The rally was organised as part of the Children’s Day celebrations and was flagged off by governor HR Bhardwaj at the Raj Bhavan.
Students of South Bangalore schools on Sunday took out a rally to create awareness on child abuse. The rally was organised as part of the Children’s Day celebrations and was flagged off by governor HR Bhardwaj at the Raj Bhavan.
The focus of the rally was aimed at bringing to notice the more number of sexual abuse cases among children, especially girls in particular.
Students from RV Girls High School were seen distributing pamphlets throughout the walk, which emphasised on creating awareness and preventing child abuse altogether.
However, many students felt that it is a sensitive issue and expressed their difficulty in discussing these matters.
“We need to spread awareness on this issue, but we need people to co-operate with us, which is where the difficulty lies. In fact, many of our classmates are not aware of issues related to child abuse,” said Manasa T, a student.
Shantha V, physical education teacher at Saraki Government School in JP Nagar, felt that only if such rallies are conducted frequently, will it have an effect.
“Schools should come together often and do something constructive against such atrocities,” she said.
“In our school, we tell girls to be careful and educate them on these matters. For instance, we tell them to be in groups and not to respond to unwanted sexual attention or lewd comments that are passed. We found that high school students in particular are more vulnerable and we tell them the importance of reporting matters of sexual abuse to an older person or the police,” she said.
N Sriram Reddy, legal advisor, Sri Shakthi Mahila Sangha said that the ‘Prevention of Child Abuse Act 2010’ is underway, which he hopes will make a difference. “The difference between this bill, the IPC and other acts already in force, is that here, the accused has to prove himself and not the complainant,” he said.
He added that the sangha will spend time with school students, especially those from government schools, to explain to them the importance of being bold and saying no to any form of sexual advances. Eighty per cent of the cases related to child sexual abuse go unreported, either due to fear, ignorance or the stigma attached to it, he added.
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