Pocso on the ground. Round 2.

1. Rehabilitation
Working Group

2. 9 Key Issues
1. How do we define ‘Rehabilitation’?
- how many times is the word ‘rehabilitation’
mentioned in POCSO law?
2. Stakeholders responsible for the rehabilitation
of child victims of sexual offences.
3. Need to shift perspective from shelter based
rehabilitation to community and family based
rehabilitation.
4. Appointments of Support Persons.

3. 9 Key Issues
5.Role of Support Persons.
6. Is there a need to further articulate section
19(5) to help police understand children in need
of care and protection.
7. Articulating the role of CWC in POCSO cases.
8. Common template for enquiry and
assessment.
9. Manodhairya

4. 1.
How do we define
‘Rehabilitation’?

5. • Version 1
For victims of CSA, rehabilitation is a process of empowering
to build physical and psychological resilience and competence
that facilitates social, cultural, economic and
political reintegration and recovery, despite childhood
experiences of trauma, abuse and violence.
• Version 2
For victims of CSA, rehabilitation is a process of
empowerment that results in physical and psychological
resilience and competence that facilitates social, cultural,
economic and political reintegration and recovery, despite
childhood experiences of trauma, abuse and violence.
• Version 3
For victims of CSA, rehabilitation is a process of
empowerment that results in physical and psychological
resilience and competence that facilitates social, cultural,
economic and political recovery and reintegration into
society.

6. How many times is the word
rehabilitation mentioned in POCSO
law?

7. • The Word ‘Rehabilitation’ appears 4 times in
the POCSO law and Rules.
• Rehabilitation is mentioned in terms of
providing financial compensation for the child
Victim.

8. REHABILITATION IN POCSO

9. • POCSO should be read in continuum with
Juvenile Justice Act to understand
Rehabilitation and Social Integration.(Chapter
IV)
– Foster Care
– Sponsorship
– After Care Organization
– Linkages and Coordination

10. Issues to be Discussed in Further
Meetings
• Does ‘rehabilitation’ imply availability of
services or the process of a victim turning into
a survivor?
• How do we define a ‘survivor’?

11. Stakeholders

12. Stakeholders
• Police and SJPU
• CWC
• Support Person
• DCPU
• JJB (For rehab of child offenders)
• Courts
• Counsellors
• Doctors
• Child care institutions

13. Needs Identified
• Training in child friendly processes
• Develop uniform documentation and
assessment protocols.

14. Need to shift perspective from
Shelter Based Rehabilitation to
Community & Family-based
Rehabilitation.

15. Challenges in Shelter Based Rehabilitation:
• Quality of care
• Skills of the staff to handle cases of CSA
• Are shelter homes well equipped to handle
cases post conviction?
• Adequate shelter homes

16. Role of The CWC:
• Need of a dialogue with CWC
• Assessment of the Child victim to give ‘under
supervision’ order
• Training of CWC

17. Community Resource Mapping:
The Need to identify community based
organizations for effective supervision & follow
up.

18. In Cases of Incest:
• Community based rehabilitation to be
handled strategically
• HAQ and CSJ are formulating a protocol that
will be shared once completed.

19. Process of Community Based Rehabilitation:
CWC to Draft an Under Supervision Order which
commits an NGO or an individual from a
voluntary organization who will support the
child through the process of rehabilitation.

20. Template: Under Super Vision Order

21. Issues to be Discussed in Further
Meetings
• Role of Under supervision organization Vs.
Role of Support person.
• Case Studies:
– Awaiting cases to complete one year of
Intervention.
– To understand the situation post-conviction.

22. Support Person

23. Appointment of a support person:
• The term “ Support Person” is not used in the
orders given by CWC.
• The group has worked and come up with
orders for the CWC to facilitate appointment
of a support person.

24. Template: Appointment of
Support Person Template: Police Order

25. Support person Vs Support
organization
Support Person
• Qualified Volunteer.
• Responsibility of one person
Disadvantages:
• Time lapse of cases, commitment
required from individual.
• Saturation for an individual.
Support organization
• More responsible
• Organizations stay throughout.
• Pool of resources
• When a case involves Multiple
children, like an orphanage or
School
Disadvantages
• Organizations might send
different people on each cases.
• Qualifications of people
employed by the organization
• No scrutiny

26. Role of Support Person

27. f) “Support Person” means a person assigned
by a Child Welfare Committee, in accordance
with sub-rule (8) of Rule 4, to render
assistance to the child through the process of
Investigation and trial or any other assisting
the child in the pre-trial or trial process in
respect of an offence under the Act.
POCSO Rules (2)
Definitions

28. Pre trial and Trail Vs. Investigation and Trail:
• How do we define Pre trail phase.
• Is the support person appointed during the Pre trail
phase?
• Role of Support person in the pre trail phase has not
been listed out in POCSO.
POCSO and Maharashtra Guidelines do not mention
that support person is responsible for rehabilitation.

29. Role of Support Persons: Majlis

30. Issues to be Discussed in Further
Meetings
• Need to create a format for consent of the
child in appointing a support person
• List of support person still not in place
• Payment for the services of Support person.

31. The need to further articulate
Section 19(5) to help police
understand the child in need of
care and protection

32. Section 19(5) of POCSO
• (5) Where the Special Juvenile Police Unit or local police is
satisfied that the child against whom an offence has
been committed is in need if care and protection,
then, it shall, after recording the reasons in writing, make
immediate arrangement to give him such care
and protection (including admitting the child into shelter
home or to the nearest hospital) within twenty-four hours of the
report, as may be prescribed.

33. 4 categories of child in Need of care and
protection mentioned in POCSO-Rule 4 (3):
– Accused living in the same or shared household
with the child.
– Child living in an institution.
– Child without parental support
– Child found without any home or parental
support.

34. Child in Need of care and Protection according
to Juvenile Justice Act.

35. Articulating Role of CWC in
POCSO Cases

36. Reporting of Cases:
• Section 19(6) : Police reports to CWC
• Mandatory Reporting : CWC Reports to Police

37. Recording the statement:
– CWC has magisterial powers , but they cannot
record an official statement
– Additional pressure on child
– Understanding the difference between intake
recording and recording the statement
– Value of statement recorded by CWC
– Validity of the statement under special
circumstances.

38. • Training Required for CWC
• Tips to interact with Children for CWC present
in the toolkit.

39. Issues To Be Discussed By The
Group
• Indicators for closure of cases by CWC
• Training for CWC on POCSO
• Need legal opinion on if the statement
recorded by the CWC is a valid piece of
evidence.

40. Inquiry and Assessment

41. Responsible Individuals:
– Probation officer
– District Child protection Unit
– Case worker
– Person in charge from a voluntary organization

42. Template: Order for Home Reports

43. Various Formats Used for Home Reports:
– International Justice Mission
– Prerana
– Government Format followed by DCPU
– Majlis

44. Is it necessary to do a separate assessment for
Manodhairya scheme?
Issues To be Discussed by the
Group

45. Risk Assessment Tool Kit
• Risk Assessment Indicators Need to be Given
to Support Person/Organization working on
rehabilitation.

46. Manodhairya

47. Manodhairya
• No uniformity in the practice.
• Need of assessment – According to 357A -5
District Legal services Authority will conduct
an enquiry and award compensation within
two months
• Who is responsible for the accountability of
funds disbursed?

48. Issues to Be Discussed By the Group
• Flow charts and Checklists for Police and CWC
• Need to look at Factors that
– Demotivate Families from giving up at trail phase
– Result in Victimization of Victim

49. Group Members
• Priti Patkar, Prerana
• Pooja Kandula,Aarambh Initiative
• Christine Charles, Majlis
• Suvarchala G, Jeevan Aadhaar
• Chandni Parekh, Counselor
• Manisha Tupule, CCWC Chairperson, Raigad
District
• Janavi Doshi, The Foundation
• Sunitha Joseph, ACT
• Shalini Newbigging ,IJM
• Alpa Vora , UNICEF