I was 7 when I was first raped, 7 when my body was felt up and painfully penetrated. I still get shivers down my spine when I get into the mind of the little child that I was. I was too young to realise what was happening. My first encounter with sex was a game of power and almost manslaughter. As I grew up, the abuse intensified. As many survivors do, I resigned to the forces that were silencing and challenging me. For 11 years, I did not learn to say no. But when I did, justice seemed elusive. At the time, there was no law that protected children from sexual crimes.
Today is the World Day for Prevention of Abuse and Violence against Children, and it provides us with the opportunity to reflect on the quality of life we are providing India's 400 million children. Child Sexual Abuse, a severe form of violence that damages the psyche of a child, is taking epidemic proportions in India. Studies in fact show that India is home to the highest number of sexually abused children in the world.
The POCSO Act is a comprehensive, child-friendly and gender-neutral legislation that prescribes in great detail the procedures that authorities need to adhere to while dealing with cases of child sexual abuse. I had lost my childhood - but the knowledge that the POCSO Act would ensure that children could access justice, and more importantly, a process that would afford them the potential for emotional closure, made the effort seem worthwhile. Yet, the POCSO Act is found wanting in implementation.
Why would a three and a half year old be tested for virginity and hymen intactness? Are we not subjecting the child to a repeat instance of assault, simply to prove that she has been sexually abused?
Ms Jones' experience underscores the lack of sensitivity and unpreparedness of institutional machinery to respond effectively to these cases, and makes the case for a stronger political commitment to make sure this happens.
For the leadership to send the signal that they are committed to a robust, institutional, non incident-specific response to child sexual abuse, they must ensure that the issue features at the very top of their political and governance agenda. A great initiative started very recently by Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is a Change.org petition requesting the Prime Minister to commit to a roadmap to end child sexual abuse. Chandrasekhar has, over the last year, asked the Parliament over 30 incisive questions on Child Protection, to which he received very lacklustre responses
(Harish Iyer is an equal rights activist in Mumbai. He is the only Indian national to feature in The Guardian's list of 100 most influential LGBT people in the world.)
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