“Awareness of child sexual abuse low among doctors”


Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramadoss with Andal Damodaran of Tulir at a seminar in Chennai on Saturday. Thomas George (left) of UNICEF is in the picture.
Date:28/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/28/stories/2007102860950600.htm


Special Correspondent





Anbumani Ramadoss says major barrier to addressing the issue is not acknowledging it exists

CHENNAI: Medical professionals, police and the judiciary should be sensitised on sexual abuse of children, Union Minister for Health Anbumani Ramadoss said here on Saturday.
Addressing an inter-disciplinary seminar for medical professionals on detection and management of child abuse, organised by Tulir, at the Institute of Child Health here, Dr. Anbumani concurred with the organisation’s trustee Andal Damodaran that there was a lack of awareness among doctors.
Awareness of child abuse was low in society, quite unmatched by the extent to which it was prevalent.
Quoting from a recent study by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, he said two out of every three children were being physically abused. Of this, over 88 per cent was being abused by their parents.
As for child sexual abuse, over 53 per cent of children confessed to being abused and 50 per cent of this group had been abused by a person known to the child.
Even this could be the tip of the iceberg, he said. “These figures are alarming. The major barrier to addressing the issue is not acknowledging it exists. We have not yet recognised it exists in society,” Dr. Anbumani said.
He urged the dean of Madras Medical College, T.P. Kalanidhi, who was present on the occasion, to conduct a training for the medical fraternity and promised that the Ministry would fund it.
The Ministry for Women and Child Development had also issued a code for medical professionals examining a child for sexual abuse, he said. The media had a role to play in sensitising the public.
Health secretary V.K. Subburaj said there was no legislation against child abuse, but the State Government had initiated life skills education programme for students of Classes IX and XI.
Over 18 lakh school children in 10,000 schools would be covered under the programme, which would instruct the children on various life skills, in addition to providing information on HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves.
He suggested that perpetrators of child sexual abuse be severely punished.
Vidya Reddy of Tulir said the organisation had prepared orientation models for children, right from the pre-school level. They elaborated on the difference between a good touch and a bad touch and what to do when they felt unsafe. The seminar was the fourth such organised by Tulir. Sarada Suresh, director, ICH, and MMC Dean Thiagavalli Kirubakaran spoke.
© Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Invitation to interactive session - Safe Schools: Supporting schools address child sexual abuse, holistically

When you know better,  you do better   - Maya Angelou Protecting children is no longer an option – it is a responsibility vested in each one of us.  And schools are at the front line of child protection w ith a large part of the truly "awake" time of a child's waking hours being spent at school. N eedless to state the school and the community of educators are one of the most significant aspects of a child's  world and we also know that educators care for their students and their welfare and safety at all times. A school’s integrity and worth is not based on whether cases of  sexual  violence  happen to children on its rolls. Instead it is based on the acceptance of the possibilities of  occurrence and preemptive steps taken to  both safeguard and respond in a timely and appropriate way to ensure that its children may benefit from its caring and foresight to truly have the right to be safe all the time, ...
Read more

Nov. 19 - World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse

Image
Alerting Governments and civil society organizations to play a more active role in the promotion of and respect for the rights of the child (article 19 and 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child), and contribute to the prevention of child abuse, WWSF (www.woman.ch) launched in 2000 the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, a Day to be commemorated every 19 November in synergy with the anniversary of the International Day for the rights of the child (20 November) which has as its objective to be a rallying point around the issue of child abuse and the need for urgent effective prevention programs. The World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse is a process for the emergence of a culture of prevention around the issue of violence against girls and boys. Alerting Governments, civil society organizations and concerned citizens to play a more active role in the respect, promotion and fulfillment of rights of all children and contribute to the prevention of violence against children...
Read more