Hyderabad: Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been acknowledged as a global problem. It impacts millions of children in India. It includes engaging a child into sexual activities by threat, force, misrepresentations or coercion, where the child experiences, physical, mental and psychological torture.
If not healed, Child Sexual Abuse can leave lifelong scars on the minor’s life. It can affect their physical, mental and emotional well-being, family and intimate relationships, faith, education and career. Victims and survivors can also be two to four times more likely to become victims of sexual, physical or emotional abuse again in their lifetime.
Contextualising the devastating sexual crimes on children that took place recently in Telangana as well as the rest of our country, Learning Space Foundation, a Hyderabad-based NGO, work for prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. So far, it have been instrumental in raising awareness about personal safety of children among 8300+ children from various government schools in Hyderabad and 800+ adults from Telangana & AP. It strongly believe that prevention is possible if all the adults have appropriate knowledge and skills and teach the children about personal safety. It have been trying to teach children about personal safety through our ‘Suraksha Aur Sammaan program’ for the past three years and sensitize adults through our ‘Sreyobhilaashi’ workshops for the past one year.
As part of Child Safety Week 2021 (14th – 20th Nov), it going to launch an online child safety pledge campaign on Sunday, Children’s Day 14th November 2021, along with a few necessary tools for adults to educate themselves and a pledge for protecting the children. The theme of the Child Safety Week this year is #NowIsTheTime. It believes that this is important to encourage collective responsibility for preventing child sexual abuse and widespread participation by community members in protecting the children from sexual abuse.
This campaign is going to be launched by Sri Sekhar Kammula, (famous Director, Writer and Producer in Telugu Film Industry) who generously came forward to support this cause. Sekhar Kammula has expressed his views on several social issues in the past and he has supported many social moments. There is a huge silence and a lot of stigma around child sexual abuse, which helps abusers to commit heinous crimes against children and there is an urgent need to break this silence. Sri Sekhar Kammula made people talk about child sexual abuse through his recent movie Love Story, which is why the NGO believes he will support us and approached him.