Is it abuse if parents ‘fight’ in the presence of their child? Is verbal or emotional abuse more harmful than physical abuse? These, and more thought-provoking questions were posed to parents at a workshop on child safety organised by Child Aid Project (CAP), a social enterprise.
Yashna Singhvi and Kashfa Haque, co-founders of the Chennai-based CAP, said that the idea was to encourage an open dialogue with parents who wished to make a positive impact on their children’s lives.
“In December last year, we came up with the idea based on personal experiences,” said Ms Haque. So far, the bootstrapped social enterprise had organised two workshops and the response had been promising.
“Parenting plays a major role in prevention of abuse,” said Ms Singhvi and added that while sexual abuse and physical abuse was acknowledged, child neglect was not discussed as much. CAP, which had a team of six, including two psychologists, believed in early intervention as a tool to build resilience and create open dialogue.
The social enterprise had designed a series of non-verbal activities which parents and children were expected to be part of. The activities, collated in a book, seek to explore important areas such as whom the child can trust, among other aspects. The Safety Circle, one such activity, helps the child to talk about whom he or she could trust in case there arises a need to keep themselves and their bodies safe.