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| Friday, 9 January 2004 |
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Child sexual abuse and the 'TV invasion' by Chandani Jayatilleke
The National Child Protection Authority's (NCPA) Special Investigation Police Unit received about 268 child abuse complaints last year. Seventy-two cases have been directed for legal assistance, 84 are being investigated and three have been sent to the Solicitor General, while 72 cases were found to be false complaints, according to the Authority. The NCPA chairman's office received a total of 551 complaints during the same period. However, sexual abuse cases topped the list, they said. The complaints have been received from all provinces. The complaints are on child labour, corporal punishment, emotional abuse, kidnap, neglect of children, physical abuse and sexual abuse, NCPA officials said. In 2002, there were 386 abuse cases and 276 in 2001. According to NCPA, it is difficult to highlight the province where most cases were reported. Chairman NCPA, Prof. Harendra de Silva said child abuse is referred to as an 'iceberg'. "People are more aware of the importance of reporting such cases following awareness programs that have been launched. Therefore, the surface of the 'iceberg' has now begun to melt which means more cases are being reported," he said. Child abuse was not discussed publicly in Sri Lanka many years ago. People did not know what child abuse was and even if they were aware, they did not know how or where to report it. Now there is continuous public awareness and professionals have been trained to tackle such issues. NCPA has launched extensive and wide awareness campaigns through various media to educate the people. Prof de Silva said many children are sexually abused in their own homes by people known to them. "Such incidents occur through 'trust' the elders develop with the children over a period of time. Asked about the number of child prostitutes and child labourers, he said it is difficult to give a concrete figure as no one actually knows the correct number. Loving Friends International, an organisation working towards ensuring children's rights says child abuse cases have been on the increase during the last few years and some studies have revealed that the children in the North Central, North Western and Sabaragamuwa Provinces are the most unsafe and prone to sexual, mental and physical harassment. "We have observed that children from these three provinces often become victims of abuse in many different ways," Loving Friends International Executive Director Ruwan Dharmaratne said. He said there are various reasons for this alarming rate of abuse in these areas. He blamed the electronic media for telecasting movies and programs which corrupt the villagers. "There's been a cultural change in many rural areas following the invasion of TV into villages. This has resulted in arousing sexual feelings in village men and it's unfortunate that they end up taking their pleasure through children. And this is one way of immorality," Dharmaratne said. Dharmaratne's organisation has done and is doing many awareness activities on this unfortunate situation. "We raised a voice along with Sri Lanka's child labourers and call upon the authorities to forbid employment of all under-aged children, he said. If anyone employs children, aged 16 to 18 years, the Government should reform the Civil Law to accommodate these child workers' rights. They should be duly paid and given workers' rights, he said. The Government should also establish a separate ministry for the protection and welfare of children and put into effect immediately the Clause and Section 7 of the National Workers' Charter. According to the current Civil Law of Sri Lanka, a person under the age of 18 years is not capable of entering into a valid contract for employment. The Child Rights Charter states that every person under 18 is a child to which Charter Sri Lanka is a signatory, Dharmaratne added. "We have launched an awareness program with the help of Government sector officials in these three provinces to protect children and create a better society for them," he said. The program is based in villages where there is an increase in street children, child labourers, cases of child abuse, parents who are in long term imprisonment, children suffering due to civil war and due to a parent's foreign employment, he said. Street children and beach boys have common problems and special programs are to be launched shortly to rehabilitate them. Such programs will be aimed at street children and beach boys at Negombo, Pettah, Beruwala, Hikkaduwa, Ja-Ela and few other towns along the west coastal belt. |
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