Thursday, November 29, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Abuse and Commercialisation
Child sexual abuse is an umbrella term describing criminal and civil offenses in which an adult engages in sexual activity with a minor or exploits a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification. This term includes a variety of sexual offenses, including:
sexual assault – a term defining offenses in which an adult touches a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification; for example, rape (including sodomy), and sexual penetration with an object. Most U.S. states include, in their definitions of sexual assault, any penetrative contact of a minor’s body, however slight, if the contact is performed for the purpose of sexual gratification.
sexual molestation – a term defining offenses in which an adult engages in non-penetrative activity with a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification; for example, exposing a minor to pornography or to the sexual acts of others.
sexual exploitation – a term defining offenses in which an adult victimizes a minor for advancement, sexual gratification, or profit; for example, prostituting a child, and creating or trafficking in child pornography.
sexual grooming - defines the social conduct of a potential child sex offender who seeks to make a minor more accepting of their advances, for example in an online chat room
The legal term child sexual offender refers to a person who has been convicted for one or more child sexual abuse offenses.The term, therefore, describes a person who has committed child sexual abuse, without regard to the perpetrator's motivation.
The term "pedophile" is used colloquially to refer to child sexual offenders. However, pedophilia is generally defined as a sexual preference for prepubescent or preadolescent children, and is currently defined as a psychiatric disorder by the medical community. Neither definition requires the pedophile to have sexually offended, with the latter specifying additional requirements such as distress. Indeed, not all child sexual offenders meet the diagnostic criteria of pedophilia, and not all pedophiles act on their fantasies or urges to engage in sexual activity with children. Law enforcement and legal professionals have begun to use the term predatory pedophile, a phrase coined by children's attorney Andrew Vachss, to refer specifically to pedophiles who engage in sexual activity with minors. The term emphasizes that child sexual abuse consists of conduct chosen by the perpetrator.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a form of child labour.
A Convention was drawn up after the first World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation held in Stockholm in 1996. CSEC was defined in the declaration adopted at this congress as ‘sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object.’ CSEC includes the prostitution of children; child pornography; and other forms of transactional sex where a child engages in sexual activities to have key needs fulfilled, such as food, shelter or access to education. It includes forms of transactional sex where the sexual abuse of children is not stopped or reported by household members, due to benefits derived by the household from the perpetrator. CSEC also potentially includes arranged marriages involving children under the age of 18 years, where the child has not freely consented to marriage and where the child is sexually abused.
Prostitution of children under the age of 18 years, child pornography and the (often related) sale and trafficking of children are often considered to be crimes of violence against children.[citation needed] They are considered to be forms of economic exploitation akin to forced labour or slavery.[citation needed] Such children often suffer irreparable damage to their physical and mental health. They face early pregnancy and risk sexually transmitted diseases, particularly AIDS. They are often inadequately protected by the law and may be treated as criminals.[citation needed]
Child trafficking and CSEC sometimes overlap. On the one hand, children who are trafficked are often trafficked for the purposes of CSEC. However, not all trafficked children are trafficked for these purposes. Further, even if some of the children trafficked for other forms of work are subsequently sexually abused at work, this does not necessarily constitute CSEC. On the other hand, by no means all children involved in CSEC have been trafficked. Many are involved in CSEC near their homes.
CSEC is also part of, but distinct from, child abuse, or even child sexual abuse. Child rape, for example, will not usually constitute CSEC. Neither will domestic violence.
Although CSEC is considered as child labour, and indeed one of the WFCL, in terms of international conventions, in legislation, policy and programmatic terms, CSEC is often treated as a form of child abuse or a crime.
Causes
The causes of CSEC are complex and patterns differ among countries and regions. For example, in some areas the commercial sexual exploitation of children is clearly related to foreign child sex tourism, in others it is associated with the local demand. In most countries, girls represent 80 to 90% of the victims, although in some places boys predominate.[citation needed]
As is the case for other worst forms of child labour, severe poverty, the possibility of relatively high earnings, low value attached to education, family dysfunction, a cultural obligation to help support the family or the need to earn money to simply survive are all factors that make children vulnerable to CSEC.[citation needed]
There are other non-economic factors that also push children into commercial sexual exploitation. Children who are at greatest risk of becoming victims of CSEC are those that have previously experienced physical or sexual abuse.[citation needed] A family environment of little protection, where caregivers are absent or where there is a high level of violence or alcohol or drug consumption, induces boys and girls to run away from home,[citation needed] making them highly susceptible to abuse.[citation needed] Gender discrimination and low educational levels of caregivers are also risk factors.[citation needed]
On the demand side, certain factors can aggravate the problem. For example, sex tourists are a source of demand for prostitution. The presence of military troops or of large public works may also create demand.[citation needed] Client preferences for young children, particularly in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, pull in additional children.[citation needed] Additionally, the expansion of the Internet has facilitated the growth of child pornography.
Experience has shown that certain socio-economic characteristics, such as population density, concentration of night entertainment (bars and discos), high poverty and unemployment levels, movement of people, and access to highways, ports, or borders are also associated with CSEC.[citation needed]
sexual assault – a term defining offenses in which an adult touches a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification; for example, rape (including sodomy), and sexual penetration with an object. Most U.S. states include, in their definitions of sexual assault, any penetrative contact of a minor’s body, however slight, if the contact is performed for the purpose of sexual gratification.
sexual molestation – a term defining offenses in which an adult engages in non-penetrative activity with a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification; for example, exposing a minor to pornography or to the sexual acts of others.
sexual exploitation – a term defining offenses in which an adult victimizes a minor for advancement, sexual gratification, or profit; for example, prostituting a child, and creating or trafficking in child pornography.
sexual grooming - defines the social conduct of a potential child sex offender who seeks to make a minor more accepting of their advances, for example in an online chat room
The legal term child sexual offender refers to a person who has been convicted for one or more child sexual abuse offenses.The term, therefore, describes a person who has committed child sexual abuse, without regard to the perpetrator's motivation.
The term "pedophile" is used colloquially to refer to child sexual offenders. However, pedophilia is generally defined as a sexual preference for prepubescent or preadolescent children, and is currently defined as a psychiatric disorder by the medical community. Neither definition requires the pedophile to have sexually offended, with the latter specifying additional requirements such as distress. Indeed, not all child sexual offenders meet the diagnostic criteria of pedophilia, and not all pedophiles act on their fantasies or urges to engage in sexual activity with children. Law enforcement and legal professionals have begun to use the term predatory pedophile, a phrase coined by children's attorney Andrew Vachss, to refer specifically to pedophiles who engage in sexual activity with minors. The term emphasizes that child sexual abuse consists of conduct chosen by the perpetrator.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a form of child labour.
A Convention was drawn up after the first World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation held in Stockholm in 1996. CSEC was defined in the declaration adopted at this congress as ‘sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object.’ CSEC includes the prostitution of children; child pornography; and other forms of transactional sex where a child engages in sexual activities to have key needs fulfilled, such as food, shelter or access to education. It includes forms of transactional sex where the sexual abuse of children is not stopped or reported by household members, due to benefits derived by the household from the perpetrator. CSEC also potentially includes arranged marriages involving children under the age of 18 years, where the child has not freely consented to marriage and where the child is sexually abused.
Prostitution of children under the age of 18 years, child pornography and the (often related) sale and trafficking of children are often considered to be crimes of violence against children.[citation needed] They are considered to be forms of economic exploitation akin to forced labour or slavery.[citation needed] Such children often suffer irreparable damage to their physical and mental health. They face early pregnancy and risk sexually transmitted diseases, particularly AIDS. They are often inadequately protected by the law and may be treated as criminals.[citation needed]
Child trafficking and CSEC sometimes overlap. On the one hand, children who are trafficked are often trafficked for the purposes of CSEC. However, not all trafficked children are trafficked for these purposes. Further, even if some of the children trafficked for other forms of work are subsequently sexually abused at work, this does not necessarily constitute CSEC. On the other hand, by no means all children involved in CSEC have been trafficked. Many are involved in CSEC near their homes.
CSEC is also part of, but distinct from, child abuse, or even child sexual abuse. Child rape, for example, will not usually constitute CSEC. Neither will domestic violence.
Although CSEC is considered as child labour, and indeed one of the WFCL, in terms of international conventions, in legislation, policy and programmatic terms, CSEC is often treated as a form of child abuse or a crime.
Causes
The causes of CSEC are complex and patterns differ among countries and regions. For example, in some areas the commercial sexual exploitation of children is clearly related to foreign child sex tourism, in others it is associated with the local demand. In most countries, girls represent 80 to 90% of the victims, although in some places boys predominate.[citation needed]
As is the case for other worst forms of child labour, severe poverty, the possibility of relatively high earnings, low value attached to education, family dysfunction, a cultural obligation to help support the family or the need to earn money to simply survive are all factors that make children vulnerable to CSEC.[citation needed]
There are other non-economic factors that also push children into commercial sexual exploitation. Children who are at greatest risk of becoming victims of CSEC are those that have previously experienced physical or sexual abuse.[citation needed] A family environment of little protection, where caregivers are absent or where there is a high level of violence or alcohol or drug consumption, induces boys and girls to run away from home,[citation needed] making them highly susceptible to abuse.[citation needed] Gender discrimination and low educational levels of caregivers are also risk factors.[citation needed]
On the demand side, certain factors can aggravate the problem. For example, sex tourists are a source of demand for prostitution. The presence of military troops or of large public works may also create demand.[citation needed] Client preferences for young children, particularly in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, pull in additional children.[citation needed] Additionally, the expansion of the Internet has facilitated the growth of child pornography.
Experience has shown that certain socio-economic characteristics, such as population density, concentration of night entertainment (bars and discos), high poverty and unemployment levels, movement of people, and access to highways, ports, or borders are also associated with CSEC.[citation needed]
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Child Abuse and Sex Education
One in every two children in India is sexually, physically or emotionally abused.
Seventy per cent of abused children do not report it to anyone.
Maternal and paternal uncles are the biggest culprits in most abuse cases.
Boys are as susceptible to abuse as girls
Spare the rod and spoil the child – in a country where this age-old dictum seems to work comfortably with both parents and teachers, a shocking study has confirmed that there is a conspiracy of silence surrounding child abuse in India.
The Government has released its first ever study on child abuse in India and it shows that every second child in India is abused. The report comes at a time when there is a raging debate in Maharashtra and Karnataka on sex education.
The sex abuse and sex education were the two big issues that were debated on CNN-IBN show Lets Talk About Sex.
On the panel of experts were NCP leader Sachin Ahir, St Xaviers lecturer Pratibha Naithani, psychologist Sonya Mehta, designer Hasina Jethmalani and columnist and lifestyle editor of DNA Malvika Sanghvi.
Sex education: Just about birds and bees?
Within three months of the ghastly Nithari murders in UP, the Ministry of Women and Child Development released a report on child abuse. The disturbing truth is that maximum numbers of children are abused by people who they trust.
It states that every one or two of every child in India is sexually abused. The ones to push the child into the ghastly act are none other than maternal and paternal uncles, or sometimes close relatives. Astoundingly these are the people that a child holds in a position of trust. Does it show that there is a huge amount of sexual dysfunction in all our families?
“I don’t think that would be the right conclusion,” said St Xaviers lecturer Pratibha Naithani.
“We must compare the issue of child sexual abuse in India with a country like USA which has the most liberal and free-minded society. The abuse cases are high in US as well. Thus we can’t say that since we are supposedly this sexually deprived society, that people are indulging in such crimes,” Naithani added.
Psychologist Sonya Mehta seemed to disagree with the view.
“Sex is a dirty word here. It is not something that we discuss openly in our country. On the other hand, our media is has gone one step further in getting explicit about the issue. Look at our ads. They are so full of sexual connotations and implications that a natural level of curiosity,” she added.
There is clear divide between people who want sex to be treated as an open subject and those who like to keep it under wraps.
TALKING THE TALK: Expert panel discusses why Indians can't talk about sex openly.
Seventy per cent of abused children do not report it to anyone.
Maternal and paternal uncles are the biggest culprits in most abuse cases.
Boys are as susceptible to abuse as girls
Spare the rod and spoil the child – in a country where this age-old dictum seems to work comfortably with both parents and teachers, a shocking study has confirmed that there is a conspiracy of silence surrounding child abuse in India.
The Government has released its first ever study on child abuse in India and it shows that every second child in India is abused. The report comes at a time when there is a raging debate in Maharashtra and Karnataka on sex education.
The sex abuse and sex education were the two big issues that were debated on CNN-IBN show Lets Talk About Sex.
On the panel of experts were NCP leader Sachin Ahir, St Xaviers lecturer Pratibha Naithani, psychologist Sonya Mehta, designer Hasina Jethmalani and columnist and lifestyle editor of DNA Malvika Sanghvi.
Sex education: Just about birds and bees?
Within three months of the ghastly Nithari murders in UP, the Ministry of Women and Child Development released a report on child abuse. The disturbing truth is that maximum numbers of children are abused by people who they trust.
It states that every one or two of every child in India is sexually abused. The ones to push the child into the ghastly act are none other than maternal and paternal uncles, or sometimes close relatives. Astoundingly these are the people that a child holds in a position of trust. Does it show that there is a huge amount of sexual dysfunction in all our families?
“I don’t think that would be the right conclusion,” said St Xaviers lecturer Pratibha Naithani.
“We must compare the issue of child sexual abuse in India with a country like USA which has the most liberal and free-minded society. The abuse cases are high in US as well. Thus we can’t say that since we are supposedly this sexually deprived society, that people are indulging in such crimes,” Naithani added.
Psychologist Sonya Mehta seemed to disagree with the view.
“Sex is a dirty word here. It is not something that we discuss openly in our country. On the other hand, our media is has gone one step further in getting explicit about the issue. Look at our ads. They are so full of sexual connotations and implications that a natural level of curiosity,” she added.
There is clear divide between people who want sex to be treated as an open subject and those who like to keep it under wraps.
TALKING THE TALK: Expert panel discusses why Indians can't talk about sex openly.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Child Abuse (Part 2)
Mumbai: Dhruta Purlekar looks no different from any other four-year-old but, this is where all the similarities end. Dhruta has been brutally assaulted by her stepmother Vaishali.
The situation deteriorated to such an extent that the members of the building in which the Purlekars stay had to lodge a police complaint to protect the child from further abuse.
"The girl has been beaten by her mother for the last one and a half months. We could only hear the voice of the girl and shouting of the lady. We could not bear the crying of that girl," a resident of Vijay Park Arun Amdekar said.
However, Vaishali has termed the allegations as baseless and says, "I have not hit her to kill her. She must have got hit by mistake on her bruises. I have never tried to burn her," Vaishali said.
The police agree that the mother had brutally kicked and slapped the girl but the complaint was registered only after constant persuasions by the residents of Vijay Park.
Meanwhile, Vaishali was granted bail on a personal bond on Tuesday.
Dhruta lost her mother when she was two years old. Her father Manoj, a resident of Vijay Park in Kasarwadavli, Thane, married Vaishali soon after the death of his first wife.
But after Vaishali took charge of the household, she allegedly started beating Dhruta and her 10-year-old brother, Tanmay.
On Diwali last year, she allegedly poured hot oil on Tanmay's legs and turned him out of the house. He now lives in a village called Wada in Thane district.
Dhruta is recovering from burns on her face, hands and legs. The four-year-old also has a hairline fracture on her left hand and is currently admitted in Thane Civil Hospital but questions are now being raised over what kind of future action the police would take on the issue.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Children and THEIR abusers.
NEW DELHI: In a shocking revelation, a government commissioned survey has found that more than 53% of children in India are subjected to sexual abuse, but most don’t report the assaults to anyone.
The survey, released on Monday and which covered different forms of child abuse — physical, sexual and emotional — as well as female child neglect, found that two out of every three children have been physically abused.
Parents and relatives, persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility were mostly found to be the perpetrators of child sexual abuse in the country. According to the women and child development ministry-sponsored report, which assumes greater significance in the backdrop of the Nithari killings that brought into focus the issue of children’s safety, those in the age group of 5-12 years reported higher levels of abuse.
While releasing the survey, women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury said, "Child abuse is shrouded in secrecy and there is a conspiracy of silence around the entire subject. The ministry is working on a new law for protection of children’s rights by clearly specifying offences against children and stiffening punishments."
The survey, carried out across 13 states and with a sample size of 12,447, revealed that 53.22% of children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse, with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Delhi reporting the highest percentage of such incidents. In 50% of child abuse cases, the abusers were known to the child or were in a position of trust and responsibility and most children did not report the matter to anyone.
The survey, sponsored by WCD ministry and carried out by the NGO Prayas in association with Unicef and Save the Children, found that over 50% children were subjected to one or the other form of physical abuse and more boys than girls were abused physically. The first-ever survey on child abuse in the country disclosed that nearly 65% of schoolchildren reported facing corporal punishment — beatings by teachers — mostly in government schools.
Of children physically abused in families, in 88.6% of the cases, it was the parents who were the perpetrators. More than 50% had been sexually abused in ways that ranged from severe — such as rape or fondling — to milder forms of molestation that included forcible kissing.
The study also interviewed 2,324 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, almost half of whom reported being physically or sexually abused as children. When it comes to emotional abuse, every second child was subjected to emotional assault and in 83% of the cases, parents were the abusers.
P.S. - And we were told that Father and Mother: Ram and Sita.
The survey, released on Monday and which covered different forms of child abuse — physical, sexual and emotional — as well as female child neglect, found that two out of every three children have been physically abused.
Parents and relatives, persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility were mostly found to be the perpetrators of child sexual abuse in the country. According to the women and child development ministry-sponsored report, which assumes greater significance in the backdrop of the Nithari killings that brought into focus the issue of children’s safety, those in the age group of 5-12 years reported higher levels of abuse.
While releasing the survey, women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury said, "Child abuse is shrouded in secrecy and there is a conspiracy of silence around the entire subject. The ministry is working on a new law for protection of children’s rights by clearly specifying offences against children and stiffening punishments."
The survey, carried out across 13 states and with a sample size of 12,447, revealed that 53.22% of children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse, with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Delhi reporting the highest percentage of such incidents. In 50% of child abuse cases, the abusers were known to the child or were in a position of trust and responsibility and most children did not report the matter to anyone.
The survey, sponsored by WCD ministry and carried out by the NGO Prayas in association with Unicef and Save the Children, found that over 50% children were subjected to one or the other form of physical abuse and more boys than girls were abused physically. The first-ever survey on child abuse in the country disclosed that nearly 65% of schoolchildren reported facing corporal punishment — beatings by teachers — mostly in government schools.
Of children physically abused in families, in 88.6% of the cases, it was the parents who were the perpetrators. More than 50% had been sexually abused in ways that ranged from severe — such as rape or fondling — to milder forms of molestation that included forcible kissing.
The study also interviewed 2,324 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, almost half of whom reported being physically or sexually abused as children. When it comes to emotional abuse, every second child was subjected to emotional assault and in 83% of the cases, parents were the abusers.
P.S. - And we were told that Father and Mother: Ram and Sita.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
