This presentation is an attempt to discuss the significant role that the community and media can play to curb child abuse and enhance child protection.

1. ROLE OF COMMUNITY AND
MEDIA AGAINST CHILD
ABUSE AND NEGLECT
By
Maj Gen Nilendra Kumar
An effort for
Bachpan Bachao Andolan
and
Lex Consilium Foundation

2. COMMUNITY
means
A group of people living in the same place or
having a particular characteristic in common.

3. CHILD CARE
Child care, child minding, day care or pre-school
is the caring for and supervision of a child,
usually from age six weeks to age thirteen. Child
care can also include advanced learning
environments and early childhood education.

4. PURPOSE OF TRUE EDUCATION
No one has yet fully realized the wealth of
sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the
soul of a child. The effort of every true
education should be to unlock that treasure.

5. NGO
A non governmental organization (NGO) is a not-
for-profit organization that is dependent from
states and international governmental
organizations. They are engaged in a wide range
of activities. They are able to devote themselves
to issues which occur across longer time
horizons, such as climate change or child care.

6. CHILD PROTECTION
It is the process of protecting individual
children identified as either suffering, or
likely to suffer significant harm as a result of
abuse or neglect.
Child protection involves measures and
structures designed to prevent and respond
to abuse and neglect.

7. EXCLUSION:
It is the act of forcing out someone or something.
CHILD WELFARE:
It implies a continuum of services designed to
ensure that children are safe and that families have
the necessary support to care for their children
successfully.

8. ORPHANAGE
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted
to the care of orphans and children whose
biological parents are deceased or otherwise
unable or unwilling to take care for them.

9. ORPHANAGE OR ORGAN REPOSITORY
About two decades back, there were reports that
one of the leading countries a well organised
practice of systematic selling of human organs
culled from a large number of political prisoners
was actually sourced from abandoned girl babies.
This attracted the attention of child rights activists.
(Note- Name of country withheld)

10. VULNERABLE CHILDREN
The term has no uniform definition.
According to Namibian Law, an orphan
or vulnerable child is a person under the
age of 18 whose mother, father, both
parents, or a primary caregiver has died,
and who is in need of care and
protection.

11. ACTIVIST
means
An especially active, vigorous advocate of a
cause, especially a political or social cause.

12. ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY
•Can be very useful and influential.
•For example, ban on child organ donations in
Japan. Previously, organs could be taken only
from bodies of those 15 years or older, provided
that the donors had given their consent and
their relatives agree. However, there were
demands to change the rules having regard to
the country’s acute child organ shortage.

13. • A proactive civil society can ensure that child
welfare laws are appropriately enforced in the
best interest of children.
• Protecting children from violence, abuse, neglect
and exploitation is everybody’s responsibility.
Families, communities, governments and non-
governmental organizations together play an
important role in realizing children's rights to
protection.
• Children can also play a vital role in protecting
themselves from abuse and exploitations in
accordance with their evolving capacities.

14. CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
Is a governmental agency in the U.S. It is run on
the state level. It was established to respond to
reports of child abuse and neglect. Each state
has its own CPS practice, where CPS workers
respond to the over 2.5 million reports of child
mal treatment in the country each year. They
promote safety and well being of children
through intervention in reported child abuse
cases.

15. Mental Health Professionals

16. SPECIALIZATIONS
•Psychologists
•Psychotherapists
•Psychoanalysts
•Psychiatrists
•Psychiatric Social Workers
•Counselors
•Clinical Psychologists

17. Psychologist
An expert or specialist in psychology. Someone
who studies the human mind, human emotions
and behavior and how different situations have an
effect on people.
Psychotherapist
An umbrella term for any professional who is
trained to treat people for their emotional
problems.

18. CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
• It is a broad area, covering how people change
as they grow up from birth to adolescence and
trying to explain how these important changes
occur. Child psychologists study diverse
aspects of child development including how
children learn, think, interact and respond
emotionally to those around them, make
friends, understand emotions and skills etc.

19. UK HAS A NUMBER OF PROMINENT
CHILD PROTECTION ORGANISATIONS,
Examples
1. Free the Children
2. Friends International
3. Save the Children
4. War Child
5. World Vision

20.  Psychoanalysts
Professionals who have trained in Freudian or
non Freudian school of thought and they help
patients gain insight into their problems.
 Psychiatrists
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in
psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the
diagnosis , prevention , study and treatment of
mental disease.

21. • Psychiatric Social Workers
They are employed at Psychiatric hospitals to do
psychosocial assessments and provide therapy. They
are in frequent contact with the family members of
patients . They interact with other members of the
mental health team to discuss patient care.
• Counselors
Are psychology treatment providers
• Psychiatrists
Medical doctors who have specialized in the field of
mental health.

22. “To Tell Or Not to Tell The Psychiatrist
and Child Abuse”
• A poem of a young girl written to her social worker
I asked you for help, and you told me you
would.
if I told you the things my dad did to me.
You asked me to trust you, and you made me
repeat them to fourteen different strangers.
I asked you for privacy.
You send two policemen to my school
Like I was the one who was being busted.

23. I asked you for help and you gave me a doctor
with cold hands who spread my legs and stared
me just like my father.
I asked you for confidentiality and
you let the newspaper get my story.
I asked you for protection and you gave me a
social worker.
Do you know what it is like to have more social
workers than friends?
I asked you for help and,
you forced my mom to choose between us.
She chose him of course.
She was scared and she had a lot to loose.

24. I had a lot to loose too.
The difference is you never told me how much
I asked you to put an end to my abuse.
You put an end to my whole family.
You took away nights of hell.
And gave me days of hell instead,
You have changed my private nightmare for a very
public one .”
(Source from Andler R, ‘To tell or not to tell, The Psychiatrist and
Child Abuse.’ Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry,
1984, 29 p 190)

25. ROLE OF MEDIA
Communications
Privacy
Inform
Report
Accurate

26. • The media plays an important
role in practice , policy and public
perception of child sexual abuse ,
in part by the way in which news
stories are formed.
• Mass media is criticized for their
skewed representation of child
abuse and neglect (CA &N) cases.
Their focus is found to be largely
on less frequent but extreme and
sensational cases. The media
often ignores any reflection on
proposing potential solutions.

27. • Media Ethics
Is the subdivision of applied ethics dealing with
specific ethical principles and standards of media
including broadcast media , film , theaters , the
arts , print media and the internet.

28. • Ethics in Journalism
Journalism ethics and standards comprise
principles of ethics and of good practices as
applicable to the specific challenges faced by the
journalists. This subset of media ethics is widely
known to journalists as their professional rule of
ethics.

29. OBSERVATIONS
1. Bulk of the coverage is case based.
2. There is little effort for broader discussion on
general issues concerning how sexual assaults
against children may be prevented.
3. Sexual abuse of children within their own
families rarely makes front page news.
4. Abductions, pedophile incidents and abuse in
children’s homes attend infrequent but
intense media glare.

30. Many journalists are unaware of legalities
involved when reporting on issues concerning
children. They often end up violating the
children's rights and privacy.
The media should ensure that the rights of
children including their right to privacy and
identity should be respected.

31. For long, the media has avoided child rights
and child abuse due to the legal aspects
attached to it.
Responsible media will always take up these
matters with great expertise, sensitivity and
highest standards of ethical values.

32. THE JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND
PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2015
Sec 3(xi)
Protection of right to privacy and
confidentiality
• Every child shall have a right to protection of
his privacy and confidentiality, by all means
and throughout the judicial process.

33. PROHIBITION ON
DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITY
Sec 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act relates to
disclosure of identity of children. It prohibits
disclosure of any information which may lead
to identification of any child dealt with under
the provisions of this Act through any report in
any newspaper, magazine, news-sheet, or
audio-visual media.

34. Sec 74(1) and (2)
Children protected by this provision include
CCL, CNCP, child victims or child witness of a
crime. The prohibited information includes
name, address of the child or of their parents,
school attending or attended, picture of the
child or any other particular that may lead to
the identification of the child.
The police records are also within the ambit of
this prohibition.

35. Sec 74(3)
The punishments prescribed for this offence
is imprisonment upto six months or fine
upto Rs two lakhs or both.

36. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM
SEXUAL OFFENDERS ACT, 2012
Sec 23
• Procedure for Media
(1) No person shall make any report or present
comments on any child from any form of media or
studio or photographic facilities without having
complete and authentic information, which may have
the effect of lowering his reputation or infringing
upon his privacy.
(2) No report in any media shall disclose the identity of a
child including his name, address, photograph, family
details, school, neighbourhood or any other
particulars which may lead to disclosure of identity of
the child.

37. LANDMARK DECISIONS

38. REPORTING BY MEDIA
When trials are held in camera, it would not be
lawful for any person to print or publish any
matter in relation to the proceedings in the case,
except with the previous permission of the court
as envisaged by Sec 327 (3) CrPC. This would
save any further embarrassment being caused to
the victim of sex crime.
-State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh, (1996) 2 SCC 404

39. TRIAL IN CAMERA
Sub-sections (2) and (3) of Section 327 CrPC casts
a duty on the court to conduct the trial of rape
cases etc., invariably “in camera”. The courts are
obliged not to ignore the mandate and must
invariably take recourse to the above provisions
and hold the trial in camera. It would enable the
victim of crime to be a little comfortable and
answer the questions with greater ease in not
too familiar a surrounding.

40. Trial in camera will not only be in keeping with
the self respect of the victim of crime and in
tune with the legislative intent but is also
likely to improve the quality of evidence of a
prosecutrix because she would not be hesitant
or bashful to depose frankly as she may be in
open court, under the gaze of the public. The
improved quality of her evidence would assist
the courts in arriving at the truth and sifting
truth from falsehood.
-State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh ; (1996) 2 SCC
384

41. NON DISCLOUSURE OF THE NAME
OF VICTIM BY THE COURT
The courts should, as far as possible, avoid
disclosing the name of the prosecutrix in
their orders to save further embarrassment
to the victim of sex crime. The anonymity
of the victim of the crime must be
maintained as far as possible throughout.
-State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh, (1996) 2 SCC 404

42. DUTY OF COURT TO SEE VICTIM
IS NOT HARRASSED
The court should not sit as a silent spectator while the victim of crime is
being cross examined by defense. It must effectively control the
recording of evidence in the court. The court must ensure that cross
examination is not made a means of harassment or causing humiliation
to the victim of the crime.
A victim of rape, it must be remembered, has already undergone a
traumatic experience and if she was made to repeat again and again, in
unfamiliar surroundings what she had been subjected to, she may be too
ashamed and even nervous or confused to speak and her silence or a
confused stray sentence may be wrongly interpreted as discrepancies
and contradictions in the evidence.
-State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh ; (1996) 2 SCC 404

43. QUOTE
“All human beings have three lives: public,
private, and secret.”
― Gabriel García Márquez,
Gabriel García Márquez: a Life