40% of kids vulnerable: Ministry

New Delhi: The

Union ministry

for

women and child development

on Monday shared data, which highlighted the extreme vulnerability of children across the country to sexual abuse. It also decided to set up a National Alliance Against Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, in collaboration with other stakeholders.

The ministry held a day-long meeting to work out the modalities for the “National Alliance”. It will work to bring a common definition of child pornography, including amendment to laws (IT Act and POCSO Act). A secretariat will come up in MWCD with a portal and a hotline for reporting and strengthening service delivery systems.

The ministry said Childline alone had received over 4,000 complaints of sexual abuse in eight months. Citing studies, it warned that nearly 40% of the child population in India was

vulnerable

to sexual abuse and that girls were the primary victims of sexual abuse on internet.

Recognising that child sexual abuse needs urgent attention, the National Commission for

Protection of Child Rights

last year launched the POCSO e-box to enable children to approach it by simply registering their email ID and contact number, along with the nature of their complaint. The e-box has received 157 complaints so far.

NCPCR chief Stuti Kaicker told TOI, “The complaints are coming from different parts of the country and so far most of the cases pertain to children in the age-group of 12-16 years.”

Between 2013 and 2016, DCPCR intervened and sought action taken reports in 356 cases of children who became victims of sexual assault in Delhi.

A report by DCPCR in 2015 showed the average pendency of cases registered under POCSO Act in Delhi’s children’s courts during 2013-14 was as high as 85%.

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