Rape And Child Abuse Awareness (By Yuvraj Kumar Meena)

                   Rape And Child Abuse Awareness

What is Rape?

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sexual assault.

The ways you can stand against rape culture - 

“Boys will be boys.”

“She was drunk.”

“Women say “no” when they mean “yes.”

Rape culture is pervasive. It’s embedded in the way we think, speak, and move in the world. While the contexts may differ, rape culture is always rooted in patriarchal beliefs, power, and control.

 Rape culture is the social environment that allows sexual violence to be normalized and justified, fueled by the persistent gender inequalities and attitudes about gender and sexuality. Naming it is the first step to dismantling rape culture.

Every day we have the opportunity to examine our behaviors and beliefs for biases that permit rape culture to continue. From the attitudes we have about gender identities to the policies we support in our communities, we can all take action to stand against rape culture.

Here are Few you can do your part: 

1.Create a culture of enthusiastic consent.

Freely given consent is mandatory, every time. Rather than listening for a “no,” make sure there is an active, “yes,” from all involved. Adopt enthusiastic consent in your life and talk about it.

2. Speak out against the root causes.

Rape culture is allowed to continue when we buy into ideas of masculinity that see violence and dominance as “strong” and “male”, and when women and girls are less valued. 

It is also underpinned by victim-blaming—an attitude that suggests a victim rather than the perpetrator bears responsibility for an assault.

When discussing cases of sexual violence, a victim’s sobriety, clothes, and sexuality are irrelevant. Instead, counter the idea that men and boys must obtain power through violence and question the notion of sex as an entitlement.

3.Know the history of rape culture.

Rape has been used as a weapon of war and oppression throughout history. It has been used to degrade women and their communities and for ethnic cleansing and genocide.

There are no quick reads for this. You can start by learning about the use of sexual violence during past and recent conflicts, such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Guatemalan civil war, or the Kosovo conflict.

4. Don’t laugh at rape.

Rape is never a funny punchline. Rape jokes delegitimize sexual violence, making it harder for victims to speak up when their consent is violated.

Humour that normalizes and justifies sexual violence is not acceptable. Call it out.

5. Educate the next generation.

It’s in our hands to inspire the future feminists of the world. Challenge the gender stereotypes and violent ideals that children encounter in the media, on the streets, and at school. Let your children know that your family is a safe space for them to express themselves as they are. Affirm their choices and teach the importance of consent at a young age.

How To Keep Your Child Safe-

You certainly cannot scare your kids into not wanting her to go to school or telling her about how unsafe the sweetest corner of her house can get because of the fear that they might get raped and also killed.

 At the same time, you don’t want them to take for granted that the staff in school or people at home can keep them protected. So, it makes sense to educate your kids about good touch and bad touch. But don’t overburden them with too much information.

The first most important thing for any child is ‘safety begins with sharing’. Child counselor and psychotherapist from Mumbai Padma Reewari said, “Voice out and reach out is what you should teach your child. The moment the child is aware that he or she is getting bullied physically, the child should bring it to the parent's or teachers' notice. The parent or the adult the child is sharing with has to be open to listening to the child and addressing the problem immediately.”

Making your child aware of physical abuse should start at home but in a subtle way. Weave it in the course of communication and don’t make it sound too scary and serious. The idea is to make your child aware of the happenings around him/her.

Tell them that no stranger or anyone close in the family is supposed to touch private areas of the body. Communicate with him/her about molestation and rape and how it happens. If your child is asking questions about rape and molestation, answer them patiently and discreetly."Don’t brush conversations under the carpet.”

Emotional Connect - 

It is very important to be emotionally attuned with your child. The more emotional connect, you have with your child, the more the child forms a safety net at home that helps her to confide everything in you.

“Monitor your child’s activities. If your child is complaining about some stranger following them, make sure you take cognizance of the situation. Don’t dismiss it, make sure the child is not talking or interacting with unknown people on social media. Keep track of their whereabouts,” Hingorrany added.

Child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse is a major global public health concern, affecting one in eight children and causing massive costs including depression, unwanted pregnancy, and HIV. The gravity of this global issue is reflected by the United Nations’ new effort to respond to sexual abuse in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. The fundamental policy aims are to improve prevention, identification, and optimal responses to sexual abuse. As shown in our literature review, policymakers face difficult challenges because child sexual abuse is hidden, psychologically complex, and socially sensitive. This article offers new ideas for international progress. Insights about needed strategies are informed by an innovative multidisciplinary analysis of research from public health, medicine, social science, psychology, and neurology. Using an ecological model comprising individual, institutional, and societal dimensions, we propose that two preconditions for progress are the enhancement of awareness of child sexual abuse, and of empathic responses towards its victims. 

Worldwide, child sexual abuse is a massive challenge for public health, social justice, human rights, gender equality, and science. The socioeconomic costs are profound, with the average cost for each victim conservatively estimated at $US210 000. Health consequences include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidality. Child sexual abuse is also associated with subsequent sexual victimization, unwanted pregnancy, and HIV acquisition. Child sexual abuse is endemic worldwide: 12.7 percent of all children experience sexual abuse (18.0 percent of girls (16.4–19.7 percent) and 7.6 percent of boys (6.6–8.8 percent)). Girls are two to three times as likely as boys to be victimized in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America, and a higher prevalence for girls was recently found in five African nations. Some nations like China, however, have reported a lower prevalence for girls.

The Need to Develop Awareness, and Indications for Progress 

The first challenge is an awareness problem. Even in Western nations, individual and societal sensitization to child sexual abuse is still only several decades old and remains incomplete. Knowledge gaps and misperceptions about child sexual abuse are widespread amongst the general public, professionals, and societal opinion leaders. Yet, awareness of the nature of child sexual abuse and its multiple dimensions is an essential condition for prevention, recognition, and action, and is required at the vidual, institutional, and societal levels. At the individual level, awareness must be developed in children themselves, who may be victims, perpetrators, and confidantes; parents and caregivers, whose supportive reaction is a cornerstone to the child victim’s adjustment; and professionals in education, childcare, health, law enforcement, social welfare, and other youth-serving organizations, as they are often the trusting adults to whom children turn. At the institutional level, it is important for managers and leaders of youth-serving organizations to possess this awareness if they are to train their staff and establish clear policies regarding abuse prevention and response. At the societal level, leaders in the unity, religious, media, government, and judicial organizations are essential bearers of this knowledge, and awareness is necessary for the general public.

Improved awareness of these factors would greatly assist the response to child sexual abuse. However, awareness alone may not reduce child sexual abuse. It may not by itself produce appropriate responses by adults to disclosures and suspected cases, which is doubly important since survivors are often deeply traumatized through the indifference of bystanders. It may not catalyze institutional reforms or influence broader societal change to undesirable social norms, legal frameworks, gender inequalities, and constructions of masculinity that facilitate child sexual abuse. Greater gains require enhanced awareness allied with a second attribute.

Conclusion 

Worldwide, there is a need for new advances to better prevent and respond to child sexual abuse. At individual, institutional, and societal levels, developing awareness about child sexual abuse and empathy towards victims is necessary to enhance healthy behavior, responses, and societal change. Levels of cognitive capacity and intrinsic motivation to respond prosocially can be increased through multidisciplinary education and innovative methods of building empathy. Awareness gains may be more readily achievable than empathy gains. However, both are required to promote a stronger social fabric to protect children. Enhanced awareness and empathy are key attributes to facilitate a cascade of beneficial outcomes in violence prevention, humane responses, policy reform, and the lopment of healthy social norms and communities.