About
Child Sexual Abuse is a topic which is rarely discussed in India thanks to the social stigma and cultural taboos associated with it. Nonetheless, research does show that over 53 per cent of our children, across SECs, geographical locations and age groups report some degree of sexual abuse.
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Month – CSAAM – is an annual awareness programme organised by a voluntary collective of bloggers and social networkers. It aims to break the deafening silence that surrounds this taboo topic in India. It targets parents, teachers and caregivers of children of both sexes and all ages, offering vital information on CSA, including an online collection of CSA-related resources. It gives a voice to victims and offers hope to those who are still struggling with the after-effects of CSA.
CSAAM 2011 mainly consisted of personal testimonials, live Twitter discussions and considerable support from NGOs such as RAHI, Arpan, Tulir; public figures like filmmaker Onir and CSA crusader Harrish Iyer; media houses such as Midday, Mint Lounge, DNA, Bangalore Mirror, The Alternative, TOI, Blogadda etc.
CSAAM 2012 hopes to be all that and more, this time focusing even more strongly on presenting resources and differing points of view and reaching out to more people through videos, workshops and our very own mobile app
The Blog-A-Thon will occur through the month of April 2012 and if you want to be a part of this please leave a comment or mail us at csa.awareness.april@gmail.com
THis is a good initiative. Maybe someone can put toghether a small “infosheet” or a poster or a pdf to capture telltale signs, what to look for in behaviour etc.
It may also have email ids or contact numbers or centres around India captured in one place so that they can be contacted in case required.
Kaizer.
Yes, Kaizer, thank you for the comment, this has already been planned and will be ready at the end of the month with a compilation of all the posts on the blog as well.
It is a wonderful initiative. I think everyone should be made aware of the issues surrounding CSA. Even if we don’t have kids, I think we should at the very least make our friends & family aware of all this so that they can protect their kids.
I think at the end as Kaizer pointed out, all the information should be pulled together to create a small information booklet with tips to avoid, dealing with the situation, support groups etc.
The blog will remain open and accessible to all with all the information we compile this month. The booklet has been previously discussed, let us see how much we can do.
Dear Moderators,
Congratulations!
For your concerted effort to raise awareness about CSA in India.
Keep up the good work and along the way difference will be made.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
–Margaret Mead
Peace,
Desi Girl
Thank you DG. It’s good to have you on board with us.
Hi,
I am a writer and avid blogger with the international site Yankodesign.com Although my focus has been on design, I’d like to contribute to your blogathon. Do drop me a line to let me know how I can be a contributer
Oops! Sorry for the typos, didn’t spell check before sending! My bad!
Swetha, why don’t you mail us at csa.awareness.april@gmail.com and let’s take it from there. In the meantime, there is a live Twitter chat planned today between 11am and 12 pm (IST) with Sanjay Suri and Onir, perhaps you would like to jump in?
A very disturbing scenario – http://www.ted.com/talks/sunitha_krishnan_tedindia.html
Thanks for sharing the link, Swetha.
American idol judge, Kara DioGuardi says she was molested, date-raped
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/19/us-dioguardi-idUSTRE73I69020110419
The cycle starts early in childhood and continues late into life because the victim freezes every time it happens.
Peace,
Desi Girl
Thanks for the link, Desi Girl.
I have added the logo to two posts I wrote earlier on the subject.
IHM can we request u to send us the links to those posts
Yeah, here are the two links,
http://indianhomemaker.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/sex-education-has-nothing-to-do-with-blue-films/
(Sex education has nothing to do with blue films.)
http://indianhomemaker.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/its-child-abuse-not-an-affair/
(It’s child abuse not an ‘affair’)
Thanks!
Next step of CSA is human trafficking. We have seen how sexually abused girl children are vulnerable to further exploitation here is a video please check it http://girlsguidetosurvival.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/love-sex-aur-dhokha-a-tale-of-blackmail/
Unless we start treating every child as our own child we can not confront the issue directly.
Peace,
Desi Girl
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Hey there.
I know I’m one year and a few months too late in getting on this blog. But I’ve only just started blogging. And this is an issue I feel very strongly about; being a victim myself. I work in the advertising field now and have been trying for a while to do some work in the area. Does anyone here know of any ways in which I could get the communication to go public. These are basically ads that I have created to help people break the silence around child sexual abuse.
Peace.
Kabir
Hi ! why not ask for volunteers and have workshops/ training programme related to the issue with these volunteers in different cities so that they can provide their services in their localities. I think this will help to spread awareness, empower and also help abused-suvivors!!
Hi Folks! I am glad to announce that we a small group of concerned citizens have formed ourselves into a team (9 in all) to work in the field for prevention of csa…we are in the twin cities of Hyderabad/Secunderabad and go about quietly meeting the various stakeholders — parents, teachers and other adults who are also concerned — to spread the awareness about csa. We call ourselves Break The Silence. Tulir from Chennai is our guiding star and we agree that it takes a community to protect a child. Though there is a lot of material and information on the web in my opinion what we need is more people actually TALKING about it and taking action in the actual world and that is exactly what we try to do in a very small way.
http://wcd.nic.in/act/protectionbill.pdf The legal details are given here but it is a lot to go through.
Advocacy is something that is an attempt to create legal/medical infrastructure to protect/heal affected children.
But what EVERYONE can do is sensitizing other adults about this huge and horrid issue on a day-to-day basis so that knowledge and ACTION spreads.
We are Break The Silence are willing to support any group that is ready to take this initiate with material and know how. Active volunteers for the twin cities are welcomed with open arms.
We may be contacted at breakthesilencecoreteam@gmail.com