“My uncle, my father and my grandfather keep shoving their hands into my private parts.”

These are the words of a four-year-old.

Every 15 minutes, a child is sexually abused in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

Waging a war against the silence and ignorance surrounding child sexual abuse, Cactus Foundation, aims to raise awareness on the issue to create a safe and healthy environment for India’s children.

The foundation faces considerable hurdles — one of them being families who attempt to shush their children when made aware of such incidents.

“Since the perpetrators are usually known to the families, the members will urge to bury the issue,” says Asif Iqbal, the principal of a school partnering with Cactus.

Contrary to popular belief, boys are at an almost equal risk of sexual abuse.

In a widely-cited 2007 report on child abuse in India by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, 52 per cent to 60 per cent of children who were sexually abused were boys.

Forced to remain quiet by their own families, it is no surprise that boys and girls alike sometimes hesitate to come forward, and continue to suffer needlessly.

This is also what gives perpetrators the courage to continue.

The foundation teaches children to tell the difference between a “safe” or “unsafe” touch, what is considered sexual abuse, and what they should do in case they find themselves in such a situation.

Educating children on this is an important first step to prevention.

Wahida Begum, a teacher with a partnering NGO, has noticed the positive results of such conversations. “Now they tell us: ‘We will tell our parents. If they don’t listen, we will tell the teachers. We will speak until someone listens’.“

And that voice is growing.

“At the end of the day, it is just the first step we are taking to try to create this awareness,” says Nusrat. “Maybe not this generation, but i’m sure the next generation will be bold enough, will be courageous enough to fight and stop child sexual abuse, and to talk about it.”
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Director, Producer and Editor: Anshul Tiwari
Cinematographer: Anurag Solanki
Executive Producers: Ashima Thomas & Von Tan
Text: Shubhpreet Kaur
Photos: Rameshwar Madhukar Irabatti

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