Help us prevent Child Sexual Abuse

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a priority for national development as half of the country’s children go through some form of sexual abuse. (Child Abuse Report, Women and Child Development, 2007). The economic burden of Child Abuse in the Asia Pacific region is estimated at USD 194 billion (Fang et al., 2015).

There is limited acceptance that CSA can affect the mental health of the child (for example depression, anxiety, addictions, suicidal thoughts and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)) and can continue to disrupt the individual’s life during adulthood if not healed. In spite of the shocking statistics and negative impact, the issue remains completely side-lined. In India, parents don’t have the knowledge or comfort to support children either by being watchful or by talking to them and hand-holding them in the case of abuse. In such a context, the onus is on the education system to provide children essential life skills. However, the education system makes little effort to address it. It is this gap that Arpan addresses through the Personal Safety Education (PSE) Program.

The goal of the project is to prevention of child sexual abuse by empowering children with the knowledge skills and attitude to participate in their own personal safety and to provide the necessary information to adults so that they can provide a safe environment to children. The project also aims to provide intervention and counselling support to children who have experienced instances of child sexual abuse so that they can heal from its impact.

The key objectives of Personal Safety Education Program are:

·        To empower children by imparting age-appropriate information & skills related to Personal Safety and by building their self-esteem in order to prevent & protect them from sexual abuse.

·        To reach out to adults and make them aware of their role in keeping children safe.

To support children with counselling, post-disclosure, as well as work with children who indulged in sexual misbehaviour so that there is no reoffending.

• Increase in children’s knowledge and skills
• Disclosures from children about ongoing or past sexual abuse and inappropriate behaviour.
• All ongoing abuse stopped.
• Healing support is provided to all children who disclose.
• Family members are empowered to support the child in all cases of ongoing abuse.