Safeguarding Children

Children are exposed to multiple vulnerabilities. The forms of violence against children such as child sexual abuse , child marriage, physical violence at home  is on an increase. Looking specifically at Uttarakhand, the number of recorded cases of crimes against children in the state have gone up by 36.5% with 1306 cases in 2018, as against 829 cases in 2017 (NCRB, 2019)

Failure to protect children from issues such as violence in schools, child labour, harmful traditional practices, child marriage, child abuse, the absence of parental care and commercial sexual exploitation, amongst others, means failure in fulfilling both the Constitutional and International commitments towards children.

The main causes contributing to the violence against children are: weak system (institutional mechanism) with lack of implementation of the laws and policies, lack of skill and efficiency of the child protection workforce and  ignorance of children , parents and care givers.

Therefore there is a genuine need to address this gap to ensure child protection and to address the issues at the level where it arise, for example at homes and in schools. It is only in prevention that we can protect the children form this abuse.

To protect children we

• Help children  understand – consent, ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’ touch, online safety issues, violence at home and in school.
• Build on  parents understanding for the need to actively protect their children, to recognize and address the signs of neglect, violence and sexual abuse in a child
• To strengthen and build on Village and Ward Level child protection committees, so that all children are safe from neglect, online abuse, child labour, begging, sexual abuse, child marriage and physical abuse.
• To help communities and local government understand their role in the protection mechanism for children under the VATSALYA program.