Tuesday, July 29, 2014

The lost smile

Reading newspapers these days fills a parent with anxiety. Numerous incidents of child sexual abuse are reported on a daily basis. The worst and most worrying among them was the abuse of a little girl in a school in Bangalore. A place that every parent expects their wards to get safety becomes the scene of abuse and worse still, hushes up the matter until there is a public hue and cry.
How much can one explain to a little girl? How well can she keep herself safe? Mira tells me that she has received instructions from school about bad touch and avoiding strangers. So much so that she avoids smiling at the regulars too. In fact, of late she doesnt like to go to shops because strangers smile at her!
Little girls are forced to forgo their childhood and be conscious of the world around them - not to look at them with wide-eyed wonder but with alertness and suspicion.
The poor little boys get sidelined in this effort to protect little girls. They are equally susceptible to abuse and mentals scars. Are we living in a more unsafe world now or are we reporting things that went unreported when we were children?

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