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11 June 2003: ACR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Vol.2, No.24
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CONTENTS
SRI LANKA: SRI LANKA CRACKS DOWN ON CHILD ABUSERS
INDIA: CHILD LABOURERS GIVEN LESSONS, THEN SENT BACK TO WORK
IRAQ: IRAQ SURVEY FINDS CHILD HEALTH SLIDING [News]
VIOLENCE: CHILDREN IN ORGANIZED ARMED VIOLENCE [call for information]
CHILD ABUSE: WORLD DAY FOR PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE [call for
participants]
**********************************************************************ACR
Weekly Newsletter will carry reports of children in Iraq along with
other news from around Asia in light of the on-going War on Iraq. To
contribute to our newsletter, email us at acr@ahrchk.net (url:
mailto:acr@ahrchk.net)______________________________________________________________________
SRI LANKA: SRI LANKA CRACKS DOWN ON CHILD ABUSERS
Heightened public awareness, increased vigilance by the government,
and stiffer penalization has triggered a rise in reported cases of
child abuse in Sri Lanka, leading to a higher conviction rate of
offenders.
The chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA),
Professor Harendra de Silva, says there were 386 cases of child abuse
in 2002, up from 276 cases the previous year.
Of these, cases of sexual abuse, totaling 194, topped the list,
followed by those of physical abuse (84).
Unlike earlier, officials working with abused children say that
enhanced awareness of subtler forms of abuse encourages children to
complain to parents or elders. Parents too are now more aware of the
warning signals and where to lodge complaints.
Deputy inspector general of police Sirisena Herath, in charge of the
the women's and children's police headquarters, says 600 girls under
the age of 18 were sexually abused last year.
Shockingly, this figure included two baby girls less than one year
old and 60 under fives, all of whom were sexually molested.
There are over 500,000 children living in difficult circumstances in
Sri Lanka.
The secretary to leading nongovernmental organization PEACE, Shirley
Peiris, stresses that the increase in abuse and crime has occured
within the context of a civil war or its aftermath.
Peiris explains, "With the expansion of tourism, the spread of gun
culture, and the devaluation of social norms, children are subject to
a greater degree of abuse. Abuse was always present, but a
significant proportion of the increase is due to more reporting."
Agrees director of the STD/AIDS (news - web sites) Control Program,
Dr I. Abeywickrema. "More people bring instances of child abuse to
the notice of relevant authorities. They no longer consider it a
stigma to get their children medically examined if it puts the abuser
behind bars."
Two NCPA officers, who wish to remain unnamed, say the spurt in child
abuse is the fall-out of the twenty-year civil war with its attendant
violence, displacement and over-crowding in refugee camps.
After sustained pressure from NGOs, the Sri Lankan government has
amended the country's penal laws, increasing the punishment for child
abuse.
Rape now carries a minimum jail term of nine years and a fine. Rape
with injury and violence carries a stiffer punishment.
A senior officer at Colombo's Borella police station says 80 percent
of such cases heard in the magistrate's court end in conviction.
Nine child abusers were sentenced to imprisonment and had to pay
heavy fines during the last twelve months.
Founder-director of PEACE, Maureen Seneviratne, claims that," Since
1998 there has been a reduction in sexual exploitation due to
vigilance and monitoring."
Officials say steps like publicizing the existence of the NCPA,
greater police surveillance, and the institution of women's and
children's desks in most police stations have helped combat the
scourge.
The authorities have also launched a publicity drive. Posters,
flyers, television spots, seminars and workshops undertaken by the
NCPA are gradually making a difference.
One TV spot advises children not to allow any person to touch or feel
their bodies. Seeing this, a child told his mother, his schoolteacher
did just that. The pedophiliac teacher was immediately hauled up.
The NCPA has instituted 12 district child protection committees in
all provinces in the island, also pressing government officers and
NGO representatives into service.
"Working with the police through the women's and children's division,
we monitor cases of child abuse from the time of reporting till the
hearing in court," explains a young woman attorney-at-law, one of
NCPA's officers.
The police maintain children's and women's desks in almost all police
stations nationwide. These desks coordinate with 34 district offices
of the women's and children's division, facilitating the lodging of
complaints by abused children or their relatives.
A case study by the UK's Save the Children describes the trauma of a
girl in a village in the North Central Province.
Repeatedly raped by her mother's live-in partner, 14-year-old
Wasanthie had a baby but her mother gave it to an orphanage.
The case was reported to the police and on examination Wasanthie was
found to have contracted a venereal disease. She was taken over by
the child probation department and placed in a safe haven.
Whether it is on a downward curve or stable, as Sri Lanka tackles
this depravity on a war footing, child abusers are finally getting
the message: Don't touch the kids. [Source: OneWorld South Asia]
______________________________________________________________________
IRAQ: IRAQ SURVEY FINDS CHILD HEALTH SLIDING [News]
[BAGHDAD / GENEVA / NEW YORK, 14 May 2003] - Two months after the
start of the Iraq war, UNICEF has called for urgent action to halt
what it believes is the plummeting nutritional status of Iraqi
children.
UNICEF today released troubling findings from a rapid nutrition
assessment undertaken in Baghdad, which has found that acute
malnutrition rates in children under five have nearly doubled since a
previous survey in February 2002.
"We can assume that the situation is as bad if not much worse in
other urban centres throughout Iraq," said the UNICEF Representative
in Iraq, Carel De Rooy. "We knew going into the war that Iraqi
children were poorly nourished. These findings make clear that not
enough is being done to turn the situation around. Instead it has
gotten worse."
The UNICEF rapid nutrition assessment was confined to Baghdad because
of general insecurity throughout the country. Nevertheless, it shows
that 7.7 per cent of children under age five are suffering from acute
malnutrition, compared with last year's figure of 4 per cent. Acute
malnutrition signifies that a child is actually wasting away.
[source: UNICEF. For the full story, visit:
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03pr34iraq.htm (url:
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03pr34iraq.htm)]
______________________________________________________________________
INDIA: CHILD LABOURERS GIVEN LESSONS, THEN SENT BACK TO WORK
A 12 year old boy toils for hours in a brick kiln, sweating it out in
the heat. Like him, over one million children work in the state, many
in hazardous conditions, in sugarcane factories and powerloom
-industries banned under the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation
Act, 1986.
State officials aren’t exactly cracking down on these units. Instead,
they are organising two-hour study programmes or seminars for these
working children, occasionally even teaching them about child rights.
The irony appears lost on the state government, but child rights’
organisations have started raising questions about the legitimacy of
the state’s non-formal education programmes. While not denying the
importance of educating children, they contend that the state is over
looking the children’s rescue and rehabilitation.
Activists say that in many cases, parents look upon the government
programmes as a way out of sending their children to school. Hemant
Bhamre, of Lok Vikas Samajik Sanstha in Nashik, points out that
around 300 children dropped out of the municipal school in Nashik to
enrol in the non-formal education classes. Some parents think that
their child can work while studying in these classes. This in fact
enocurages child labour,he says.
Both the central and state governments have a handful of non-formal
education schemes for children out of school. The state government’s
Mahatma Phule Yojana, the central government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
and the labour ministry’s Central Board for Workers Education offer
non-formal education options for working children.
The official line is that these bridge programmes help children join
main stream schools later. Dr. Vasant Kalapande, director of primary
education with the state government’s education department and
project director of Sarva Shiksh Abhiyan, says, Of 15 lakh children
identified as out of school, we could enrol 10 lakh in formal
schools.
But, there are complaints that the classes are conducted by
under-qualified and underpaid teachers. The schemes also suffer
because of poor infrastructure. Many classes are even held in the
workplace of the child.
On the other hand, the labour department-which is supposed to carry
out rescue operatons for children working in hazardous
conditions-conducts two-day seminars for the children and their
parents. Interestingly, the seminars are about ‘child rights’
The department justifies holding seminars for working children by
hiding behind technicalities. The Child Labour Act uses the term
‘regulation’ which means helping working children and parents about
health, hygiene and their rights, says a labour department official.
The department’s responsibility ends with the seminars and NGOs are
expected to follow up from there, he adds.
But Alpa Vora, of Campaign Against Child Labour, says, The solution
lies in giving employment to the parents so that these children can
stop working and study in formal schools. [Source: Times of India,
Mumbai]
______________________________________________________________________
VIOLENCE: CHILDREN IN ORGANIZED ARMED VIOLENCE [call for information]
Viva Rio, in partnership with IANSA (International Action Network on
Small Arms) and Save the Children Sweden, will be coordinating rapid
assessment research regarding children in organised armed violence
(COAV). The research will focus on the use of children in armed gangs
and groups (criminal or other) that function outside of traditional
situations of war or armed conflict.
Viva Rio is looking to identify 10 countries where COAV is considered
a problem and identify local NGOs in these countries to carry out
on-the-ground research studies. Viva Rio has secured funding to meet
in-country research costs for the selected NGOs. They will also be
invited to send one staff member to a research training workshop that
will be held in Rio de Janeiro from June 21st to 24th and travel
expenses for their participation will also be covered. On-the-ground
research studies will be carried out between August and November. A
report will be published in 2004.
For more information, contact:
Luke Dowdney, Coordinator, Children in Armed Violence Viva Rio
Ladeira da Glória 98, Rio de Janeiro, CEP 22211-120. Brasil Tel: 00
55 21 2555 3750; Fax 00 55 21 2558 1381; Email: luke@vivario.org.br
(url: mailto:luke@vivario.org.br)
______________________________________________________________________
CHILD ABUSE: WORLD DAY FOR PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE [call for
participants]
For the third year, the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) calls
on organisations worldwide to organise pertinent activities to mark
World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse on 19 November. Last year 149
organisations joined the international NGO coalition created to mark
the Day.
This year, in order to increase efficiency, WWSF encourages
organisations to not only join the international coalition to mark
the Day, but to create national coalitions linking relevant groups
and actors. This aim of this is to foster collaboration and
strengthen community impact, share prevention measures, protection
skills and rehabilitation programs, and above all, highlight the new
promises made by Heads of State and Government at the UN General
Assembly Special Session on Children in May 2002.
The key is partnership. No single organisation, by itself, can
provide the ongoing research and strategies required to create a
culture of prevention. Coalitions outweigh what one individual member
cannot achieve, and serve as a platform for focused action by all
interested partners; they bring together a range of expertise,
enhance the capacity of individual members by sharing knowledge,
skills and experiences. Coalitions increase public awareness of the
need for effective prevention measures and help mobilise funds for
activities.
To help build coalitions, visit the WWSF website:
http://www.woman.ch/children/1-introduction.asp (url:
http://www.woman.ch/children/1-introduction.asp)
For more information, and to become a coalition member, contact:
Women's World Summit Foundation P.O. Box 2001 ? 1211 Geneva 1 ?
SwitzerlandTel: 00 41 22 738 66 19 Fax: 00 41 22 738 82 48; E-mail:
dignity@vtxnet.ch (url: mailto:dignity@vtxnet.ch) Website:
www.woman.ch (url: http://www.woman.ch)
______________________________________________________________________
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