To spread awareness about child sexual abuse I reached out to 8 adults and 16 students. For the students I conducted an educational workshop via zoom. I reached out to the Happy School, an NGO, to hold a session with students from the 5th grade from their school. For the adults I went door to door in my building to raise awareness about this issue.
In my session with the students of Happy School, I divided the session into a learning and Q and A section. In the learning section I explained what CSA is through various anecdotal examples. I also explained various situations in which CSA could occur and appropriate measures to avoid such situations. I ended this section by telling them on how t deal and respond to a situation in which someone has sexually abused them.
A couple points I covered:
1. You are not the one at fault
2. Approach a trusted adult (Eg: parents) if you uncomfortable in any situation
3. If you are uncomfortable visited or being alone with someone (even relatives) approach an adult
In my session with adults from my building we went over certain scenarios involving their kids that should raise red flags and warrant interference. I also gave strategies to follow to avoid exposing their children to CSA. One thing I learned is that a lot of adults are not aware of the magnitude of CSA in India. When I shared statistics about this (Eg: 4 children experience CSA every hour in India according to a 2007 report) most of them were shocked at the numbers.
A couple points I covered:
1. Don’t force your child into uncomfortable situation even if it is with people you trust
2. If you feel like your child is in a situation which is raising red flags for you, you should intervene.
3. You should educate you children on what kind of situations they should avoid
4. If you see any major attitude changes or personality in you child patiently talk to them about it
5. If anyone you know has been sexually abused, you should report it to the police
