BENGALURU: In an effort to spread awareness on the child helpline number, 1098, a nation-wide awareness campaign is being held in the city till November 21. Titled 'Child Line se Dosti', four NGOs will be carrying out the campaigns in schools, railway stations, slums, offices, colleges and institutions.
Vasudeva Sharma, executive director of Child Rights Trust (CRT), said, "We receive several complaints of child sexual abuse, marriage, labour, and begging every day. We are conducting this week-long campaign to reach out to people from all walks of life. We want more people to know about the work we do and reach out to us in case of any emergency."
Addressing the media on Tuesday, members of CRT, BOSCO, APSA (Association for Promoting Social Action) and SATHI said they received six lakh calls in Bengaluru's child line, in the last ten years.
"We receive four complaint calls of child sexual abuse (CSA) a month in Bengaluru. Girls as young as 14-years-old are abused by 40 to 50-year-old men. Many children are aware of the child line number and call us directly. Once we receive a complaint on any case, we rescue the child immediately. If it is a case of child sexual abuse, we counsel and motivate the parents to file an FIR in the police station and even support them through court trials," said Sheila Devaraj, director of APSA.
The inaugration will take place on November 14 at Yeshwanthpur Railway station. Awareness and sensitisation on child begging will take place the next day in slums of Viveknagar, government schools in Yeshwanthpur, Majestic, Gorgunetpalya and Laggere. Other programmes include awareness on online safety, drug addiction, child labour, marriage, physical abuse, corporal punishment, child sexual abuse and awareness among specially abled children, among others. The campaigns will be held in different parts of the city, culminating on November 21 at Radio Active, Jain College.