To make sense out of events which even adults find hard to fathom and explain requires special assistance for the children. It is indeed most unfortunate that it takes a horrendous incident highlighted by the media to shock organisations, and system into action. How many more child victims we need for the system to respond to their needs?
Where is the protection for the little girls who are abducted, molested, raped or murdered just feet from their home? With over one-third of its population below 18 years, at approximately 440 million, not only does India have the world’s largest number of children but also the most vulnerable child population. Society today is demanding that crimes against children need exemplary punishment, but it’s not just the severity but certainty that is crucial.
While crimes against children are rising every year, in 2007 there were 20410 such cases as against 18967 in 2006.and 5045 cases were of child rape. There is no special classification of crimes against children. So murder, kidnapping, molestation of children are viewed through the same lens as crimes against adults. The age of the victim is sometimes forgotten to benefit the offender. Today it is Ruchika, and before that Nithari killing, children have indeed not been given a fair deal by the justice system. The laws are neither child centered, nor child friendly, nor do they always resonate with the UN Convention on Rights of Child which India ratified in 1992.
The issue of child rights in India is still caught between legal and policy commitments to children and ground realities. Ruchika’s case challenges the complacency that ails the justice system. The people who are instrumentalities of the law lack the very understanding of the nature of child abuse, and its impact on the child victims.
Who can deny the fact that children are more vulnerable than ever before? It is recognised that silence breeds abuse and exploitation of children. However, when you see the perpetrators of harm getting away, it reinforces a view that it may be better to keep quiet. ”Who can fight the system?” Thus the social costs of failure of our legal system is not only in terms of the well being of abused and neglected children, but the long-term effects of such failure on the community. Surely, we do not want vigilante justice in our country!
Originally traumatised by the perpetrator the child is again victimised by the legal system supposedly designed to protect them. The perpetrators can easily intimidate children, especially if they are in positions of authority. The Child Protection Units set up by the police departments have still a long way to go in terms of providing full protection and counseling services. Indeed, this writer remembers one such unit in Mohali being set up with support of British Council, and inaugurated with much fanfare, and then the unit almost becoming non-functional after some time, because of apathy, insensitivity, and lack of trained persons.
The objective of such a unit was that instead of any child going to police station to report any incidence of abuse, the child would be sent to the centre, and his/her statement would be video recorded, by experts specially trained to communicate with children, and offered a multi-agency assistance. The child has a right to protection and also medical aid, counseling help, legal aid as also any other assistance required for full development.
We need to have a whole legal system that specialises in children and the law, with sensitive persons in the judiciary, in the police force and those manning children’s services, i.e. juvenile homes, children’s homes. The legal structure of the courts should not intimidate children. While the Juvenile Justice Act provides for separate system for those in conflict with law and mentions about children in need of care and protection, it does not clearly lay down protocols or procedures for dealing with children who are victims of criminal acts such as rape, abduction, molestation, violence or trafficking.
For example, while in the case of children who are in need of care and protection under the Act, the Child Welfare Committee can decide a place of safety, aid in prosecution and further the cause of rehabilitation of such children, such procedures are not as clearly stated for child victims of crime. The child victims should be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity. They are entitled to access to the mechanisms of justice and to prompt redress, for the harm they have suffered. Time-bound trials are essential in all cases where they are victimised. Simplification of procedures to lodge complaints, e.g. on police website or though telephone should be made available for all citizens.
Child victims should have access to assistance that meets their needs such as advocacy, protection, economic assistance, counseling, health and social services, social reintegration and physical and psychological recovery services.
Special assistance should be given to those children who are disabled or ill. Children’s voices need to be heard in courts. Oral and written victim impact statements should be considered before sentencing. To ensure less trauma, children should be produced either through CCTVs or video-recording of their evidence done by child advocacy experts.
There is a need to establish and strengthen judicial and administrative mechanisms to help child victims obtain redress through formal or informal procedures that are prompt, fair and accessible. However, laws alone are not enough. Everything has to move at a pace together. Otherwise if you improve one arm that does not solve the problem and even as much is and has been said, it needs to be repeated. It’s time rhetoric was replaced by real action.
The writer is Deputy Director, Institute of Correctional Administration, Ministry of Home Affairs, Chandigarh
Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India.
If you are interested to read about India and its history, check the following:
No comments:
Post a Comment