Child rights abuse.

Courtesy: UCAN India

Delhi archdiocese prepares women to tackle child abuse                                                  

The archdiocese wants to equip their women leaders so that they can train other people in parishes to address child rights abuse.Posted on July 20, 2012, 8:47 AM

By Bijay Kumar Minj

New Delhi:  The Delhi archdiocese is marshalling its women leaders to check increasing cases of child abuse in India.

“We felt the need to make our women leaders aware about the issues in the backdrop of child abuse cases reported from many states,” said Sister Ann Moyalan, who coordinates the archdiocese’s Justice and Peace Commission.

The commission joined the archdiocese’s women commission and the Council of Catholic Women, Archdiocese of Delhi to organize a workshop for women leaders on Thursday.

Citing cases of child abuses, the Nazareth nun said a child was made to drink her urine in West Bengal and the police in Haryana busted a child sex racket and a school in Karnataka cut the hair of poor students it admitted under the right to education act to distinguish them from other children.

Sister Moyalan said the archdiocese wants to equip their women leaders so that they can train other people in parishes to address child rights abuse.

Augustine Veliath, who was the communication specialist with UNICEF until recently and one of the panelists at the workshop, bemoaned that people remain “silent spectators” of child abuses since they lacked knowledge to fight for the children’s rights. The Indian parliament, he added, passed a bill in its last session that provides for immediate punishment of the guilty.

Veliath urged the women leaders to alert police or their parish priest if they come across any case of child abuse. The Delhi government, he added, has set up a child helpline that people can alert dialing a toll-free number “1098.”

The Catholic lay leader also wants the Church leaders to collaborate with each other to build a network to help children in distress.

Another panelist, Supreme court lawyer Abraham Pattiani who spoke on various forms of child abuse and child rights, regretted that parents now choose the timing and gender of a child even before birth, trends that go against Church teachings.

Parents are now so self- centered and carrier-oriented that they don’t have enough time for their children. They heavily depend on maid servants and grandparents to take care of the children for them, Pattiani added.

Child Abuse , Delhi Archdiocese , Women Commission