Shame the child abusers not the abused

An in depth story in this Friday's Star Weekend magazine gives a chilling picture of child sexual abuse in our society and how the system works against the survivors.  Apart from the social stigma attached to such situations, the legal mechanisms available and the community they live in often fail them. The survey by Star Weekend found that perpetrators included uncles, religious teachers, home tutors, cousins and staff at school.

A month long survey and interviews of 300 individuals have revealed that as many as 195 interviewees were child sexual assault survivors themselves with 31 being rape survivors. Many of these survivors never told anyone, not even family members, because they felt ashamed. Among them were male survivors who had also been sexually abused at very young ages.

This report has also unfolded the gross apathy of law enforcers towards these incidents, especially when it comes to poor street children. Child domestic workers are also at great risk of being abused.

But overall, children from all socio-economic backgrounds can fall prey to these predators. It is obvious that there is a cloud of silence and ignorance in our society surrounding child sexual abuse. Parents and teachers must have open discussions about child abuse and make children aware of what it means. Children must be encouraged to speak out if such abuses occur with the assurance that they will be protected. This involves sensitising law enforcers and making sure that they take assertive action against perpetrators. Many abusers even after being arrested get bail because of loopholes in the legal system, further discouraging survivors or their families to file cases. This has to stop. Sexual predators, no matter who they are, have to be given exemplary punishment. Most of all, we must protect our children from this diabolical onslaught.