Child Abuse in India
- By Sam George
- Published 05/16/2007
Sam George
Sam George is the Executive Director of PARIVAR International - a non-profit initiative to address the needs of youth and families of Asian Indian origin in North America and to the Asian Indian community worldwide. Parivar means family in many Indian languages. Sam George also serves as one of the founding directors of Urban India Ministries
www.UrbanIndia.org Sam George and his wife, Mary have spoken at premarital and family events in many countries. They are parents of two boys and make their home in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Sam is the author of the book “Understanding the Coconut Generation: Ministry to the Americanized Asian Indians." Check out this website www.CoconutGeneration.com Coconut (brown on the outside, white on the inside) is a metaphor for the Americanized Asian Indians. Sam George can be reached at sam@coconutgeneration.com
Most abusers are known people like friends or family members. Over 70% of cases are never reported. Boys and girls are almost equally vlunerable. See report IE, NDTV, Reuters etc.
Every second child in India suffer some form of physical, emotional or sexual abuse. What shocking is that inspite of such prevalence this was never studied before, this is the first ever nation-wide study on this topic.
The central government is promoting sex education in public schools and some of the state governments are banning such lesson saying it is inconsistent with Indian culture. What a dilemma!
Children are not safe, even in homes. Future generations are going to be permanently tainted. Verbal abuse and physical abuse in the name of discipline is common in India.
Sometimes emotional blackmails or assaults and sexual exploitation are carried by the relatives or powerful people in the society. Most can get away, even if cases are reported.
What we need is change of mindset to protect the weak and vulnerable among us. Nurture the next generation with genuine love and sacrifice. Problem might seem insurmountable.
What can we do? All of our efforts might only be a drop in the ocean, so why bother? I firmly believe we must believe each of our effort in this regard matters. As far that child or vulnerable person it makes all the difference. Will I be there to speak for the voiceless and offere a lending hands to the weak and share few bucks to the poor and hungray?
Not to feel good about it as a result, but in obedience to the lifestyle that Jesus advocated and modelled for us. Let’s change the world one person at a time!
Coconut Generation
