CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

“A nation’s children are its supremely important asset and nation’s future lies in
their proper development. An investment in children is indeed an investment in
future. A healthy and educated child of today is the active and intelligent citizen of
tomorrow.”
- Rabindra Nath Tagore 1

Our Children are the citizens of tomorrow. They are the future of the nation. Still, in

age of innocence, they are being assaulted. Child sexual abuse is a crime so common,

so hideous and yet, completely unspoken about within the Indian society. ‘Children’

in any society, constitute the most vulnerable which needs ‘protection’ and they are a

responsibility of the state as well as the members of the society 2. It is this

vulnerability that has made them pawns in the society. In the recent era, the social

construct of terms ‘children’ and ‘childhood’ have experienced a drastic

transformation. The transition from childhood to adulthood today is fraught with

mindless violence perpetrated against children and by children as well.

Children are precious treasures of the future and they are the most valuable assets of a

nation and society. From the data available, an analysis of severe form of sexual abuse

arranged age – wise revealed that sexual abuse crossed the 5% mark from the age of

10 years, peaked at 15 years and by the time reached 18 years, went below the 5%

marks. 73% of the total incidence of the child sexual abuse as reported among

children between 11 and 18 years of age. Therefore the pre-adolescent to the

adolescent child seem to be the most at risk. It is also disturbing to note that children

1
“Juvenile Deviations And Protection in the Context of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986”, Indian Journal
of Criminology and Criminalistics, 25(1-3), 2004 at 6-14.
2
National Consultation on Children in India - Priorities for the 11th Plan, New Delhi, 10 January 2015.
Available at: http://www.tntrc.org/downloads/draft_report_of_Consultation_March_1.doc p. 28 Last
visited:12 January 2014.
1
between 6 and 10 years also face severe forms of sexual abuse 3. It is the duty of State

to look after them with a view to ensure the complete development of their

personalities. Since society expect them to grow as responsible citizens of the future,

they need special care, protection, affection and facilities because of their tender age,

physique and underdevelopment mental faculties. There is no exaggeration if it is said

that future well being of a particular nation depends upon how the children grow and

develop. 4

India is home to the largest number of children in the world. Nearly every fifth child

in the world lives in India. There are about 43 crore children in the age group of 0-18

years; 16 crore children are in the age group of 0-6 years, of this there are 8.5 Crore

males and 7.88 Crore females. In the age group of 6-18 years, there are about 27

Crore children. It is estimated that about 40 per cent of children are in difficult

circumstances or vulnerable which include like children without family support,

children forced into labour, abused /trafficked children, children on the streets,

vulnerable children, children affected by substance abuse, by armed conflict/civil

unrest/natural calamity etc. Survival, growth, development and protection of these

very large numbers therefore need priority focus and attention.

The Supreme Court of India in Sheela Barse and Other v. Union of India5 has

declared that a child is a national asset. In Indian scenario a child requires proper care,

love, affection and nourishment but experience shows that the children are subjected

to maltreatment in some situations. The child exploitation in India is a result of the

macabre family circumstances, social environment, poverty, ignorance of family, lack

of proper care and attention and lack of love and affection of the parents.

3
Study of Child Sexual abuse: India 2007Ministry of Women and Child development, GOI pages 74,
75 and 76.
4
Lakshmi Kant Panday v Union of India, 1984(2) SCC 244
5
AIR 1986 SC 1873.
2
Nonetheless, we know that for various social and cultural reasons, children and

adolescents suffer violence in the home, at school, in legal and child protection

systems, at work and in the community. Thus, children and adolescents are abused

precisely in those spaces and places that should offer them protection, affection,

developmental stimulation, shelter and promotion for their rights. One of the factors

that make them highly vulnerable is their lack of autonomy due to threat to society”

may be abused by the police. Children and adolescents, especially girls, may also be

subjected to psychological violence and sexual abuse in the different environments

where they grow up. 6

Evidence suggests that only a small part of the violence perpetrated against children is

reported to the legal system and investigated by the authorities, and few offenders are

brought to trial. Furthermore, while in many places in the world there are no reliable

systems for filing complaints, there are estimates that every year 275 million children

around the world are the victims of violence in their households, and some 40 million

persons under 15 suffer violence, abuse and neglect. These incidents are reportedly

taking place in different contexts: in families, in schools, in the community, on the

street and in work situations. 7

The India Constitution recognizes the child’s right to special protection and support

from the State. However, the growing incidence of violence against children,

especially sexual violence / abuse is a disturbing trend and raises an alarm. What is

even more disturbing is the shrinking spaces for children’s adequate growth and

development.

There is no place that can be said to be safe for children today. Even a child’s own

home is not the safest haven.

promote the welfare of the child, and secondly to prevent the abuse of the other

children in the community. Our law and legal system is failed to provide the

protection to children in the cases of the child sexual abuse.

It is also very essential that government be committed to implement and enforce such

laws to provide the actual protection to the children. India has several child related

laws. The absence of implementation and political commitment are the main causes

why children in India are not enjoying the benefits of the laws enacted to promote and

protect their rights. Law enforcers and politicians are known to protect and support

pimps, brothel owner and traffickers in exchange for monetary consideration, and

therefore interested in subverting the laws.

Adequate legislation, better law enforcement, well co-ordinate educated community

and international co-operation are needed to effectively combat sexual abuse and

exploitation of children. Strong legislation is required to discourage sexual abuse and

exploitation of children to protect and punish the abuser and exploiters. Penal action

alone cannot comprehensively solve the problem. While the abusers and exploiters are

undergoing their sentences reformation should be ensure that they should not repeat

the same offence once they are released and again in contact with children.

It is very important to conduct the training and awareness programmes on child

rights. The training on child rights should be incorporated in the curriculum of

professionals working with children, such as police, judges, social workers, doctors,

teachers etc. To educate the public on the child rights issues is also necessary; it will

empower the person on the street to act in an informed manner in a child related

exigency.

4
In India, the State assumes the role of parens patriae, of a protective benevolent

parent, taking care of the citizenry in general and the marginalized and vulnerable

population in particular. This is more so in case of children, who are indeed weak and

vulnerable, innocent and often ill informed, pliant and gullible, and therefore, almost

always a subject of abuse of the power vested in adults. They seldom have a voice

that gets heard. 8

The difference between child and other persons in the community is that the

child is not able to demand, has no capacity to form unions, is incapable of speaking

out when very young and therefore, public opinion in regard to the rights of the child

is that the rights are not supposed to be claimed by the child itself. It is necessary to

be done by those who are responsible for taking care of the child and therefore,

whether we are able to implement rights of the children depends upon our outlook, to

understand the demands of the child.

Economic, social and cultural values are required to fundamentally alter to give

children their deserved values and upbringing. The government, non- government and

local authorities play a vital role to provide the support and assistance in caring of the

children. The existing laws should not merely remain on the paper but should be

properly implemented to provide benefit those for whom the laws are enacted.

1.1 HISTORICAL PRESPECTIVE

The idea that children have rights as human rights is fairly modern. The ancient world

tended to view children’s right at par with those of animals rather than adult human.

The earlier historical trace can be found in Babylonian and Roman culture where

8
National Consultation on Children in India - Priorities for the 11th Plan, New Delhi, 10 January
2015. Available at: http://www.tntrc.org/downloads/draft_report_of_Consultation_March_1.doc p.
28 Last visited: 10 January 2015
5
children were under the control of the society which made them conform to the

expectations and standards set up by the society.

Child Sexual Abuse remains a taboo but it’s a very real problem in India, and the

situation is aided by the absence of effective legislation and the silence that surrounds

the offence. Majority of people feel this is a largely western problem and does not

happen in India. India is second most populous country in the world and latest Census

2011 reveals that it’s a home to 17% of the world's population. Nearly nineteen

percent of the world's children live in India, which constitutes 42 percent (more than

one third) of India’s total population and around 50 percent of these children are in

need of care and protection.

Child sexual abuse became a public issue in the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to this point in

time sexual abuse remained rather secretive and socially unspeakable. Studies on the

child molestation were non-existent until the 1920s and the first national estimate of

the number of the child sexual abuse cases was published in 1948. By 1968, 44 out of

50 US States had enacted mandatory laws that required physician to report cases of

suspicious child abuse. Legal action began to become more prevalent in the 1974 in

conjunction with the creation of the national Centre for Child Abuse and Neglect.

Since the creation of the Child Abuse and Treatment Act, reported child abuse cases

have increased dramatically. Finally, the National Abuse Coalition was created in

1979 to create pressure in congress to create more sexual abuse laws.

Second wave feminism brought greater awareness of child sexual abuse and violence

against women, and made them public & political issues. The first published work

dedicated specifically to child sexual abuse appeared in France in 1857: Medical-

Legal Studies of Sexual Assault (Etude Medico-Legale sur les Attentats aux Maurs),

by Auguste Ambroise Tardieu, the noted French pathologist and pioneer of forensic
6
medicine. Judith Lewis Herman, Harvard Professor of Psychiatry, wrote the first

book ever on father daughter incest when she discovered during her medical residency

that a larger number of the woman had been victims of father-daughter incest.

Herman notes that her approach to her clinical experience grew out of her

involvement in the civil rights movement. Her second book ‘Trauma and Recovery’

coined the term complex post- traumatic stress disorder and include child sexual

abuse as a possible cause.

In ancient Indian law, especially in the Laws of Manu, the child though located very

near the bottom of a social pyramid was bestowed society’s protection. And, this

protective indulgence was best reflected in matters which concerned the children most

– namely, their chastisement. Children were only to be beaten with a rope or bamboo

stick split at the end. The split bamboo, as we may remember from circus clowns’

mock fights, makes a loud noise but does not inflict much pain. Moreover, even this

punishment was to be carried out only on the back and never on the head or the chest.

All those who hold progressive views on child discipline, the beating of children may

hardly seem like ‘protective indulgence’. Nonetheless, the extent of this indulgence

becomes strikingly clear when we compare Manu’s Laws with legal texts of other

ancient societies where brutal forms of child abuse and maltreatment existed.

In 1986, Congress passed the Child Abuse Victims’ Right act, giving children a civil

claim in sexual abuse cases. The number of laws created in the 1980s and 1990s

began to create greater prosecution and detention of child sexual abusers. During the

1970s, a larger transition began in the legislature, relating to child sexual abuse.

Megan’s Law which was enacted in 2004 gives the public access to knowledge of sex

offenders nationwide.

7
In India and in western countries many laws have been framed in order to curb the

child exploitation whether the sexual, emotional/ psychological, physical, but still

children are facing the exploitation. Many NGOs are working for the upliftment of the

children in all over the world but still it needs to pay lots of attention in order to stop

the child sexual abuse.

North America is also an important destination for international trafficking. A study

undertaken under the auspices of the United States Central Intelligence Agency,

estimated that 45 000–50 000 women and children are trafficked annually to the

United States. Over 150 cases of trafficking were prosecuted between 1996 and 1999

by the United States Department of Justice (63). In India, According to statistics,

cases of rape per lakh population increased to 2.8 in 2010 from 2.65 in 2009. The

figure was 4.16 in 2005 and 3.82 in 2006, the highest in the last decade. Of the

persons arrested for rape, 52 were relatives, 65 were friends, 222 neighbours and 130

were other known persons. In only 20 cases, rapes were committed by strangers.

Neighbours were accused in 42% of the molestation cases while 4% were friends and

6% relatives.

Signing up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, India

promised to protect its children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual

abuse. Article 34 (a) of CRC enjoins state machinery to prevent the inducement or

coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity.

Across the country, every second child was being subjected to other forms of sexual

abuse and every fifth child was facing severe forms of sexual abuse. The Study also

acknowledges that child sex abuse takes place in schools. One out of two children in

schools has faced sexual abuse. And overall, more boys than girls face various forms

of sexual abuse ranging from inappropriate touch, exposure to pornography or violent

students often bring pornographic material to school and may force a younger boy to

look at it to titillate them. Several factors combine to magnify the impact and

occurrence of child sexual abuse in Indian country. First, the risk factors that

contribute to the incidence of child sexual abuse are greater on Indian reservations

than in any other kind of community. These factors include poverty, unemployment,

familial stresses and violence.

Historically, criminal sexual violence in India has been understood through the

traditional language of rape. Originating in the 1860’s, at a time when women had no

influence over the shape or substance of legislation affecting them; the rape law

remained on the statute books for 123 years before any attempt was made to challenge

it. When reform has been sought, it is commonly in reaction to a highly publicized

occurrence. For instance, 1983 witnessed the gang rape of a tribal girl within the

precincts of a police station. At the time, the girl’s boyfriend and family members

were standing outside the station. The Supreme Court of India branded the

complainant a “vicious liar”, “habituated to sexual intercourse” and whose failure to

‘resist’ implied consent to the abuse. Uniquely, the case evoked national level

outrage. The immediate community within the precincts of the police station

compelled registration of the case, the media reacted sharply to the Courts comments

and prominent legal academics demanded review of the case. Rather than respond, the

Court directed all towards law reform. The case is a classic picture of myths and

stereotypes which pervade legal responses to sexual crimes against women.

The eighties became a decade in which most aspects of violence against women

resulted in law reform. Yet from the start, law reformers were less inclined to

articulate the goal of such reform and resorted instead to ad hoc, band-aid

9
amendments. With the result, consent was never defined, past sexual history was

retained and the police were absolved of accountability in failing to register cases.

That response pattern has been characteristic of law reform ever since. In twenty

years, perceptions of women and sexual violence remain the same; myths and

stereotypes characterize most law reform as well as most judgments.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The problem of child sexual abuse has attracted a great deal of attention in recent

years. Millions of children are victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation each

year. Sexual offences are currently and mainly covered under different section of the

Indian Penal Code. There are number of International and National conventions to

which India is signatory for protection of Children from Sexual offences. Despite the

constructive steps taken by the International community and various national

governments, these efforts, while important, have done little to reduce the incidence

of child sexual exploitation. In the backdrop, to strengthen the legal provisions for the

protection of children from sexual abuse and exploitation for the first time, a special

law for the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, has been passed.

This piece of legislation is expected to improve venerable plight of children.

A UNICEF study titled 'Hidden in Plain Sight', which looks at child abuse across the

world, says the close to 42 percent of all girls in India have faced some sort of sexual

violence before the age of 19.

According to a Times of India article, data from the study showed that 10 percent of

Indian girls would have faced sexual violence when they are aged 10-14, and 30

percent in the 15-19 age group. Additionally, the data shows that close to 77 percent

of the girls in the age group of 15-19 faced sexual violence from their current partner
10
or husband. In 6 percent of cases, the perpetrator was a relative, while 4 percent said it

was friend or acquaintance who sexually assaulted them. Cases of stranger rape or

sexual violence in India for the age group stood at mere 3 percent.

The numbers indicate that for most girls growing up in India, sexual violence is fairly

common and that in most cases it is not strangers but rather husbands or partners that

are committing such acts. 9

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH

The study assumes that child sexual abuse in India, as in other developing societies

is a phenomenon which is widespread and cut across ethnic, social and economic

boundaries. The study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the

phenomenon of the child sexual abuse in India and in other western countries, with

a view to formulating appropriate policies and programmes to prevent the child

sexual abuse and to address related issues through community based programme

intervention.

• To assess the magnitude and forms of child sexual abuse in India and

Western countries.

• To study the profile of the abused children and the social and economic

circumstances leading to their abuse.

• To facilitate analysis of the existing legal framework to deal with the

problem of child sexual abuse in the country and across.

• To recommend strategies and programme interventions for preventing and

addressing issues of child sexual abuse.

9
‘The Times of India’ 12 September, 2014.
11
1.4 HYPOTHESIS

1. There are no cases of child sexual abuse in India and in Western countries.

2. There is no effect of social, religious and economic background of child on

sexual abuse

3. There is no chance of sexual abuse of child at home.

4. There is no chance of sexual abuse of child at work place.

5. There is no chance of sexual abuse of child at institutions.

6. There is no commercial sexual exploitation of children.

7. There is no effect of child sexual abuse on the health and mental condition of the

child.

8. There is no sex tourism of child in India and other countries

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research uses a case study of child Sexual Abuse International documents

especially the human rights conventions, for instance the CRC, have provided

direction of this debate. Books and academic journal articles were extensively used.

These provided significant academic perspectives with regard to the emergence of

human rights in general and child rights in particular.

The research design is based upon multi disciplinary, as it includes considering child

sexual abuse from legal and social perspective, comparative, as it compares Indian

legal system with those of the world, exploratory, as it explores traces and evidences

of child sexual abuse in history and various dimensions of fact of child sexual abuse

& Analytical, as it analyzes prohibition of child sexual abuse in current socio-legal

system.

12
 1.6 RESEARCH DESIGN

In order to accomplish the task the study will be divided into eight chapters to enable

the researcher to submit the thesis within the stipulated time.

1.7 DEFINITION

Prior to the enactment of the Juvenile Act 1986, each state has its separate children’s

act. Every child’s act differed in its content, including the definition of the child. A

child is defined as any person who is above 18 years of age 10. This definition has been

used as the marked parameter for defining children the world over. Even in India the

definition of children matches it as, children are taken to be any person domiciled in

India who have not yet completed 18 years of age. 11 And yet this definition is subject

to many discrepancies of the law. In many places the definition of child differs and it

considered being girls reach majority at the age of 18 years and boys at the age of 21

years. And in many labour law regulation a child is any person who has passed 14

years of age 12. These discrepancies are the root cause for the exploitation of laws that

lead to the maltreatment of children.

Sexual abuse includes any contacts or interactions between a child and an

adult in which the child is being used for the sexual stimulation or the gratification of

the perpetrator or another person. These acts, when committed by a person in a

position of power or control over a child are considered sexual abuse 13.

Sexual abuse of children most often occurs in private and has far reaching

implications for the child. Inevitably it results in an experience of intrusion and in

feelings of helplessness, confusion, anger, aggression, guilt and betrayal in the victim.

10
Article1, U.N Declaration on the Rights of Children, 1989.
11
The Indian Majority Act, 1875.
12
http://infochangeindia.org visited on 15th may, 2013
13
Sloan Irving J, (Ed.), CHILD ABUSE: GOVERNING LAW AND LEGISLATION, Oceana
Publication: New York, 1983. p. 6
13
Since disclosure is the initial step in the child’s healing process and often precipitates

intervention, the circumstances and manner in which disclosure occurs and is handled,

is critical. The nature and manner of disclosure and the response to it has a bearing on

the trauma to the child, the child’s response to counseling and the conduct of

subsequent legal proceedings.

1.7.1 WHO IS A CHILD?

Every Indian law has its own definition of the term ‘child’.

DIFFERENT ACTS UNDER LAWS DECLARE DIFFERENT AGE

CRITERIA

‘A person is qualified to be engaged as an

The Apprentices Act (1961) apprentice only if he is not less than

fourteen years of age ….’

‘A child below 14 years of age is not

The Factories Act (1948) allowed to work in any factory. An

adolescent between 15 and 18 years can

be employed in a factory only if he

obtains a certificate of fitness from an

authorized medical doctor….’

‘Child means a person who has not

The Child Labour (Prohibition and completed his fourteenth year of age.’

Regulation) Act 1986

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act ‘Child means a person who, if a male, has

(2006) not completed twenty-one years of age

14
 and, if a female, has not completed

eighteen years of age’.

The Plantation Labour Act 1951 ‘Child' means a person who has not

completed his fourteenth year.

The Motor Transport Workers Act 1961, A child as a person who has not

and the Beedi and Cigar Workers completed 14 years of age.

(Conditions of Employment) Act 1966

A child as any person below the age of 18

The Protection of Children from Sexual years and provides protection to all

Offences Act, 2012 children under the age of 18 years from

the offences of sexual assault, sexual

harassment and pornography

1.7.2 CHILD ABUSE

Child abuse is the physical, emotional mistreatment or neglect of children. In the

United States, The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 14 defines child

maltreatment as any act or series of commission or omission by a parent or other

caregivers that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child. Most

child abuse occurs in a child’s home, with a smaller amount occurring in the

organizations, schools or communities the child interacts with.

14
www.cdc.gov › Violence Prevention › Sexual Violence accessed on 23rd August 2013.
15
The World Health Organisation 15, “Child maltreatment, sometimes referred to as

child abuse and neglect, includes all forms of physical and emotional illtreatment,

sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the

child's health, development or dignity. Within this broad definition, five subtypes can

be distinguished – physical abuse; sexual abuse; neglect and negligent treatment,

emotional abuse; and exploitation”.

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA 16) defines child abuse and

neglect as:-‘ ‘Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker,

which results in death serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or

exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious

harm’. 17

Standing Committee On Sexually Abused Children (SCOSAC) 1984 18-“any child

below the age of consent may be deemed to have been sexually abused when a

sexually matured person has engaged or permitted the engagement of that child in any

activity of a sexual nature which is intended to lead to sexual gratification of the

sexually mature person”.

There are various forms in which child abuse presents itself. The four categories of

child abuse are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. Every

millions of children are forced to suffer the atrocities of child abuse. Be it simply ill

treatment of the horrors of exploitation and brutality. They are enforced into human

trafficking for prostitution rackets. In terror prone regions, they are kidnapped from

their homes and schools and lose their innocent childhoods in the army to witness the

brunt of cruelty. They are enforced into debt repression or other kinds of slavery.

15
www.yesican.org/definitions/who.html accessed on 21st May, 2014.
16
https://www.childwelfare.gov. accessed on 22nd June, 2013.
17
CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320), § 3.
18
www.researchgate.net/ accessed on 13th May, 2013.
16
The result of these abuses are even more horrific; besides contravening the

fundamental rights of children like the right to education, the abuse also poses a threat

to their physical welfare and mental health. Despite the fact the world is aware of

these atrocities and is outraged by them none the problem. The abuses meted out to

children are ones that are done in private. They are the kind that are, to be put simply,

secretly endured and openly denied.

While certain child abuse and neglect issues are common in almost all countries at the

global level such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional and psychological abuse,

abandonment and, increasingly, problems of street children, there are also many

issues which are prevalent only in certain regions of the world. For instance, in Asia

where population density is high, the issues of child labour and child sexual

exploitation are also high. Political instability and other internal disturbances,

including conditions of insurgency in many countries in Asia are also creating major

problems, with increasing number of child soldiers, refugee children, trafficked

children and children on the streets.

Prevention of child abuse and neglect is still an uncharted field in Asia. The largest

population of children in the world live in South Asia and majority of these children

lack access to proper health care, nutrition and education. This reflects the socio-

economic reality of the developing countries of the Asian region. The main factors

that contribute to the magnitude of the problem of child abuse are poverty, illiteracy,

caste system and landlessness, lack of economic opportunities, rural-urban migration,

population growth, political instability and weak implementation of legal provisions.

Mostly, the approaches for prevention and methods of treatment of child abuse do not

cover the entire gamut of abuse. Lack of reliable data on the incidence of child abuse

and of knowledge of methods of prevention and treatment has been recognized and is

17
being addressed by sovereign governments, national and international organizations

e.g., UNICEF, Save the Children, Plan International, ISPCAN, etc.

UNICEF has put down 6 situations in which child get abused 19.

Forced or Bonded Labour – International Labour Organization (ILO) has carried a

survey that revealed a shocking statistic. An estimated 300 million children are

exploited as child labour. To worsen the fact, around 200 million children are

compelled to work in perilous environment with at least safety norms like mines or

factories, or in the vicinity of dangerous substance such as chemicals and agricultural

pesticides. There are some 6 million children working under particular terrible

conditions, including the virtual slavery of bonded labour.

Human Trafficking – The use of children as a service for the purpose of cheap labour

or sex has become a rewarding trade around the world since ages. Every year, an

estimated 1.2 million children are illegally trafficked for these heinous purposes. It is

also related with the poverty of parents and often they are not aware of its hazards,

believing that their children might have the chance for a better life outside their own

poverty ridden lives. In Asia and Eastern Europe, young girls from the age of 12 are

trafficked in western Asia as ‘Potential Brides’ to satisfy the lures of few. Many girls

are lured and then compelled to work in flesh industry every coming days.

Sexual Exploitation – Although it is hard to enumerate, around 1 million children

significant number of boys are exploited every year in the multibillion dollar flesh

trade. Commercial sexual abuse of children is often initiated and encouraged by local

elements. Statistically, sexual tourism plays very minor role, contrary to the earlier

perception. However, the internet is emerging as the potential stimulator to promote

child pornography globally and this has become a cause of concern. Studies have

relieved that children are most often sexually abused by their closed ones.

19
www.wcd.nic.in/teachershandbook.pdf accessed on 13th June, 2014.
18
Children Who Are Used As Soldiers – Reports of UNICEF studies have shown that

around 2 million children have died as a direct result of war, armed conflict over the

last decade. At least 6 million children are suffering from serious injuries or they are

permanently disabled. At present, over 300,000 child soldiers, some as young as

eight, are exploited in armed conflict in more than the world 30 countries around.

Separation from Parents – Children that are deprived of their primary means of

protection. This category includes children who have lost their parents or care takers

temporary or permanently due to varied reasons like outcome of war, orphanage,

boarding schools, and psychiatric units. Separation from parents and family is usually

detrimental factor to the overall physical and mental development of a child.

Involuntary separation from both family and community protection, greatly increases

a child’s risk of exposure to violence, physical abuse and even death.

Violence from School to Homes – Various forms of punishment and torture are a

common thing to locate. It occurs in every strata of community. The result is more

disturbing. They carry this plan and burnt throughout their life. This type also carries

the risk of life in certain cases along with permanent injuries.

It is important to look at the statistics of child abuse as they will give a more

comprehensive understanding of the problem that is increasing and spreading at an

alarming rate considering the evolved times of today. Communities and the courts

recognize that these emotional ‘hidden bruises’ can be treated. Whenever a child says

he or she has been abused, it must be taken seriously and immediately evaluated.

1.8 CHILD AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Notwithstanding the commitments made towards children’s rights in the international

instrument and national laws, in reality children across the globe continue to

19
experience a multiplicity of human rights violations, often at the hands of the very

people who are supposed to nurture and protect them.

The right to be a human being is the fundamental requirement which everywhere

people are aware and which they deserve by the very fact of existence. Though the

children cannot claim rights for themselves, they may exercise their rights by proxy,

i.e rights to be claimed by parents, guardians or other concerned adults on their

behalf. The universality of human rights as the rights of all mankind - as the rights of

all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in

the world which alone can enable any one, rich or poor, man or woman, child or old

disabled or sick, to live with human dignity. The concern for mankind expressed

unequivocally and transcending the globe will be real and moving and not rhetoric

and ritual if and only if it begins with children, as, to repeat the words of Nehru, the

human being counts much more as a child than as a grown up. The concern will be

clearly steered towards the chanced ideal of freedom; equality and justice to all the

human beings only if it sweeps the voiceless as well. A child is a delightful bundle of

joy and is blessed with several natural gifts.

Human rights are those rights derived from the inherent dignity of being born a

human being. These basic rights are essential to enable an individual to lead an

adequate life. Children easily become the victim and if children had rights, redress

would be possible. Although, children cannot claim their rights for themselves, other

can intervene to enforce these rights. The lives of children are a public concern which

can be met by promoting children’s rights.

World over a climate and cultural of violence has penetrated the lives of our children.

And this violence has invaded all the domains. Arguably this is not a recent

development, the phenomena of violence against children has existed time

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immemorial. It is in fact deeply entrenched and legitimized by legal, religious, social,

economic and cultural norms.

One of the issues marring this vision for the country’s future generations is the evil of

child sexual abuse. Statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau reveal

that there has been a steady increase in sexual crimes against children. According to a

study conducted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007, over half

of the children surveyed reported having faced some form of sexual abuse, with their

suffering exacerbated by the lack of specific legislation to provide remedies for these

crimes.

Child abuse constitutes a violation of the most basic rights of children and

adolescents, which are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All

persons under the age of 18 have the right to physical and psychological integrity and

to protection from all forms of violence. Children have distinctive rights, such as the

right to receive primary education, the right to recreation, the right to adoption etc.

Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) adopted by the United

Nations in 1989 exhorts States parties to take “all appropriate legislative,

administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of

physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment,

maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s),

legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child”. Similarly, the

United Nations International Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasized

the importance of member countries prohibiting all forms of physical punishment and

degrading treatment of children (CRC, 2006). The Convention on the Rights of the

Child legitimizes the concept of child’s rights. The Convention is the first globally

binding treaty protecting children civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights

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during peacetime and armed conflict. It also recognizes child rights as a political

issue, which requires commitment from the State.

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