the type, frequency, duration, and severity of the maltreatment; and the relationship between the child and the perpetrator. Child abuse and neglect can cause a variety of psychological problems. Maltreatment can cause victims to feel isolation, fear, and distrust, which can translate into lifelong psychological consequences that can manifest as educational difficulties, low self-esteem, depression, and trouble forming and maintaining relationships. Researchers have identified links between child abuse and neglect and the following psychological outcomes.
Poverty is especially harmful to children during the early years of life, a finding demonstrated by countless studies over the years. It has been linked to disruptions in learning and academic performance. Several studies have shown that children living in poverty begin to show lower cognitive and academic readiness, as early as age two, and to perform worse on several cognitive measures – a finding that continues as children progress through school. Poor children are more likely to repeat a grade, to be expelled or suspended from school, and to drop out of school. Children from poor households are also more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions, including asthma, diabetes, hearing, vision and speech delays. The effects of living in poverty persist well into adulthood. Childhood poverty has been linked to overall poor health and higher rates of mortality in adulthood. Childhood poverty and chronic stress can even lead to problems regulating emotions as an adult. Linked to a host of negative outcomes, poverty is often considered the single best predictor of child maltreatment, especially child neglect and child abuse. Data compiled by the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect indicate that children from families with annual incomes below $15,000 were over 22 times more likely to experience maltreatment than children from families whose income exceeded $30,000. These children were almost 56 times more likely to be educationally neglected and over 22 times more likely to be seriously injured. While poverty is linked with maltreatment, the relationship is not all that simple. Not all parents who live in poverty abuse their children, and many who do are not poor. The link between child abuse and poverty can be explained in several ways. For instance, it is possible that experiencing poverty generates family stress, which in turn, leads to a greater likelihood of abuse or neglect. Or perhaps, parents living in poverty do not have access to the resources necessary and are unable to provide appropriate care for children. Or, other factors (e.g., substance abuse) may make parents vulnerable and more likely to be both poor and abusive or neglectful. Children experience neglect more often than any other forms of maltreatment. Lack of housing and transportation, in addition to access to substance abuse treatment, are common themes in child neglect cases. Poverty and child neglect are linked. We need to continue to invest in efforts that address poverty-related safety risks for children and keep children and families together. NEED FOR EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND APPROPRIATE ACTION Child abuse must be reported to the official authorities mandatorily. Identification of child abuse is a difficult task. Teachers and other elders must talk to the child if they notice any peculiarity in their behaviour. It is important to have such conversations with children because more often than not, children are unaware that they are being abused. It is necessary to teach children the appropriate terms of body parts as it can protect them and they will be able to share what exactly happened with them. Toys can be used as an aid to help the child speak up. Physical exams, lab tests, X- rays etc., can help in diagnosing and taking appropriate action. Once, it is identified that the child has been abused, he/she should be provided with a safe environment away from the abuser. The child must be provided with medical attention and follow-up care to ensure the child’s well-being. Alternatively, consulting a therapist is highly recommended. Therapy can help the child to learn to trust again and boost one’s confidence. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy can help the child deal with the traumatic experiences and child-parent psychotherapy can improve the child-parent relationship. Child abuse of boys, often go unnoticed and their behaviour changes are mistaken for age-related changes. It becomes even more difficult to identify abuse in boys because of stereotypes about men and masculinity. In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, supported by United Nations Children’s Fund, conducted a study to understand the magnitude of child abuse in India, they found that 53.22% children faced one or more forms of sexual abuse and among them; the number of boys abused was 52.94%. What most are unaware of is that boys and girls become victims nearly at the same rate (48.5% and 51.2% respectively). Another research co-led by Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) professor Kathryn Whetten shows that orphaned boys are as vulnerable to abuse as girls. 1 in 5 women and 1 in 13 men report having been sexually abused as a child aged 0-17 years. Children who experience child abuse are more likely to be arrested as juveniles and perpetrate violence therefore it is necessary to break this cycle of violence. By reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect through primary prevention approaches and providing comprehensive, trauma-informed care when it does occur, communities can limit its long-term consequences. In trauma-informed care, service professionals acknowledge a child’s history of trauma and how that trauma can have an impact on the symptoms or consequences being experienced by the child. CONCLUSION Child abuse and neglect can have devastating and long-lasting effects on a child and can result in detrimental societal impacts, including high costs for services and increased involvement in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. However, communities can act to stem the effects of maltreatment and even prevent it. Evidence-based services and supports can promote protective factors that mitigate the effects of maltreatment as well as provide families and communities with the tools to stop maltreatment before it occurs. Child welfare agencies can work with families and communities to spearhead initiatives that build upon strengths and address needs. RESEARCH QUESTION- HAS CRIME AGAINST CHILDREN REDUCED WITH THE ADVENT OF THE POCSO ACT IN INDIA?
INTRODUCTION Child Abuse is the act or failure of the parents or caregivers of a child to give proper care to the child. This involves emotional, physical, sexual exploitation and negligence. Child Abuse can impair the child’s physical and emotional growth and it can happen at homes, school, playgrounds etc. Today, child abuse is a global issue. Countries across the world have addressed the issue and the need for protection of children. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child abuse and child maltreatment as “all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power”. Nearly 3 in 4 children suffer physical violence at the hands of their parents or caregivers. Every State has its procedure and laws that deal with child abuse. This article provides information regarding the laws and policies that deal with child abuse in India and draws a comparison between the laws in India and other countries. CHILD ABUSE LAWS IN INDIA India has one of the largest child population in the world. Regardless of the laws and policies implemented to curb child abuse, the condition is yet to become better in the country. The number of child sexual abuse cases increases every year in the country. “As many as 109 children were sexually abused every day in India in 2018, according to the data by the National Crime Record Bureau, which showed a 22 per cent jump in such cases from the previous year.” India’s young population grapples with the lack of access to education, basic resources and healthcare. This makes them susceptible to adverse childhood experiences. The vision of the Constitution of India is to nurture and provide necessities to children. The State must look after their well-being. Constitutional Provisions
The Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age, and defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as sexual harassment and pornography, and deems a sexual assault to be “aggravated” under certain circumstances, such as when the abused child is mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or authority vis-à-vis the child, like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor. People who traffic children for sexual purposes are also punishable under the provisions relating to abetment in the Act. The Act prescribes stringent punishment graded as per the gravity of the offence, with a maximum term of rigorous imprisonment for life, and fine. In keeping with the best international child protection standards, the Act also provides for mandatory reporting of sexual offences. This casts a legal duty upon a person who knows that a child has been sexually abused to report the offence; if he fails to do so, he may be punished with six-month imprisonment and/ or a fine. The police personnel receiving a report of sexual abuse of a child are given the responsibility of making urgent arrangements for the care and protection of the child, such as obtaining emergency medical treatment for the child and placing the child in a shelter home, should the need arise. The police are also required to bring the matter to the attention of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) within 24 hours of receiving the report, so the CWC may then proceed were required to make further arrangements for the safety and security of the child. The said Act makes provisions for the medical examination of the child in a manner designed to cause as little distress as possible. The examination is to be carried out in the presence of the parent or other person whom the child trusts, and in the case of a female child, by a female doctor. The Act recognizes almost every known form of sexual abuse against children as punishable offences and makes the different agencies of the State, such as the police, judiciary and child protection machinery, collaborators in securing justice for a sexually abused child. Further, by providing for a child-friendly judicial process, the said Act encourages children who have been victims of sexual abuse to report the offence and seek redress for their suffering, as well as to obtain assistance in overcoming their trauma. In time, the said Act will provide a means not only to report and punish those who abuse and exploit the innocence of children but also prove an effective deterrent in curbing the occurrence of these offences. The Act does not leave any possibility of consent given by persons under 18. This would mean that if a seventeen-year-old boy or girl had a nineteen-year-old sexual partner, the partner would be liable to be booked under the provisions of the POCSO Act. The Act also does not provide any clarity on what happens when two minors engage in any kind of sexual activity. There needs to be a clear provision in the POCSO Act that lays down what documents should be considered for proving the age of the child, and whether the benefit of the doubt should be given to the child if the ossification test cannot provide an exact assessment. RESEARCH QUESTION- HAS CRIME AGAINST CHILDREN REDUCED WITH THE ADVENT OF THE POCSO ACT IN INDIA? The POCSO Act came into force with effect from 14th November 2012. The number of cases since the advent of the Act has steadily increased over the years. The high rate of pendency of the cases makes it difficult to give speedy justice to the victims. States like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal continue to ignore the Supreme Court's directive to set up Special POCSO Fast Track Courts (FTC) despite extremely high pendency rates. It should be noted that as per the Act, trial in POCSO cases should be completed within a year but there are over 1.66 lakh cases of sexual abuse of children and rape cases pending in the courts. The Supreme Court said that if special orders were not passed, a situation would be reached where the judicial system in relations to POCSO cases could come to a grinding halt and if that happened then the Rule of Law would break down and people could resort to revenge and violence outside the courtrooms. After 2016, there was a surge in crimes committed against children that called for immediate action and to make punishment under the POCSO Act more stringent. This led to the “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 2019.” The Amendment contains provisions for increased punishments and death penalty in the rarest of the rare cases. But the downside here is that the death penalty as punishment can lead to the murder of the victim as well as under-reporting of cases. Further, the amended Act does not mention compensation to be given to the victim and no solution to reduce the pendency of the cases. ABUSE LAWS IN OTHER COUNTRIES
If you suspect that a child is undergoing child abuse, it is necessary to report it to the police. Child Abuse is a criminal offence. Early identification and reporting can spare the child from further abuse. TABLE OF CONTENT i. Introduction……………………………………………………………..…….……….3 ii. Domestic Violence…………………………………………………………………….4 iii. Laws on Domestic violence………………………………………….…………..……5 iv. Scenario before the lockdown……………………………………………………...….6 v. Scenario after the lockdown…………………………………………………………...7 vi. International Scenario……………………………………………………………......10 vii. Analysis……………………………………………………………………………....11 viii. What can be done? ......................................................................................................13 ix. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...14 x. Bibliography ………………………………………………………………….……..16 2 INTRODUCTION The world has been hit by a pandemic, but the impact of it is not the same for everyone. The global crisis has exacerbated the existing inequalities. The dawn of 24th March 2020 brought the first lockdown in motion and everyone was forced to stay at home. Prime Minister Modi asked the people of his country to stay inside the Lakshaman Rekha to stay protected from the virus. But are we really safe on the other side of the Rekha? The lockdown may have contained the coronavirus but the virus of domestic violence was given the flare it needed. Home is considered to be the safest place during situations like these but this is not true for all. Lockdown has made people vulnerable in many sense, but vulnerability of women against violence is frightening to a new degree. Countless women, including queer women and Trans women, are facing the gendered impact of the lockdown in the form of domestic violence. All the policy decisions like these during a crisis are made with the basic assumption that the effect of the pandemic is gender neutral. For the people living with their abusers, the Lakshman Rekha doesn’t seem to protect them inside their homes, as for them danger is lurking on both sides of the Rekha. Domestic violence can be defined as the intimate partner violence, which also includes child abuse, elder abuse and abuse by any other member of the house. It involves a pattern of physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, and financial abuse. Assault, humiliation, threats, intimidation are also included in such violence. Women are not the only one to face domestic violence, however, the rates of violence directed at women are much higher than that of men. World Health Organization states that one in every three women around the world face physical or sexual violence1. Along with this, at least 30% of the women in relationships have experienced violence by their respective partners.2 1 WHO statistics on violence against women https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/9789241564625/en/ 2 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women 3 Around the world, 67% of the healthcare workforce and healthcare facilities are women, which makes them front line workers for the coronavirus response3. Even before the pandemic, women were doing three times more unpaid care and domestic work than men. But the global decision making regarding COVID-19 does not concern the women of the society at this proportion. It has been said that “Gender norms and roles relegating women to realm of care work puts them on the front lines in the times of crisis, resulting in greater risk pf exposure, while excluding them from developing the response.”4 In India, women don’t easily share their domestic violence experience with others. Very few of the victims of such abuse come forward to seek help. Among the women who report cases or seek help create a “pyramid of reporting”. It varies from informal sources which is natal family and friends, to formal sources which is institutional routes like NGOs and the Police. In this paper, we will understand the impact of the lockdown to COVID-19 all over the world in terms of domestic violence. The paper approaches to understand the reason for such violence, in the present as well as past context. WHAT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE? Domestic violence is violence suffered by a person with whom the victim is in a domestic relationship5. The violence is of such a nature that it harms or endangers the health, safety, life or limb, mental and physical well-being, or causes physical, verbal, sexual, emotional and economic abuse.6It occurs in all kinds of intimate relationships including married couples, couples in live in relationship and same-sex partners among others. Domestic violence is not only done by husbands, the abusers may include in-laws, parents and other relatives. It is not only about heated arguments or the physical abuse, it also includes the 3 WHO Statistics on health workforces- https://www.who.int/hrh/statistics/hwfstats/en/ 4 Terry McGovern, director of the Program on Global Health Justice and Governance at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. 5Sadhana vs Hemant, 2019, Bom HC. 6Section 3 of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. 4 psychological abuse, social abuse and economic abuse. Social abuse is when the victim is isolated from others in the community. Financial abuse is when the abusers takes the financial control over the victims and give access only to fewer resources. Domestic violence is a human right violation. It results in physical and mental torture and health difficulties. Domestic violence can deeply impact a woman in the form of depression, chronic diseases, sexual disorders, substance abuse etc. Not only women but even the children are vulnerable to domestic violence during the lockdown. The sense of being trapped in a house causes stress and frustration which is projected on other people of the house, whom they feel are inferior to them. LAWS AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE There are several laws protecting a married woman from domestic violence from her husband or his relatives. Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code provides punishment for harassment for dowry by the husband or his family7. This harassment can be either physical or mental. Marital rape is not a crime in India, however, forced sex can be considered cruelty under this section. This section also covers all willful conducts against a woman, which abets her to commit suicide or injury to life, limb or health (mental and physical). Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 outlaws practice of giving or taking dowry. Even after this, if dowry has been given to and taken by anyone other than the woman, she is entitled to that amount back under this Act. Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act 2005 has played a key role in helping the victims of domestic violence. The act prohibits a wide range of abuse against women, ranging from emotional, physical, sexual and economical. The Act also covers women in a live-in relationship, but are not married8. The Act provides her a right to get an order of protection against 7Section 498A, Indian Penal Code. 8 Ajay Kumar v. Lata alias Sharuti, Supreme Court, 2019. 5 her husband and his family, to continue living in the same house9. She cannot be thrown out of her matrimonial home even if she reports her abusers, to claim maintenance, to have custody to her children and to claim compensation. The act also provides for compensation for mental agony and torture caused to the victim due to domestic violence.10 Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that a woman does not have to necessarily file for a divorce to have a right to receive maintenance from her husband11. Marriage makes a duty of the husband to maintain her wife if she’s unable to maintain herself. A petition for maintenance is maintainable even in the absence of one for divorce. In a recent case, it was held that even if the wife is educated and working, she’s entitled to get maintenance from her husband.12 SCENARIO BEFORE THE LOCKDOWN If we look at the recent statistics of Crime in India Report 201813, released by the National Crime Research Bureau, domestic violence is the top crime against women. The data shows that a crime against women is recorded every 1.7 minutes in India, and that a woman is subjected to domestic violence every 4.4 minutes. The data says that one-third of the crimes reported were cruelty by husband or his relatives, which was 103,272 cases. The National Family Health Survey-4 of 2015-1614 painted that domestic violence affects every 3rd woman and that 30% of women have experienced physical violence at home since the age of 15. Among the married women, 83% have listed their husbands or their intimate partner as the main offender, 56% listed their mother-in-law, 33% listed their fathers and 27% listed their siblings. 9Section 12 of Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act 2005. 10 Smt. Haimanti Mal vs The State of West Bengal, Calcutta High Court, 2019. 11 Vikas Bhutani v. State, Delhi High Court, 2019. 12 Megha Khandelwal v. Rajat Khandelwal, Supreme Court, 2019. 13 National Crimes Record Bureau, Crime in India 2018. 14 National Family Health Survey 4, Domestic Violence, 2015-16. 6 United Nations Study of 2018 has revealed that, around the globe, home is the most unsafe place for a woman15. This can be deduced from various scenarios. A special report on Intimate Partner Violence by US Department of Justice16 shows that in the period of 1994 to 2010, 4 out of 5 people who experienced domestic abuse is a woman. Other data from all over 80 countries have shown that about 30% of the woman in a relationship, have been subjected to physical or sexual violence from their partners. The National Commission of women has said that normally, they used get 900 to 100 calls of domestic violence, molestation and eve teasing. But since the lockdown has begun, they receive 1000 to 1200 calls, mostly to report domestic violence17. SCENARIO AFTER THE LOCKDOWN Globally, about 67% of the healthcare workers are women, which naturally makes them prone to infection. Women are already engaged with unpaid care work that too three times more than men, and during lockdown, this burden has increased. The Lockdown due to coronavirus around the world has imposed strict control on people’s mobility. It has put women in abusive relationships at extremely high risk of violence in the form of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Lockdown mandates being trapped with their one’s abusive husband or in-laws or other relatives which leads to increased rates of sexual, physical, psychological abuse, threats, intimidation, humiliation and controlling behavior among others. Isolation due to lockdown have resulted in restrictions on access to financial resources, education, employment opportunities, medical care etc. These restrictions are mostly trigger points of the behaviors mentioned above which often have a lasting effect on mental health and well-being. 15 https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2018/November/home--the-most-dangerous-place-for women--with-majority-of-female-homicide-victims-worldwide-killed-by-partners-or-family--unodc-study-says.html 16 Intimate Partner Violence, 1993–2010, Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Justice. 17 http://ncw.nic.in/reports/publications/reports-published-by-the-commission. 7 In the month of April, the National Commission of Women18 released the date of domestic violence complaints during the lockdown. The commission recorded 291 complaints of domestic violence in from March 24 to April 16 via email, as compared to 302 cases in February and 270 cases in January. Along with this, the commission received 885 complaints for violence other domestic violence, like harassment for dowry, bigamy, polygamy etc., many of which are domestic in nature. However, the helpline numbers of various NGOs and other organization, which usually receive significant amount of complaints, are unnervingly silent. Even the complaints regarding “Right to live with dignity” are doubled, from 35 cases to 77 cases19 during the first two weeks of the lockdown. These cases may pertain to discrimination on the basis of gender, caste or class or all three combined. According a study of 2017 by the Ministry of Women & Child Development20, 30.8% homes are most common place of violence against women. This data can be used to explain the spike in number of cases registered by the NCW in lockdown. It has been pointed out by the head of the NCW, Rekha Sharma that the actual numbers of such violence may be greater than the complaints received. She also added that women are burdened with domestic work, taking care of their child along with their in-laws, all this has stretched her limits. She states that the Commission hasn’t received any direct complaint or postal since the offices are shut, and since most of the women come from the lower strata of the society, they send their complaints by post. And even thought the online system is operating, there’s a large population unaware with the system. Although, after within one week of lockdown, the commission received 69 complaints, it released a WhatsApp number as an additional help, as there are more women on WhatsApp that on emails. The other facilities like the Centers with gynecological wards for the victims of physical and sexual abuse, are not also not operating currently due to the lockdown. It is believed by the experts in this field that decrease in number of complaints in these NGOs are decreasing due to continuous 18 National Commission of Women, Statistics on domestic violence during lockdown, http://ncw.nic.in/ 19 http://ncw.nic.in/reports/publications/reports-published-by-the-commission?tid=18 20 Gov of India, Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2017. 8 presence of the abuser at home due to the lockdown, which makes the access of mobile phones or the space or time to call for help, difficult. The number of complaints received by NCW is increasing at an alarming rate. NCW head has opined that since men are sitting at home, mostly without any job or work to do, they are frustrated, and they take their frustration out on the women of their household. Another reason that can be held accountable for increase in domestic abuse cases is domestic labor. We live in a society in which our roles decided are by our gender. Around the world, domestic world have been the responsibility of women, and is socially and culturally demarcated as “women’s work”. During the lockdown, the amount of household work has increased as everyone is locked at home. Obviously the work is not divided equitably between all the members, women are expected to bear all the load of this increased domestic labor and when she fails to live up to that expectation, the chances of violence increase. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act provides that the counselling centers are supposed to reach out to the women who experience such abuse but the lockdown has resulted in closure of these centers which can turn out to be lethal for women in need. Women have lost police empathy towards women complaints regarding violence against them as they are busy enforcing the lockdown. If a woman is being subjected to violence and has to complain about it to someone else, she needs to ensure that she’s not being overheard by any other member of her house as the situation could get worse. But when 57% of the women population in India don’t have an access to phones, their option to register complaints becomes limited21. The lockdown may have helped in controlling the virus but with the curtailed mobility, the gender based violence has found its way in. Even the avenues that were made to protect the victims of such abuse are not in a position do anything as the women are losing these avenues. 21 https://www.thequint.com/news/india/study-on-internet-and-mobile-phone-use-in-india-reveals-gender-gaps 9 India is in a dire need of an alternate alert system to rescue the women from situations like these. In this regard, the Uttar Pradesh Police has released a helpline number 112, although not specific to domestic violence, it is a good initiative22. The laws of the land provides for protection of women against domestic violence but it is difficult for the judicial system and the legislature to break into the dominion of patriarchal family. Domestic violence has many dimensions and all of them stem from the exercise of patriarchal power. INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO If we look at the global statistics, domestic violence related distressed calls have shot up at an upsetting rate during the lockdown in various cases. In the Hubei province of China, where the first coronavirus outbreak occurred, has shown a significant increase in the number of complaints. During the month of February, the complaints received by the police rose from 47 (last year) to 16223, and the local activists of the area suggest that majority of these case has the roots in the lockdown. Similar is the case with Brazil, where state run shelters are receiving cases related to exploitation of women by an increased rate of 40 to 50% as compared to earlier. Even in the European countries, from Catalonia to Cyprus, the calls to domestic violence helplines have increased by 20 to 30%. In France, the cases have shot up by about 30% after March 17, when the country went into lockdown. In Argentina as well, the calls to emergency services in connection with such violence have risen by 25%24. In the UK, the calls to report abuse to national hotline have increased by 65% recently. The country’s biggest domestic abuse charity, Refuge, has observed a disturbing surge of 700% calls to its helpline in a single day. The Home Minister of UK Priti Patel has issued a notice saying the victims of domestic abuse will be allowed to leave their home, if in need of shelter and help from 22 https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ncw-launches-domestic-violence-helpline/article31312219.ece 23 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/coronavirus-domestic-violence.html. 24 https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures 10 the police even in the lockdown. In Spain, women are given code words like “Mask-19” in pharmacy stores to report such violence and alarm the response mediator. Even the Gender Equality Ministry in France has promised to pay the for up to 20,000 hotel nights for the survivors of the domestic abuse. If we look at the past records during the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014, in West African countries the data shows a similar trend. Lockdown was imposed, and all the workplaces, schools, colleges etc. were closed to contain the disease. A steady increase in the number of rapes, sexual assaults and other violence against women was observed. Women and girls were abused and exploited. A survey done by the NGOs in Sierra Leone revealed that teenage pregnancy rates spiked due to rapes and assaults suffered by women. In over one year, the sexual violence against women increased by 40% in the country. United Nations has warned the whole world from following the same path as that of Ebola crisis. The report from UN stated that, during the Ebola crisis, different forms of violence against women are aggravated, which includes child marriage, trafficking, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of women. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described the sudden increase in number of complaints as horrifying. ANALYSIS The history gives us evidence that in crisis like these, the violence against women increases at an alarming rate. This can be a result of anxiety, as for many lockdown brings different kinds of hardships. People have uncertainty of jobs, their salary, access food and other basic necessity. And we live in a society where men find women as easy target for venting out the frustration. The number of complaints received by the NCW and various NGOs doesn’t capture the reality in its real sense. Even before the lockdown, the domestic violence cases were underreported. The survivors of the abuse are made to follow the orthodox social norms and are stigmatized, which results in such underreporting. So, the condition during the lockdown can be clearly understood, where women are forced to live with their abusers as there’s restriction on their mobility. 11 In normal situations also the victims of such abuse don’t feel safe to go to the police for protection due to lack of empathy from them, and the fear that if their abusers get arrested, the repercussions may be worse when they are released. In most cases, their husband or intimate partners are the abusers but this is not exclusive. They also face abuse from their in-laws, and other relatives, which leaves them with no choice but to suffer in silence to survive. Lockdown has surely intensified the violence suffered by existing victims, but along with that it has also created new victims. The extra free time, with no visitors the whole day, and staying at home all day has taken a toll over people conscious. If we look at the lower social ladder, the stress is of existence, of earning daily wage, of getting the basic needs like food and shelter, of surviving the day. This is used as an excuse for the violence and mental harassment. Sociologists have suggested that family can become a place of exploitation and abuse because family is a cultural ideal and a focus of identity. The sacredness of the family as an institution is endorsed by the environment around it and the important concerns of the family like honor, propriety and reputation makes it difficult for the victims to come forward. This makes the collection of exact data difficult.25 Seminal studies conducted during the Great Depression indicate that during the times of economic hardships, men tend to become more violent, impulsive, abusive, and aggressive with more controlling behavior26. Women become financially vulnerable during economic crisis like these. Even if they wanted to remove themselves from such a toxic household, it becomes difficult due to financial constraints, the money that she must have saved for this purpose, will have to be used somewhere else since priorities change in hardships like these. In emergency situations like these, men are not the only one to lose jobs. A study by CMIE of 2018 shows that out of 11 million jobs lost, 8.8 million jobs were of women and men only accounted for 2.2 million jobs. The situation is worse for educated women with a graduate or 25 Uberoi 1995:36 26 Mirra Komarovsky, The Unemployed Man and His Family, 1971. 12 higher degree, as they suffer 35% unemployment as against by men who have 10% as their unemployment rate27. A study published by World Bank Economic Review28, collected data from 31 developing countries during the period of 2005 to 2016. The study shows that a 1% increase in men unemployment is related to increase in domestic violence by 0.05% points or 2.75%. United Nations has also pointed out that coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the economic distress and the social issues, along with restrictions on movement. This has seriously impacted the situation of women all around the world and number of cases of domestic abuse has increased at a disturbing rate. WHAT CAN BE DONE? The victims should not blame themselves for the abuse. The abuser is fully responsible for his acts, no reason can justify their doings because violence is Unacceptable at all cost. Acceptance of violence leads to a vicious cycle, and encourages it further. There are various helpline numbers, counselling websites, and counselling centers to help the victims of domestic violence. One can always report to the police, Domestic Violence Act provides for instant arrest of the accused. Covid-19 has posed many challenges before women of the household. Therefore there’s a need of strengthening the existing machinery to deal with domestic violence. New solutions and measures should be introduced for extraordinary situations like these. Women from all strata should be taken into consideration before making a system.29 For instance, not everyone have access to internet to avail online counselling sessions, or draft an email. So, alternatives should be prepared for situations like these so that women of different education levels and access to basic technology can also use it. 27 https://unemploymentinindia.cmie.com/ 28 Unemployment data by Bhalotra et al. (2019), World Bank Economic Review. 29 https://www.unodc.org/pdf/youthnet/tools_strategy_english_domestic_violence.pdf 13 Domestic violence is the biggest crime against women right not, there’s an urgent need of including it in the national response plan to handle it in the crisis like pandemic. A strong message can only be sent when the highest authority of the country prioritizes this issue. Campaigns should be hosted on television by leaders who are followed by many obediently, or by film stars or cricketers.30 Important provisions of Domestic Violence Act should be explained to people. Women should be made aware with their rights. Signs and pattern of such abuse should be studied to prepare a safety plan. Enlighten people with the campaigns that are made for this purpose. Each and every household, chawls, streets and society should be circulated with the helpline numbers specially designed for conditions like these. Local authorities can be extra vigilant to set up helplines in different stores where a code system may be provided like done in France. Authority in power should make sure that the identity of the informers are kept confidential to protect them from future abuse. We can learn from Canada, which is investing in shelter homes for the victims of abuse who flee from their homes. The state should fund in self-help groups as they play a very important part in helping victims of such abuse. This will help them track the pre-existing cases and networks, so that relatives of the victims can be encouraged to keep in touch with them.31 Many women coming from upper strata also face these hardships, they have the access to internet and therefore can be target via email or online surveys. Reaching out to people facing in distress due to domestic violence or otherwise needs to be classified as an ‘essential service’ by the government. CONCLUSION The lockdown due to COVID-19 has trapped many women with their offenders and abusers. The lockdown and the ‘Social distancing’ norm enforced by the government was the main strategy in many countries to contain the virus. But it had a horrifying fallout of increase in number of reports of domestic violence cases. 30 https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/summary_en.pdf?ua 31 https://www.government.nl/topics/domestic-violence/tackling-domestic-violence 14 Women also deserve peace. Their safety should be as important as protecting them from coronavirus as both are deadly in their own way. People like you and I need to be more vigilant for signs of violence around us. We should give them a helping hand. Gender inequality is prevalent from a very long time and gender based violence is deep-rooted in our lives which has been given an encouragement during the lockdown. It is true that it cannot be rooted out during the pandemic but this should not be the reason to set it aside, and let the pandemic pass. We cannot forget a disease already prevalent just because a new disease has erupted. The lockdown is important, and so is safety of women. Lockdown or the pandemic should not be used as an excuse to worsen the disproportionate balance of household work and the domestic violence followed by it. Women are locked with their abusers, we have no time to lose. Our focus should be diverted from less important things to make a quick plan of action, to put all our efforts together, to strengthen our communication so that an effective implementation can be carried out. We all are already facing different kinds of stress due to lockdown, and are dealing with this traumatic time. Only if we join our hands together to help the victims, we can succeed in keeping ourselves safe in its truest sense. 15 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. News Articles https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/covid-19-lockdown-spike-in-domestic-violence-says ncw/article31238659.ece https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/web-edits/not-all-homes-are-safe-during-lockdown-the never-ending-tale-of-violence-against-women-6351710/ https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/lockdown-rise-of-domestic-violence-how-to tackle-situation-if-locked-with-abuser-national-commission-for-women-6406268/ https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/implement-steps-to-curb domestic-violence-during-covid-19-lockdown-high-court-to-centre-delhi govt/articleshow/75249397.cms https://www.ideasforindia.in/topics/social-identity/covid-19-lockdown-and-domestic-abuse.html https://www.deccanherald.com/national/covid-19-lockdown-effect-jk-sees-rise-in-domestic violence-against-women-827072.html https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/domestic-abuse-cases-rise-as-covid 19-lockdown-turns-into-captivity-for-many-women-819653.html https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/lessons-never-learned-how-covid-19-affects domestic-violence-rates#Valuing-women-in-the-COVID-19-response https://www.epw.in/engage/article/covid-19-domestic-abuse-and-violence-where-do https://idronline.org/the-link-between-lockdown-covid-19-and-domestic-violence/ https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/domestic-violence-spikes-in-lockdown-govt-told-to step-in-1671460-2020-04-27 https://www.news18.com/photogallery/india/covid-19-lockdown-statistics-show-surge-in domestic-violence-globally-2606269-6.html 16 https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/coronavirus-lockdown-surge-in-domestic violence-says-who/article31529111.ece https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/coronavirus-domestic-violence.html 17 RESEARCH QUESTION-ARE THERE ANY PATTERNS OF CHILD ABUSE?
INTRODUCTION Child Rights gained momentum in the 20th century. Children were considered “young adults” until then and there was a lack of special laws to protect their vulnerability. Parents and caregivers often exploited children’s gullibility. Child abuse occurs when parents or caregivers abuse the child physically, emotionally, sexually and neglects to give the child proper care. The abuse can have negative impacts and can shun the emotional and physical growth of the children. Today, child abuse is a global issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child abuse and child maltreatment as “all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power”. Nearly 3 in 4 children suffer physical violence at the hands of their parents or caregivers. TYPES AND SYMPTOMS OF CHILD ABUSE According to WHO, child abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. It is important to identify the symptoms of such abuse to provide utmost care to the victims. Child abuse can be a single episode or several episodes taking place over time.
CAUSES AND IMPACT OF CHILD ABUSE The reasons that cause child abuse are often complex. Usually, parents and caregivers are overwhelmed and crumble at the challenges of parenthood. Some other reasons could be:
NEED FOR EARLY IDENTIFICATION AND APPROPRIATE ACTION Child abuse must be reported to the official authorities mandatorily. Identification of child abuse is a difficult task. Teachers and other elders must talk to the child if they notice any peculiarity in their behaviour. It is important to have such conversations with children because more often than not, children are unaware that they are being abused. It is necessary to teach children the appropriate terms of body parts as it can protect them and they will be able to share what exactly happened with them. Toys can be used as an aid to help the child speak up. Physical exams, lab tests, X- rays etc., can help in diagnosing and taking appropriate action. Once, it is identified that the child has been abused, he/she should be provided with a safe environment away from the abuser. The child must be provided with medical attention and follow-up care to ensure the child’s well-being. Alternatively, consulting a therapist is highly recommended. Therapy can help the child to learn to trust again and boost one’s confidence. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy can help the child deal with the traumatic experiences and child-parent psychotherapy can improve the child-parent relationship. Child abuse of boys, often go unnoticed and their behaviour changes are mistaken for age-related changes. It becomes even more difficult to identify abuse in boys because of stereotypes about men and masculinity. In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, supported by United Nations Children’s Fund, conducted a study to understand the magnitude of child abuse in India, they found that 53.22% children faced one or more forms of sexual abuse and among them; the number of boys abused was 52.94%. What most are unaware of is that boys and girls become victims nearly at the same rate (48.5% and 51.2% respectively). Another research co-led by Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) professor Kathryn Whetten shows that orphaned boys are as vulnerable to abuse as girls. 1 in 5 women and 1 in 13 men report having been sexually abused as a child aged 0-17 years. Children who experience child abuse are more likely to be arrested as juveniles and perpetrate violence therefore it is necessary to break this cycle of violence. CHILD ABUSE IN INDIA India has one of the largest child population in the world. Regardless of the laws and policies implemented to curb child abuse, the condition is yet to become better in the country. The number of child sexual abuse cases increases every year in the country. “As many as 109 children were sexually abused every day in India in 2018, according to the data by the National Crime Record Bureau, which showed a 22 per cent jump in such cases from the previous year.” Laws and Policies to curb Child Abuse in India India’s young population grapples with the lack of access to education, basic resources and healthcare. This makes them susceptible to adverse childhood experiences. The vision of the Constitution of India is to nurture and provide necessities to children. The State must look after their well-being.
In India, most of the child abuse cases go unreported as it happens inside the four corners of one’s home. The focus has been more on the public sphere than the private sphere. RESEARCH QUESTION-ARE THERE ANY PATTERNS OF CHILD ABUSE? If we closely inspect several child abuse cases, we can find a pattern in most of these cases. For instance, let us take the case of the death of Sherin Mathews. Sherin Susan Mathew was an Indian-American toddler whose body was found dead in a culvert in Texas and her adoptive father admitted to disposing of the body. Sherin was initially reported missing in October 2017 after her adopted father claimed he had forced her to stand outside alone at 3:00 A.M. as a punishment for not drinking milk. He later admitted to having “physically assisted” her in drinking her milk and got choked. According to Sherin’s paediatrician, Sherin had multiple broken bones. This incident led to revising of the adoption process in India since Sherin was adopted from Bihar. Reports suggested that the adoptive parents had a careless and uncaring attitude. Parents should employ healthy mechanisms to reprimand a child. The multiple broken bones of Sherin indicate physical abuse by her parents.
WAYS TO PREVENT CHILD ABUSE
If you suspect that a child is undergoing child abuse, it is necessary to report it to the police. Child Abuse is a criminal offence. Early identification and reporting can spare the child from further abuse. FURTHER READING: https://www.bicyclehealth.com/blog/sexual-abuse-assault#whatarethedifferenttypesofsexualassault BIBLIOGRAPHY See Queensland Government, “What is Child Abuse?”, available at https://www.qld.gov.au/community/getting-support-health-social-issue/support-victims-abuse/child-abuse/what-is-child-abuse/child-abuse-types See Mayo Clinic, “Child Abuse”, available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/child-abuse/symptoms-causes/syc-20370864 See Rainn, “Sexual Assault of Men and Boys”, available at https://www.rainn.org/articles/sexual-assault-men-and-boys See Vikas Choudhry, “Child Sexual Abuse in India: A Systematic Overview”, available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6177170/ See Amisha U. Pathak, “Child Abuse in India- An Analysis”, available at http://www.indiathink.org/Child-Abuse-in-India-An-Analysis-by-Amisha-u-Pathak.pdf See Duke Global Health Institute, “Study Finds Orphaned Boys Are As Vulnerable to Abuse as Girls”, available at https://globalhealth.duke.edu/news/study-finds-orphaned-boys-are-vulnerable-abuse-girls See Wikipedia, “Death of Sherin Mathews”, available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Sherin_Mathews See The Hindu, “Sherin Mathews case: Father gets life sentence”, available at https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/texas-man-gets-life-sentence-in-3-year-old-daughters-death/article28162860.ece Research Question
In reality, how efficient are Anganwadis in providing proper education to the children? Abstract This paper examines the impact that anganwadis have in the education of children. The conventional anganwadi should be able to provide basic health care including immunization, nutrition and health education and health check ups apart from preschool activities. The responsibilities of Anganwadi workers (AWW) include conducting regular quick surveys of all families, organize preschool activities, provide health and nutrition education to families especially pregnant women on how to breastfeed, etc., motivating families to adopt family planning, educating parents about child growth and development, assist in the implementation and execution of Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY) to educate teenage girls and parents by organizing social awareness programmes etc., identify disabilities in children, and so on.[1] This paper focuses on the education aspect in anganwadis. Education in Anganwadis According to the National Institute of Public Cooperation & Child Development, Anganwadi Workers should be able to create a stimulating environment for the children that allows them use their creativity and organize activities accordingly.[2] It is also clearly outlined in the NIPCCD ‘Guidebook for Planning and Organization of Preschool Education Activities in Anganwadi Centers’ about the type of activities and their examples which helps to target every aspect of learning including physical and motor development, cognitive and language development and psychosocial development. Apart from this Anganwadi workers are also responsible for:
Statistics The anganwadi centers function 6 days a week, and the mean numbers of hours the anganwadi workers work were found to be 6 hours per day. About half (51.5%) of the anganwadi workers perceived that their duties could not be completed within their working hours. They are also involved in several non-ICDS programs that ranged from various health awareness campaigns (blood donation camps, malaria programs) to numerous surveys (ration card, election ID survey) and election duties. Over half (56.1%) of them said these programs affected their routine activities at the anganwadi, and 74.2% felt that they should be spared from participating in these programs.[3] This means that vital activities including, comprehensive teaching and preparing children for school have taken a backseat. Only 54.5% AWWs have received one-month compulsory induction training (which oriented them to various aspects of mother and child care, health, nutrition, and record-keeping) prior to being appointed. Hence, rendering them unskilled in teaching the children. Thirty-five years after its implementation, Integrated Child Development Services has produced results below expectations. One of the reasons is possibly due to a misperception of responsibilities by anganwadi workers with primary focus moving away from health and nutrition education and preschool education to record-keeping and surveying. The average amount of time spent by Anganwadi workers on education was only 14.6 hours per week, i.e. 2.5 hours a day out of the average working time of 7 hours. In response to these shortcomings, the Ministry for Women & Child Development stated that in order to make the role of Anganwadi workers more meaningful, they will now undergo training to be able to provide pre- school education to children aged between three to six years at the state-run day care centres.[4] Conclusion A study conducted by Journal of Academia and Industrial Research (JAIR) on the efficiency of anganwadis has shown that more than half of the anganwadi centres are efficient and very few are highly efficient. However, more than one fourth of the anganwadi centres are not efficient in service delivery including providing pre primary education.[5] associated with efficiency of anganwadi centres. Anganwadi centres are considered as the best place for children to get good nutrition, health care and formal education economically. However, quality of service still needs to be evaluated. It has been recommended by various non-government and research organisations that improvement in anganwadi centre’s infrastructures and logistic facilities are inevitable components in delivering services to beneficiary. Yet another factor is the educational qualification of anganwadi worker. For the assessment of growth and minor health issues of the children, anganwadi worker must have basic educational qualification. Lastly, community participation and coordinated work with other departments also help in accomplishing the objectives of ICDS. It can be concluded that the working of Anganwadis in respect to providing adequate education to young children have not provided results as expected. Other duties and also lack of incentives for the Anganwadi Workers has significantly affected their performance. The government should be able to further reduce the responsibilities of the AWW’s in order to give focus to providing education and hence securing the future of these children. Bibliography
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All research papers have been written by college-going interns at The Ashoka Tree Archives
December 2022
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