Jeevan Sparsh 41

WORLD VISION INDIA

Jeevan Sparsh TO U C H I N G L I V E S 41st Issue

Every day we wake up to read some more heartwrenching stories of violence against children, girls and women. This distressing information makes some of us angry and many others fearful for their loved ones. But most of the time, to be honest, we have become numb to such news.

The atrocities committed against innocent lives don’t seem to end. And paradoxically, the bulk of these incidents occur in the homes and neighbourhoods of the victims. Places we consider the safest!

The last nation-wide study on the subject undertaken twelve years ago tells us that one out of every two children in India, boys and girls, has experienced some form of sexual abuse.

And so… World Vision India has a dream.

A dream where every boy and girl experiences life to the fullest, where devious minds, crafty eyes and vicious hands are nowhere in their vicinity.

As challenging as it may sound, this is our dream and vision for every boy and girl in the country.

Cherian Thomas CEO & National Director World Vision India.

As a country that has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, determined to soon become a global economic powerhouse, the tainted image of being the nation that has the world’s largest number of sexually abused children could be a massive deterrent to our growth and development aspirations. Among the first things that we should be rightly concerned about, is the wellbeing of our children, the leaders of tomorrow on whom this nation depends on.

Toying with their innocence right now will have dire repercussions in the future. In a just society, such occurrences have no place and should meet with zero tolerance. By strengthening child protection and participation systems in the communities we serve, World Vision India sensitises and equips children, their families and communities to protect them from abuse, exploitation, neglect and all other forms of violence. Child protection units are a strong protective mechanism used in our areas of intervention to prevent and respond to abuse of children.

However, preventing and ending child sexual abuse in India does not only rest upon the shoulders of government agencies and activists. It is everyone’s responsibility – yours and mine. Imagine the number of delicate lives that we can protect and save because of our conscious efforts. The children in our country need us. They need you and me to protect them from sexual abuse. In this issue of Jeevan Sparsh, I want to encourage you to join us in ending child sexual abuse in India. Read on to know about child sexual abuse in India and how you and I can play an important role in ending it.

It takes you. It takes me.

It takes every Indian to end child sexual abuse.

Jeevan Sparsh

Where is my safety?

41st Issue

Page 03

CONTENTS

Say no to violence against children Page 05

There is hope Page 07

It takes every Indian Page 08

Kerala flood response Page 09

Where is

my safety?

Oshuri now finds ‘home’ a safe place – a place where she has an opportunity to be loved, cared for, nurtured, and not abused.

It was a cold and pleasant evening in the far stretch of Mizoram, one of the furthest points in East India. The clock was ticking away at only half past four and the sun had almost set.

In a tiny bamboo house, camouflaged amidst other similar looking ones, something was not very pleasant.

A usually calm and composed 14-year-old Oshuri* was restlessly pacing up and down her house. Drops of tears unceasingly trickled down her cheeks as her hands held onto her bowed head.

The next moment, as if on a whim, Oshuri started running. She quickly picked up pace and ran the fastest she had ever run, breathless and her heart thumping. She was soon running through deserted streets and alleys until she was over three miles away from home.

She finally stopped when she came to a petrol bunk where she saw some people. Slowly becoming aware of the people around, Oshuri quietly moved to a corner of the petrol bunk.

A man from Young Lai Association (YLA), a local NGO in the state, present at the petrol bunk was also scanning the area as if looking for someone.

As soon as he saw Oshuri standing alone, lost

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and clueless, he went up to her and asked her what had happened. She didn’t speak a word and kept looking away. He knew he found the one he was looking for – the child’s father had informed YLA that his daughter was missing and they sent their people in search of her.

The YLA staff who found Oshuri informed about her to the Child Protection Unit (CPU) formed by World Vision India in the community nearby. The CPU immediately took the child to the District Child Protection Unit’s (DCPU) office and reported the case to them.

When she was asked to return home to her father, she refused to go back home. She only repeated the sentences, ‘I don’t like my father’, ‘I don’t like my father’, ‘I don’t like my father’, over and over again.

It was not normal for a child to express so much of distress and the state in which they found her said something was not right.

Hence, with permission from the Child Welfare Committee in the district, the DCPU began investigating this case. Sonova*, a female DCPU member, was asked to speak to Oshuri one on one, to help her open up.

Oshuri kept mum for a while. There was complete silence and Sonova was anticipating a reply.

41st Issue | Jeevan Sparsh | TO U CHIN G LI V E S

Then, gradually, she lifted her head, looked at Sonova, and began speaking softly. Her voice slowly but steadily began to get louder as she opened up to tell Sonova what she had been supressing for so long. Oshuri lived alone with her father since she was six years old. Her father separated her from her twin sister after their mother passed away. He sent her twin sister to one of their aunts and kept Oshuri with him. She shared how her father used to physically abuse her most of the time. “I don’t feel like living in that house”, she exclaimed in a loud voice. After that she didn’t say anything more.

Oshuri’s father is a daily wage labourer and he earned too little, barely enough to look after Oshuri’s basic needs, let alone schooling. Due to which, she had not even been to school for a few years.

After the DCPU interrogated Oshuri’s father separately, he confessed that he used to beat her up because she wouldn’t listen to him. The case was then immediately reported to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Chhimtuipui. Based on the finding through investigation and Oshuri’s assessment, the CWC concluded that Oshuri must be sent to a foster home to help her cope with the social distress she has faced through her growing years. In the meantime, the DCPU also conducted timely counselling to help her overcome her fears and anxieties.

she says assuredly, “I want to be a designer”.

World Vision India gave Oshuri a tailoring machine to help her start a vocation since she couldn’t continue her education. She has also been enrolled in a tailoring class to learn the skill.

Joyani says, “Oshuri also stitches clothes for me and her sister. She stitches really well.”

Stating that a lot has changed in Oshuri in the last three years, Joyani goes on to say, “Now she ensures that she maintains hygiene. She’s even willing to attend extra classes with my children. That way she has an opportunity to be educated”, adds Joyani.

Touthang, World Vision India’s Community Development Facilitator in their community, continues where Joyani left. He says, “Earlier, Oshuri never used to talk to outsiders. Not even to me. But now she has opened up and she talks to everyone.”

Sonova also ascertains the change in Oshuri’s character, while the change in her life is evident. She says, “Her character has changed a lot.

During that period after she ran away from home, she was very quiet and disinclined. When I asked her a question, she hardly spoke. The counselling that the Child Protection Unit gave her has helped her so much.”

After a couple of months of waiting, the DCPU identified a family in one of the communities where World Vision India works.

Oshuri has since been living with this family, who is now like her own.

“It’s been three years since Oshuri has been living here with us,” says Joyani*, Oshuri’s foster mother as she sat on a couch in their well-painted, surreal looking wooden house standing on a hilltop. “Since I have only one daughter, I was very happy to have Oshuri in our family. It is quite difficult for us to build her up because she’s been through a lot. But I still do my best to teach her and bring her up in the best possible way”, she adds.

Inside one of the rooms, 17-year-old Oshuri’s feet are moving gently in unison at the treadle of a sewing machine. Her hands swiftly racing the cloth under the needle and her eyes fixed on the cloth. It’s quite visible that she’s enjoying every detail of what she’s doing.

Oshuri now finds ‘home’ a safe place - a place where she has an opportunity to be loved, cared for, nurtured, and not abused.

According to a Child Abuse Study conducted by UNICEF in 2007, 84.64 per cent of children in Mizoram are victims of physical abuse.

Like Oshuri, there are still thousands of other children abused either physically, emotionally or sexually. And sadly, not all of them can voice out their misery.

Community-based Child Protection Units built

by World Vision India are linked with official child protection systems like the District Child Protection Units, local police stations, Child Help Lines, Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and relevant government departments. This helps form a strong substantial channel to help children speak up and thus be protected, safe and cared for right at the grassroots.

It takes you, it takes me and it takes a strong network to end violence against children!

“I love stitching new clothes. I stitch clothes for my friends here”, says Oshuri, as she gently smiles. Asked what she wants to do in future, World V ision In dia

*Names changed to protect identity

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Say no

TO VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN As repulsive as it may be, it is the truth that none of us can deny. The worrying increase in the number of sexual violence against children in the country does not seem to show any signs of relenting.

Any form of violence against children leaves indelible scars. The incident or incidents jeopardises their future survival, health and education. It simultaneously costs crores, slows economic development and erodes a country’s human and social capital.

MYTHS & FACTS Myth: Only strangers abuse children sexually.

Fact: In majority of cases (upto 85%), the child’s relatives, family, friends or someone known and trusted by the child is involved.

Myth: Men who sexually abuse children are mentally sick or perverted.

Fact: Unfortunately, the men who sexually abuse children are often ordinary, respectable men holding positions of responsibility in the family, society, workplaces and fulfilling their duties as per the demand of their role.

Myth: Child sexual abuse happens only in poor or troubled families.

Fact: Child sexual abuse cuts across classes, caste, religions and educational barriers .

Myth: Only beautiful or sexually precocious children are abused.

Fact: All children, irrespective of their age, colour, family background or sexual knowledge are vulnerable to abuse.

Myth: We can tell if a child is sexually abused.

Fact: Children are experts at hiding their pain. It is difficult to say from external appearance if the child is sexually abused. A traumatic experience in a child’s life is often expressed through indirect means.

Also, many children may not show any change in their behaviours or other patterns until much later.

Myth: Child Sexual Abuse can never happen in one’s home.

Fact: Almost 30-50% children are abused by persons known to them.

Myth: Boys cannot be abused. Boys suffer less.

Fact: Although more girls are reported to be sexually abused (one in every four), research indicates one in every seven boys is abused.

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THE HEAVY PRICE OUR CHILDREN PAY

The undeniable TRUTH One in two children in India has been subjected to some form of sexual abuse and this includes both boys and girls. Most of these children who were sexually abused did not report this to anyone.

India has the world’s largest number of sexually abused children.

50% of abusers are persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility.

Over 3.25 lakh children went missing between 2011 and 2014 (till June). 55% of those missing are girls and 45% children have remained untraceable (Data provided to Parliament by MHA, 2013).

In India, a child below 16 years is raped every 155th minute, a child below 10 every 13th hour and one in every 10 children is sexually abused at any point of time.

More than 10,000 children were raped in India in 2015 (NCRB).

Of girls aged 15-19 years, 2.6 million, or 4.5 per cent, married or unmarried, have experienced forced sexual intercourse or another form of forced sexual act (UNICEF).

240 million women are married under the age of 18 in India (Ending Child Marriage: Progress and Prospects, UNICEF Report, 2013).

Close to 15,000 sexual offences against children were registered under POCSO Act in 2015. This is a 67.5% increase from 2014 (NCRB).

53.22% of children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse (Study of Child Abuse, MWCD, 2007).

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What would the future of our nation be when our children, the future generation, are vulnerable to sexual abuse?

World Vision India strongly believes that there is hope, that together, we can put an end to this.

To positively impact the lives of hundreds of millions of the most vulnerable girls & boys by making a significant contribution towards ending violence against children, World Vision India has launched the campaign “It takes every Indian to end child sexual abuse”.

The campaign targets to impact 50 lakh children between 0 – 18 years in 25 states and one Union Territory. By raising public awareness and sensitisation on the issue of “Sexual Abuse & Exploitation of Children” in different forms and settings, the campaign will cover 200 districts and 7000 urban/semi-urban and rural communities.

The campaign will also – • Strengthen the Child Protection Systems at district, state and national level through collaborative and partnership approach.

There is

HOPE

Interventions on abuse in the communities

• Form linkages with government, institutions and profes­sional bodies to make child safety a public concern.

• Support the government in effective implementation of policies, laws and programmes for the rights and protection of most vulnerable children in all settings.

• Train parents on child protection, parenting and care at household level and within the community (parenting skills/celebrating families modules).

• Facilitate school safety programme, conduct comprehensive School Safety measures for children. Establish child protection policies and complaint mechanisms in schools.

• Ensure strong and effective reporting service mechanisms (i.e. Child Helpline) are in place to protect children.

• Create awareness on values, attitudes, and behaviours, which condone sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

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Breaking Old Practices The long-lost devadasi system still prevails in some parts of our country. A child in a community we serve was sadly exploited because of the custom. The 14-year-old girl was made to discontinue school and was not allowed to socialise with other children in the community.

World Vision India staff informed the Child Helpline who took the mother and the child to the Child Welfare Committee. The girl’s mother was counselled on the ill effects of the practice.

Fortunately, the mother agreed to stop the practice and send her daughter to school. Now the child leads a happy and normal childhood.

41st Issue | Jeevan Sparsh | TO U CHIN G LI V E S

Expert Speaks

Rekha Shridhar State Coordinator, Hifazat

The need for prevention and healing from Child Sexual Abuse is so huge that there is no time to waste. I appreciate World Vision India’s significant role in creating awareness and preventing child sexual abuse and in helping survivors. I have been associated with World Vision India for the past one year. The organisation has provided me with a wonderful opportunity to conduct a session on the POCSO act for stakeholders like advocates, police, teachers and also the community workers.

Over the last one year, I have seen the effectiveness of their programmes especially the schoolbased teachers awareness programmes as well as the programmes among para-legal volunteers in support of DLSA (District Legal Services Authority).

We need to work towards providing our children with a safe and happy childhood. I believe that investing in the safety of our children is the need of the hour.

When you come across child sexual abuse or know of an incident where a child is violated sexually, physically or mentally, do not hesitate to bring it to light.

Justice Served Two 12-year-old girls were being sexually abused by one of their own relative. The man who molested them used to lure the children under the pretext of giving them chocolates or letting them watch television. One of the girls is mentally challenged. The two children were afraid to speak up. However, the their friends acted quickly when they noticed a drastic change in their behaviours. They informed their guardians who in turn brought it to the Child Protection Unit’s (CPU) notice.

The CPU took the case to the Police and soon the perpetrator’s arrest ensued. The children were counselled by the District Level Child Protection. After noticing that the mentally challenged child was not safe in the village, the CPU has helped shift her to a better location.

Because there are some things you cannot leave in the dark. Justice will come only when things come to light. Adding to that, it is mandatory under the law to report child sexual abuse and there are different ways to report this.

THE POCSO ACT The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 criminalises sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography involving a child (under 18 years of age) and mandates the setting up of Special Courts to expedite trials of these offences.

TELEPHONE You can call the Child Helpline at 9868235077 or the toll-free number 1098 and register their complaint.

POLICE COMPLAINT Register a complaint at the police station closest to where the child lives. After the complaint is filed, the police will take the child’s statement in the child’s language at the child’s home or in any place where the child feels safe.

Don’t take the child to the police station.

REPORT ONLINE

Narrow Escape In the year 2016, two 8-and 7-year old girls were almost trafficked by a woman. Fortunately, they were caught at about 100 km away at a railway station. The District Level Child Protection was informed and the children were safely home with their parents.

When you have to report a sexual abuse, all you need to do is simply push a button named POCSO e-Box in ncpcr.gov.in. e-Box is an online complaint management system for easy and direct reporting of sexual offences against children and timely action against the offenders under the POCSO Act, 2012.

If you come across sexually explicit images or videos featuring children on the internet, report it by just clicking at aarambhindia.org/report.

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Kerala Flood

Response Report

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In the month of August, the state of Kerala was ravaged by the worst floods of the century. Lives, houses, infrastructure and several cash crops were lost to the floods. World Vision India immediately responded to the situation, helping thousands of children and their families find hope in the middle of the disaster.

the worst affected districts.

Through our emergency relief support, over 26,000 families in Malapuram, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad, Wayanad, Idukki and Alappuzha districts were provided with emergency relief materials that included dry ration, non-food household supplies, hygiene packs and more than 3,00,000 water purification sachets.

• Rebuilding the lives of over 150 families engaged in traditional livelihood such as agriculture, fishing and cattle rearing/ poultry by providing them with required tools and implements for sustaining their livelihood.

To ensure children and their families are on the road to recovery and resume their normal lives, the following interventions were taken: CHILD-FRIENDLY SPACES World Vision India set up child-friendly spaces for children, engaging them in story-telling and other activities. Around 1200 children in the relief camps were part of this initiative.

WATER, SANITATION & HYGIENE Water filters were distributed to 700 families.

20 community-centered Reverse Osmosis units were repaired in Kuttanad taluk, in collaboration with TATA Projects. World Vision India is using an environment-friendly solution through the powderform of anaerobic bacteria to clear up septic tanks clogged due to the floods. 500 septic tanks have been desludged.

TRANSITION SHELTERS World Vision India has designed a low-cost temporary housing model which is guaranteed to last for 8-10 years and can be fabricated within six days. The model is designed using materials like high quality steel tubes, cement boards and PPGI (PrePainted Galvanised Iron) sheets. These transition shelters are meant for families to stay safe as they recover from the financial and material losses.

100 families in both Kainakary and Vellinad will be supported with the transition shelters. Housing materials (PPGI and CGI (Corrugated Galvanised Iron) sheets) will be given for 200 families in some of

LIVELIHOOD World Vision India has carried out a detailed assessment of restoring traditional livelihoods of affected families. Our livelihood interventions will include

• Provision of livestock for families.

• Cash for work programmes for desilting farming land will not only provide short term income for landless labourers post disaster, but will also help restore agricultural land devastated by these floods.

• Restoring farm ponds with bunds will help farmers with agricultural land get back to traditional agriculture and improve food security.

EDUCATION SUPPORT • Around 900 children from affected families were provided with school kits, containing school bags, notebooks, stationery, a lunch box, a solar lantern and an umbrella.

• Five schools were provided with infrastructure support.

• World Vision India provided psychosocial support for the affected children in 22 schools.

World Vision India will continue to work with children, families and communities in Kerala, providing relief and recovery assistance for the next few months.

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MY BODY WHAT I SAY GOES Very often children do not even realise that they are being abused.

It is important we educate our children about abuse and help them identify early warning signs. To help them familiarise and to help you convey it to them better, use the book – ‘My Body What I Say Goes’.

As part of World Vision India’s campaign to end child sexual abuse in India, we have adapted and translated ‘My Body What I Say Goes’ into seven Indian languages.

The book gives children awareness on sexual abuse and helps children identify and avoid potentially unsafe situations. The book is available in English on Amazon.

The increased inflation may have obligated many of us to compromise on our expenditures. But as an organisation that serves the poor and envisions fullness of life for every child, World Vision India strives to only settle for the best for the children we serve.

While we make all efforts to keep our administration cost to the minimum, it is also necessary for us to address the other costs like fuel, procurement, labour and so on. We do not want these expenses to come in the way of executing the programmes that were created to the

well-being of children and the communities we serve.

Therefore, after much thought, we have decided to upgrade the sponsorship contribution amount to Rs. 1000 every month. The increase in the sponsorship contribution amount will help us deliver what we had promised every sponsor and the sponsored child. When you upgrade your sponsorship contribution amount, your sponsored child(ren) will continue enjoying the benefits and have the hope of a better tomorrow.

I’d also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to sponsors who have so graciously agreed to upgrade their sponsorship contribution amount to Rs. 1000 every month. We are greatly indebted to your love towards vulnerable children.

Alfy’s Desk

Change is inevitable. Times and circumstances change and so does the economy. The best way to handle change is to adapt to it.

Changing with the times

To upgrade your sponsorship contribution amount, SMS UPGRADE to 56767 from your registered mobile number!

Thank you for joining us in building a nation fit for children.

Standard Chartered credit card holders, you can now donate your reward points to World Vision India. Please visit this link to know more: bit.ly/SCBCharity

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