Ranchi, Jharkhand 09 October 2014 :: ADG CID, SN Pradhan along with IG CID, Sampat Meena and UNICEF Jharkhand chief Job Zachariah during a press conference tittled “?? ?? ????……….. ?? ?????, ???? ????” at Suchna Bhawan in Ranchi on Friday. A three month long ENDviolence against children campaign will be launched in Jharkhand on 10 October. The campaign is led by Jharkhand Police and UNICEF with support of the departments of HRD and Social Welfare, media, JHALSA and civil society organizations. The slogan of the campaign is “?? ?? ????……. ?? ?????, ???? ????”
The Additional DGP S N Pradhan said, “Children are being violated and abused physically, sexually and emotionally.Research shows children are being abused in homes and outside and by those they know. These abusers are persons in authority and persons in trust. There is a need to break this ‘culture’ of silence, rather the ‘conspiracy’ of silence.”
During the 3-month long campaign, 65 lakh children in all 40,000 schools will be covered like the polio campaign. The activities include sessions in schools on ENDviolence against children across the state; legal awareness camps in 10 schools each in all 24 districts with support from JHALSA; and capacity building programs on child protection laws and cyber-crime for paralegal volunteers and legal aid lawyers. Besides, capacity building program for senior police officers on key legislations for protection of children from violence; and six divisional level workshops with adolescents are planned. A mobile campaign will run for two weeks to reach out to adolescent girls groups, parents, community members etc.
Job Zachariah, Chief UNICEF Jharkhand said that, “Violence against children happens everywhere, every day. But it remains invisible and most cases are not reported.” He said that there are six strategies to prevent violence against children. “This includes educating parents and teachers on positive disciplining, educating children on abuse and how to protect themselves, changing social attitudes on violence against children and implementing laws relating to protection of children.”
Ms. Sampat Meena, IG Crime said, “There should be ‘zero tolerance’ for violence against boys and girls. Studies show children from all economic and social strata and both in rural and urban areas are victims of violence and abuse which negatively impacts their physical and mental health. A stigma is attached to talking about this issue in society. Training and sensitization for all stakeholders along with a structured response mechanism is needed. Adolescents too need to be made aware as to how to respond and prevent these situations. We must all come together to break the silence and raise our voice.”
The programme was attended by Vineet Kumar [ Cyber Peace ]; Ms. Smita Sharma, Mahila Samakhya and Ms. Priti Srivastava, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF among others
. Lensman :: Ratan Lal
