Paromita Deb Areng
Voices from the Silent Zone
A report produced by the BBC a decade ago had opined citing research sources that close-knit family life in India masks an alarming amount of sexual abuse of children and teenage girls by family members. It said that that disbelief, denial and cover-up to preserve the family reputation is often put before child abuse. A report from RAHI, a Delhi based NGO working with child sexual abuse titled ‘Voices from the Silent Zone’, suggests that nearly three-quarters of upper and middle class Indian women are abused by a family member -- often an uncle, a cousin or an elder brother.
Indeed, sexual abuse of children in any form of household setting by a family member in India is among the most urgent forms of child abuse which our society must address. As per women’s organisations and activists nearly ninety-five percent of the abused are girls and more than ninety-five percent abusers are males. Surveys carried out in schools and informal chats reveal that around 40 percent girls experience incest abuse or sexual abuse in one or the other form in India. How deep the iceberg is can perhaps, be gauged by the fact that 6 percent of all calls made to CHILDLINE (a 24-hour Indian helpline for children in distress) in the last ten years have reported CSA --- 6 percent of 10 million calls! There probably could not be greater statistical validation that CSA/incest is the most under-reported child rights violations in India.
From: www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15760077
The Indian legal statutes do not contain any specific provisions against incest. Many developed countries such as Britain, the US and Germany have strong laws against incest. UK, which made incest punishable in 1908, sets a prison term of 12 years for the offence. Punishment in the US varies from one state to another; extending to 20 years in the state of Massachusetts, while in Hawaii it is five years. Some countries have, however, abolished or diluted their laws against incest - this is invariably because many of them viewed sexual partnerships between closely related persons - even adults - as incestuous, and in recent years there has been some liberalisation of their views on this. Incest involving minors, on the other hand, is uniformly frowned upon in the developed world .
Legal Loopholes
There is no central law on child abuse.
Laws dealing with sexual offences do not specifically address child sexual abuse.
The India Penal Code 1860 does not recognise child abuse. Only rape and sodomy can lead to criminal conviction.
Anything less than rape, as defined by the law, amounts to 'outraging the modesty.' These laws are already problematic when applied to adult women. They are even more difficult when applied to children.
While sec. 376 IPC seeks to provide redress against rape to women, it rarely covers the broad range of sexual abuse (particularly of children), that actually takes place.
Most of these forms of abuse are sought to be covered under sec. 354 of the Indian Penal Code as a violation of a woman's modesty. Though offences under Sec. 354 of the IPC are cognizable, they are also bailable, allowing the perpetrator to abscond before the case comes up in court.
The Juvenile Justice Act, amended and rewritten in 2000, makes no attempt to identify sexual abuse on children. Sec. 23 of the Act deals with assault, exposes, willful neglect, mental and physical suffering, for which imprisonment prescribed, is only for 6 months.
Section 5 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956 prescribes punishment of not less than 7 years for inducing a child into prostitution, but does not directly address child abuse.
The word 'rape' within law, is too specific because it does not include abuse on boys.
'Intercourse' is often interpreted to mean with an 'adult' and almost always implies 'consensual' sex.
From : www.indiatogether.org/2009/apr/chi-incest.htm
Voices from the Silent Zone
A report produced by the BBC a decade ago had opined citing research sources that close-knit family life in India masks an alarming amount of sexual abuse of children and teenage girls by family members. It said that that disbelief, denial and cover-up to preserve the family reputation is often put before child abuse. A report from RAHI, a Delhi based NGO working with child sexual abuse titled ‘Voices from the Silent Zone’, suggests that nearly three-quarters of upper and middle class Indian women are abused by a family member -- often an uncle, a cousin or an elder brother.
Indeed, sexual abuse of children in any form of household setting by a family member in India is among the most urgent forms of child abuse which our society must address. As per women’s organisations and activists nearly ninety-five percent of the abused are girls and more than ninety-five percent abusers are males. Surveys carried out in schools and informal chats reveal that around 40 percent girls experience incest abuse or sexual abuse in one or the other form in India. How deep the iceberg is can perhaps, be gauged by the fact that 6 percent of all calls made to CHILDLINE (a 24-hour Indian helpline for children in distress) in the last ten years have reported CSA --- 6 percent of 10 million calls! There probably could not be greater statistical validation that CSA/incest is the most under-reported child rights violations in India.
From: www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15760077
The Indian legal statutes do not contain any specific provisions against incest. Many developed countries such as Britain, the US and Germany have strong laws against incest. UK, which made incest punishable in 1908, sets a prison term of 12 years for the offence. Punishment in the US varies from one state to another; extending to 20 years in the state of Massachusetts, while in Hawaii it is five years. Some countries have, however, abolished or diluted their laws against incest - this is invariably because many of them viewed sexual partnerships between closely related persons - even adults - as incestuous, and in recent years there has been some liberalisation of their views on this. Incest involving minors, on the other hand, is uniformly frowned upon in the developed world .
Legal Loopholes
There is no central law on child abuse.
Laws dealing with sexual offences do not specifically address child sexual abuse.
The India Penal Code 1860 does not recognise child abuse. Only rape and sodomy can lead to criminal conviction.
Anything less than rape, as defined by the law, amounts to 'outraging the modesty.' These laws are already problematic when applied to adult women. They are even more difficult when applied to children.
While sec. 376 IPC seeks to provide redress against rape to women, it rarely covers the broad range of sexual abuse (particularly of children), that actually takes place.
Most of these forms of abuse are sought to be covered under sec. 354 of the Indian Penal Code as a violation of a woman's modesty. Though offences under Sec. 354 of the IPC are cognizable, they are also bailable, allowing the perpetrator to abscond before the case comes up in court.
The Juvenile Justice Act, amended and rewritten in 2000, makes no attempt to identify sexual abuse on children. Sec. 23 of the Act deals with assault, exposes, willful neglect, mental and physical suffering, for which imprisonment prescribed, is only for 6 months.
Section 5 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956 prescribes punishment of not less than 7 years for inducing a child into prostitution, but does not directly address child abuse.
The word 'rape' within law, is too specific because it does not include abuse on boys.
'Intercourse' is often interpreted to mean with an 'adult' and almost always implies 'consensual' sex.
From : www.indiatogether.org/2009/apr/chi-incest.htm