Author: artefact_admin

Weeping Blossoms, a poem by Agnes Wich, Survivor

It was springtime.

The girl walked through the blossoming almond trees.

The heavy schoolbag on her back she did not feel.

Countless delicate pink petals covered the old, worn-out paving stones

on the path winding around the church.

A carpet of blossoms, a sea of blooms.

She did not take it in.

The spring wind blew the petals swirling from the trees.

On bright sunbeams they danced through the air like butterflies.

A dance of death – dying, just like the child.

Quietly the petals covered over the child’s soul, like broken-off butterfly wings.

A small, cramped hand opened hesitantly and stretched shyly towards

the falling blossoms.

A gentle breath of pink resurgent life laid itself delicately in the child’s

little hand and there it died.

Weeping blossoms.

Then it was over.

A dark cloud moved in front of the sun, the world turned grey.

Then the girl went to where she lived.

-Agnes Wich

Translation: Fr. Jim Corkery SJ.

Safer Internet

Safer Internet

We are calling for a child rights and protection driven approach to creating a safe internet.

Online childhood sexual violence is a universal, borderless crime. We demand action in every country around the world.

We demand a a safe internet, where children and adolescents are secure, protected and free from all forms of sexual violence online.

APRIL 2023 – support our survivor mobilization urging the EU to protect children from sexual violence!

On Tuesday 25 April 2023 join survivors in Brussels and worldwide urging the EU to pass a crucial set of rules that will allow millions of children to thrive both freely AND safely online.

Survivors of childhood sexual violence and leaders of the global Brave Movement will gather with activists and allies outside the EU Parliament on 25 April 2023 – as EU leaders debate crucial aspects of the proposed EU Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

Brave will be joined by EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, leading the process to pass the Regulation. Survivors are uniting to demand EU leaders be brave and act to protect millions of children at risk from the violence and trauma they faced.

We are asking survivors and allies worldwide to stand in solidarity with the team in Brussels by sharing on Twitter & Instagram why you want the EU to #BeBrave and protect children from sexual violence.

You can find everything you need to join this action in our Brave social media toolkit.

As access to the internet has increased globally, reports of online child sexual violence material have grown exponentially. The  number of online sexual exploitation reports rose by 100% from 2019 to 2020.  Despite online child sexual violence being prioritized by many countries, there is still significant work to do to ensure greater protection for children online. While 67% of countries have legislation prohibiting the showing or sending of sexually explicit material to a child online, only 35% of countries have specific legislation targeting online grooming.

Many survivors and allies are already mobilizing around this issue. Citizens across the EU have expressed support (68%) for the EU to implement legislation that will keep children safe online and for the use of automated tools to identify child sexual abuse materials..

There is also a clear political appetite. Interpol’s Secretary-General, Jurgen Stock, told the World Economic Forum in Davos that children are at greater risk of online sexual violence than ever before. The G7 interior ministers’ statement in 2022 included a specific mention of the threat the internet poses to children.

Campaigning for a safer internet presents opportunities to  discuss prevention of childhood sexual violence both online and offline.  Online childhood sexual violence images often depict violence committed by perpetrators in the immediate family circle of the child.

The Brave Movement calls on all technology companies to immediately detect, report, and remove all online childhood sexual violence material.

Listen to Sarah

Watch Brave Movement’s Sarah Cooper speaking passionately about her experience and the campaign at April’s #BeBrave Global Survivors Action Summit

Learn more about the issue

Read how Meta’s encryption plan will hide online child sexual exploitation

Abolish Statutes of Limitations

Abolish Statutes of Limitations

In too many countries around the world, there are arbitrary, archaic, predator-friendly statutory time limits that prevent survivors from being able to press charges against their perpetrators. They also prevent the public from learning the full truth.

Enough is enough! The Brave Movement calls on all governments to ensure that survivors have effective access to justice. This means urgently passing laws that abolish criminal and civil statutes of limitations (SOLs) to guarantee that survivors can bring perpetrators and complicit institutions to justice.

Brave survivor advocates are campaigning to make these changes a reality. From Latin America, to North America and Europe, we’re seeing the survivor movement mobilize!

In July 2023 a groundbreaking report co-authored by two of our survivor leaders and Child Global was launched. “Justice Unleashed” lays bare the tiered system of justice that survivors face across Europe, and presents a scorecard for all European nations, pointing to where changes are most urgently needed.

Join us in our call for governments around the world to abolish these outdated laws that stand in the way of survivors obtaining justice and the public learning the truth about this ongoing endangerment of our children.

Join the Brave Movement

Make sure you get the latest on campaigns to abolish time limits by joining the Brave Movement

Track Globally

Follow activists’ progress around the world to abolish Statutes of Limitations

Write To Your Elected Official

Write a letter to your elected representative, asking for their support to end arbitrary, archaic time limits that prevent justice

Suggested Script

Are you inspired to write to your leaders or local elected official about abolishing the statute of limitations? If so, here is a suggested script for you to use and adapt.

Dear [elected representative/leader],

My name is [INSERT NAME] and I’m a survivor of childhood sexual violence/work for X/am an ally of survivors of childhood sexual violence. I am writing to you on behalf of the Brave Movement/network/organization as a matter of urgency to ask for your support in bringing justice for survivors of childhood sexual violence.

Currently in [INSERT COUNTRY], there is an archaic, predator-friendly statutory time limit that prevents survivors from being able to press charges against their perpetrators. They also prevent the public from learning the full truth. [INSERT COUNTRY-SPECIFIC DETAIL].

1 in 5 women and 1 in 10 men report being sexually abused as children. Around the world, the laws are starting to change but unfortunately too many adult survivors in [COUNTRY] are still waiting for justice.

Will you commit to help abolish criminal and civil statutes of limitations in [COUNTRY]? By joining this historic movement, you will be part of the change that will guarantee survivors of childhood sexual violence can bring their perpetrators and complicit institutions to justice.

We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this further. [PROVIDE DETAILS].

Yours faithfully,

[NAME]

Brave Movement Calls on the EU to Urgently Pass Robust Legislation 2023 on Child Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response

Childhood sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) affects at least one in five girls and one in ten boys across socio-economic backgrounds. This violence causes a life-shattering impact on children and their families, and also costs an estimated 7 trillion or 3% to 8% of global GDP annually through jeopardy of their unfulfilled potential. Between 2010 and 2020, there has been a 9,000% increase in abuse images online, according to the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Internet Watch Foundation reported a record-breaking 252,000 URLs containing Child Sexual Abuse Materials in 2021.

The Brave Movement, a survivor-centered global movement fighting to end childhood sexual violence, is calling on the European Union (EU) to ensure a safe internet where children and adolescents are secure and free from all forms of sexual violence. The Brave Movement strongly backs the proposed EU Legislation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse proposed by the European Commission under the leadership of the Commissioner for Home Affairs, with amendments, to ensure that it catalyzes a robust response to end childhood sexual violence in the EU. Nearly two-thirds of all known child sexual abuse material was traced to a European country in 2021, the EU needs to take bold action now to keep children safe.

The Brave Movement urges the European Parliament and Council of the EU to adopt robust legislation urgently during 2023. We believe it is important to ensure rapid passage of this historic regulation which will increase the safety of children, adolescents and future generations.

In the EU, digital spaces are in some cases completely unregulated – exposing children to the threat of horrific sexual violence and exploitation. Technology companies have the tools available to detect, report, and remove online sexual violence materials and grooming, and we will continue to put pressure on them to prioritize child safety ahead of anything else. This legislation should for the first time enforce mandatory rules on technology companies to detect, report, and remove sexual violence material which endangers children and adolescents and violates their rights.

The Brave Movement is calling for the creation of an EU Survivors’ Committee that would be led by adult survivors of online and offline childhood sexual violence from diverse backgrounds. EU Survivors’ Committee members, informed by their lived experience, would be able to provide invaluable policy recommendations and perspectives to the EU Centre and contribute to subsequent related policy actions taken by the EU Commission. This will strengthen the implementation of the proposed EU legislation, helping to prevent both online and offline childhood sexual violence, and support victims and survivors with healing, legal services, and technical services to remove their CSAM.

In summary, Brave Movement calls for:

  • A proportionate, long-term solution and legal framework that allows automated technology to be safely used to detect Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA) online.
  • The EU to make detection, reporting, and removal of child sexual violence materials and grooming mandatory for all internet service providers and platforms that provide a service or have users in the EU.
  • Encouragement of companies to engage in voluntary detection as they await reviews and mandatory detection orders from the EU Centre.
  • The legislation to mandate the use of grooming detection tools and deterrence mechanisms that disrupt pathways to offending against children, as well as classifiers to detect first-generation or ‘new’ material and tools to detect “known” material. This should be within a strong legal framework and with all necessary judicial safeguards to balance privacy rights.
  • The legislation to enable the development and deployment of technical solutions that help to eliminate, mitigate, or reduce threats to children’s safety, well-being, or rights in the rapidly evolving digital environment, including gaming and the metaverse.
  • The legislation to establish an EU Centre to tackle childhood sexual violence in Europe, that is harmonized to fit into the existing EU and global child safety governance architecture, and which includes a Survivors’ Committee

We call on all stakeholders in the European Union to #BeBrave to keep our children safe.

*Ends*

Le Brave Movement appelle l’UE à adopter en urgence une législation solide

L’exploitation et les violences sexuelles contre les enfants affectent une fille sur cinq et un garçon sur dix et concernent tous les milieux socio-économiques. Ces violences ont un impact tout au long de la vie des enfants ainsi que celles de leurs proches. Elles coûtent environ 7000 milliards de dollars, soit 3 à 8% du Produit intérieur brut mondial annuel, et mettent en péril le développement des enfants. Entre 2010 et 2020, le nombre d’images pédocriminelles sur internet a augmenté de 9.000%, selon le Centre national américain sur les enfants recherchés et exploités (NCMEC). L’Internet watch foundation (IWF) a signalé 252 000 liens URL contenant du matériel pédocriminel en 2021, un record.

Le Brave Movement, un mouvement de survivant.es dont l’objectif est de mettre fin aux violences sexuelles contre les enfants, appelle l’Union européenne (UE) à garantir un internet sûr où les enfants et les adolescent.es sont protégés de toutes formes de violences sexuelles. Le Brave movement soutient fermement la proposition de règlement pour prévenir et combattre les abus sexuels les enfants – législation proposée par la Commission européenne à l’initiative de la Commissaire aux Affaires intérieures – et propose des amendements permettant de renforcer son impact pour mettre fin aux violences sexuelles contre les enfants au sein de l’UE.Près de deux tiers des contenus de violences sexuelles sur enfant signalés sur internet en 2021 étaient hébergés dans un pays européen. L’Union européenne doit prendre des mesures fortes dès à présent pour assurer la sécurité des enfants.

Le Brave movement exhorte le Parlement européen et le Conseil de l’UE à adopter en urgence une législation solide d’ici la fin de l’année 2023. Nous pensons qu’il est important de garantir une adoption rapide de ce règlement historique qui renforcera la sécurité des enfants, des adolescent.es et des générations futures.

Au sein de l’UE, l’espace numérique est parfois une zone de non droit absolu, ce qui expose les enfants à de terribles violences et exploitations sexuelles. Les entreprises du secteur numérique disposent d’outils pour détecter, signaler et retirer les contenus pédocriminels et les actes de “grooming” qui permettent aux prédateurs sexuels de se rapprocher de leurs victimes. Nous continuerons à les exhorter à faire de la sécurité des enfants leur priorité numéro un.Pour la première fois, cette législation vise à contraindre les entreprises du secteur numérique à détecter, signaler et retirer tout contenu de violences sexuelles mettant en péril des enfants et des adolescent.es et portant atteinte à leurs droits.

Le Brave movement appelle à la création d’un comité de survivant.es qui serait composé de survivant.es adultes de violences sexuelles en ligne et hors ligne venant de différents milieux. Les membres de ce comité, fort.es de leur vécu de violences sexuelles dans l’enfance, seront en mesure de formuler des recommandations précieuses, de conseiller le Centre européen dans son action et de contribuer ainsi aux actions futures de la Commission européenne.Cela renforcera la mise en œuvre du règlement européen en contribuant à la prévention des violences sexuelles contre les enfants hors ligne et en ligne , à soutenir les victimes et survivant.es dans leur reconstruction et sur les aspects juridiques et techniques permettant la suppression des contenus pédocriminels en ligne.

En conclusion, le Brave movement exhorte l’UE à:

  • Adopter une approche proportionnée et à long terme ainsi qu’un cadre légal permettant l’utilisation sécurisée de technologies automatisées visant à détecter sur internet l’exploitation sexuelle et les crimes sur les enfants .
  • Rendre obligatoire la détection, le signalement et le retrait de tout contenu pédocriminel et des actes de grooming pour tous les fournisseurs internet et les plates-formes offrant un service ou ayant des utilisateurs.rices dans l’UE.
  • Encourager les entreprises à engager des mesures de détection sur la base du volontariat dans l’attente de l’examen et des ordres de détection émanant du Centre européen.
  • Rendre obligatoire la détection, le signalement et le retrait de tout contenu pédocriminel et des actes de grooming pour tous les fournisseurs internet et les plates-formes offrant un service ou ayant des utilisateurs.rices dans l’UE.
  • Favoriser par ce règlement le développement et le déploiement de solutions techniques pour éliminer, atténuer, ou diminuer les risques pour la sécurité, le bien-être ou les droits des enfants dans un monde numérique en constante et rapide évolution y compris dans les secteurs du gaming et du métavers.
  • Etablir un Centre européen permettant de s’attaquer aux violences sexuelles contre les enfants, qui puisse s’inscrire dans la gouvernance existante mondiale et européenne en matière de sécurité des enfants et qui inclura un comité de survivant.es.

Nous appelons tous les décideur.euses de l’Union européenne à faire preuve de courage pour protéger nos enfants. #BeBrave !

Survivors of Childhood Sexual Violence Mobilize to Demand Action on 18 November

22 NOVEMBER 2022 – Friday, 18 November 2022 marked the 2nd Annual World Day for Prevention, Healing and Justice to End Childhood Sexual Violence, during which survivors of childhood sexual abuse around the world mobilized for the implementation and financing of evidence-based solutions to end childhood sexual abuse for all.

The Brave Movement, led by survivors, and supported by advocates and partners, calls for policy development and sustained funding, both domestically and internationally, to support survivors on prevention, healing, and justice.

On 18 November, survivors and allies all over the world took action – across six continents and in 24 countries.

  • In Bolivia, 42 organizations mobilized to put pressure on the new Bolivian government
  • In India, advocates commemorated Child Safety Week, a collaborative movement to mainstream conversations about child sexual abuse
  • In Japan, Brave Movement survivors met with G7 partners, Ministers and survivors
  • In Kenya, survivors marched to the Ministry of Health and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to hand over their demands

The Brave Movement produced, shared and curated four moments of survivor activation every hour during 18 November, with activity from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, DRC, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Philippines, Nepal, India, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain and the UK.

The mobilization was backed and supported by global organizations including the WHO,, UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA, World Vision and the Global Partnership to End Violence – which all echoed the Brave Movement’s calls on social media.

Violence against children impacts more than one billion children and costs world economies US$7 trillion annually (World Vision).

The COVID-19 pandemic placed even more children at risk (World Vision) both off and online. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said that in 2021, it investigated more reports of suspected child sexual abuse than in the first 15 years of its existence (Out of the Shadows Index).

This global scourge calls for immediate action on a global scale. The Brave Movement and our partners have evidence-based solutions to drastically reduce these rates if world leaders implement stronger policies and invest in programs to support survivors in every nation across the globe..

  1. Policy development: Improved policies based on evidence-based solutions
  2. Investment: Domestic and international investment to end violence against children and adolescents
  3. Prevention to protect current and future generations
  4. Healing for survivors and their families
  5. Justice for perpetrators of childhood sexual violence and the complicit

Wibke Müller, survivor, co-founder of the Brave Movement and co-chair of its G7 survivors’ taskforce said, “When I was a child, nobody protected me from sexual violence. I am devastated that over one billion children continue to be affected by this crime. Childhood sexual violence is the great silent scourge of our time. Shrouded in secrecy, it strikes individuals, shakes families and ravages communities in every corner of the world. We need bold and transformative action, not half-hearted commitments from the most powerful nations. This includes serious financial commitments toward evidence-based solutions. The Brave Movement is growing stronger every day. Our demands will only get louder and stronger until we are impossible to ignore. We can, and must, end childhood sexual violence for every child, everywhere.”

FIND OUT MORE:

#EndChildSexAbuseDay, #Nov18WorldDay, #PreventionHealingJustice

@BeBraveGlobal, @coe_children, @WorldVision, @together4girls

https://www.bravemovement.org/global-mobilization-day

ENDS

ABOUT THE BRAVE MOVEMENT

The Brave Movement is a powerful global survivor-centered movement that welcomes all allies in our mission to end childhood sexual violence. Supported by a $10M grant from the Oak Foundation to Together for Girls, this movement has become a powerful global force for change.

CONTACT THE BRAVE NEWSROOM

If you are a journalist or media outlet seeking further information about the Brave Movement, please contact our Brave Newsroom: press@bravemovement.org

Our Brave Newsroom supports the movement by disseminating survivor calls for action, recruiting advocates and galvanizing supporters all over the world to end childhood sexual violence.

Statement in response to G7 Interior Ministers’ Communiqué

Brave Movement Welcomes New G7 Commitments and the Recognition of the Importance of Survivors’ Perspectives, in Creating a World Free from Childhood Sexual Violence.

Germany, 18 November 2022 – Today, on the World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence, G7 leaders have for the first time acknowledged the strong role of victims’ and survivors’ perspectives to help raise awareness of these horrific online and offline crimes. The G7 also pledged to consider, and promote, victims’ and survivors’ perspectives whenever measures to end child sexual exploitation and abuse are planned or implemented.

This is the first step towards building a world free from childhood sexual violence. To achieve this, governments must commit to investing the resources needed for prevention-healing-justice solutions to end sexual violence against children.

The Brave Movement welcomes this new G7 commitment to implement the G7 Action Plan to combat Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse announced in September 2021. Nevertheless, we are extremely disappointed that the Ministers did not make specific financial, legislative or time bound commitments-to-action for ensuring a safe internet for children and adolescents.

Wibke Müller, survivor, co-founder of the Brave Movement and co-chair of its G7 survivors’ taskforce said, “When I was a child, nobody protected me from sexual violence. I am devastated that over one billion children continue to be affected by this crime. Childhood sexual violence is the great silent scourge of our time. Shrouded in secrecy, it strikes individuals, shakes families and ravages communities in every corner of the world. We need bold and transformative action, not half-hearted commitments from the most powerful nations. This includes serious financial commitments towards evidence-based solutions. The Brave Movement is growing stronger every day. Our demands will only get louder and stronger until we are impossible to ignore. We can, and must, end childhood sexual violence for every child, everywhere.”

The Brave Movement calls on G7 Interior Ministers to urgently work with survivors on implementation of evidence-based solutions, which can end childhood sexual violence for all. And we:

To find out more about Wibke Müller and the Brave Movement, please visit our website and follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

ABOUT THE BRAVE MOVEMENT

The Brave Movement is a powerful global survivor-led movement that welcomes all allies in our mission to end childhood sexual violence. Supported by a $10M grant from the Oak Foundation to Together for Girls, this movement has become a powerful global force for change.

CONTACT THE BRAVE NEWSROOM

If you are a journalist or media outlet seeking further information about the Brave Movement, please contact our Brave Newsroom: press@bravemovement.org Our Brave Newsroom supports the movement by disseminating survivor calls for action, recruiting advocates and galvanizing supporters all over the world to end childhood sexual violence.

Brave Movement announces new Executive Director

Brave Movement is pleased to welcome international communications and campaigns leader, Anna Macdonald, as its first Executive Director

WASHINGTON, DC, October 17, 2022 – The Brave Movement announced today that international communications and campaigns leader, Anna Macdonald, has been named as its first Executive Director.Macdonald comes to Brave with 25 years of international advocacy experience working on social justice, human rights, arms control and disarmament. Most recently she served as Practitioner-in-Residence at Columbia Law School’s Human Right Institute and New York University’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. Macdonald’s research investigated how international social movements achieve legal change, based on her own experience leading the campaign for the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).Daniela Ligiero, Chair of the Brave Movement’s Global Steering Group and CEO of Together for Girls, which hosts the movement, said that Macdonald is the right leader, at the right time, to take the Brave Movement to the next level.“In our second year, the Brave Movement is evolving into a powerful, global movement to end sexual violence against children and adolescents,” Ligiero said. “We believe there is power in mobilizing globally, nationally and locally to put pressure on governments and decision-makers to take action, and Anna will be the leader to make that happen.”

Macdonald, a British national, previously served as Director of the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Control Arms Campaign where she was a leader in the campaign for the ATT and coordinated work toward its universalization and effective implementation.

As the head of arms control at Oxfam, and as Co-Chair of the Control Arms Coalition, she led over 100 organizations to develop the international advocacy and campaign strateg, which ultimately secured the ATT, in addition to advising the United Kingdom government and building a coalition with progressive governments around the world.

Commenting on her new role, Macdonald said, “The Brave Movement’s network of survivors are an impressive group, and I look forward to working with them to end the scourge of sexual violence.”

Macdonald has a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Politics and Geography from Sheffield University and a Masters in Development Studies from Leeds University.

Rosalia Rivera, chair of the SAGE, the Brave Movement’s survivor board, welcomed the appointment.

“The Brave Movement’s global network brings together survivors and allies with a common mission to end all forms of sexual violence against children and adolescents everywhere,” Rivera said. “Anna Macdonald will help us build the movement into a global force. We will be silent no longer.”

Brave Movement request to Hon. Elizabeth Truss, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

To continue the country’s commitments on child sexual abuse and turn them into bold concrete actions during the upcoming G7 Interior Ministers meeting.

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to you as UK survivors of childhood sexual violence and as members of the survivor-led Brave Movement. Our movement began this year and is growing rapidly worldwide.

Many congratulations on your new role. We know you have a huge amount on your plate, but we also know that you have been an invaluable champion of ending childhood sexual violence.

In the UK, survivors came together for the first time this year to draft the attached National Call to Action with 12 requests to the UK Government to drive forward Prevention, Healing, and Justice policies and programs. In the coming weeks and months, there will be several critical opportunities to take forward progress on these issues, including within the Online Safety Bill, and the launch of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. We urge you to drive this agenda forward boldly and without delay.

There Should be Zero Tolerance to Child Sexual Abuse

Two recent incidents bring to the fore the disturbing statistics with respect to the safety and sorry condition of minor girls in India.

Publication: Haribhoomi, page 6.
By Alka Arya
(Translated from Hindi)

Two recent incidents involving the rape of an eight-year-old girl in Delhi’s Badarpur area and another case wherein a fourteen-year-old girl committed suicide after being raped by her neighbour in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh once again bring to the fore the disturbing statistics with respect to the safety and sorry condition of minor girls in the country. For India which is home to 440 million children, child sexual abuse is an extremely sensitive issue. At the same time, it is concerning that not many parents, teachers and the general public are aware of the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012. In one of the earlier surveys conducted by the Government, it emerged that 53 per cent of the children interviewed reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. In most cases, abusers were persons known to the child whom their parents trusted. Such incidents are not only confined to urban areas alone as even villages aren’t untouched. India and the world need to address child sexual abuse on a priority basis.

An incident of rape was reported recently from New Delhi’s Badarpur area where an eight-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a 30-year-old man. There were bite marks all over the victim’s body who lived with her mother. The crime took place when the victim’s mother had gone to a factory for work, leaving her alone at home. The accused entered the home, stuffed the victim’s mouth with a cloth to stop her from screaming and raped her. Police arrested the accused and sent his blood samples for tests. It came to the fore that the accused was HIV Positive, and he very well knew it. In another incident, a 14-year-old rape victim in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, committed suicide. The minor was raped on 22 May by a youth living in her neighbourhood. She was alone at her home when she was raped. She narrated her ordeal to her family members but the latter did not register a complaint against the accused. Instead, the accused’s family members reached the victim’s home on 26th May seeking a compromise. They wanted an undertaking from the girl’s family that there won’t be any case filed in the future and that the accused would marry the girl after she attained the marriageable age. However, the girl wanted her parents to get an FIR lodged against the accused, but in vain. Distraught at the sight of her parents trying to reach a compromise with the accused’s family, the minor committed suicide even as the accused’s family sat in the next room. After the suicide, the victim’s brother informed media that the Police booked the accused under Section 376 and 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Both the incidents – the rape of the eight-year-old girl in Delhi and suicide by the rape victim in Uttar Pradesh – once again bring to the fore the disturbing statistics with respect to the safety and sorry condition of minor girls in the country. In the current societal structure, if the offenders happen to belong to influential families, bringing them to book becomes even more difficult. In villages, it becomes tough when influential people intervene to protect the culprits. For India which is home to 440 million children along with a significant youth population, child sexual abuse is an extremely sensitive issue.. A government-sponsored survey found that more than 53 per cent children in the country faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. Most of the abusers were known to the children and a significant number of them also enjoyed the trust of the victims’ parents.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), child sexual abuse is the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or that violates the laws. At the same time, it is concerning that not many parents, teachers and the general public are aware of the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012. Indeed, it is highly disturbing to understand that the society at large is not fully aware about the magnitude of the challenge posed by child sexual abuse. While hearing a case, a Delhi Court once observed that lack of awareness is one of the reasons behind rising incidents of sexual offences against children. People are not aware about POCSO. They have no fear of the law in this regard. Notably, the POCSO Act, 2012 was brought in after a lot of struggles. It was promulgated to provide protection to children against sexual offence, sexual abuse and pornographic material. The POCSO Act also aims to protect children from inappropriate touch or being approached with wrong intent. It applies to all children under the age of 18 years. One of the features of the law is that it is gender-neutral. It means that the victims as well as the offenders could be both male or female. Children who happen to be the victims of sexual abuse during their childhood tend to suffer from the trauma for long. They live in depression while many even commit suicide. In many cases, Courts acquit the accused of sexual offences for want of appropriate evidence. The rate of conviction in such cases is abysmally low. Systemic issues in our judiciary, shortage of staff, insensitivity and lack of training of the officials dealing with child sexual abuse cases are among the reasons for the low conviction rate.

It is noteworthy that sexual assault of children is a global problem. As per ‘Together for Girls’, an international organization, 120 million girls and young women under 20 years of age have suffered some form of forced sexual contact. One in every fifth girl suffered sexual abuse when she was very young. The ratio for the same among boys is one in ten. Elsa D Silva, a member of the organization, calls for breaking the silence to break the chain of violence and mobilize people and institutions. He said that there is a need to collect nation-wise data and work with governments, institutions and individuals in addressing child sexual abuse.

A global campaign, Brave Movement to End Childhood Sexual Violence, has also been launched in this regard. An appeal has been made to take steps to stop incidents of child sexual abuse. Several Indian institutions and activists responded to the appeals which include providing protection to children and adolescents against sexual offences, treatment of the survivors, ensuring justice to the victims etc. Several notable institutions, including IIT Mandi, Indian Institute of Sciences (IIS), Benaras Hindu University (BHU) are signatories to the campaign. It also includes lists of child protection authorities. There is a special provision under Article 15(3) in the Indian Constitution under which states have been authorized to make provisions for ensuring child protection. Further, India is also a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly under Article 3. Under the provision, the onus of child protection lies on the parents, the school and the Government. India as well as other countries need to be sensitive toward child sexual abuse and needs to adopt a serious approach to tackle the problem.