Keep watch on bullies to stop child abuse in care homes: Govt

NEW DELHI:  Expressing concern over child sexual abuse cases, the women and child development (WCD) department of the Delhi government has issued directions to heads of all child care institutions to conduct regular orientation of their staff and inmates, safety audit, and installation of CCTV cameras to prevent such incidents. 

Dr Rashmi Singh, director of the department, has also ordered to segregate bullies and ‘dominating’ inmates and provide regular counselling to them. The superintendents or in-charge of all child care homes have also been issued a list of dos and don’ts to deal with abuse cases. 

“To prevent the incidents of sexual assaults and sexual abuse in the child care institutions, superintendents are hereby directed to ensure dos and don’ts, which shall be adopted for supportive behavior towards child victims,” said the order issued by the department on Tuesday.

There are 101 child care homes including 78 centres being managed by different NGOs in the national capital, where hundreds of children up to the age of 18 years are provided care and protection. The government runs 23 such facilities. 

“Children who are dominating and bullying should be identified to provide regular counseling and kept on a close watch or be segregated, if needed, so that they don’t harm fellow residents,” the order said. The heads and in-charge of the centres have also been directed to be more proactive and interactive to win the trust of the children so that they can address any issue conveyed by the inmates. 

The welfare officers, counselors, or mental health experts have also been instructed to report sexual abuse incidents to the concerned authorities within a ‘strict time frame’. “Mental health units attached to child care institutions (CCI) shall deal with sexual assault in a proactive manner and provide regular counseling and report to the department if anything untoward is seen immediately. If needed, psychological and psychiatric treatment must be taken on record.

Ensure that staff posted at CCIs is more vigilant to avert such incidents,” read the order. All CCIs have also been asked to organise regular orientation sessions with the children on good touch and bad touch and conduct safety audits including staff and infrastructure.