Child sexual abuse cases under-reported in Nagaland — Shanavas

[caption id="attachment_259720" align="alignnone" width="550"] A section of participants seen taking pledge to end child sexual abuse at a programme in Kohima on July 10. (EM Images)[/caption] Our Correspondent Kohima, July 10 (EMN): Child molestation cases are not uncommon in Nagaland, but a call for action against the abominable offence is often sidelined and not given the urgency it deserves. This is primarily due to under-reporting from parents as they shy away from legal actions and resort to customary laws to solve the matter, stated Shanavas C (IAS), principal director of School Education and State Council Educational Research and Training (SCERT). Comparatively, the status of such crime in the state appears “very low” with the rests of the states, but that is “nothing to be proud of,” as it is under-reported, he said while speaking during the state-level consultation on “It takes Nagaland to end child sexual abuse” at Japfü hotel, in Kohima on July 10. Shanavas said that while working for almost six years at remote areas in Nagaland, he came across similar cases that saddened him. “Rape of a minor may be committed in the village, but they try to settle in the customary law way. They try to settle with one pig or one chicken. Is that the value we give to our child?” he asked. He, however, clarified that he was not talking against any customary law. “But the heinous crime like this, if we don’t show what we can do with the acts (laws) present in the country, how can we expect deterrence in our society,” Shanavas added. "Nagaland being a tribal state, there are special articles, tribal and customary laws that govern the state. Yet, this kind of crime has to be dealt with constitutional laws and see if they are properly implemented, so as to have prevention in the society," he said. He stated that when such cases are under-reported, offenders tend to commit the same crime again because they know nothing is going to happen to them. He said crimes against children are usually not reported for fear of earning bad name of the village. He further stated that child sexual abuse does not have any general term as both boys and girls go through abuse, and called upon the stakeholders to reach out to the grassroots level. He urged the gathering to work in coordination to find a mechanism in which one could reach out to the village level. "Create awareness on importance of reporting to authorities concerned if any crime happens and avoid settling the matter in one’s village," he advised. There are ways to address the issue, such as empowering the children, teaching them to be protectors of their own bodies and creating awareness in the society on laws and rights relating to child abuse, he informed. He added that churches have a role to play in creating awareness and getting youth to be ambassadors in reaching out to the lowest level. "Go to the field and address the issue," he urged. When children are faced with such abuse, they don’t speak out as most of the abusers are from the family itself, he informed. Even if they speak out, there is trauma surrounding them from the family and from the society. Therefore, usually people don’t admit it and they tend to carry the trauma throughout their life, he said. “It takes the whole of Nagaland to end child sexual abuse,” Shanavas said. Longshithung Ezung, member secretary of the Nagaland State Legal Service Authority, while addressing at the event said that “child abuse in the state of Nagaland is a serious issue and the rate of child abuse in the state is growing at an alarming rate.” He was speaking on the topic "child protection mechanism and committing to end all forms of violence against children in Nagaland." Children, he said, undergo all sorts of abuse and violation of rights "due to ignorance of the families and the children." Child abuse could be prevented by continuously fighting against such abuse, protecting the child from it and becoming aware of the rights of the child including the children themselves, he suggested. He also said that legal service authority was creating awareness programmes like Legal Literacy Clubs in schools to teach the children about their rights. "A total of 110 Legal Literacy Clubs are there at present in the state," he added. Under the Nagaland Victim Compensation Scheme of 2012, the abused children are entitled for compensation, including loss of life – INR 2,00,000; rape – INR 1,00,000; rehabilitation – INR 50,000; human trafficking – INR 1,00,000; and injury to child - INR 20,000, informed Ezung. He called upon each individual to take responsibility in preventing abusive incidents against children. A pledge on "let us end child sexual abuse" was administered by N Awan Konyak, chairperson to the Nagaland Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The pledge was taken to make all efforts to end child sexual abuse; be a voice for the protection of children; to speak up against all forms of violence against children; to take a stand for children and listen to what they want to say; to speak against “touch” that hurts them; to contact 1098 and report any incident of child abuse; and to appeal leaders to take steps to end child sexual abuse, exploitation, and neglect of children.