When asked about the best years of our lives, we often think of our childhood. There’s a reason why it’s called ‘golden years’. No worries, no responsibilities, the only concern that plagued our minds were which games to be played in the evening. Colours were identified based on the flavours rather than communities. It was the summer in the cycle of seasons of our life.
We were cautioned about the child kidnapping cases, to be wary of strangers and taught to be always respectful to the elders. Kids were told that their houses are the safest place for them. Their family members are the most reliable people in their life, never contradict them, and always be dutiful towards them.
Till date these ideals are being taught to children, while in some aspect it is true, but are our houses really the safest place for them? Are the family members and elders really the most reliable people? Statistics show that around 76% of children were subjected to one or the other forms of sexual abuse, of which 53.07% were boys and 46.93% were girls.
World Health Organisation (WHO) defines child sexual abuse (CSA) as “the involvement of a child in sexual activity that the child does not fully understand, is unable to give informed consent to, is not developmentally ready for, and cannot give consent to, or that violates societal laws or social taboos”. A range of sexual behaviours are included in CSA, including but not limited to fondling, enticing a child to perform a sexual activity or to receive a sexual contact or involving a kid in prostitution or pornography. CSA can be divided in 4 major categories – physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse and online abuse.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, in 96% of the cases, most of the sexual abusers were known to the children. And most importantly, they are the trusted members of the family, or are known to the family members. The NCRB 2020 data on Offenders Relation to Child Victims of POCSO Act, it was revealed that most offenders were family members, family friends, or neighbours.
CSA is not a new issue, it’s been prevalent in our society for a very long time, but due attention was never given to it, even today, many such cases go unreported for various reasons. One of the major reasons that it goes unreported is the fact that the offenders are members of inner circle of the family, thus the dishonour it would bring. Another reason is, children not being aware about sexual abuse, and when they do talk about it, they are blatantly ignored and accused of saying such things.
It takes a lot of time for a child to process what exactly happened with them. If all that they are feeling and their emotions are true or something their minds are conjuring them up. But, no matter what, the feeling of being violated regardless of them not knowing what happened to them, imprints in their minds for ever.
Sometimes it takes years for a CSA survivor to even realise what happened with them, to place a name for this feeling of being violated. And when they take courage and speak up, they are silenced. Often told that their minds are playing tricks and that they are simply garnering attention.
Child Sexual Abuse is not something to be taken lightly, neither is it a made up issue. It is a nightmare that many young children go through. Simple lessons on age appropriate sex education can help solve these issues to an extent. Yet, our society would rather ignore it and be sitting in the self-imposed darkness on this regard rather than giving our children a childhood that they truly deserve.