The booming silence of child abuse (our felony against our youngsters)

Abstract

Ill-treatment to a child under 18 years old is considered child abuse. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the father of the nation, once said: “India will be free when the women feel safe to walk in the streets of India at midnight”. However, this endures to continue a fantacy yet to be executed and away from reality. Child sexual abuse is a grave issue in India. Children are the future of a nation and the leaders of tomorrow. They are succeeding in the architecture of society and civilization Child sexual abuse is actuality that is highly prevalent in India. Child abuse is in the form of physical, sexual, emotional and serious global problems. Sexual abuse goes unreported and children are not given the protective assistance they are left to suffer in silence. Child abuse is harmful for the children as well as for society. A welcome development has been the enactment of a special law-Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) 2012-criminalising a range of acts including child rape, harassment, and exploitation for pornography. Child sexual abuse is a multidimensional problem having legal, social, medical and psychological implications.