Maneka Gandhi Joins National Coalition to Fight Child Sexual Abuse

On Monday, an Open House on Prevention of Child Sex Abuse was held to form a national coalition to protect children.

According to a press statement issued from the office of MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister for Women and Child Welfare Maneka Gandhi agreed to engage with the national coalition to protect children from sexual abuse.

On receiving a change.org petition that started in September and signed by nearly 2 lakh citizens across India – seeking the government’s help to form a roadmap to protect children from sexual abuse – from a delegation headed by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Maneka Gandhi agreed to help in tackling the issue.

Child sexual abuse is a complex problem that requires a holistic policy response.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Member of Rajya Sabha

Earlier on Monday, an Open House on Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse was held at the Constitutional Club of India in Delhi to form a national coalition to protect children, which is a civic body that will deliberate upon solutions around issues of sexual abuse of children and help the government build policies that will prevent such abuse and ensure safety.

There is a film that the ministry is trying to screen in every school to help kids understand what is a good touch and a bad touch. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the police are working together.

Rashmi Sexena, Joint Secretary of Ministry Of Women and Child Development

Several NGOs, activists, school administrators, parents and survivors of child sexual abuse came together to the event titled Why we need to start talking about Child Sexual Abuse and Protect Our Children to collaborate on solutions to resolve the issue. Among the attendees were activist Harish Iyer, actor Pooja Bedi, Legal Expert of Child Rights Swagata Raha and Choti Nirbhaya’s grandparents to name a few.

The gaps in the legal system lead to a lower conviction rate. If the system isn’t sensitive, the message we send is that you shouldn’t have come forward. The support we offer (to the survivor) is sporadic. We don’t offer the kind of support that is necessary for a child to come forward and say he/she was raped.

Swagat Raha, Legal Expert, Child Rights

According to a survey conducted by the Women and Child Ministry, every second child has experienced some form sexual abuse. Alarmed at the number of child sex abuse incidents in Bengaluru, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Member of Parliament from Bengaluru took up the cause of Child Sexual Abuse in January 2014.