Nov 19 efforts snowballing!

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/society/article2600496.ece

Published: November 5, 2011 11:17 IST | Updated: November 5, 2011 11:17 IST

A project for child safety

Pankaja Sreenivasan

A MESSAGE: Members of Tirupur Ladies Circle No.44 display campaign material on child sex abuse they use as part of the sensitisation drive taken up in the industrial areas of Tirupur city.

Breaking silence over child abuse will give people courage to stop it

The Tirupur Ladies Circle launched ‘Dare To Care,' a project for child safety on November 2. While Children's Day falls on November 14, it is November 19 that marks the World Day for Prevention of Abuse and Violence against Children. The Tirupur Ladies Circle has dedicated itself to this cause.

It has planned a year long campaign to raise awareness on this issue in factories, schools and in public places. It will ensure that the silence that shrouds child abuse is broken and the subject is discussed in as many platforms as possible. Archana Dange, who through her resource centre Anand Deep Enterprises raises awareness about preventing Child Sexual Abuse. “Breaking the silence over child abuse will give people the courage to ensure that the abuse stops and does not recur. If we know about it, we can reach out and help instead of looking the other way.”

The programme was launched on the premises of Century Apparels. There were posters in English, Tamil, and Hindi in every section of the factory urging the people not to abuse children or tolerate anyone else abusing them. “It takes a community to protect a child,” said the posters. Information on the nature of Child Sexual Abuse was also put up. A workshop was held for the senior staff and management. Two films on the subject were screened and that was followed by a discussion on how child abuse cases were prevalent in all strata of society. The management of Century Apparels has agreed to put slogans and messages to raise awareness about Child Abuse on the rear of their staff transport buses. There will also be a worker awareness workshop shortly.

Ms. Aditi Rao, national president, Ladies Circle India, inaugurated the programme. She said the campaign should spread further than Tirupur. She expressed the hope that the Ladies Circle Chapters in every city would initiate and promote awareness on this subject. Ms. Vidhya Sudan, chairperson, Ladies Circle Tirupur assured her that they would do all they could to take the initiative to a national level.

The education materials that were distributed at the launch were procured from Tulir, a Chennai-based organisation that works in the field of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention.

Keywords: child safety, child abuse