dna edit: When guardian becomes predator

As a nation we have failed our children. The very institutions, which are supposed to reinforce our faith in humanity, make us law-abiding citizens, and contribute to the welfare of its people, have openly encouraged a system in which children can be physically and mentally abused, made to work in sweat shops and hazardous industries, and forced to beg for a living. If only the home had been safer than the outside world, but there too sacred relationships are violated as children are subjected to all forms of abuse by parents and close relatives.

Since it’s a system run by adults, it’s easy to silence the voice of the victims who are too weak and vulnerable to put up a fight. What makes children particularly helpless is the fact that most perpetrators enjoy the vantage position of controlling their lives and destinies.

A study released by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007 paints a horrifying picture.  Among other things, it says that 53% of the children had suffered “one or more forms of sexual abuse” and 68.99% admitted to being physically abused.

In such a hostile environment, the detention of the 11-year-old rape victim — who had come to lodge a complaint with her mother — in a police station lock up in Bulandshahr, UP, is only to be expected. That her protectors in uniform could display such inhuman behaviour shouldn’t have been a cause of outrage and shrill protests. It’s not an isolated incident; neither it is restricted to UP. The abuse of children is a pan Indian, nay, global phenomenon.

Yet, our hypocrisy doesn’t shame us. We continue to pontificate on how children are the light of our lives and the custodians of the future. We never squirm in embarrassment  while talking about India reaping democratic dividends in the near future for its burgeoning youth population.

Have we asked ourselves what world we have offered those for whom we mean the world; whose trust we abuse everyday, and scar them for the rest of their lives? These are uncomfortable questions that force us to confront our inner demons. But, we need to conduct a self-probe, for bitter truths often help us evolve into healthy human beings.