Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi said children are now “not safe anywhere” in the country. We lack proper law enforcement to prevent child trafficking and sexual abuse.

He added that “I refuse to accept that the innocence, smiles and freedom of our children can keep getting stripped and raped. These are not ordinary crimes. This is a moral epidemic haunting our nation.”

Looking at all the incidents that have happened in the recent past, he is absolutely right. We are sitting on a system which was built by the British Empire, and has been untouched for two centuries.

We often look at every aspect of our society and say that they are corrupt, and often doubtful that where we start the change. We can go and on that, there is lack of political will, VIP cultural, slow judiciary and corrupt politicians.

Where to start the change?

In Japan, a child is taught the value of respect, sanitation, the society in early stages of school, much before they’re taught how to read and write. That’s the reason, Japan is one of the safest countries in the world.

In the US, a child has the right to report their parents if they feel unsafe at home and it will then be the State’s responsibility to protect the child.

This kind of culture has created a safe environment for children, However, in India, a child feels scared and unsafe from those in uniform. In fact, parents scare their kids saying that the police will catch them if they don’t behave properly.

I often wonder that if those people who are meant to protect makes us scared, how can we expect our children to feel safe?

I was interacting with an NGO which works with abuses against children said that “Police often would come back and say that the child has withdrawn the case.” Most often, children are hesitant to open up in front of authority figures, which often means that their abuse goes unnoticed and unreported.

Shouldn’t we have a dedicated trained team to deal with crimes against children?