How often do we sit with the children in our family and talk to them about Child Sexual Abuse? Pooja Taparia’s Arpan will tell you how important it is to do so. Overcoming all challenges, this team has been successful in creating awareness about this horrendous crime gripping our society rapidly. Read further to know more about Arpan and how you can help.
Garima (name changed), an 8-year old girl was sexually abused by her father’s employee. Confused, scared and clueless, she didn’t know what was happening to her, what she should do and who she should talk to about it as the person who abused her was someone she knew and trusted.
Then she attended a session on Personal Safety Skills by Arpan- Towards Freedom from Child Sexual Abuse and realized that the way that acquaintance had touched her was wrong. She gathered the courage and told her father about it. He instantly took action about the employee, comforted his daughter and ensured an open line of communication between them.
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This is one of the many cases of child sexual abuse that the country witnesses on a daily basis. While this one ended on a positive note, sadly, in most places, the horrendous act is still rarely talked about in the open. The young victim is either not listened to, not believed or is expected to keep quiet because the culprit is mostly known to the family. To save the family’s “image” in the society, often the incident is suppressed and so is a kid’s childhood. What follows after the abuse is a lifetime of consequences that include lack of trust, lack of self-confidence and disgust towards the society.
As per a study conducted by Ministry of Women and Child Development on Child Sexual Abuse in 2007, 53.22% children faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. 21.90% faced severe forms of sexual abuse and 50.76% other forms of sexual abuse. 50% abusers were persons who were familiar and known to the child.
So, what should a child do in such a situation? When they are most vulnerable, whom should they contact for support? That is when Arpan comes into the picture. Started by Pooja Taparia in 2006, Arpan, a Mumbai-based organization aims to address the issue of child sexual abuse (CSA) which generally goes unnoticed or unreported.
Pooja Tapria started Arpan with an objective to put an end to the horrifying reality of Child Sexual Abuse in India.
Arpan organizes Personal Safety Education Programmes in schools to empower children, teachers, parents and other caretakers on the issue of Child Sexual Abuse. Through its various counselling and therapy sessions, it helps child and adult survivors to recover from the trauma. It also conducts regular workshops and training for practitioners and experts and helps them to effectively deal with the issue of CSA.
How can you help Arpan?
They are currently running a fundraiser on Milaap to help them with their various activities. You could contribute here:
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