Abokali Jimomi
It is the duty of the State to ensure that every child is protected from all forms of violence. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the international legally binding instrument of children’s rights protection, sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. The UNCRC was ratified by Government of India in 1992.
Article 4 of the Convention spells out the obligation of the Government to “undertake all legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the Convention”, that it is the State’s role to make laws and implement them to make these rights available to children.
The recent case of a 68-year-old Naga man’s sexual assault on a minor is shameful and highly disturbing, it makes us question if we are doing enough or anything at all to protect our children’s rights. This is one case that got reported and has come to public knowledge; however, it is unlikely that most cases in Nagaland get registered.
Child abuse and sexual violence are uncomfortable topics in many social settings and therefore least discussed. Besides towns in Nagaland where a case or two gets reported, what happens in villages when a child is sexually abused? According to sources, a recent case in a village had similar crime allegedly committed by an elderly man on a minor girl, who was a domestic helper and a non-Naga. It was allegedly revealed during interrogation that another man in the village was “doing the same thing” to her too. The village council slapped a small fine and the case was closed with the perpetrator (not going to jail) boasting that he can easily “payback” (a fine) if the survivor got pregnant.
This incident unfortunately did not make it to the papers nor was reported to the police and therefore needs further investigation. It makes us wonder how many such cases go unreported? Why are people unaware that this is a criminal act punishable by law? Does it not bother our conscience at least? A case like this shows how we become silent and tolerate injustice and violence in our homes and neighbourhood.
Non-Naga children working as domestic helpers as well as children from economically deprived backgrounds working as domestic aids in and around Nagaland are human beings too and every single one of them has the right to life, to survival and development, to protection against any violence. We need to bring issues of abuse and exploitation to the open, only then we can fight it.
Hidden in Plain Sight - a statistical analysis of violence against children, a UNICEF study, shows that an estimated 120 million girls under the age of 20 have been subjected to sexual violence at some point in their lives.
According to the study “the true magnitude of sexual violence is hidden because of its sensitive and illegal nature” with most victims keeping abuse a secret for fear of social discrimination and social stigma attached to it.
One of the six key actions of UNICEF’s approach to prevent and respond to violence against children is that “A real shift in public attitudes towards violence must happen at two levels: on the government side, a solid legal framework must be instituted, implemented and monitored, on the part of each citizen, an effort must be made to drive change on a daily basis.”
We need adequate policies and legislation and strong rule of law to prevent violence against children who are voiceless and deserve protection from the State.
