‘Child Abuse Goes up in Summer’

Child sexual abuse cases go up in summer, says one of the oldest NGOs working in the field.

Child sexual abuse cases go up in summer, says one of the oldest NGOs working in the field. Vidya Reddy, who started Tulir, Centre for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, Chennai, says, “In summer we see a rise in certain kinds of cases, where the offender isn’t family or friend, but a professional working with kids. Anyone can volunteer in summer camps, or run classes for kids in their homes. They are not regulated, there are no background checks.”  Vidya recalls an instance in a prominent club in Chennai, where, for almost 15 years a member would volunteer to help the swimming coach and abuse children in the pool. Though this was common knowledge, the member was only thrown out after a formal complaint. Anuja Gupta, who started Rahi, an organisation tackling incest and child sexual abuse in New Delhi, says the most effective way of tackling child sexual abuse is by equipping the child and parents with ways of preventing and dealing with abuse in case it happens. An open channel of communication between children and adults helps.

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Shubhangi Swarup