India: CRY's Charter to Protect Girls

Excerpts:
"Child Rights and You, a non-government organisation, has firmed up a charter of demands seeking better education, health care and protection from abuse for the girl child... wants the Women and Child Development Ministry to take immediate action to stop female foeticide through effective enforcement of law and take severe legal action against offenders, to set up autonomous law enforcement agencies to work against traffickers and exploiters with appropriate redress mechanisms, and assistance programmes for the affected child... (also) to provide easy access to schools and create a safe environment so that girls also readily attend school. The charter also includes a demand for separate legal act against child sexual abuse. Enforcement against child marriages, investigation against malnutrition deaths and policies and programmes to prevent malnutrition deaths among children, especially girls, have also been sought."
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Editorial on Polanski case: Who's Afraid of Harvey Weinstein?

Excerpts:

"How can Hollywood, a culture that decries rape in the Congo, protests crimes in Sudan, advocates for education of girls in Afghanistan and says we must never forget the Holocaust, say that we should forgive and forget the rape of child by a middle-aged man? Also, for the record, it was rape -- really "rape-rape." See the police report on The Smoking Gun.

"It would never be appropriate for a 43-year-old to have sex with a child of 13 even if that child was "willing." A 13-year-old does not have the mental and emotional development to make appropriate decision about sex - that is why 13-year-olds are not allowed to drive cars, buy cigarettes, alcohol or vote, and need parents signatures on their report cards. The victim was drugged, said "no" to Polanski's advances, repeatedly tried to leave, even told him she had asthma and had to go home and get her medicine (a lie in attempt to get away) -- a plea he ignored."

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Review: Half The Sky

Excerpts from editorial and review of Half the Sky, new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning writers Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristoff:

"Out in the open and in every crevice of the earth, human beings continue to exploit women and girls. We have an epidemic of abuse that continues to be ignored by governments that could help to punish the perpetrators.

"...the numbers aren't that high...they are higher. Current abuse statistics only include reported cases of abuse. One out of four women will be molested in the United States. Mackenzie's story would not be included in those statistics. Nor would mine, nor would many abuse survivors that I know.

"Acid burnings, dowry deaths, sexual trafficking, rape, molestation: the list is growing, and it is all part of the systematic oppression of women and girls worldwide. What WuDunn and Kristof do with their work is to continue to shed light on what happens to this gender when we provide them an opportunity to rise above this oppression, to thrive and grow and build successful lives even after trauma sometimes too hard to imagine."

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Rush to Defend Polanski Sparks Backlash

Excerpt:

"Polanski took a 13 year-old girl, gave her drugs, and then had anal sex with her," said Denis MacShane, Britain's ex-minister for Europe who also represents his country at the Council of Europe's parliament.
"Polanski committed an act of paedophile rape and should be held accountable for this violence in order to send a message that sodomising a little girl is not to be excused because of his genius as a film-maker."

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Jakarta: Prevent Junior Defendants, Says Ministry

“.. the Social Services Ministry have long fought to amend the 1997 Child Trial Law allowing 8-years-olds to be put on trial and therefore face jail, a senior ministry official said Friday. "The law that allows 8-year-olds to be put behind bars must be scrapped," said Harry Hikmat, director of children's social services at the ministry ..”

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Maldives: The religious right calls for violence against women and children to continue

“.. Under Maldivian law child sexual abuse requires a confession by the alleged abuser, or testimony by four eye-witnesses, for a successful conviction to take place. This means that if a victim reports sexual abuse but the perpetrator denies it and there are no eye-witnesses, the court can find the child guilty of having consented to the sex. The state would then wait for the girl to turn 18 and then carry out the sentence of public flogging, in effect, punishing her for reporting the crime ..”

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UAE: New Strategy to Focus on Child Welfare

“.. Children's rights will be the focus of a new strategy that is being developed by the General Women's Union (GWU) in the UAE and the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), .. Our work will revolve around the health, safe environment, education, early childhood development, culture, and protection of children under difficult circumstances ..”

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Abuse Of Children on Railway Platforms: Rights Body Takes Note

“.. Scores of children wash up at India’s railway platforms every day, lost, abandoned or fleeing from home. But they are treated with suspicion – sometimes even slapped and beaten – by railway police who are ignorant of laws related to juveniles. Appalled by the lack of sensitivity of railway police personnel towards these children, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is planning to write to the railway ministry suggesting legal amendments ..”

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Castration of Sex Offenders: Deterrent or Torture

" .. Whether castration can help to rehabilitate violent sex offenders has come under close scrutiny after the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee last month called it invasive, irreversible and mutilating ..

For Hynek Blasko, there is only one way to prevent what happened to his son. "These people must be under permanent detention where they can be monitored," he said. "There has to be a difference between the rights of the victim and the perpetrator who takes away the life of a 9-year-old boy." .. "

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Child Abuse In Temple Towns

" .. Major pilgrimage centres such as Puri and Tirupati are turning into hubs of male child prostitution, a recent survey says. It pinpoints two reasons for the racket: the ban on child labour and the absence of any vigilance on what tourists do ..
The survey points to the scarcity of information on sexual exploitation of boys and prostitution by them. This, they say, is based on the mistaken assumption that since most sexual exploiters are male, their victims must always be female. “The double standards that society has about homosexuality, and the fact that it is criminalised in India, only make the problem less visible,’’ the study says.
In Tirupati, which receives mostly Indian visitors, interviews of boys aged six to 18 revealed rampant sexual abuse, propelled by demand from domestic tourists .. "

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Mental Health Nurses: We Have An Equally Important Role As Psychiatrists

" .. Saleem T K said psychiatric nursing or mental health nursing is a salient part of the psychiatric treatment, which basically comprises a psychiatrist, psychologist, occupational therapists, counsellors along with professional mental health nurses. "Though this concept of collaborative efforts were the root cause of its success in the West, the concept is slowly catching up in India and now part of treatment procedure. Up to a decade ago, mental health meant one would think of a psychiatrist ..

Vinitha K V says, "Our role cannot be undermined. We are the real people involved in the treatment of patients (mental) and have to closely watch them and their behavioural patterns.'' "In the West, psychotherapy, hypnosis and such other collaborative methods are in vogue, but in India until recently mental health treatment is not free from the clutches of conservative methods, which was largely depended only on a psychiatrist.'' Things are rapidly changing and our role as an important team member of the mental health system is growing significantly .. "

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Teacher Disrobes Girls

".. Sanjeev Sharma, had allegedly removed the upper clothes of eight Adivasi girl students on the pretext of taking measurements for their uniforms … the DEO constituted a four-member committee, led by Tehsildar Kiran Badbade, which after conducting a probe found Sharma prima facie guilty on the matter. Taking action on the probe report, the DEO dismissed Sharma from service yesterday with immediate effect .. "

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New Tamil Film Deals with Child Abuse

Achchamundu Achchamundu Movie Review

" .. An emotion so uncommon in India and among Indians that the NRI Sneha doesn’t suspect the man she invites to paint her home to be a pedophile. Yes, you heard it right: child abuse, a theme we have so rarely seen in a Tamil film, despite India registering the highest number of such crimes in the world. The most gripping thing about ‘Achchamundu! Achchamundu!’ is that it deals with a fear lurking in the country: not with ghosts or the supernatural kind, but a real, looming issue .. "

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Click here to visit the film's website

Here's a review of the film

Related article: Emmy-award winning American actor John Shea plays villain in Tamil film

Teachers Charged in Strip Case

".. Kabita Barui and Aditi Maitra were looking for Rs 50 that a classmate of the girls had lost. The teachers have been charged under sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC, following a complaint by the father of one of the girls .."
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17-year old raped, filmed by two in Mohali

".. the police have booked cloth merchant Parminder Singh alias Harman and Sunny alias Raghav, both from Sirhind, under Sections 363 (abduction), 366-A (procuration of minor girl), 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC. The accused are absconding .."
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Child Abusers May Walk Free

" .. Ten months after two Indian supervisors of SOS Village were found guilty of a serious complaint of child sex abuse, the world's largest orphanage is yet to register a police case against them .. the inquiry against accused Sudesh Malla, former director of SOS Village in Jammu, has been called off because he has resigned from the job. The other accused, Rameshwar Singh, works with the SOS youth facility in Chandigarh. .."
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Call For Guidelines to Deal with CSA in Schools

" .. in the absence of a protocol for handling allegations of child sexual abuse (CSA), there is a great need to frame such a policy which would address the needs of different school streams in the state. "The proposed Integrated Child Protection Unit (ICPU) scheme, which has been cleared by the planning commission and the cabinet can look at having a protection officer for every district," said Andal Damodaran, honorary secretary, Indian Council for Child Welfare .. She made these observations at the end of a workshop on Responding to allegations of CSA in school settings' organised by Tulir, Centre for Healing and Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. Many educationists recalled instances of CSA involving their students, and emphasised the need to draw up a framework for handling the cases .. "

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Social Welfare Dept Has Failed to Use Funds

".. The report says the government raised Rs 42.93 lakh (in 2002) through a raffle for rehabilitation of street children in six corporations, but Rs 38.19 lakh remained unutilised until April 2008. Only Rs 4.74 lakh was paid to Madras University's criminology department to conduct a survey on street children. The study was conducted but none of the recommendations were carried out .."

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A New Law for India’s Sexual Minorities

Interesting editorial from the Guardian

".. As the sole mechanism for prosecuting child sexual abuse, section 377 is inadequate. Child rights advocates have campaigned for a separate law that addresses the needs of abused children. These are currently overlooked due to section 377's emphasis on "unnatural" acts … The aim of sexual assault laws should also shift from protecting the "modesty" of women and children towards a consent-based approach .."

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Saudi Arabia: Psychiatry conference clears the Mystery Surrounding Mental Health

Topics covered at 5th International Psychiatry Conference

" .. the 5th International Psychiatry Conference titled “Challenges in the Outcome of Psychiatric Disorders”, held .. in Jeddah .. Multi-modal Cultural Perspective on Mental Health practice in Arabian cultures .. also covered the importance of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with positive reinforcement .. Challenges and Outcome in Para-Suicide Management .. A hugely debatable and interesting presentation, Religion at Work in Clinics: Can Religion be employed in clinical practices .. Family Violence and Psychiatric Disorders .. The factors associated with violence, such as those of stressful lifestyle, illness, and childhood trauma need to be addressed at the first signs in order to prevent them from becoming worse later .. Outcome of Early Marriages: Psychological Perspectives .. factors that lead to early marriages such as poverty, and the need to protect a girl’s virginity .. "

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The Role of Parents in Child Trafficking

Title misleading! This is a long but comprehensive document on various aspects of child trafficking, in India and other countries.

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Man Jailed for Raping Daughters

".. A Delhi court on Monday sentenced a man to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for raping his two daughters .. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on Ram Singh, a resident of south Delhi's Malviya Nagar .."
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Human Trafficking Not Just A Distant Problem

“ .. Canada is a source, transit and destination country for men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour," says the report .. I was in Karnataka state in the south, identified as one of five "high supply zones" for predators seeking women and children .. In India, up until a few years ago the government refused to acknowledge child prostitution existed. Without official recognition, there were no laws or means to protect child prostitutes .. No doubt exploitation is more pronounced in economically troubled countries such as India, where there is extreme poverty, remnants of the caste system and a lack of political and social will to effect change .. "

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10-year-old Raped in South Delhi

" .. A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped in Neb Sarai area of south Delhi on Tuesday, police said. The girl was found loitering in the Sangam Vihar on Tuesday morning by a police team who took her to AIIMS where sexual assault was confirmed .. One person has been arrested for the crime. The accused has been identified as Lakshman Kumar (32) .."

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US Police Arrests Indian Internet Predator

“.. Nityanand Gopalika, 30, here on a work visa, allegedly used an Internet chat room to approach what he believed was a 13-year old girl ..”
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WHO Exec Slapped with Child Abuse, Trafficking Charges

" .. Trafficking and child abuse charges have been filed against an Australian .. 47-year-old Marcus Hodge, WHO program development and operations officer in Manila. .. employed by the World Health Organization, who was caught by police molesting a 12-year-old boy inside his parked car .. Also indicted for the same criminal offenses was Hodge’s alleged Filipino pimp Wilson Culling, who allegedly brought young boys he had recruited in Pasay City .. "
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Blind Father Gets Justice for 7-year-old Daughter's Rape

" .. 7-year old daughter at his sister Sheetal’s (Aatya) house at Bori-Arab village in Yavatmal (Maharsatra). As the mother and the father of the children were away for earning their livelihood, the elder brother of Sheetal’s husband, Uttam Dani, raped this 7-year-old girl, in April 2005.

The poor girl reported this incident to her guardian Sheetal but her aunt burnt the little girl with a hot frying pan. When the mother came to meet their children back, the girl told her about the rape by her aunt’s relative. Since then the poor man, who lives in Hyderabad was struggling with the legal process. When the medical report of the girl went missing, he had to approach the Human Rights Commission, Hyderabad. The blind father, against all odds, fought the case in the court. Finally, on April 16, 2009, the court has found the accused, Uttam Dani, guilty and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fine of Rs 1000/- .. "
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Crimes Against Children: A Horror Untold

" .. According to National Crime Records Bureau and NHIRC: Crime against children increased by 3.8 per cent nationally (14,975 cases in 2005 from 14,423 in 2004); Child rape increased by 13.7 per cent (4,026 cases from 3,542 in 2004); Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number (870) followed by Maharashtra (634). Together they accounted for 37.3 per cent of rape cases. Delhi tops the list of 35 Indian cities on crime against children (852 cases of violence against children in 2005, 27 per cent of all cases) followed by Indore (448), Pune (314) and Mumbai (303). 1,327 children were reported murdered in 2005 up from 1,304 in 2004 (an increase of 1.8 per cent). Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number (390) accounting for 29.4 per cent of cases. Nearly 45,000 children go missing every year; more than 11,000 are never traced .. Assam has toted up the highest percentage of child abuse in the country, followed by neighbour Mizoram .. "

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Bank Manager Held for Raping Maid

" .. 16-year-old ..  had joined work as a domestic help at the residence of Sulabh Srivastava, a manager with HDFC Bank, on June 16, reportedly through a Delhi-based placement agency Metro Jobs. The maid was found dead after allegedly falling from the ninth floor of Mahagun Mosaic Society on Tuesday morning, the police said. "She was raped which has been confirmed through her medical reports," SSP Akhil Kumar said. An FIR has been lodged under Sections 306/376 of IPC against Srivastava, he added .. "

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Spurned Youths Set Girl On Fire

" .. Sixteen-year-old Rukhsana may have to pay with her life for rejecting the overtures of two youths in Chhatarpur district, 345 km from Bhopal on Friday. The taxi-driver's daughter is battling to survive 80 per cent burns at a local hospital after the youths sprinkled her with kerosene in her house and set her on fire .. "

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12-yr-old Mumbai girl files case against father

" .. In a first-of-its-kind use of the stringent Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, a 12-year-old girl has moved a complaint against her father alleging 'mental and emotional violence.' .. "

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Australia Must Act On Sex Offenders In India

(Interview with Vidya Reddy, the executive director of Tulir - Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Abuse in India)

“ .. Child protection advocates in India want the Australian Government to extradite suspected Australian child sex offenders, such as the West Australian man Paul Henry Dean, who has been charged with multiple sex offences in India .. “
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15-year-old Raped By Relative

".. Three days after her mother died, a 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her uncle in Loni area of Ghaziabad, police said. The victim informed her father but he scolded her instead, police said .. "

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Rapists Known To 96% Victims

" .. in most cases, the accused was known to the victim," said Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal. According to police records, in 46.46 per cent cases neighbours were involved in the incident. Also, most vulnerable to rape are minors .. "

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