VIJAYAWADA: Young Indians Amaravati Chapter organised an awareness session on Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse for schoolchildren by visiting various schools in Vijayawada. The aim was to create awareness among schoolchildren on ‘Safe Touch and Unsafe Touch’ as part of the YI Project Masoom initiated by CII Young Indians (YI) and spread awareness on various forms of child abuse (physical, verbal or visual) and educate them on how to get help for their personal safety from such abuses at home, school or outside.
While interacting with students, Divya, Chairperson, Yi Project Masoom (Amaravati Chapter) and co-chair Harika Mannem stressed upon the fact that children, whether a girl or a boy, in the age group of five to 12 years should be careful while interacting with strangers or distant relatives.
They should develop an innate sense to identify good and bad touch. During the session, they explained to the students what sexual abuse means by showing them an animated video. They also shared, “To help & guide children, in case if they are facing similar issues a “CHILDLINE – 1098” service has also been started,” they said.
“Any kid getting troubled by such issues anywhere in India can call the CHILDLINE number- 1098 for any kind of consultation or help from the helpline volunteers,” they added. Saathvik Chukkapalli, Co-Chair, Yi Amaravati Chapter, and other members were also present during the session. As many as 2,570 students were sensitised during the awareness programme.