Stolen Childhood

The sanctimonious pride with which we espouse Indian family values has been proved to be a myth. The ugly truth is out - one out of every two Indian children has suffered some form of abuse.

Within three months of that ghastly Nithari case, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has released the first ever report on child abuse.

The study surfaces an alarming figure of child abuse. It shows that 53 percent out of over 17,000 children reported one or more forms of sexual abuse. This is the first time the government has done such an exhaustive survey on the controversial issue of child abuse.

Abuse of children, particularly sexual abuse, is rarely admitted in India and activists have welcomed the study. Releasing the report at a press conference in the capital, Delhi, Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury said,

In India there’s a tradition of denying child abuse. It doesn’t happen here is what we normally say. But by remaining silent, we have aided and abetted the abuse of children.

Is there a way out?

There are no simple solutions to this issue. However, a series of measures must be instituted without delay if we are to begin the battle against child abuse. To begin with, the child must be sensitized to what constitutes abuse. Parents need to shake off their false morality when it comes to discussing matters like sexual abuse with children.

Last year alone, the government had barred children under the age of fourteen from being employed in any kind of work force but unfortunately, children were continued to work in these arenas.

India is a signatory to various international laws on the protection of children, but implementation of these laws is often lax.

Change may be long in coming but we need to make a beginning somewhere if we claim to be a civilized society.

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Young boys and girls who become victims of the crime of child trafficking all over the world are marketed like a commodity. They yield huge profits as slave labor in plantations and in factories, as child prostitutes, as beggars, as marriage candidates or offspring for couples willing to adopt. The children lose their trust, their health and often lose their lives as well.

Rural Chinese children are at an increasing risk of being sold or forced to become beggars, petty thieves or sex workers as their farmer parents flock to cities looking for work.

Save the Children, an international aid group has postulated that China’s women and children are at risk of being sold into forced labor or prostitution. Mass migration from China’s countryside to its cities has aggravated the disturbing trend.

Imbalance in the population, which is because of China’s one child policy, too is a cause of this tendency. China’s strict controls on the number of children people can have drives couples to abort female fetuses and allow more boys to be born. Hence, native girls lands at the risk of being trafficked, especially in the countryside.

China has a thriving black market in girls and women who are sold as brides, as well as babies who are abducted or bought from poor families for sale to childless couples or those who have one child and want more.

There are no exact figures but the Chinese government and international aid groups estimate that tens of thousands of girls and boys are being trafficked in China each year.

Experts are of the view that the number is going to rise since the poor rural dwellers tend to leave their native place to work in cities, leaving their children vulnerable to traffickers.

The condition is so deplorable that traffickers are buying children from $1,300 to $2,600. They are then sold to childless couples, or put to work as beggars, prostitutes, or pickpockets in the cities.

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Children are showing an upward trend in their sadistic behavior. Statistics revealed that self harming incidents among children under fifteen have mounted by a ratio of one third in the last couple of six years.

Children’s aid organizations have reported an increase in the number of cases involving self harm by cutting, suicides attempts and eating disorders. Reasons laid by them for such a rising trend are bullying, family breakdown and eating disorders.

The most recent figures available revealed that more than 4,500 boys and girls aged 14 or under were treated in hospitals around the UK for self-harm last year - a rise of 1,431 in the last six years.

Doctors hold the view that an overdose of drugs has been a major cause of suicide attempts.

Ratio of self harm:

1. In 2005-6, nine in ten among 4575 teenager were hospitalized due to overdosing of drugs.

2. The number of children using a sharp object to hurt themselves has also quadrupled since 2000.

3. More than a million youngsters are suffering from depression.

4. 37 youngsters tried to hang, strangle or suffocate themselves last year.

Talking about the figures, Angie Brown, of the charity ChildLine, said,

These figures are very worrying and one of the reasons for this is that there is an awful lot of pressure on youngsters to conform in the way they look. A lot of children-will feel they don’t fit in and that kind of pressure goes along with eating disorders which is also a form of self-harm. We get children as young as 11 feeling upset with the way they look and being bullied.

Treatment

Treatment often involves both individual and family work. Individuals will need help with how to cope with the very difficult feelings that cause self-harm. Families often need help in working out how to make sure that the dangerous behavior doesn’t happen again and how to give the support that is needed. If depression or anxiety is part of the problem, these will need treating.

Occasionally, intensive help may be needed. Sometimes, recovery from very damaging or traumatic experiences happens slowly. Then specialist help is needed over a longer period of time.

However, curing depression which leads to self harm is not a difficult job, it only requires a little of patience and some strong will power.

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Today, I stumbled across this piece of article and thought of articulating my views on the deplorable plight of the children in Kashmir, India.

But before that I’d like to pose a question, can you think of ‘life’ amidst constant fear of death, socio- economic deprivation and a prolonged fear of competition in life?

I know it’s difficult or next to impossible to breathe in such kind of atmosphere but children in Kashmir are actually being subjected to THIS kind of life.

Kashmir massacre

The reality behind the recent fake encounters was not news for Kashmir. It’s been happening since 1989. The wounds of the Gaw Kadal massacre, the Sopore massacre and the Paribas Killings are still fresh in the minds of Kashmiris.

The Kashmir conflict, which killed more than 35,000 people since 1989, has sired a generation of children lost to hate and fear. They grow up in the no man’s land... between politics and war.

Unfortunately, India remained so busy crushing militancy that the children were almost forgotten. What do you do about your tomorrow when you are not sure of your today?

The Valley, which was once an epitome of ‘paradise on earth’, now has nothing to offer these children except violence, hatred and death.

Present generation

Children in Kashmir also show a high level of mental trauma because of the war that they come to interact with since their childhood.

Many - probably a majority - of the children in Kashmir (not the 10,000-odd orphans of militancy, but the average, school going, normal kids) have deep, permanent bruises of the mind. Bruises that have far-reaching consequences, that are now finding reflection in psychic disorders, drug abuse and personality changes.

The present generation has seen Kashmir only as a war zone. Children all over the world who are living through conflicts — in Sierra Leone, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Iraq or earlier in Vietnam — are growing up confused. But unlike those battlegrounds, where agencies like UNICEF and who are able to assess the damage and provide relief to the children, in Kashmir there are hardly any NGOs in this field.

Although, the Government boosts of providing a relief committee to the affected areas but hardly anything has ever been gained by the victimized families.

But worst of all is the fear they see in their parents’ eyes, the tension they absorb from their elders. The uncertainty that’s mirrored alike in the eyes of the lawman and the rebel. Even now, children somewhere in Kashmir are fighting for survival.

Is there a way out to help these strife-torn children?

Special scholarships could be provided for these children, who are affected by the armed conflict. For admissions to institutions of technical and higher education, other State governments may be approached to reserve quotas for such children.

To prevent growing alienation from and ignorance about their cultural heritage among children, suitable courses could be added in the school curriculum.

Jobs must be provided to a member of each family that suffered a death in a militancy-related incident.

There is no substitute for the emotional and other forms of support that the community at large can provide to children affected by the armed conflict.

The children of diverse communities, instead of developing hatred, could be brought together as co-sufferers, so that they develop empathy for each other and act as ambassadors of mutual goodwill and communal harmony.

Authorities in Afghanistan has decided to turn down child and forced marriages in the Province. Hence, ‘Nikah Nama’, a formal marriage contract has been proposed as an antidote to the prevalent custom. This has been welcomed by the women’s rights NGOs across the country.

Nibila Wafiq, a women’s rights program officer said,

The new marriage contract is a strong legal instrument that will end child marriages and will empower women’s legal status after marriage.

Although legal age for marriage is 16 and 18 for girls and boys respectively, yet the girls are betrothed at a very younger age. Nearly, 57 percent of marriages in Afghanistan involve girls below sixteen years of age.

The new marriage document stipulates that if a man wants to marry, he should make sure that his would-be wife is at least 16. Marriage certificates will not be issued for underage brides.

Human rights activists took the document as a step towards women emancipation. However, officials note that only one to three couples apply for formal marriage registration per day in a country of about 25 million people. This would suggest that the vast majority of Afghans are not officially registering their marriages.

Thus, in order to combat this problem, the Ministry of Women’s Affair has initiated a campaign to encourage the number of legally registered couples.

Now, time will tell how far this contract would liberate women in the Province.

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Muridke madrassa is what every youth in Pakistan aspire to join than regular schools or boarding. It is situated right outside of Lahore and is Pakistan’s second-largest city.

Youth in the region have lost hope in their future, they are in utter despair.

Muhammed Bakhtiar, a seventeen year old youth said,

We were told to fight against Israel, America and non-Muslims. We are so unhappy with our lives here. We have nothing.

Hence, these boys prefer to go in for suicide bombers thinking that they would get a ‘better life’ in ‘life after death’.

Muridke madrassa

This so called religious school or madrassa is run by the Jama’at-ud-Da’awah, the charity linked to the outlawed terrorist organization, Lashkar e Taiba. And Lashkar e Taiba has links to al-Qaida.

The premises of this madrassa resembles very much to an exclusive boys boarding school, the only thing which this school has is the bearded armed men that guard the compound. The complex offers various types of sports activities like cricket, swimming, horse riding etc.

In addition to religious instruction, the school offers computer sciences, engineering and pre-med classes for students ranging in age from six to 17 but above all, it teaches jihad.

Recruited at local high school

Ahmad, a seventeen old lad revealed that he along with his friend was recruited at their high school in Buner. But then the recruiter offered to take the boys to Muridke for two weeks of training and then to Peshawar where they would be introduced to people and make contacts.

Such people have instilled in the minds of young men that in order to become great, they would have to fight against the non believers of Islam. The boys themselves revealed that the option was laid before them to become a freedom fighter or a suicide bomber.

Parents outraged

When the parents got to know about the week’s gap which the boys had given in Buner, they felt very distressed. Some how, they acquired their contact in Muridke and claimed that the boarding school in Buner had brainwashed their sons.

However, the principal, Abdur Rahman, denied this, saying he went to the local police and demanded they go after the man who recruited the boys at his school.

He said,

We don’t support this, suicide attacks are murder, this is against Islam. Those boys went to Muridke by themselves, they should have been here taking their exams, and I no longer want them back in my school.

Main thing

Now, no one knows how far the statement made by the principal is correct. But one thing is for sure, the boys are not hopeful towards their future. They just harp one thing, there is nothing for us here. Nothing.

Perpetrators of this ‘heinous crime’ called jihad are making youth an easy target by playing with the religious ideology.

Vacuum has occupied the life of these youth. The world leadership must start looking at how to fill this void, give hope, with core solutions that would lead to redemption in such depressed lives.

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The Internet provides the perfect forum for cyber bullies, individuals whose aim is to gain gratification from the distress caused by provoking and tormenting others. The anonymity, ease of provocation, and almost infinite source of targets means the Internet is full of predators from pedophiles targeting children to serial bullies targeting ... anybody.

While most interactions are positive, increasingly kids are using these communication tools to antagonize and intimidate others. This has given rise to cyber bullying.

Recent research done by the Canadian scholars has postulated that the so-called computer geeks are becoming a new schoolyard bullies. They are victimizing their girl friends via e-mail, text messaging and social networking sites in new forms of victimization. How? Well, they are compelling their girlfriends to undress in front of webcams and then sharing the images with others online.

A researcher of the study, Professor Faye Mishna, stated,

They’re pressuring each other. This is particularly (true) for girls to send pictures of themselves with their tops off. Girls might send it to their boyfriend and she is pressured to do it thinking he’s just going to see it. So she gives in and the next thing you know it’s all over (the place).

The findings also revealed that victims are reluctant to describe their situation to elders because they fear they will be punished in order to be protected.

They’re scared that their parents will take away their computer privileges, said a researcher.

Students also thought it was futile to tell parents about cyber bullies because of the anonymity of online communications.

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Children in large numbers have recently died in Colombia because of malnutrition.

According to figures generated by a hospital, nearly 37 children have died in a gap of two month period. Nearly, 12 percent of the minor population is suffering from chronic malnutrition.

The victims were believed to be mainly from indigenous groups living in inaccessible jungle regions including Afro-Colombian community.

Reasons:

1. Lack of access to safe water and sanitation.

2. Widespread poverty.

3. Poor maternal health, inappropriate infant care and feeding practices.

However, Choco governor Julio Ibarguen has denied the allegations of widespread epidemic.

What could be done?

The problem could only be averted particularly through regular monitoring of children’s growth, coupled with early warning systems linking high-risk cases to trained health specialists.

Pregnant women along with their children, during the first two years of their life, must be targeted and the poor, rural and indigenous populations must be prioritized where malnutrition is concentrated.

Action at the national, program and community levels must be initiated to ensure combating malnutrition, which must be supported by national as well as international bodies. And regular monitoring is a must of nutrition programs.

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Tiny hands are very important for shoe production, textiles, auto repair, agriculture and many other industries. This is because those tiny hands can easily polish and apply adhesive to places that big hands can’t reach. Those tiny hands do not want big pay as they are mostly the hands of children whose parents are unemployed. This is actually the condition of children in Turkey.

Looking at the present scenario, European Union has launched a project to target child labor in Turkey. The 5.3-million-euro project aims to give working children, mostly from very poor families, the chance of a better life, sending many of them to school.

A twelve-year-old Suna Kacar said,

my mother wanted me to work and I didn’t go to school in the past. I now see how good it is to go to school so I can have a profession when I grow up. I would like to become a nurse.

Similarly, a 15-year-old boy, Gani Gormez stated,

I had been sent to work in the streets to earn pocket money and buy what the family needed. I understood when I started going to school how bad child labor is.

While Turkey’s economy has rebounded from a steep financial crisis in 2001 when many people lost their jobs, a quarter of all Turks live below the poverty line.

Reasons:

Ali Haydar Oner, governor of Cankiri province claimed that the children are working in the streets in order to support their family income. It is a kind of unfair burden, which they cannot carry. He stressed that it is not a good sign for their future.

Poverty too is fueling the menace of child labor in the region hence, EU has planned to give more than 200 million euros to Turkey for human resource development projects such as creating new jobs and education improvement within three years.

The project targets

The project aims at providing children the basic education and food stuff. Also it would monitor the efficacy of it by checking whether the children are regularly going to the school or retreating to work again.

The project also targets the parents of children who work. They learn to read and write and are encouraged to do vocational courses so that they can start to earn enough money to save their children from having to work.

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Recent survey across Asia has revealed that majority of the people are hiding behind a ‘wall of silence’ and are shirking from telling the truth about child abuse for the fear of bringing ‘dishonor’ to the family.

The findings are based on interviews of 500 respondents from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. More than 300 respondents rated sexual abuse of a child as having the most negative effect on family ‘honor’ or ‘izzat’, followed by physical abuse then emotional abuse.

Instead of talking about the problems with the authorities, they would prefer dealing it with the child itself.

All these dogmas must be condemned as unacceptable and people must be urged to tackle the problem openly rather than avoiding them in the name of ‘family honor’. After all, by keeping mute, the victimized family would protect the wrong people in the community. And instead of finding a solution, the problem would be further aggravated.

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