BANGALORE: Technology has paved the way for an increase in child sexual abuse in the country, according to those working with children and families of abuse.
In the background of the Vibgyor High incident in which a six-year-old child was raped on the school campus, the need of the hour is for parents to stop being in denial about the reality of sexual abuse and instead, work together for the safety of their children, Dr Rajalakshmi, a gynaecologist and sexologist of Srishti Life, a not-for-profit organisation, working to create awareness on child sexual abuse, said.
At a workshop organised for IT/ITES employees in the city on Sunday, Dr Rajalakshmi shared instances in which parents turn a blind eye to the child abuse.
‘Identify Abuse’
“Parents often keep quiet about cases of (child) abuse because they want to avoid a conflict. We need to stop this right now to protect our children as well as other children. When we hear of cases of abuse, we have to stop believing that this will happen only to the children of other people and not to our children,” she said.
“The only way we can protect our children is by educating them to protect themselves.By not talking to our children about how to identify and stop abuse, we are only putting them at risk because we as parents are cowards and cannot do something that is uncomfortable,” Rajalakshmi observed.