CHILD RAPES : OUR RESPONSE "Friday Balcao" at Goa Desc,Mapusa-Goa, on Children's Day focussed on what each one of us can do about preventing and mitigating child rapes.
In addition to representatives of Sangath Centre, Childline, CHildren's Rights in Goa and Goa Desc, there were individuals interested in the welfare of the children who are potential or actual victims of rape/molestation. The participants cut across gender, religion, profession and other barriers. Some were trained in counselling,others were not. The common factor was the interest in the subject. If there was a representative of the Bailancho Saad, I do not know. One of the first points to be discussed was that the issue should not pop up only when a crime is reported. There is a Konkani saying, "Dislem moddem, ailem roddnem" [ meaning "When one sees a corpse,the wailing begins anew."]. This has been happening in Goa for the last few years. A sustained effort needs to be made to resolve this issue. The CRG representative informed that the Goa Police call for a meeting to discuss such issues whenever there is a rape. The same issues come up at every meeting. It was agreed that such circumstances are indicative that we have not moved forward; that nothing has come out of the previous meeting. Roland Martins suggested that at the start of each meeting, the agenda should be decided and a person identified to record the minutes. All parties to the meeting should sign the minutes and the convening agency should circulate the minutes shortly there after. The next meeting should start with an Action Taken Report[ATR]. This was specially needed as the person in charge in a Government Organisation[GO] or in a NGO may change, the post remains. The new incumbent should shoulder the responsibility of his/her predecessor. The question of "School Management Committees" was part of the agenda circulated earlier. In a city school, the action taken against a teacher for corporal punishment could not be confirmed in a court of law because the "managing Committee" was not legally constituted. The problem in case of a rape of the student is the same. It was agreed that most agencies[religious/minority/trusts/societies] operating schools do not constitute Management Committees as per the law because they consider the presence of teachers and/or the parents of students in the management as an 'obstacle' to their style of functioning. It was pointed out that the management of an institution in Mapusa has recently back-tracked on the assurance given by the Principal in a PTA's AGM that the "Infrastruture loan-cum-grant" scheme of the Goa Government would be utilized to build an extension to the school building. Such a back-track would have become inconvenient if there were representatives of the parents in the Managing Committee. When there is no accountability for the funds, it is difficult to enforce accountability of behaviour. People living in glasshouses cannot throw stones at others. The action of the Director of Education,Mr.Ashok Desai, in suspending a teacher who allegedly molested primary school students was appreciated. Participants expressed surprise that not a single case of molestation was so far registered against bus conductors,whereas molestation[fondling/groping/pinching/patting] of children during their journeys to school and back are common occurrences. One of the participants said that a mother had confided in her that she put thick innerwear for her child as she had no option but to send the child to school in the same bus .There was no other affordable means of transport for her. Such a problem had claimed the life of Lindalifa Gonsalves in the early 1990s. It is almost like the suggestion, "When rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it." However that is the situation. The tendency is not to complain for fear of victimization. All the participants were unanimous that the Goa Children's Act,2003, should be put to the test in practice. All the NGOs would assist the Secretary[WCD] and the Government machinery to implement the Act. The Rules need to be framed, the Children's Court set up,State Commisiion for Children constituted within the time frame of six months as per the Act, set up village level committees, Victim assistance unit and child support groups. One of the NGOs would take the lead to have an awareness meeting to inform the people about the Act and to elicit their support. All NGOs would support the implementation of the Act and then work to plug the loopholes therein. The Avelino Pinto case of Mapusa would be a test case. The setting up an equivalent of JAPU[Juvenile Assistance Police Unit] in Goa needs to be considered if the JAPu are not set up under the Juvenile Justice Act as in Maharashtra. Mumbai has JAPU; in Goa the normal police force that deals with hardened criminals also deals with the juvenile delinquents. This is not desireable. The need to constitute a permanet "Medical Board" and to have the victim and the alleged perpetrator of the crime examined in two different time frames or places in GMC was discussed. In the recent cases, the child victims were made to wait for 7 to 10 hours in hospital for the "constitution" of the medical board and examined almost simultaneously with the alleged criminal. This is totally undesireable. Each school would be encouraged to appoint a respected,efficient retired teacher or any other professional outside the school system as a "Counsellor" for the children. The Education Department may also consider creating a budget to pay an honorarium for such counsellors and make it mandatory for all schools to have one post for the same. Teacher counsellors have been started in some schools. This is a good trend and needs to be encouraged. Childline and CRG have extracted the relevant Sections of the Goa Children's Act,2003, and made pamphlets for hotels and cybercafe owners to be aware of their responsibilities under the Act. There will be a follow up on this "Friday Balcao". Keep in touch. Viva Goa. Miguel --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.530 / Virus Database: 325 - Release Date: 10/22/2003 ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
