A STEP CLOSER TO SAFER COMMUNITIES
Sankalp works for promoting education among girl children and addresses the issue ofChild Sexual Abuse by conducting awareness programs to Children, Teachers and Parents. The diaries of the Sankalp team members’ would account one of the stories that follows:
As soon as we entered the hall, the children whose ages ranged from as young as 4 to 15 years were standing in rows and awaiting our arrival. With bags full of necessary material, we entered the hall and couldn’t stop smiling when we looked at the innocent faces of the children while they shouted aloud “Good evening, teachers”, unanimously. This group of 51 Children were given a home by AuxiliumNavajeevana Shelter for Street and Working Children. To conduct Child Sexual Abuse Awareness program, through project PANTS, to this group felt like a dire need, as those who are on the streets are more likely to experience incidents of child Sexual Abuse.Capturing the children’s attention to the session which lasted for 2 and a half hours was a task that we all took as a challenge.
With a rapport building activity, the session took off. To help them realize the basic emotions that a human contains, an activity based approach was sought. Through this, the usual state of mind that a victim of Child Sexual Abuse could be in, was illustrated. In a play way Method, the children were told about their vulnerability and sought to empower them with knowledge of how to face a situation that puts them and their bodies in jeopardy. These children were taught what is a “good touch” and a “bad touch”. A safe circle, i.e. a trusted group of people who are approachable, was made to be identified by the children. And the kids were made to understand their own vulnerability and the support system needed to fight against Child Sexual Abuse.Various role plays and enactments were conducted to enliven the process of learning. PANTS principle, an acronym, the expansion to which would help kids gain a tool to deal with Child Sexual Abuse, was made to repeat and let these kids familiarize with it. With many other ways of empowering each child to protect themselves, the session culminated by igniting these young minds on tackling the invisible crime- Child Sexual Abuse.
