Strict law on child abuse soon
Doctors, Care-Givers Must Report Cases In Bill Covering Sex Tourism
New Delhi: A new legislation to protect child rights will soon make it compulsory for doctors, teachers, social workers and other care-givers to report cases of child abuse to the authorities. The Offences Against Child Bill that is in the drafting stage will cover aspects of sexual, emotional, physical and mental abuse in a comprehensive manner setting out stringent punishments for offenders.
The proposed legislation gains significance in the light of the Nithari serial killings where the ministry of women and child development (WCD) felt that the existing laws were inadequate to recognise and penalise the offenders. “The legislation will provide the authorities with a mechanism to identify and punish offenders for crimes against children,’’ a senior official said.
One of the key clauses of the proposed law will be compulsory reporting by doctors, NGO workers, teachers and others who are in constant touch with children in juvenile homes, schools and shelters. Officials and civil society consultations revealed that there was inadequate protection for abuse of boys. This has led to an increase in paedophile tourism in the country.
“There are laws related to rape of girls but the rules of evidence and inordinate delay in prosecution often lead to vital evidence being missed and to hostile witnesses,’’ a source added.
Officials said the lacunae in the existing laws have to be addressed with the children’s interest in mind.
Existing legislation do not recognise sex tourism, grooming of child for sexual purposes, violence against children, emotional abuse or instances like intentionally starving a child or transmitting a life-threatening disease to a child. The bill will also tackle unlawful sexual contact, using children for begging, abduction and wrongful detention, using children for pornography, corporal punishment, ragging, intimidation, intoxicating children, abetting and involving children in armed conflict.
This legislation will be supplemented by the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) which has received Rs 90 crore in the Union budget. The scheme prepared by the ministry has a rightsbased approach for the protection of children. (Himanshi Dhawan | TNN/ Times of India 14/3/2007)
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