As we are aware of the world is suffering from crises recently in the form of pandemics for which the government has taken many safety precautions in which one of the major is a lockdown. The tagline “STAY HOME STAY SAFE” has become popular during this period of time but does the people’s is really safe at home.
As the phases of lockdown increase violence against children also increases, WHO defines violence as “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either result in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.” It is evident in my cases the violence against children is usually caused by someone known to them like parents, guardians, caretakers, teachers, and sometimes by other children.
One of the major reasons for domestic violence against children during a pandemic is during lockdown all the members of the family are forced to be locked under a single roof with limited sources as many people either lost their jobs or didn’t receive their salary or either get only a fraction of their salary which results in conflicts between the family members which affects the environment, as well as the mental health of the family members which results in violence in the family and children being the youngest, suffers the most.
Domestic violence doesn’t only cause physical damage to the children but also leaves a mark on their mental health; UNICEF said that “violence against children not only threatens children survival and health but also their emotional wellbeing and future prospects”. Pandemic not only affects the physical health of a person but also affects the mental health and in the case of children suffering from domestic violence they are likely to get depressed, become anti-social and live their life in fear. Children exposed to domestic violence at an early age are likely to involve in the bad company as they feel left out from the love and care of their parents and the worst possible scenario is many children end their life because they cannot cope with their situation at home and there is no one is left to rely on.
The government had issued many laws in order to prevent violence against children such as the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act, 2012 still many of the domestic violence cases are not reported and investigated and very few are held accountable for their acts and during the pandemic, the situation gets worst as the connection between peoples is totally cut off which results in the suffering of many children. The main reason for the violence is the peoples are not aware of their own rights, so it is necessary to teach children their rights as a part of their basic education. So, they can tackle their problem or at least a bit of they could take a stand for themselves.
During the pandemic, while the government is using its resources in controlling the pandemic situation the safety of children gets lagged behind. The organizations such as UNICEF and other NGOs must conduct an online education based program to teach children about their rights so they could feel protected even when they are alone.
REFRENCES
- https://www.unicef.org/india/what-we-do/end-violence-against-children
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