NEED FOR COMMUNICATION MOST PRESSING NOW

Rohini (name changed) was sexually abused by her own brother in the absence of her mother Suneeta, who was working and a single parent to her two children. Even though Rohini informed her mother about the incident, she neither believed her nor took any action to check if it was true. After two long years of abuse, Rohini committed suicide. Police interrogation revealed that Rohini was sexually abused and tortured for more than two years by her brother, who was later arrested. “I thought Rohini wanted to move to a hostel and she was giving excuses for the same. Failing to spend enough time with children, I did not try to talk to them about it. I did not know that her own brother would kill her instead of protecting her,” laments Suneeta. In another instance, Ramani was shocked to learn that her driver assaulted her son Karthik quite often and he had informed his schoolteacher about it. Ramani saw no possibility of sexual assault of a boy and did not believe him when Karthik told her the same. Now, Ramani is leading a campaign to spread awareness against sexual harassment of men. In spite of several such incidents of sexual harassment by men, our society still has not learnt to identify the problem early and save women. The same happens to children too because of our inability to communicate to them freely. The inhibitions of Indian society are such, say psychologists. The scenario will change only if mothers try to talk to children early and teach them about what is ‘good touch’ and what is ‘bad touch’. When this newspaper contacted a few parents, most mothers seemed positive about educating children on sexual abuse. However, fathers are still hesitant to talk about it to their children. Though children may be uneasy in the beginning, they should be told to report such incidents to others including friends, peers, family members and teachers if they are abused. In case of men, fathers need to sensitise boys about sexual abuse by men to their sons such as it may be easier for boys to open up to their fathers on such matters. To attain this ideal of communication is a huge challenge facing Indian society.