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“Must Be Lying To Bunk Tuition”: Why Don’t We Believe Child Abuse Survivors?

Shruthi Gurumoorthy
India girl child

Trigger Warning: Child Sexual Abuse

For every 11 minutes, there is one child prone to POCSO crime. – NCRB data 2020.

“I felt extremely uncomfortable and gross when it happened. I also felt that my body is not mine and I am too dispensable being a woman.” – Jessie*.

Child Sexual Abuse often exists as a “Silent Crime” and consequently does not make it to the recorded public database. Regardless of this situation, research on available public statistics on the crime based on a number of reported cases helps make sense of the magnitude of the problem.

The Magnitude Of Child Sexual Abuse In India

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) contains exclusive sections on crimes against children that are categorised into multiple domains. For the purpose of this write-up, I have analysed the data for the period 2017 and 2020 to examine the total crimes against children (including POCSO) with a separate analysis on crimes under POCSO Act.

Fig. 1: Trend of All India POCSO Crimes and All India Total Crimes against Children. (Source: NCRB)

Between 2017 and 2020, at an all India level, in absolute numbers, the POCSO crimes have increased from 32,608 to 47,221, whereas total crimes have seen a marginal decline from 1,29,032 in 2017 to 1,28,531 in 2020 (Fig. 1).

This decline needs to be read with caution as one can observe a concurrent increase in 2018 and 2019 but a decline in 2020, which could be because of the stringent lockdown imposed during the pandemic in India. The evidence we find is reverberated by recent literature [Pallathadka, H. et al. (2021) & Poddar, S., & Mukherjee, U. (2020)].

At the state level, MP, MH and UP together contribute almost 50% to this increase in POCSO crimes. A similar trend is seen in total crimes against children too. The list of states that figure is corroborated in the statistics of Child Line India Foundation’s report of 2020, even though the ranks differ (Child Line India Foundation, 2020).

City Wise Analysis

NCRB data provides us with data on crimes committed against children in select cities. Of the 14 major cities, at the aggregate level, both POCSO crimes and total crimes have seen an absolute decline. This could either be because the crimes are under-reported or crimes have been committed in small tier cities which aren’t reflected in the data.

Fig. 2: City-wise Total POCSO crimes and Fig. 3: City-wise Total Crimes against Children. (Source: NCRB)

However, Delhi and Mumbai contribute to more than 50% of POCSO crimes and total crimes against children (Fig2 & Fig3). However, both cities have seen a marginal decline in their share between 2017 and 2020.

The Age Profile Of Survivors

Another aspect analysed using NCRB is the age profile of the survivors under POCSO crimes for the same time period. More than 90% of the POCSO survivors are young girls below 18 compared to boys (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Age profile of survivors under POCSO Act. (Source: NCRB)

Within this age group, the largest share of the survivors across the years falls under the group 16 and 18 years old. This pattern could be due to awareness that makes them report.

Nuances Of The Crime

To add a layer to the study, I conducted an online survey to understand the nuances of child sexual abuse on survivors. In addition, anecdotal evidence/testimonials are added based on a 20-minute interview of a few survivors from diverse age groups.

Based on the data collected from a sample of 180 respondents, 96% of the total respondents said that they had experienced child sexual abuse of some form or the other.

Unlike the NCRB data that is examined above, this survey shows that more than 50% of the respondents have experienced their first child sexual abuse below the age of 9. This highlights the factor of underreporting.

The third finding of the survey is that 47.5% of the respondents have experienced the abuse from a person known to the family, followed by 20% of perpetrators of the child sexual abuse being a family member (Govt. of India, 2007).

This pattern is reflected in the Child Line Calls, 1098, brought out as Child Net Calling…Is India Listening, by Child Line India Foundation, supported by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (Child Line India Foundation, 2020).

Stigma prevents survivors from speaking out.

The emotion attached to the experience of abuse included embarrassment, fear, force, pain, shame and guilt, with 30% of the respondents feeling embarrassed, followed by 15% each feeling fear and shame.

Like Shahbaz* told me, “I was angry. For a very long time. I was so angry with every person I met. I was so grumpy. I have not talked to any guy for a very long time. It ruined my teenage years completely. Until 26, I did not let anyone even hug me casually. It took me so many years to heal, understand and move on.”

On sharing this openly with the world, 40% of the respondents continue to shy away from having this conversation to this day (Govt. of India, 2007).

As Afreen* remarked, “Am not sure because even now, I am not comfortable sharing what happened to me. I always have the feeling of why me. And I would say from age 8 till 12, this continued. It was not a single person but multiple individuals who abused me. 

“I literally hate thinking about those days. But those #@$&+ are living happily with a happy family whereas I am not even ready to get married because of all these past.”

However, of those who had confided to the world, around 33% of them were silenced, followed by 30% saying that nothing changed for them after sharing. Only 15% of the respondents told me that they were believed when they shared and 7% of the survivors were helped.

Shockingly, the next big chunk of respondents was mocked when they confided about the abuse.

The gender split in child sexual abuse is one male child for 6.62 female children.

The respondents opined that, although both girls and boys can be survivors of abuse, almost 30% said that survivors would mostly be girls.

An estimate on the gender split in child sexual abuse by Child Line India Foundation in their latest report for the year 2020 shows the ratio to be one male child for 6.62 female children (Choudhry, V. et al. 2018 & Child Line India Foundation 2020).

As Hari* said, “Jab bhi us incident ko yaad karta hun to bahut ghinona aur ghatiya lagta hai (Whenever I think of the incident, I feel gross and disgusted).” 

He further elaborates, “I am sharing this incident for the first time as through this study I want to put my experience forward and let everyone know in the public domain that male survivors do exist.”

These traumatic experiences raise a key question: When the crime took place, did they know about bad and good touch? To this, 92% of the people said they were aware of it, with 8% not being aware.

Jessie*, therefore, argues, “It is very important for the children to be aware of good and bad touch at a very young age. Because in our society, we do a lot of things and justify it under the garb of love.”

Survivors need to be heard.

Having spoken about the touch aspect, on the question of effects of child sexual abuse, 54% said that the abuse caused emotional distress, with 21% becoming averse to human touch post the incident. More than 90% knew that it was something wrong, but none of them sought any counselling for the same.

This says a lot about stigma and, more importantly, the issue of accessibility to seek help from a therapist in our society.

As Chaithra* rued, “Today I am suffering from vaginismus. I have been married for 20 years. I have been in therapy for the past 3 years addressing this. I still can’t watch rape scenes in movies or abuse news in the media.”

On the question of holding an institution responsible, almost 70% said that it is society/parents who are accountable for letting such crimes happen.

As Taylor* informed, “But what disappointed me the most was not the incident, but the way my parents reacted to it when I confided in them. They thought I was lying to get away with tuition. This still hurts me and has strongly shaped my relationship, trust issues with my parents.”

Based on both secondary and primary sources of data, the magnitude of the issue is well established and requires urgent attention from policymakers, institutions and from society as a whole to build an abuse-less society.

*The names of the respondents have been anonymised to maintain confidentiality. 

References

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