KOCHI: Take it seriously. It’s not a game. Child abuse cases are on the rise, in the news, over the internet and social media platforms, and a city-based organisation has launched a multi-pronged attack against online predators. As part of its “act against child abuse” programme, the Centre for Film, Gender and Culture Studies (CFGCS), promoted by five women, is conducting awareness programmes for different stakeholders, ranging from the police to school teachers, to identify child abusers and bring them to justice.
CFGCS team member Dr Anishia Jayadev said their organisation was taking different routes to tackle the menace - awareness through art, educating parents and teachers, and prevention with the help of law enforcers. Anishia works with the Institute of Management in Government here.“Right now, we are focusing on pseudo intellectuals and activists who portray pedophilia as ‘normal’ or ‘necessity’ or ‘right’ of children. They campaign through FB and social media, but carefully-worded content prevents them from being caught by law enforcers,” Anishia said.
The CFGCS plans to expose such activists through awareness programmes on the streets, households and educational institutions. “We will also hand over details of such persons to the police so their activities and antecedents can be checked,” she said. The organisation has already prepared a database on individuals and organisations who campaigned or supported normalisation of paedophilia in the past three years. Digital evidence has been collected and handed to the chief minister’s office and the police.
Dr Arifa KC, an oncologist with the Pariyaram Medical College, is the chairperson of the organisation. Anu Devarajan, IT expert; Divya, faculty member of Sanskrit College, Kalady; and dentist Dr Sofia Kanneth are also part of the team.The CFGCS also helps adults who were abused as children to get counselling and legal support. “The concept of reporting of non-recent cases of child sex abuse is something new to Kerala society. We encourage people to speak out so that people would be sensitised on the trauma of innocent victims,” Anishia says.The CFGCS mostly conducts public programmes at Manaveeyam Veedhi, in association with the Manaveeyam Theruvidam Culture Collective and Manaveeyam Street Library.
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CFGCS invites victims to seek their support and volunteers to champion the cause.
Facebook: facebook.com/AAAActAgainstAbuse
Twitter: twitter.com/AbuseAct
Email: cfgcsindia@gmail.com
Dr Arifa K C: 9946166418
Dr Anishia Jayadev: 9497571803