The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow. In a few years, they’ll be all over the world shouldering important responsibility. Every child is a diamond and is very precious to the society. As parents and well-wishers, we are concerned of their education, food habits, physical health etc. But why is it that we often tend to overlook their mental health and sexual safety? Child Abuse has taken its toll on the society.. And it’s a problem existing across the spectrum of society. From the masons to the mansions, it exists in different form everywhere.
At the onset, its important to strike at the root causes of child abuse. Lack of education is definitely a main reason but child abuse has become common is well-educated society too. It’s a myth that the perpetrator is often unknown to the child. It should be noted that 95% of times, the perpetrator is known to the child. In such cases, the family tries to hide the entire incident under the garb of the name & fame of the family.
With the advent of technology, child abuse has just grown manifold times. Children become more vulnerable in the virtual world. They fall prey to the tricks of the perpetrators and are scared to report the same to their parents.
The trauma that comes with child sexual abuse is immense and unfathomable. It destroys the childhood of a child, a time when they are supposed to study and play their heart out. When these criminals take advantage of the innocence of the child and destroy their childhood, they deserve to be punished in the most stringent manner.
The very first step towards tackling child abuse is to be friendly with your child, to give him that space to express his feelings and vent out if need be. This will help one understand and monitor the behaviour of a child. It’s important to notice any minute changes in their daily routine or manner, sudden dislike to certain things, sleep patterns etc.
Secondly, it’s important to trust the child. In almost every case, the child won’t be lying about something. Its important to be patient with them and hear them out. Not only parents but teachers, relatives in-short anyone the child trusts has the duty of listening what the child has to say.
Lastly, its of paramount importance to report cases of child abuse to the concerned forums. Keeping things like family, reputation etc. its important to report cases. These perpetrators deserve to be punished for not only affecting the child but also ruining the society.
Therefore, let’s all vouch that we will stand up against crimes against children and voice our opinions loud and give children that learning platform that they all deserve. Every child has a story to tell. Are we ready to listen?
