REPORT ON
CHILD ABUSE
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- SUBMITTED BY
ANANNYA BERA
ACKNOWLWDGEMENT
I acknowledge my deep sens of gratitude to all those
people who have helped me in the completion of this
project.I am greatful to number of persons.
This project would not have been completed without
the immense help I got during my internship at
SLARTC under my mentors. I sincerely thank my
Professor Manabendranath Mondal Sir for giving this
unconditional support to finish this project.I would
also like to thank Prosenjit Sir and all other members
at SLARTC who have always helped me to complete
this project.
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WHAT IS CHILD ABUSE?
Child abuse or child maltreatment is physical, sexual,
or psychological mistreatment or neglect of a child or children,
especially by a parent or other caregiver. It may include any act
or failure to act by a parent or other caregiver that results in
actual or potential harm to a child, and can occur in a child's
home, or in the organizations, schools or communities the child
interacts with.Child abuse can be a single incident, or can be a
number of different incidents that take place over
time.Under the Child Protection Act 1999, it does not matter
how much a child is harmed, but whether a child:
has suffered harm, is suffering harm, or is at risk of
suffering harm
does not have a parent able and willing to protect them
from harm.
Harm is defined as any detrimental effect of a significant
nature on the child's physical, psychological or emotional
well being (section 9 of the Child Protection Act 1999). For
harm to be significant, the detrimental effect on a child's
well being must be substantial or serious, more than
transitory and must be demonstrable in the child's
presentation, functioning or behavior.
There are four different types of child abuse:
physical abuse
sexual abuse
emotional abuse
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neglect.
Physical abuse
Physical abuse occurs when a child has suffered, or is at risk of
suffering, non-accidental physical trauma or injury. Physical
abuse can include:
hitting
shaking
throwing
burning
biting
poisoning.
Physical abuse does not always leave visible marks or injuries. It
is not how bad the mark or injury is, but rather the act itself that
causes injury or trauma to the child.
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse occurs when an adult, stronger child or adolescent
uses their power or authority to involve a child in sexual activity.
Sexual abuse can be physical, verbal or emotional and can
include:
kissing or holding a child in a sexual manner
exposing a sexual body part to a child
having sexual relations with a child under 16 years of
age
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talking in a sexually explicit way that is not age or
developmentally appropriate
making obscene phone calls or remarks to a child
sending obscene mobile text messages or emails to a
child
fondling a child in a sexual manner
persistently intruding on a child's privacy
penetrating the child's vagina or anus by penis, finger or
any other object
oral sex
rape
incest
showing pornographic films, magazines or photographs
to a child
having a child pose or perform in a sexual manner
forcing a child to watch a sexual act
child prostitution.
Emotional abuse
Emotional abuse occurs when a child's social, emotional,
cognitive or intellectual development is impaired or threatened.
It can include emotional deprivation due to persistent:
rejection
hostility
teasing/bullying
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yelling
criticism
exposure of a child to domestic and family violence.
Neglect
Neglect occurs when a child's basic necessities of life are not
met, and their health and development are affected. Basic
needs include:
food
housing
health care
adequate clothing
personal hygiene
hygienic living conditions
timely provision of medical treatment
adequate supervision.
WHO IS A CHILD?
Biologically, a child is generally anyone between birth and
puberty. Some English definitions of the word child include
the fetus (sometimes termed the unborn).In many cultures, a
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child is considered an adult after undergoing a rite of passage,
which may or may not correspond to the time of puberty.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child defines child as "a human being below the age of 18
years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is
attained earlier".
WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF A
CHILD?
Children's rights are the human rights of children with
particular attention to the rights of special protection and care
afforded to minors.The Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC) of 1989 defines a child as any human person who
has not reached the age of eighteen years.Children's rights
includes their right to association with both parents, human
identity as well as the basic needs for physical protection, food,
universal state-paid education, health care, and criminal laws
appropriate for the age and development of the child, equal
protection of the child's civil rights, and freedom
from discrimination on the basis of the
child's race, gender, sexual orientation, gender
identity, national origin, religion, disability, color, ethnicity, or
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other characteristics. Interpretations of children's rights range
from allowing children the capacity for autonomous action to
the enforcement of children being physically, mentally and
emotionally free from abuse.It also include the rights to care
and nurturing.
LAWS RELATED CHILD ABUSE
Child abuse laws exist on the federal, state and local
levels. Legislation serves to keep children free from exploitation,
harm, and danger. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment
Act (CAPTA), passed by the federal government in 1974 and
reauthorized in 2010 is the largest body of legislation with
regard to the fair, ethical and legal treatment of children and
is intended to keep them free from all forms of abuse including
physical, sexual, emotional and psychological.
Federal laws provide standards and guidelines; however, most
child abuse issues are governed by state laws and
regulations. All states have enacted laws for the protection of
children from abuse and neglect. Among the issues addressed
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in state law are mandatory reporting, responding to child abuse
and neglect, and statutes of limitations for criminal and civil
prosecution.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act
The new Act provides for a variety of offenses under which an
accused can be punished. It recognizes forms of penetration
other than peno-vaginal penetration and criminalizes acts of
immodesty against children too. The act is gender-neutral. With
respect to pornography, the Act criminalizes even watching or
collection of pornographic content involving children.The Act
makes abettment of child sexual abuse an offense.It also
provides for various procedural reforms,making the tiring
process of trial in India considerably easier for children. The Act
has been criticized as its provisions seem to criminalize
consensual sexual intercourse between two people below the
age of 18. The 2001 version of the Bill did not punish consensual
sexual activity if one or both partners were above 16 years.
Goa Children's Act, 2003,was the only specific piece of child
abuse legislation before the 2012 Act. Child sexual abuse was
prosecuted under the following sections of Indian Penal Code:
I.P.C. (1860) 375- Rape
I.P.C. (1860) 354- Outraging the modesty of a woman
I.P.C. (1860) 377- Unnatural offenses
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INADEQUECY IN IPC
However, the IPC could not effectively protect the child due to
various loopholes like:
IPC 375 doesn't protect male victims or anyone from sexual
acts of penetration other than "traditional" peno-vaginal
intercourse.
IPC 354 lacks a statutory definition of "modesty". It carries
a weak penalty and is a compoundable offence. Further, it
does not protect the "modesty" of a male child.
In IPC 377, the term "unnatural offences" is not defined. It
only applies to victims penetrated by their attacker's sex act,
and is not designed to criminalize sexual abuse of children.
Recent statistics of child
abuse
Recently, the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences
Act (2012) and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act have been given
more teeth to fighting child rights violation. The last year has
seen an increased number of cases filed, due to awareness
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about legal recourse, translating to an increase in a number of
convictions. 2016 is the first year that National Crime Records
Bureau has spoken on the relationship of victim and accused in
rape cases. With the demonstrated high volume of workplace
sexual abuse, the data is a proof of the unsafe nature of child
labour of any kind.
Workplace relationship of child labour and their assaulters
It is well known that cases of sexual exploitation involve
perpetrators known to the child more often than strangers. The
latest data add to this, finding that 25% of rapes of children in
the year 2015 were committed by their employers and
co-workers. This fact has been extracted from the National
Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2015 data on the 8,800 child rape
cases registered using the Protection of Children Against Sexual
Offences Act (POCSO).
Interestingly, the registered rape cases, in which women were
sexually assaulted in their workplace, were only 2%. In child
labour cases, boys were abused as frequently as girls according
to the 2007 study conducted along with the Ministry of Women
and Child Development. 488 cases saw the victim raped by
grandfathers, brothers, fathers and even sons. At 55% and 49%
respectively, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat reported the highest
number of child workplace sexual abuse cases.
The big picture
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i. The number of cases registered for child abuse raised from
8,904 in the year 2014 to 14,913 in the year 2015, under the
POSCO Act. Sexual offences and kidnapping account for 81% of
the crimes against minors
ii. Preventive measures designed to ward off strangers
(installing CCTV cameras and providing self-defence training)
will be ineffective, as children do not know how to ward off
unwanted sexual advances from their known relatives,
acquaintances or workplace seniors, who they trust.
iii. POSCO: State wise cases - Uttar Pradesh led the highest
number of child abuse cases (3,078) followed by Madhya
Pradesh (1,687 cases), Tamil Nadu (1,544 cases), Karnataka
(1,480 cases) and Gujarat (1,416 cases).
Along with workplace cases, here are other findings of rapists
being known to children:
94.8% of rape cases saw children being raped by someone they
knew, not strangers.
These acquaintances include neighbors (3,149 cases) who were
the biggest abusers (35.8%).
10% of cases saw children being raped by their own direct family
members and relatives.
PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE
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Number One
Be a nurturing parent. Children need to know that they are
special, loved and capable of following their dreams. Learn
about how children grow and mature and have realistic
expectations of what your child can and cannot do.
Number Two
Help a friend, neighbor or relative. Being a parent isn’t easy.
Someone you know may be struggling with his or her parenting
responsibilities. Offer a helping hand- take care of the children,
so the parent(s) can rest or spend time together.
Number Three
Help yourself. When the big and little problems of everyday life
pile up to the point you feel overwhelmed and out of control –
take time out. Don’t take it out on your kid. Take a deep breath.
Turn on some music. Know who to call for help, and keep the
numbers next to your phone.
Number Four
Respect kids. Treat them the same way you want to be treated.
Number Five
Get involved. Advocate for services to families. Help to establish
parenting groups in your community. Ask your community
leaders, clergy, library and schools to develop services to meet
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the needs of healthy children and families.
Number Six
Help to develop parenting resources at your local library – films,
books, and information.
Number Seven
Promote programs in schools. Teaching children, parents and
teachers prevention strategies can help to keep children safe.
Number Eight
Monitor your child’s television and video viewing. Watching
violent films and TV programs harms young children. It scares
them, and teaches children that aggression is a good way to
handle frustration and solve problems.
Number nine
Volunteer at a local child abuse program. There are many family
support, crisis need volunteers to help families under stress.
Contact your local United Way office or look in a telephone
directory for agencies in your community. If you can’t give time,
support the program with a donation.
Number Ten
Report suspected abuse or neglect. Keeping children safe is the
responsibility of every adult in the community.
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A CASE STUDY
For the past three years, she had been keeping quiet about the
ordeal that she faced every time her neighbour found her alone
at home. But Monday turned into the final straw when the
28-year-old married man tried to touch her inappropriately,
again.
The 10-year-old girl finally opened to her mother and told her
how the man used to rape her whenever she was alone at home
in east Delhi's New Ashok Nagar.
The accused, a computer engineer, is married and has been
living in the locality for the past five years. He was a frequent
visitor to the girl's house for the past three years. To gain the
trust of the family, the man initially offered them help whenever
required and used to visit their house on the pretext of playing
with the girl. The abuse began a few months after he gained
their confidence and the girl's parents let her stay alone with
him when they went out for work.
Some time ago, the mother noticed that the girl was not her
usual chirpier self and had gone quiet, but even after asking her
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what the matter was the 10-year-old elicited no response. The
girl had even stopped going out to play.
Seeing the girl crying after getting back home from school on
Monday, her mother sat down with her and persistently asked
what was wrong. This was when she broke down and told her
mother everything that had happened in the past three years.
The girl said that before leaving the house he used to warn her
that he would do the same with her mother if she told anyone
that she had been sexually assaulted. Scared that her mother
might meet the same fate, she decided to stay quiet.
The mother then called the police and lodged a complaint.
"The man was arrested from his house. The girl has been sent
for counselling,"
Action Taken: A case has been lodged against the accused
under IPC Section 376 (rape) and Section 6 of POCSO Act.
BIBLIOGRAPY
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The information has been taken from the following sites:
i. www.iamnirbhaya.me
ii. www.preventchildabusehawaii.org
iii. www.savethechildren.in
iv. en.wikipedia.org
v. criminal.findlaw.com
vi. www.truecrimereport.com
vii. family.findlaw.com
viii. legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com
ix. www.thehindu.com
x. medlineplus.gov
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