Editorial
Looming shadows
Data on the increase in sexual assaults of children is alarmingSunita, an eighth grader at a public school in Dholahiti, Patan who worked as a domestic worker, was being sexually exploited by her employer on a daily basis. After facing exploitation for a year, she finally mustered enough courage and told one of her teachers about her abuse. Sunita’s case is currently sub judice in the Supreme Court. Fear, shame and pressure from perpetrators force victims to stay silent.
According to the Women Rehabilitation Centre, an NGO, rapes of minor girls are increasingly being reported in recent times. Their study published on Wednesday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and as a part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence Campaign, shows that more than half of all reported cases of sexual assault in 2014-15 were of minors. This is certainly alarming. Furthermore, the study shows that rape of minors has increased by 6.5 percent over last year. According to a 2014 annual report, ‘State of Rights of Child in Nepal,’ of the National Resource and Information Centre, out of 437 cases of rape reported in 2014, 261 cases were of minors: 157 cases were children under the age of 18 and 110 cases were children under the age of 10, with the youngest victim being two years old.
But these figures might just be the tip of the iceberg as most of the cases of sexual abuse faced by children are not reported. 2015 Child Protection Mapping and Assessment Summary Report by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare assert that because most of the time sexual abuse of a minor is committed by relatives, communities usually choose to resolve the case outside the formal system through monetary compensation or marriage. In many instances parents may not even be aware that their children are going through such a situation because they do not easily confide to their parents. Moreover, children are mostly unaware of sexual advances and can be easily threatened or convinced to keep quiet after being sexually exploited.
According to the proposed Criminal Code bill which is awaiting parliamentary approval, the sentence for a minor can range from 5-8 years to 10-15 years. Some countries in Asia hand out more severe punishment for this heinous crime; for instance, South Korea chemically castrates paedophiles. But just having strict sentences against the perpetrators is not going to be enough. To tackle this issue, systematic intervention is required. Parents need to be encouraged to talk to their children about sexual advances and how they should respond. Sex education should be imparted to children at a young age in schools. An environment needs to be created at home and school where children feel comfortable sharing their experiences, good or bad, so that girls like Sunita do not have to wait for over a year to talk about their situation.