New law must speak for kids

There’s no denying that poverty breeds helplessness, and physical exploitation of the vulnerable is all pervasive. Who else, but the malnourished children who have born in utter neglect and amid brazen handicaps, could be the prime target of abuse!

They lose their names and identities and are referred to as just ‘chottu’. They are abused in filthy language. They toil for more hours than their little frames can bear, and for them education is as distant a dream as playing with children of their own age.
On top of it, they become victims of sexual offences. And they are hardly heard when they complain against it.

A 2007 study by the Ministry of Women and Child Development said that 53.22 per cent of India’s children have experienced some form of sexual abuse. There’s hardly any serious attempt made by any agency to report the number of convictions in child abuse cases. Perhaps, this figure may be insignificant to report.

After having put in place various legislations such as those for right to education, mid-day meal in schools and prevention of child labour, the government has also thought of only making its intent clear that it wants protection of children from sexual exploitation. Whether this intent will ever become a reality remains a matter of debate, but the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill nevertheless is a matter of fact.

A committee headed by Oscar Fernandes, MP, has drafted the enactment and introduced it in parliament. It recognises the fact that at sexual offences against children is a ‘sad reality’’. It concedes that this menace hasn’t been “adequately addressed by the extant laws’’.

A large number of such offences are neither specifically provided for nor are they adequately penalised. It is, therefore, felt that offences against children need to be defined explicitly and countered through commensurate penalties as an effective deterrence.

Thus, the proposed legislation seeks to provide for protection of children from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography. It seeks to safeguard their interests and well-being at “every stage of the judicial process’’.

It seeks to ensure that during the various stages of the proceedings, the child victim does not suffer hostility, his evidence is recorded fairly, and the investigation and trial are speedy. However, what’s urgently needed is ensuring a child-friendly environment at every step of his life.