Problem of Child Abuse

Child abuse is usually classified into three

major types: physical, sexual and
emotional. Each has recognizable
characteristics. The indicators of physical
abuse in the child are bruises, burns,
fractures, lacerations and abrasions,
abdominal injuries and human bite
marks. The behavioral indicators of
physical abuse are the abused child is
wary of contact with adults, he /she
becomes apprehensive when other
children cry, show aggressiveness in
behaviour, seem frightened of parents or
caretakers and afraid to go home or cries
when it is time to go home. Child sexual
abuse has been defined as the
involvement of dependent and immature
children in sexual activities they dont
fully comprehend to which they are
unable to give informed consent.
The Juvenile Justice Act 1986 defines
child sexual abuse as interaction
between a child and an adult in which
the child is being used for the sexual
stimulation of the perpetrator or another
person. Sexual abuse is not often
identified through physical indictors
alone. A child can confide in a trusted
person that she /he has been sexually
assaulted. There are some physical signs
of sexual abuse like difficulty in walking
or sitting, pain or itching, bruises or
bleeding, venereal disease and
pregnancy in early adolescence. The
sexually abuse child may appear
withdrawn or retarded, may have poor
peer relationships, may be unwilling to
participate in activities, may indulge in
delinquent behaviour.Emotional abuse is
the neglect or maltreatment of children.
It may involve a disregard of the
physical, emotional, moral or social

needs of the children. Besides these

there are social abuses of children like
kidnapping and forcing them to beg in
streets.
The major causes of child abuse are
adaptational failure or environmental
maladjustment mostly on the part of the
adult perpetrators but to some extent
on the part of adults responsible for
family socialization as well. The dominant
causes of battering children found in a
study were children disobeying parents,
quarrels between the parents and the
child beaten as scapegoat, child not
taking interest in studies, child spending
time away from home, child refusing to
hand over his total earnings to his
parents/guardians and child indulging in
deviant behavior like theft and smoking
etc.The main causes for sexual abuse
given are adjustment problems of the
perpetrators, family disorganization,
victims characteristics and the
psychological disorders of the abusers.
Four important causes of emotional
abuse can be identified are poverty,
deficient parental control and non cordial
relations within family, maltreatment
faced by parents in their own childhood
or intergenerational transmission of child
maltreatment and alcoholism of parents.
There can be multiple effects of abuse
on children like self-devaluation,
dependency, mistrust, and
revictimization, withdrawal from people,
emotional trauma, deviant behavior and
interpersonal problems.

Child Labour in
India
Millions of children in today's world
undergo the worst forms of child labor
which includes Child Slavery, Child
prostitution, Child Trafficking, Child
Soldiers. In modern era of material and
technological advancement, children in
almost every country are being callously
exploited. The official figure of child
laborers world wide is 13 million. But
the actual number is much higher. Of
the estimated 250 million children
between the ages of 5 and 14 who are
economically active, some 50 million to
60 million between the ages of 5 and 11
are engaged in intolerable forms of
labor. Among the 10 to 14year-old
children the working rate is 41.3 percent
in Kenya, 31.4 percent in Senegal, 30.1
percent in Bangladesh, 25.8 percent in
Nigeria, 24 percent in Turkey, 17.7
percent in Pakistan, 16.1 percent in
Brazil, 14.4 percent in India, 11.6
percent in China.
ILO estimated that 250 million children
between 5 and 14 work for a living, and
over 50 million children under age
twelve work in hazardous circumstances.
United Nations estimate that there were
20 million bonded child laborers
worldwide. Based on reliable estimates,
at least 700,000 persons to 2 million,
especially girls and children, are
trafficked each year across international
borders. Research suggests that the age
of the children involved is decreasing.
Most are poor children between the ages
of 13 and 18, although there is evidence
that very young children even babies, are
also caught up in this horrific trade. They
come from all parts of the world. Some

one million children enter the sex trade,

exploited by people or circumstances. At
any one time, more than 300,000
children under 18 - girls and boys - are
fighting as soldiers with government
armed forces and armed opposition
groups in more than 30 countries
worldwide. ILO estimates that domestic
work is the largest employment category
of girls under age 16 in the world.
India has the dubious distinction of being
the nation with the largest number of
child laborers in the world. The child
labors endure miserable and difficult
lives. They earn little and struggle to
make enough to feed themselves and
their families. They do not go to school;
more than half of them are unable to
learn the barest skills of literacy. Poverty
is one of the main reasons behind this
phenomenon. The unrelenting poverty
forces the parents to push their young
children in all forms of hazardous
occupations. Child labor is a source of
income for poor families. They provide
help in household enterprises or of
household chores in order to free adult
household members for economic
activity elsewhere. In some cases, the
study found that a child's income
accounted for between 34 and 37
percent of the total household income.
In India the emergence of child labor is
also because of unsustainable systems of
landholding in agricultural areas and
caste system in the rural areas. Bonded
labour refers to the phenomenon of
children working in conditions of
servitude in order to pay their debts.
The debt that binds them to their
employer is incurred not by the children
themselves but by their parent. The
creditors cum employers offer these
loans to destitute parents in an effort to

secure the labor of these children. The

arrangements between the parents and
contracting agents are usually informal
and unwritten. The number of years
required to pay off such a loan is
indeterminate. The lower castes such as
dalits and tribal make them vulnerable
groups for exploitation.
The environmental degradation and lack
of employment avenues in the rural
areas also cause people to migrate to big
cities. On arrival in overcrowded cities
the disintegration of family units takes
place through alcoholism, unemployment
or disillusionment of better life etc. This
in turn leads to emergence of street
children and child workers who are
forced by their circumstances to work
from the early age. The girls are forced
to work as sex -workers or beggars. A
large number of girls end up working as
domestic workers on low wages and
unhealthy living conditions.
Some times children are abandoned by
their parents or sold to factory owners.
The last two decades have seen
tremendous growth of export based
industries and mass production factories
utilizing low technologies. They try to
maintain competitive positions through
low wages and low labor standards. The
child laborers exactly suit their
requirements. They use all means to lure
the parents into giving their children on
pretext of providing education and good
life. In India majority of children work in
industries, such as cracker making,
diamond polishing, glass, brass-ware,
carpet weaving, bangle making, lock
making and mica cutting to name a few.
15% of the 100,000 children work in the
carpet industry of Uttar Pradesh. 70-80%
of the 8,000 to 50,000 children work in
the glass industry in Ferozabad. In the

unorganized sector child labor is paid by

piece-by-piece rates that result in even
longer hours for very low pay.
Inadequate schools, a lack of schools, or
even the expense of schooling leaves
some children with little else to do but
work. The attitudes of parents also
contribute to child labor; some parents
feel that children should work in order to
develop skills useful in the job market,
instead of taking advantage of a formal
education. From the time of its
independence, India has committed
itself to be against child labor. Article 24
of the Indian constitution clearly states
that "No child below the age of fourteen
years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or employed in any
hazardous employment" The Bonded
Labour System Act of 1976 fulfills the
Indian Constitution's directive of ending
forced labour A Plethora of additional
protective legislation has been put in
place. There are distinct laws governing
child labour in factories in commercial
establishments, on plantations and in
apprenticeships. There are laws
governing the use of migrant labour and
contract labour. A recent law The Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation law)
of 1986 designates a child as a person
who has not completed their 14th year
of age. It purports to regulate the hours
and the conditions of child workers and
to prohibit child workers in certain
enumerated hazardous industries.
However there is neither blanket
prohibition on the use of child labour,
nor any universal minimum age set for
child workers. All of the policies that the
Indian government has in place are in
accordance with the Constitution of
India, and all support the eradication of
Child Labor. The problem of child labor

still remains even though all of these

policies are existent. Enforcement is the
key aspect that is lacking in the
government's efforts.
Child labor is a global problem. If child
labour is to be eradicated, the
governments and agencies and those
responsible for enforcement need to
start doing their jobs. The most
important thing is to increase awareness
and keep discussing ways and means to
check this problem. We have to decide
whether we are going to take up the
problem head-on and fight it any way we
can or leave it to the adults who might
not be there when things go out of hand.

Crime Against Children

According to National Crime Records
Bureau and NHRC
Crime against children increased by
3.8% nationally (14,975 cases in
2005 from 14,423 in 2004).
Child rape increased by 13.7%
(4,026 cases from 3,542 in 2004);
Madhya Pradesh reported the
highest number (870) followed by
Maharashtra (634).Together they
accounted for 37.3% of rape cases.
Delhi tops a list of 35 Indian cities
on crime against children (852 cases
of violence against children in 2005,
27% of all cases) followed by Indore
(448), Pune (314) and Mumbai (303)
.
1,327 children were reported
murdered in 2005 up from 1,304 in
2004 (an increase of 1.8%).Uttar
Pradesh reported the highest
number (390) accounting for 29.4%
of cases.
Nearly 45,000 children go missing
every year; more than 11,000 are
never traced.
3,518 children were kidnapped in
2005 (301 from Delhi, 3,196 in
2004, 2,571 in 2003).
Children who form 42% of the Indias
population are at risk on the streets, at
their workplace and even inside their
own homes. The recent Nithari case has
highlighted the plight of children of
migrant workers. There has been a 40%
increase in intra-state migration in the
last 10 years. While migrant do get
employment there is no safety net for
their children; they get neither
education nor healthcare. Single migrant
children or children of migrant workers
are often not counted anywhere- census

or any government scheme.

According to the study conducted by
NGO Shakti Vahini in 2006, 378 of the
593 districts in India are affected by
human trafficking the children being the
most affected. They are easy prey for
traffickers who lure them from villages
with the promise of employment. The
street children are perceived as vagrants
by the police and with no legal
safeguards to protect them violence and
exploitation are daily routine for them.
India has the largest number of street
children in the world. In 2001 it was
estimated that there are 100,000 to
125,000 street children each in Mumbai,
Kolkata and Delhi with 45,000 in
Bangalore.
In terms of budget allocation 4.91% of
Union Budget 2006-07 has been
allocated for health, education,
development and protection of
children.The share of resources for child
protection is minuscule-0.034%.Child
protection has never figured in any
planning document so far.
There are several laws but the problem
is with the implementation. The Central
Monitoring Commission which is
supposed to monitor crime against
children under the Juvenile Justice Act
was amended in 2000.This committee
has not met even once since the
amendment. The Act stated that every
police station should have a juvenile
police unit but this is still not being
followed. The offences against children
bill which provides protection against
sexual abuse also awaits cabinet nod.
According to child rights activitists to
avoid crimes against children it is
important to have community level child
protection mechanisms like community
watch dogs and committees for child

protection, child welfare and antitrafficking. These will create an interface

between communities and state/district
mechanisms. These can also monitor
vulnerable children in communities and
provide a base where people can report
and address issues like abuse,
exploitation and neglect. Creating spaces
within communities and schools so that
children can report offences against
them can be also done. To overcome
lack of awareness about child protection
laws the information dissemination is
important.

Crimes by Juveniles in India

There has been recent spurt in the
crimes by juveniles in India. While on
one hand the widening rich-poor divide
in urban areas and loss of innocence
have been pushing minors from poor
sections of society into the world of
crime, the children from well-do
families are also increasingly stepping in
the world of crime. The main factors are
peer pressure, lavish lifestyles, too much
freedom from the parents and even
simple curiosity are leading to these
dangerous trends among the youngsters
in India.
In 2008 crimes by juveniles across India
increased by about 9.2%over the
previous year. The figure in 2007 was
8.4% more than in 2006.According to
the police sources, the share of crimes
committed by minors to the total crimes
has increased not only in the cities but
in the country as a whole. The crimes
committed by minors were 1.7% of the
total crimes in the country in 2005 .It
increased to 1.9% and 2% in 2006 and
2007 respectively.
There are increasing cases of juveniles
involved in conflict with the law. They
are found largely involved in thefts;
pickpocketing and burglaries. They are
now forming even their own gangs.
According to NCRB figures for 2009 the
largest number of cases involving
juveniles were thefts followed by causing
hurt and burglaries besides rioting. The
primary reasons are attributed to
inadequacy in juvenile care and
protection schemes of government. The
government homes are in bad shape
where reforming of children takes a
backseat and stigma stays with them.
Sometimes the very fact of being a

juvenile ensures that they get only mild

punishment. This is the reason why
organized criminal gangs are increasingly
employing juveniles. The lack of
tolerance and exposure to sex and
violence is creating problems within the
social setup. Most of the schools are also
witnessing an increase in youngsters
indulging in unruly and unacceptable
behavior.
According to NCRB data, 34527 juveniles
were apprehended all over India during
2007 out of which 32671 were boys and
1856 were girls.

Juvenile Delinquency
Delinquency is a kind of abnormality
when an individual deviates from the
course of normal social life. His
behaviour is called 'Delinquency'. When
a juvenile, below an age specified under
a statute exhibits behaviour which may
prove to be dangerous to society and /
or to himself he may be called a Juvenile
delinquent. Juvenile delinquents are
those offenders including boys and girls
who are normally under 16 years of age.
A Juvenile delinquent is a young person
incorrigible or habitually disobedient.
Act of delinquency may include:
1. Running away from home without the
permission of parents.
2. Habitual behavior beyond the control
of parents.
3. Spending time idly beyond limits
4. Use of vulgar languages
5. Wandering about rail roads, streets
market places
6. Visiting gambling centres
7. Committing sexual offences
8. Shop-lifting
9. Stealing etc. Juveniles may do such
activities singly or through a gang.
There are other social or environmental
factors which leads them to be a
delinquent.
a) School Dissatisfaction - Some students
get dissatisfied with school life. Parental
irresponsibility, unmanageable student
teacher ratio, lack of entertainment and
sports facilities in school, in difference of
the teachers may contribute to this.
Such dissatisfied students become
regular absentees in schools and start
wandering their own and become
gamblers, eve-teachers, pick pockets,
drunkards, smokers and drug addicts.
b) Films and pornographic literature have

also added to the magnitude of

delinquency. Cinema, television and
obscene literature may often provoke
sexual and other impulses in
adolescents. Hence they may start their
adventure in satisfying them in the
process of which they commit crimes.
Deep slated inner desires-couples with
outside pressures, compulsion and
temptation also contribute to juvenile
delinquency. For example, on hearing
the interesting narration of the illicit sex
experiences or such other criminal
experiences from ones' gang rate, one
may be tempted to follow the same.
According to psycho-analytical view, the
delinquent is an individual who is
governed by the pleasure principle. He
wants to get immediate pleasure and
immediate satisfaction for his needs. So
he becomes victim to his own impulses.
Thus it may be said that juvenile
delinquency is also the result of
environmental factors.
A grave problem such as juvenile
delinquency can't he solved by means of
legislation and government efforts alone.
As far as India is concerned in many of
the states children acts have not been
effectively enforced. Some of these Acts
themselves have effects. Official
machinery is not effectively used for
controlling this problem. Government as
well as private agencies must work hand
in hand with all sincerity and seriousness
to find on effective remedy for the
problem of juvenile delinquency. The
public attitude towards Juvenile
delinquents must also change. A juvenile
delinquent is a product of unwholesome
environment congenial for the
development of his faculties in
conformity with social expectations.

Child Malnutrition in India

Child malnutrition is a biggest challenge
our country is facing today even when
the economy is said to surging ahead.
Every second child under three in the
country is malnourished. The number for
under five children is 55 million which is
two and half times the population of
Australia.35% of the world's
malnourished children live in India. Half
the number of child deaths takes place
due to malnutrition which could be
prevented. The situation has not seen
an improvement between the reports of
the National Family Health Survey III in
2007 and NFHS II seven years earlier.
It is a known fact that malnutrition can
affect economic productivity and the
ability to make decisions. Experts say
that unless the problem is addressed on
a war footing it will lower the country's
GDP growth rate by 2-3%.One of the
reasons why the issue has remained
unaddressed is because it is not high on
national agenda. There has been no
determined action.
The problem of child malnutrition starts
long before the child is born. The age at
which a woman marries has a bearing on
the foetus. So does her nutritional
intake during pregnancy and after she
gives birth. Her educational status will
decide whether she goes in for
institutional deliveries which prevent
infections, the importance she attaches
to hygiene and to immunization of her
child. Her nutrition, health and education
and her status in the family and the
community determine whether the child
is malnourished or not. It is not possible
to address the problem of child
malnutrition unless the condition of the
woman is improved.

The Indian figures are worse than the

malnutrition rates prevalent in subSaharan Africa even though those
countries have known for famine,
poverty and political instability. In the
world 40% of the low weight babies
(below 2.5kg) are from India. One of the
major causes of low birth weight babies
in India is the high incidences of anemia
among women.
Recent studies have shown that the
damage is done by the time a child
reaches the age of two. The critical agegroup is 0-2 and it is this group that
needs the maximum attention. The
governments focus needs to shift to
address the nutritional and survival
issues related to this group.
The issue of child malnutrition needs
attention from all levels. From political
will to pressure from civil societies and
communities themselves.