22 Jul 2020|Noida | Amity University, Noida
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) – Presumption to Prevention
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A webinar on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) – Presumption to Prevention’ was conducted by Dr. Satabdi Chakraborty - Associate Professor and Head (PSW) - Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences (ABVIMS) and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Centre of Excellence in Mental Health, New Delhi. The webinar shared how almost 69% of Indian children are victims of physical, emotional or sexual abuse wherein boys face more abuse than girls. Dr. Chakraborty averred that child abuse is a complex phenomenon with multiple causes with abuse being cyclical in nature. She shared that WHO defines child abuse as “All forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power”. She further talked about the types of child abuse including physical abuse, emotional abuse, child sexual abuse and child neglect. Sharing about abuse in India Dr. Chakraborty averred that according to the National Crime Records Bureau Report, 2016 sexual offences and kidnapping account for 81% of the crimes against minors with 94.8% of rape cases saw children being raped by known and 10% of cases saw children being raped by their own direct family members and relatives. She also stated the immediate consequences of CSA including shock; fear; anxiety, nervousness; guilt; denial; confusion; withdrawal, isolation and grief. She further added that in case of CSA children are often hesitant to talk about sexual abuse openly with their parents and they avoid the topic out of the fear that it will make their parents sad or angry. The expert also shared some symptoms of sexual abuse including child having frequent unexplained injuries especially in private body parts; the child walks and sits with difficulty; Faces fatigue and sleeping difficulties; poor attendance of child in school; regressive behavior such as bed wetting and thumb sucking; sudden accumulation of money or gifts and the child starts paying too much or too little attention to his/her appearance.