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“Dignity, skills of kids vital for development”
Staff Reporter
Meet discusses child security, female foeticide —
CHENNAI: The list of problems that children of this generation had to face seemed endless. As former Director-General of Police A.X. Alexander went through each one providing examples and statistics, the gravity and reality of the problem started to sink in, leaving the participants of the seminar organised by the Centre for Security Analysis here on Thursday disturbed yet to find answers.
Head of the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, University of Madras, Gopalji Malviya said the seminar was conceived because concerned individuals wanted to address another dimension of human security. “The dignity and skills of children are vital for national development and security. Thus, their wellbeing is of utmost importance.” Prof. Malviya stressed that not only were the laws inadequate, the agencies, whether governmental or non-governmental, also did not take their role in this regard seriously.
Mr. Alexander said that the police were so busy with VIP duty that in most cases they did not have time to investigate cases of abuse and trafficking. Further, because more than 80 per cent of incidents of abuse are by people known to the children, it compounds the problem.
The first session of the seminar dealt with child security, the girl child and female foeticide. Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) vice-president Andal Damodaran said that there was a need to create a safety net for children. Abuse also involved physical and emotional abuse, but the latter is rarely even accepted as abuse.
Quoting a UNICEF document, she said there needed to be a governmental commitment for fulfilling protection rights of children. “There needs to be a child protection officer and child welfare committee in every district, but in Tamil Nadu only 18 districts have such a committee. For a change to happen there is a need for people’s attitudes to change …”
Journalist Gita Aravamudan said that in her work she discovered how people seemed to have readymade excuses justifying female infanticide.
Speaking on a new threat for children; internet-related child pornography, founder of Tulir Vidya Reddy said child pornography is becoming an organised crime.
Honorary director of ICCW Ananthalakshmi said that sex tourism, especially in the coastal areas of the subcontinent, was on the rise.
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