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Logo and Slogan Contest for Campaign to promote POCSO Act in Tripura

Start Date: 09-08-2019
End Date: 11-09-2019

Impact of Child Sexual Abuse ...

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Logo and Slogan Contest for Campaign to promote POCSO Act in Tripura
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Impact of Child Sexual Abuse

Child Sexual Abuse is not only a violation of a child’s body but of the trust, implicit in a care giving relationship. Post Sexual abuse, children immediately experience conflicting emotions such as: shock, shame, rage, confusion and guilt. Often, these emotions carry on as they grow into adults. High rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, dissociative disorders, interpersonal dysfunction, sexual problems, and suicidal ideation have all been identified to varying degrees among women and men who survived sexual abuse and have not received adequate support in their childhood.

Present legal support

In order to provide legal support to children who are victims of sexual abuse, the Ministry of Women and Child Development championed the introduction of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 with the objective of providing protection to all children from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography. The Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age, and regards the best interests and well-being of the child as being of paramount importance at every stage, to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the child. The act deems a sexual assault to be “aggravated” under certain circumstances, such as when the abused child is mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or authority vis-à-vis the child, like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor. People who traffic children for sexual purposes are also punishable under the provisions relating to abetment in the Act. The Act prescribes stringent punishment graded as per the gravity of the offence, with a maximum term of rigorous imprisonment for life, and fine.

Need for Prevention Mechanisms

In spite of the shocking statistics and negative impact, there is lesser recognition for the issue of Child Sexual Abuse as a serious and highly prevalent social issue due to the social and cultural taboo. The victims commonly become subjects of social stigma, which prevents them from coming forward with disclosure of their own experiences. Parents do not have the knowledge or comfort to support children either by being watchful or by talking to them and hand-holding them in the case of abuse. While the criminal justice and related systems may offer deterrence, imprisonment, reintegration, these efforts are implemented only after the crime has happened and reported. However, a multifaceted problem like child sexual abuse cannot be addressed only by responding to it after it has happened. This need to be addressed from a preventive lens which encourages deterrence efforts along with intervention and treatment as it ensures the safety of an entire population. It also has the potential to diminish the number of sexual offenders in the general population and diminish sexual victimization in the community. It thus becomes imperative that interventions are taken to prevent Child Sexual Abuse and heal its ill effects in the lives of the victims and survivors.

Way forward

Given the number of cases reported in under POCSO, the Government of Tripura has undertaken an initiative to ensure child protection to minimize instances of Child Sexual Abuse. The plan is to initiate awareness and capacity building programmes for adults such as parents, community members, teachers and non-teaching staff members so that they can create strong safety and support networks around children and provide appropriate support when children disclose an instance of abuse. Teachers will also be specifically trained on conducting the Personal Safety Education programme in all schools with children from Grade 1 to 10. The administration would also be working closely with the district’s judiciary, police and women and child development departments to assess and strengthen the existing legal system and make the district POCSO compliant.

The Government of Tripura invites you to join hands in this initiative and help us design a fitting logo and slogan to represent the campaign for sensitizing public towards POCSO Act and breaking the stigma against Child Sexual Abuse.

The last date of submission is 10th September 2018 at midnight.

The winning entry will be awarded a Certificate of Recognition from the Department. It will become the official logo and slogan for this initiative.

Click here to read Terms and Conditions

NOTE – Entries submitted through Tripura MyGov ONLY will be considered.

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Total Submissions ( 30) Approved Submissions (0) Submissions Under Review (30) Submission Closed.