A new schools program aims to educate children in India about sexual abuse and gender inequality
MISSING develops an educational program to protect Indian schoolchildren from abuse, a new study looks at the plight of Cambodia’s workers during COVID-19, and Verité’s latest guide helps raise awareness among communities in Uttar Pradesh on the risks of working in Gulf countries.
Missing Link Trust (MISSING) has developed a new school safety program to help protect children in India from sexual abuse. The program is part of the group’s Urban and Rural School Awareness initiative which educates India’s young people on trafficking, abuse and exploitation, in a bid to prevent them becoming victims of these crimes.
Fifty-three per cent of children in India become victims of sexual abuse before they reach the age of 10, according to CHILDLINE India Foundation, which manages a 24-hour year-round emergency helpline for children in distress. “The reporting is extremely low as the information about the possibility of abuse isn’t imparted to children,” says Nishit Kumar, Head of Communication and Strategy. According to interventionists and counselors in the field, 90 per cent of abusers are known to children prior to their abuse and are part of their everyday lives and “safe spaces” – their homes, their schools, their neighborhoods.
Recently, an alumna from a leading school in Chennai used Instagram to share stories of sexual abuse and exploitation on behalf of several schoolmates, sparking a #MeToo movement among Chennai schools across social media platforms. Similarly, last year, the Bois Locker Room scandal revealed that a group of teenage boys had been objectifying and abusing young girls online, by exchanging obscene images and offensive comments on social media.
There are reports of many other similar incidents and, contrary to popular belief, they are just as rampant in elite urban schools as in remote regions or rural ones. Commentators have pointed out that the prevalent cultural narrative normalizes violence, aggression and intimidation against women, that pop culture and the objectification of women’s bodies go hand in hand, and that films and other media glorify the stalking of women as heroic or romantic. There are very few educational or entertainment sources that present children with a counter-narrative, and privilege is no protection against such abuse.
It was within this context that MISSING started its Urban and Rural School Awareness initiative, which it launched in 15 states. Across every city and village, the resounding feedback was that students were in desperate need of this information as well as the opportunity to engage fully with the topic of their own safety. In response, MISSING developed the Missing Awareness and Safety School program (MASSp).
The program provides information on the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation of adolescents, through a unique pedagogy that utilizes the immersive impact of art and technology. An innovative year-long program which can be embedded in all school curricula, it educates learners about gender inequality, patriarchy, misogyny, oppressive social structures and the ways in which these issues can be questioned in society. It helps learners unlearn social prejudices, take ownership of their safety, and reshape their social environments. Through its use of immersive narratives, the MASSp encourages self-learning and provides experiential learning, thereby offering an engaging experience to drive behavioral change.
Conscious of the disparity in the socio-economic backgrounds of adolescents across India, the MASSp has been adapted so it can be implemented in different formats during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, MISSING is in the process of developing a web app and an in-chat program in addition to conducting the project offline.
MISSING’s vision is to create a world in which every child is safe from abuse and exploitation, and is looking for partners from across the world. The group is currently planning a workshop for interested organizations in which they will be able to learn about the program, provide feedback, and discuss adaptation for other countries. MISSING believes this is an opportunity for all child protection practitioners and anyone interested in prevention efforts. Please reach out here so they can add you to the list.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
Despite strong opposition from service providers and other organizations, Ontario’s controversial new anti-trafficking bill, Bill 251, passed into law on 31 May. Under the new law, police in Canada’s most populous province have the power to question anybody they consider relevant to a sex trafficking investigation, as well as free access to hotel registers; this raises serious concerns that the law risks conflating sex trafficking and consensual sex work, therefore subjecting sex workers to increased surveillance and harassment.
At least half the workers in key Cambodian industries were suspended for three or four months during the pandemic, and most were unable to support themselves on government aid, according to a study by the Center for Policy Studies, Solidarity Center and The Asia Foundation that translated the suffering of the country’s low-wage workers into hard data.
A new SAFE TIPS guide, created by Verité, Free the Slaves and MSEMVS, aims to support civil society and community-based organizations in Uttar Pradesh in their efforts to raise awareness among workers and their communities about the risks they face in seeking foreign employment in the Gulf region, and the practical steps they can take to protect themselves.
Amid a second wave of COVID-19 cases in South Asia, Global Fund for Children highlights how its partners in Bangladesh are expanding their work to meet new challenges, in an article on its website. APON and LEEDO, two organizations serving children living or working on the streets of Dhaka, share their response to the pandemic.
Compensation for workplace death in Qatar remains elusive for migrant workers’ families in Bangladesh, who are still waiting for insurance payments or compensation two years after filing their claims.
The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), in partnership with Journalismfund.eu’s Modern Slavery Unveiled programme and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, are hosting a webinar on 24 June to discuss how to report on both sex exploitation and labour abuse, and the best ways for journalists to partner with civil society groups that offer protection to victims of trafficking and slavery.
Equality Now is currently looking for a Regional Communications Manager, Africa, and a Human Resource and Administration Manager to join its international team, working across the globe to build a just world for women and girls.
The Human Trafficking Research Network at QUB Human Rights Centre is hosting an online conference on 17-18 June 2021 on “Challenging Assumptions about Human Trafficking”. The program features a range of emerging research in this area as well as a practitioner roundtable and two keynote speakers.
Share your news
Post your experiences from the field and initiatives to feature