Child tracfficking, child sexual abuse deliberated
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 20 2022:
A one day State level advocacy meeting on 'Effectively Addressing Child Trafficking and Child Sexual Abuse' was held today at the Tribal Research Institute (TRI), Chingmeirong.
The advocacy meeting was jointly organised by the Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MCPCR) and FXB India Suraksha.
Delivering the keynote address, Member Secretary MCPCR, Regina Hongray lauded the initiatives of the Social Welfare Department, MCPCR, NGOs which have been striving sincerely to curb the rising cases of child trafficking and child sexual abuse in the State.
Asserting that the root cause of child trafficking is poor economic status, she maintained that children from extreme poor households are being compelled to work as domestic help in bigger cities just to earn money and support their families.
|
She further highlighted the importance of sensitizing the teenagers and their parents about the harsh working conditions in such cities with regards to the incidents where these child domestic workers have been prohibited to contact their families by their employers thereby keeping their parents in dark about their pitiable conditions.
Sometimes they are not even allowed to their hometowns which is really unfortunate, she added.
In view of the rising cases of child sexual abuse in the State, she stressed on the need of raising awareness among the public and making concerted efforts to keep a check on these cases and to save young lives from falling prey to such heinous crimes.
Speaking at the programme, Joint Director of Social Welfare, Bantee Singh Konthoujam maintained that child sexual abuse is a matter of grave concern not only for the State but for the entire country.
Expressing concern over the increasing rate of child trafficking and child sexual abuse in the State, he underscored the need to analyse the effectiveness and reach of one stop centres, women helpline, child helpline etc at grass root level and to rectify the shortcomings accordingly.
He further informed that POCSO conviction rate in Manipur is one of the highest in the country which shows that trials of such cases are carried out in an effective manner.
MCPCR Chairperson, Phurailatpam Manibabu Sharma also attended the programme as the presidium members.
During the technical session, many resource persons spoke on different topics related to child trafficking and child sexual abuse.