As a kid it really saddened me to see children begging, working at small restaurants, dhabas, working as domestic help etc. Since I was dependent on my parents and there was a scarcity of resources and a proper platform, I was not in a position to help them.
On January 2016, I got an opportunity to become a part of CRY-IIT Kharagpur Volunteer Chapter. I was part of team “Pathshala”, wherein which every Saturday we visited a school in a nearby village to teach children with the help videos, working models, games etc. We also organized Community Meetings where we discussed different issues the villagers encountered and we tried to come up with a fruitful solution.
After a few months, I decided to shift my focus to something as important as education for children, which was more on the lines of child safety. A social evil, which is haunting children and making the society unsafe for those innocent souls, and is growing like fire, is child sexual abuse. Since I am a survivor of child sexual abuse myself, I know the extent to which it can affect you psychologically. I was determined to work towards this, to make the society aware of the evil, and to protect other children.
To fight against child sexual abuse, by educating children from Nursery to Class 12 about good/safe and bad/unsafe touch and encouraging parents/guardians to break the silence and speak out, I took the initiative of forming Team “Project Baalrakshak” , and started organising awareness workshops on child sexual abuse in schools. Initially, I used to visit nearby schools by myself, to convince them to let me conduct sessions with children and parents. I particularly decided to visit those schools which are in rural locations, as the lack of communication there makes people all the more ignorant.
To reach more and more children, I needed members in the team, I approached people and made them understand the gravity of the issue and convinced them to join the team. I lead a team of 14 actively dedicated members.
For making the sessions more effective, a child counsellor is being convinced to join us, so that a child in need could be helped. We are also meeting police personnel, SP & ASP, requesting them to join us and to directly talk with children and parents on a common platform, to convince them to report anything related to the issue, while assuring justice to them.
Currently, I am working as the Founder & Advisor of team “Project Baalrakshak“.
Two years back (in 2016) I started the team all alone. I used to conduct the sessions with the support of other volunteers, but there was no dedicated member on this team. For almost a year, I was worked all alone, which was a very challenging task, but that never demotivated me or slowed me down. I knew that if I continue the work with a positive mindset, sooner or later people would join me, I knew I needed to keep my calm and keep going. To sustain my work and to make a greater number of children and parents aware, I successfully convinced some people to join the team. The team organises its workshops in assistance with Paschim Medinipur District Police.
The main objective is to make children aware of the issue i.e. no one can touch their body against their will, and to motivate elders (parents/teachers/guardians) to speak out and break the silence. Initially, I designed the whole session by myself and improved with every session and personal experiences, until the team joined me to make it a bigger success. 2 info-graphs were prepared to be displayed in schools- one for children and one for parents.
Key achievements:
- Reached around 5,200 children, parents/guardians in 19 schools.
- Received assistance from Paschim Medinipur District Police.
- Got recognized by the Kharagpur Municipality.
- Received a letter of appreciation from the Ward Counsillor, Kharagpur.
- Gained the support of around 22 print and digital media houses.
- Spoke as a motivational speaker at “Josh Talks”.
- Was invited as the guest speaker at “All India Radio”, Kolkata on “World Day Against Child Labour.
- Was among the finalist of iVolunteers Awards 2019 in the category of “Volunteer Hero“.
Impact:
Many children & parents had broken their silence for 1st time about being sexual abused, inside and outside the home after attending our sessions. In our workshops where children confessed of being sexually abused (bad touch) in one or other form: in 19% cases, culprits were unknown, 57 % were family friends/friends, 21 % close relatives and 12 % school/tuition teachers. Initially, we used to visit schools and convince them for sessions. Now, we are being invited for taking sessions.
- Had to convince peers and seniors to take this sensitive issue in public by approaching schools, as I was not at all an expert in this field. All that I had was determination and willpower.
- At times parents showed no interest. It was a challenge to make them understand the gravity of the issue.
Note: All the data/information are updated till 10/02/2019.
* The number includes 17 schools while working with CRY and 2 schools while working with a local NGO.