NEW DELHI: This is one place where children in the Capital are most unsafe -- inside their own homes. With the incidences of child sexual abuse on the increase, workshops conducted by Swanchetan Society for Mental Health in 23 schools across the Capital confirmed the worst fears of experts -- that not only are children aware of the concerns that were raised by them, but, worse, parents are sometimes unwilling to confront these uncomfortable questions.

"We had left mobile phones with children in case they needed to get in touch with us and we got 543 phone calls in a three-month period. It was all very well talking about breaking the walls of silence, but the problem was that most parents were not really prepared to face the uncomfortable stuff,'' says Swanchetan director Rajat Mitra.

These workshops were part of Delhi Police's Parivartan, a programme aimed at partnering with the community to reduce crime against women.

While most of the schools visited were mainly Government schools, the problem is not limited to a particular section of society or strata.

With parents unable to talk about setting limits about adult proprietary for their children, it is difficult for children to come out into the open.

"I recently got a call from a young girl who asked me whether it was okay for her mathematics tutor to touch her when she solved a question correctly. When I told her to talk to her mother, she was told that she should continue till her examinations and then she could leave the tutor. When I talked to the mother and explained to her in detail, she first wanted to know if I was not exaggerating the problem,'' said Dr. Mitra.

Overcoming this attitude of parents is a big obstacle, believes Dr. Mitra.

With most schools also wary of touching the topic, child sexual abuse is a subject most people do not want to deal with.

"There is absence of a policy for children who have been abused. There is no alternative that we can provide. I think there should be some screening mechanism for people we allow to have access to our children. Convincing school principals about holding workshops about paedophilia and child sexual abuse is not easy. They want to know if we are not putting this in the minds of the children. But then again, prevention is better than cure,'' he points out.

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