Make us boys, cry girls. National study exposes widespread child abuse

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Make us boys, cry girls. Study exposes widespread child abuse,

shatters myth and rips veil

CHARU SUDAN KASTURI

New Delhi, April 9: Hang your head in shame, Grown-up India. Almost

half your girls want to be boys because of the way you treat them.

Overcome by a feeling of neglect and apathy, over 48 per cent girls

surveyed for a first-ever nation-wide study on child abuse have said

they would rather be boys.

More than 70 per cent said they felt " neglected " by their parents in

a damning indictment of Adult India that has yet to come to terms

with the horror of Nithari.

As many as 12,447 children in the 12-18 age group were each asked

135 questions in what the government said was the largest such

survey ever conducted in the world. Spread across 13 states and

carried out over two years, the survey covered 5,981 girls, too.

Bengal, the self-professed capital of political correctness and

concern for others, has a wart too many to hide.

In the state, 58 per cent girls said they received less attention

than their brothers, compared with the national average of 32 per

cent. Nearly one in every two girls questioned in Bengal said they

are given less food than their brothers.

The plight of the children is not confined to a particular gender.

Contrary to perceptions, boys in India are abused during childhood

as much as girls, if not more, the study shows.

" The figures are a shocking eye-opener. If we don't wake up to the

plight of our children now, it may be too late, " a sombre Renuka

Chowdhury, the women and child development minister, said.

The study also confirms a long-held suspicion: most children face

abuse from within the family. Eighty-nine per cent of those abused

sexually, physically or emotionally said the abusers were parents or

members of the family.

Sponsored by the ministry, the study shows boys face greater sexual

and physical abuse than girls. But on mental torture, boys and girls

appear to be on a par.

" The previous largest similar survey was conducted in China with a

sample size of less than 4,000. This, to our knowledge, is the

largest such survey ever conducted, " Loveleen Kacker, a joint

secretary in the ministry, said.

The " unexpected " finding — of boys being targeted as much as girls —

means the ministry will need to shed the conventional wisdom that

surrounds child abuse, she said.

The study shows that one in every two children — boys and girls —

faces sexual abuse: 53 per cent boys and 47 per cent girls.

The figure is higher for physical abuse. Seventy two per cent boys

had been slapped, kicked and beaten with sticks, compared with 65

per cent of girls.

In Bengal, where corporal punishment is banned in schools, 85.5 per

cent children in state government schools said they had faced

physical punishment, against the national average of 53.77 per cent.

" The biggest challenge is to break the silence. We bring up children

training them to be obedient to elders and accept what they do. Most

children don't even report abuse, especially from family, " Chowdhury

said.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070410/asp/frontpage/story_7628337.asp