2,118 kids called for help in nearly five years

CHANDIGARH: An 11-year-old-girl in June dialed 1098 to tell how her mother’s colleague had been sexually harassing her for last few months and her mother was ignoring her complaints — a plea for help that was answered with the arrest of the accused within minutes. She is one of 2,118 children to have called Childline India Foundation, an NGO working under the ministry of women and child development, from January 1, 2015, till September 10, 2019, in the city.
Sangeeta Jund, project director, Childline, said cases of sexual and physical abuse are on the rise in the city. In most of the sexual abuse cases, the accused were family members, relatives and acquaintances, she said.

As many as 568 calls were in connection with physical and sexual abuse of children. According to the data, Childline received 76 calls related to child abuse in 2015-16. The next year the figure rose to 108, while it was 187 in 2017-18. The calls dropped to 144 in 2018-19, while 69 have been received from April to September this year so far.
Experts said parents or children should come forward to report abuse cases to police or the helpline, so that children get a quick response. “In most of the cases, parents hesitate to report such cases due to social stigma, But as and when the helpline has received any kind of information from any source, our officials have responded immediately and provided all sorts of assistance to the affected child,” Jund said.
Calls related to child labour were second on the list at the helpline. Data showed 349 calls were received at 1098. In 2015-16, the number was 48. It rose to 66 in 2016-17, 99 in 2017-18 and then dropped to 84 calls in 2018-19. This year, 52 have complained about child labour so far.
Childline has rescued children from begging in the city. A total of 325 calls related to child begging from different parts of city were received in the last nearly five years.
On the other hand, children and parents have also called the helpline for counselling and seeking emotional support and guidance. The helpline has received 120 such calls in the nearly five years.
Colonel Ravi Bedi (retd), director, Childline, said helpline conducts awareness drives in markets and public places to make people aware about 1098. “Our staff members go to schools and tells children to speak up against sexual or physical abuse,” he said.
(The victims' identities have not been revealed to protect their privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)