Anti-sexual child abuse drive pitches community fight

EMN
Dimapur, October 9

According to crowd-sourced data, the global prevalence of child sexual abuse has been estimated at 19.7% for females and 7.9% for males. Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims; approximately 30% are relatives of the child, most often brothers, fathers, uncles, or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances, such as “friends” of the family, babysitters, or neighbors; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases. A campaign against sexual abuse of children was held on October 9 in Oking Christian School in Kohima. The event was conducted with the theme “It’s your turn to make a difference.”
Speaking as the event, the State Coordinator for State Resource Centre for Women, Gracy Ayee, opined that the campaign was to make aware to the children as they were easy targets and considered weak who would not protest.
She said that the profile of the abuser could be a neighbor, family members, friends or even teachers. She ‘urged children to voice out’ and not to keep it secret whenever it happened. A national award winning movie, Komal, made by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on child sexual abuse was also screened during the event.
Also, the secretary for Nagaland State Social Welfare Board (NSSWB), Daisy Mezhur, said the main aim and object of organizing the campaign was to let the children enjoy the innocence of their childhood. She lamented that child abuse continues to happen ‘not only in other parts of the world but also in Nagaland.’ No child should be abused, she said.
Local nongovernmental organization Childline also distributed pamphlets and stickers stating informaing about sexual abuse and toll free numbers to report for children in need of care and protection. The helpline is toll free number 1098.
Later, the school children participated in a signature campaign and took pledge against child abuse. The campaign was organized by Nagaland State Social Welfare Board in collaboration with the State Resource Centre for Women.
SCRW to organize workshop
The State Resource for Women (SRCW) and the Nagaland State Social Welfare Board is organizing a workshop on ‘child sexual abuse,’ scheduled to be conducted on October 14. The event will be conducted in the conference hall of the State Institute for Rural Development in Kohima at 9:00 am.
The workshop is organized in collaboration with Anjay Rahit Zindagi, a nongovernmental organization based in Goa. It works toward combating sexual violence and human trafficking, and is being supported by terre des homes of Netherlands. The secretary to the Government of Nagaland, Dellirose M Sakhrie, will be the guest of honor for the occasion.