“When a child is abused, the offender has more supporters than the victim,” says Ela
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Participants pose for a photograph on the first day of the workshop on identifying and responding to child abuse in Nagaland held at AIDA, Don Bosco in Dimapur on November 29. (EM Images)[/caption]
Our Reporter
Dimapur, Nov. 29 (EMN): The director of Prodigal’s Home and Childline Dimapur, K Ela has said that Nagaland is becoming a dangerous place for children as cases of child abuse have soared at an alarming rate over the years.
Ela said this while highlighting the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Nagaland at a seminar organised by Nagaland Development Outreach (NDO), Nagaland Alliance for Children and Women Rights (NACWR) and Childline Dimapur and supported by Holistic Child Development India (HCDI).
The workshop on ‘identifying and responding to child abuse in Nagaland’ was conducted at AIDA, Don Bosco in Dimapur on November 29.
Ela revealed that from 2011 till date, Childline Dimapur has 45 registered cases while many cases get compromised because of “local context”. ‘When a child is abused, the offender has more supporters than the victim,’ she said, adding that ‘it is the reality of the Nagas today’.
She appealed to the NGOs to speak out the truth and to lead the way for the welfare of children because that was what NGOs are supposed to do in the first place.
The director of HCDI, Thomas Raj Kumar said that he had many questions to ask when he learnt about rise of child abuse in Nagaland despite being a Christian majority state. He wondered what the Church was doing to do away with the social evil prevailing in the state.
He further expressed hope that church bodies in Nagaland would take up the issue and put an end to child abuse, as he believes church plays an important part in the Naga society.
