336% Increase of Child Rape\u00a0Cases from 2001 to 2011<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Asian Centre for Human Rights in its report, \u201cIndia\u2019s Hell\u00a0Holes: Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.achrweb.org\/reports\/india\/IndiasHellHoles2013.pdf<\/a>) stated that\u00a0sexual offences against children in India have reached an epidemic\u00a0proportion and a large number of them are being committed in the juvenile\u00a0justice homes run and aided by the Government of India. The report has\u00a0been submitted in advance to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against\u00a0Women, Ms Rashida Manjoo who is conducting an official visit to India from\u00a022 April to 1 May 2013 while ACHR is scheduled to meet the Rapporteur on\u00a023 April 2013.<\/p>\n The 56-page report, citing National Crimes Record Bureau statistics,\u00a0stated that a total of 48,338 child rape cases was recorded from 2001 to\u00a02011 and India saw an increase of 336% of child rape cases from 2001\u00a0(2,113 cases) to 2011 (7,112 cases). These are only the tip of the iceberg\u00a0as the large majority of child rape cases are not reported to the police\u00a0while children regularly become victims of other forms of sexual assault\u00a0too.<\/p>\n Among the states, Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of child rape\u00a0cases with 9,465 cases from 2011 to 2011; followed by Maharashtra with\u00a06,868 cases; Uttar Pradesh with 5,949 cases; Andhra Pradesh with 3,977\u00a0cases; Chhattisgarh with 3,688 cases; Delhi with 2,909 cases; Rajasthan\u00a0with 2,776 cases; Kerala with 2,101 cases; Tamil Nadu with 1,486 cases;\u00a0Haryana with 1,081 cases; Punjab with 1,068 cases; Gujarat with 999 cases;\u00a0West Bengal with 744 cases; Odisha with 736 cases; Karnataka with 719\u00a0cases; Himachal Pradesh with 571 cases; Bihar with 519 cases; Tripura with\u00a0457 cases; Meghalaya with 452 cases; Assam with 316 cases; Jharkhand with\u00a0218 cases; Mizoram with 217 cases; Goa with 194 cases; Uttarakhand with\u00a0152 cases; Chandigarh with 135 cases; Sikkim with 113 cases; Manipur with\u00a098 cases; Arunachal Pradesh with 93 cases; Jammu and Kashmir with 69\u00a0cases; Andanam and Nicobar Island with 65 cases; Puducherry with 41 cases;\u00a0Nagaland with 38 cases; Dadra and Nagar Haveli with 15 cases; and Daman\u00a0and Diu with 9 cases.<\/p>\n Many of the child rape cases take place in juvenile justice homes\u00a0established under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)\u00a0Act, 2000 and by the end of financial year 2011-2012, about 733 juvenile\u00a0justice homes were fully supported by the Government of India under the\u00a0Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) of the Ministry of Women and\u00a0Child Development.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will not be an understatement to state that juvenile justice homes,\u00a0established to provide care and protection as well as re-integration,\u00a0rehabilitation and restoration of the juveniles in conflict with law and\u00a0children in need of care and protection, have become India\u2019s hell holes\u00a0where inmates are subjected to sexual assault and exploitation, torture\u00a0and ill treatment apart from being forced to live in inhuman conditions.\u00a0The girls remain the most vulnerable. It matters little whether the\u00a0juvenile justice homes are situated in the capital Delhi or in the\u00a0mofussil towns.\u201d \u2013 stated Mr Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for\u00a0Human Rights.<\/p>\n The 56-page report also highlights 39 emblematic cases of systematic and\u00a0often repeated sexual assault on children in juvenile justice homes. Out\u00a0of the 39 cases, 11 cases were reported from government-run juvenile\u00a0justice homes such as observation homes, children homes, shelter homes and\u00a0orphanages, while in one case a CWC member was accused of sexual\u00a0harassment during counseling sessions. The remaining 27 cases were\u00a0reported from privately\/NGO run juvenile justice homes such as shelter\u00a0homes, orphanages, children homes, destitute homes, etc. Majority of\u00a0privately\/NGO run homes are not registered under Section 34(3) of the\u00a0Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (as amended in\u00a02006).<\/p>\n In the case of government-run juvenile justice homes, the perpetrators\u00a0were staffs including the caretakers, security guards, cooks and other\u00a0Class IV employees, and the senior inmates. In two cases, the sexual\u00a0abuses were committed by the senior inmates in collusion with the staff.<\/p>\n With respect to the privately\/NGO-run juvenile justice homes, the\u00a0perpetrators include managers\/ directors \/ owners\/founders and their\u00a0relatives and friends, staff members such as caretakers, wardens, cooks,\u00a0drivers, security guards, gatekeepers, senior inmates and outsiders\u00a0including security forces. Out of the 27 cases in privately\/NGO-run homes,\u00a0inmates were responsible for the offences in five cases and out of these,\u00a0in one case offence was committed in collusion with the staff.<\/p>\n \u201cIn most cases, sexual assault in the juvenile justice homes continues for\u00a0a long period as the victims are not able to protest and suffer silently\u00a0in the absence of any inspection by the authorities under the JJ(C&PC)\u00a0Act. While authorities of the juvenile justice homes are the main\u00a0predators, the absence of separate facilities, in many cases for boys and\u00a0girls, and in most cases as per age i.e. for boys and girls up to 12\u00a0years, 13-15 years and 16 years and above as provided under Rule 40 of the\u00a0Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Rules 2007 facilitates\u00a0sexual assaults on the minor inmates by the senior inmates.\u201d \u2013 further\u00a0stated Mr Chakma.<\/p>\n Asian Centre for Human Rights blamed the Government of India i.e. the\u00a0Ministry of Women and Child Development and the State Governments for the\u00a0continuing sexual assault on children in the juvenile justice homes. The\u00a0National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, State Commissions for\u00a0Protection of Child Rights and the Child Welfare Committees intervene only\u00a0after crimes are reported but there are no preventive mechanisms or\u00a0regular inspections.<\/p>\n The report highlighted four major failures for the continuing sexual\u00a0assaults in the government run and aided or unregistered juvenile homes.<\/p>\n First, most State governments have not formed Inspection Committees which\u00a0are mandated to inspect the juvenile justice homes and report at least\u00a0once in every three months. Though the Ministry of Women and Child\u00a0Development while approving projects for all the States and Union\u00a0Territories under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme since 2010, it\u00a0never raised the issue of Inspection Committees with the Governments of\u00a0Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh,\u00a0Meghalaya and Nagaland despite having yearly meetings for the last three\u00a0years. In fact, no separate budgetary allocation has been made under ICPS\u00a0for the functioning of the Inspection Committees. There is a conscious\u00a0effort on the part of the Ministry to avoid the issue of the Inspection\u00a0Committees.<\/p>\n Second, there are hundreds of unregistered child care homes across the\u00a0country despite the requirement to register the same within six months\u00a0under JJ(C& PC) Act, 2006. Inspection is seldom carried out in these\u00a0unregistered homes and children remain extremely vulnerable to sexual\u00a0abuse in these homes. The Ministry of Women and Child Development had\u00a0raised the issue of non-registration of children\u2019s home with Jharkhand on\u00a021 January 2013, Odisha on 9 November 2012, Arunachal Pradesh on 29 August\u00a02012, Haryana on 29 August 2012, Rajasthan on 29 August 2012, Andhra\u00a0Pradesh on 11 July 2012, Assam on 11 July 2012, Mizoram on 15 March 2012,\u00a0Karnataka on 28 June 2012 and Kerala 17 January 2012, among others, but\u00a0unregistered children\u2019s homes exists across the country. In many cases\u00a0funds are given by the State Governments even if institutions are notregistered under the JJ(C& PC) Act.<\/p>\n There is no punitive provision per se for non-registration of the\u00a0institutions but Section 23 of the JJ(C&PC) Act allows the authorities to\u00a0take action against willful neglect, mental or physical suffering of\u00a0children but little action is taken.<\/p>\n Third, though there are 462 District Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) in 23\u00a0States mandated to verify fit institutions, majority of them exist only on\u00a0paper. The State Government of Karnataka in October 2010 put the\u00a0conditions that \u201cmembers of the CWCs cannot visit child care institutions,\u00a0when they are not holding a sitting, without prior permission of the heads\u00a0of these institutions\u201d, thereby prohibiting random and surprise\u00a0inspections.<\/p>\n Fourth, though Rule 40 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of\u00a0Children) Rules 2007 provides for separate facilities between for boys and\u00a0girls as well as according to age i.e. for boys and girls up to 12 years,\u00a013-15 years and 16 years and above, this provision has not been complied\u00a0with. The lack of segregation on the basis of gender, nature of offences\u00a0and age facilitates senior inmates to commit the offences against minor\u00a0inmates including girls.<\/p>\n Asian Centre for Human Rights stated that the Protection of Children from\u00a0Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) will not address the menace of child\u00a0sexual abuse unless the Government of India creates a Special Fund under\u00a0the Integrated Child Protection Scheme to provide financial assistance for\u00a0prosecution of the offenders under the POCSO.<\/p>\n Asian Centre for Human Rights also, among others, recommended immediate\u00a0establishment of the Inspection Committees in all the districts and\u00a0mandatory inspection of the juvenile justice homes by the Inspection\u00a0Committees in every three months; stopping funds to any home unless\u00a0inspection reports are submitted; \u00a0separate budgetary allocations for the\u00a0functioning of the Inspection Committees, ban on posting of male staff in\u00a0girls\u2019 homes, separation of residential facilities based on the nature of\u00a0offences, gender and age, completion of inspection of all unregistered\u00a0homes within six months and registration of cases against the authorities\u00a0of the unregistered juvenile justice homes.<\/p>\n ______________________________<\/p>\n Asian Centre for Human Rights\u00a0<\/i>has Special Consultative Status with the UN ECOSOC. suhaschakma@achrweb.org <\/a>Website: www.achrweb.org<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n Press Release received by email.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 336% Increase of Child Rape Cases from 2001 to 2011 – Asian Centre for Human Rights in its report, \u201cIndia\u2019s Hell Holes: Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes\u201d stated that sexual offences against children in India have reached an epidemic proportion and a large number of them are being committed in the juvenile justice homes run and aided by the Government of India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,180,139,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-brics","category-justice","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28028\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}