Market Research Study on Child Abuse INDIA 2007
Somya Agrawal Amish Daniel Nikhil Girme Priyesh Agrawal Siddhartha Das Sneha Bhadoria
(09020541004) (09020541008) (09020541022) (09020541042) (09020541047) (09020541054)
About The Report
In 2005, Ministry of Women and Child Development took the initiative
to
undertake undertake a Study on Child Abuse to understand the extent and magnitude of child abuse in India.
UNICEF and Save the Children for supported the study. Lack of empirical evidence and qualitative information on the dimensions of child abuse and neglect makes it difficult to address the issue in a comprehensive manner. Report provides revealing revealing statistics on the extent and magnitude of various forms forms of child abuse- an area by and large large unexplored. It
will lead to heightened awareness and greater response among families, communities and society at large leading to strong interventions and further studies on child protection.
Definition of Child Abuse Physical Abuse: Abuse: Include hitting, shaking, kicking, beating, or otherwise harming harmi ng a child c hild physically. physically. Sexual Abuse: Abuse: Inappropriate sexual behavior with a child. Emotional Abuse: Abuse: also referred as verbal abuse, mental abuse, and psychological maltreatment. Neglect:: It can be physical, educational, emotional or psychological. Neglect Unreasonable deprivation of his/her basic needs for survival such as food and shelter, shelter, or failure to give timely timel y medical treatment to an injured child. Any act, deed or word which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being.
Critical Concerns
Every fifth child in the world lives in India
Every third malnourished child in the world lives in India
Every second Indian child is underweight
Three out of four children in India are anaemic
Every second new born has reduced learning capacity due to iodine deficiency
Decline in female/male ratio is max in 0-6 years: 927 females per 1000 males
Birth
Retention rate at Primary level is 71.01% (Elementary Education in India Progress
registration is just 62% (RG I-2004)
towards UEE NUEP NUE PA Flash
Girls' enrolment in schools at primary level is 47.79% (Elementary Education in India Progress towards UEE
1104 lakh child labor in the country (SRO 2000)
high as 58 per 1000 live live births (SRS(SRS- 2005) IMR is as high
MMR is equally high at 301 per 100,000 live births (SRS, 2001-03)
Children born with low birth weight are 46% (NFHS-III)
Children under 3 with anemia are 79% (NFHS-III)
Immunization
78%(NFHS- III)
coverage is very low (polio -78.2%, measles-58.8%, DPT-55.3%, BCG-
Research Methodology
Objectives
To assess the magnitude and forms of child abuse a buse in India To study the profile of the abused children and the social and economic circumstances leading to their abuse To facilitate analysis of the existing legal framework to deal with the problem of child abuse in the country To recommend strategies strategies and programme interventions interventions for preventing preventing and addressing issues of o f child abuse.
Indicators of Child Abuse
SAMPLIN SAM PLING G DESIGN DESIGN - Selec Selection tion of zones zones
North
West
Central
South
North East
East
Coverage of the Study This was designed as a national study with purposive sampling covering 13 States in the country. country.
Districts Covered In Each State And Zonal Advisors
Selection of states From each Zone two States were selected sel ected the States ranged from Madhya Pradesh Pradesh to Mizoram the total sample States selected se lected were thirteen. Selection of districts 26 districts (two (two from each State) State) were selected- one from the upper quartile and one from the lower quartile Selection of block Two blocks one from the upper upper quartile and one from the lower were selected from each district, total numbering 52
Selection of respondents Children (5-18 years) Young Adults (18-24 years) Stakeholders Five categories of children (a) Children in family environment, not attending school (b) Children in schools (c) Children in institutional care (d) Working children (e) Street children
50 children were selected from each block 5 x 50 x 4 =1000
Management Structure for Data Collection
Project Assistant
Core Research Team
Research Support Support Team
Zonal Advisors were appointed
A State Project Coordinator
Tool oolss and Tech echniq niques ues of of Data Collection
Child friendly tools
Focus Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) FGDs :conducted amongst a group of 10-12 children Using a range of activities, viz., story telling, songs, games, drawings/paintings, etc.
One-to-one
interaction with children
To elicit specific information Conducted in local languages.
Data Analysis
For data data entry a professional agency hired 17220 questionnaire were converted into general frequency Modified into frequency tables and cross tabulations In 3 months
Core Committee headed by the Joint Secretary did the data analysis and report writing
Limitations in Research Methodology
Little existing information base to build upon Design primarily aimed at collecting data on indicative trends Questions asked from child respondents and those asked from Young adults Stand alone questions were asked without further probing Questionnaire did not ask relevant questions pertaining to socio-economic profile of respondents Neither was the rural-urban divide clear
Limitations Limita tions in Dat Data a Collection
Process was cumbersome cumbersome and time consuming making it difficult diffi cult to prevent prevent data impurities Very large in sample size and geographically spread over 13 different states Sensitivity of the subject made it difficult to probe and collect in-depth information information on different different aspects of abuse Diversified socio-economic scenario
Limitations in Data Analysis
Study took around one and a half years to be completed
Involvement
of various people in different stages of the research design
Data collection was carried carried out by the agency hired for the purpose Final report was prepared by a Core Committee Committee constituted by the MWCD Lack of comprehensive research studies on different forms of abuse made the corroborative corroborative analysis difficult
Major Findings
It has very clearly cl early emerged that across different kinds kinds of abuse, it is young children, in the 5-12 year group, who are most most at risk ris k of abuse and exploitation. exploitatio n.
Physical Abuse 1. Two out out of every every three three childr children en were were physica physically lly abused abused.. 2. Out of 69% children physically abused in 13 sample states, 54.68% were were boys. 3. Over 50% children in all the 13 sample sample states were being subjected to one or the other form of physical abuse. 4. Out of those children physically abused in family situations, situation s, 88.6% were physically abused by parents. 5. 65% of school going children children reported facing corporal punishment punishment i.e. two out of three children were victims of corporal punishment. 6. 62% of the corporal punishment was in government and municipal school. 7. The State of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Delhi have almost consistently consiste ntly reported higher rates of abuse in all forms as compared to other states. 8. Most children did not report the matter matter to anyone. anyone. 9. 50.2% children children worked worked seven seven da s a week week..
Sexual Abuse 1. 53.22% children reported having having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. 2. Andhra Andhra Pradesh, P radesh, Assam, Assam, Bihar and Delhi reported the highest percentage of sexual abuse among both boys and girls. 3. 21.90% child respondents reported facing severe forms of sexual abuse and 50.76% other forms of sexual abuse. 4. Out of the child respondents, 5.69% reported being sexually assaulted. 5. Children in Assam, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Pr adesh, Bihar and Delhi reported the highest incidence of sexual assault. 6. Children on street, children at work and children in institutional care reported the highest incidence of sexual assault. 7. 50% abuses are persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility. 8. Most children did not report the matter to anyone.
Emotional Abuse
and Girl Child Neglect
1. Every Every second second child reported reported facing facing em emotional otional abuse abuse.. 2. Equal percentage of both girls and boys reported facing emotional abuse. 3. In 83% of the cases parents were the abusers. 4. 48.4% of girls girl s wished they were boys.
Conclusion The gravity of the situation demands that the issue of child abuse be placed on the national agenda. The Ministry on its part has taken measures such as the enabling legislation to establish the National and State Commissions Commissions for Protection of Rights of the Child, the draft Offences against Children Bill etc. These are a few important steps to ensure protection of children of the country. But clearly, this will not be enough, the government, civil society and communities need to complement each other and work towards creating a protective environment environment for children. The momentum gained needs to enhance further discussion on the issue amongst all stakeholders and be translated into a movement to ensure protection of children of this country.
References 1. www.NIC.in 2. Worl orld Health Organization (199 1999): Report ort of the Consultation on Chil hild Abuse Prevention; Geneva, http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/neglect/en/
3. Pin Pinhei heiro, P. S. (200 (2006) 6):: Worl orld Repor eportt on Viol Violen ence ce agains inst Child hildrren; en; Unit nited Nations ons Secr Secret eta aryryGeneral's Study on Violence against Children; United Nations, New York http://www.violencestudy.org/r25 4. Inter nterna nati tion onal al Soci Societ ety y for Prev Preven enti tion on of Chil Child d Abus Abuse e and and Negle Neglect ct (200 (2006) 6):: World orld Persp erspec ecti tive vess on Chil Child d Abus Abuse, e, Sixt Sixth h Edit Editio ion, n, http://www.ispcan.org 5. Sen, S & Nair P. M. (2005): Trafficking in Women and Children in India ndia;; Orie Orien nt Long Longma man n Pvt. Pvt. Ltd. Ltd.,, New New Delh Delhii
References 6. Save the Children and Tulir (2006): Abuse among Child Domestic Workers- A Resea esearrch Stud Study y in West est Beng Bengal al,, and and Save Save the the Chil Childr dren en (200 (2005) 5):: Chil Child d Dome Domesstic tic Work: ork: A Viol Violat atio ion n of Huma Human n Righ Rights ts-A -Ass sses essm smen entt of Situ Situat atio ion n in Delh Delhii City City 7. Pagar agare e, D. et. al. al. (2004): 4): Sex Sexual Abuse of Street Children Brough ught to an Observa rvation Home; Home; Delhi. Delhi. 8.Oregon State University, Physical Abuse, http://oregonsta http://or egonstate.edu/ins te.edu/instruct/hdfs444/ph truct/hdfs444/physabuse.html ysabuse.html 9. Save the Children and Tulir (2006): Abuse among Child Domestic Workers- A Resea esearc rch h Stud Study y in West est Beng Bengal al 10.H 10.Hum uman an Righ Rights ts Watch atch,, Stre Street et Chil Childr dren en,, http://hrw.org/children/street.html
References 11. RAHI (1998): Voices Voices from the Silent Silent Zone- A Study on Women's Women's Experiences of Incest and Childhood Sexual Abuse; Delhi
12. As per the NHRC Report on Trafficking in Women and Children in India published in 2005, out of the respondent, 25.9% of women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation were from Andhra Pradesh
13. Save Save the Children and Tulir Tulir (2006): Research Research on Prevalence and Dynamics of Child Sexual Abuse among school going children in Chennai
Study on Child Abuse: INDIA 2007
