MANEKA BATS FOR COMPENSATION FOR MALE VICTIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Woman and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday proposed amendment of an existing "scheme" for boys, who have been raped or sexually exploited, to be compensated on the lines of a similar law for girls.

She also announced a study on male survivors of child sexual abuse – a first-of-itskind study exclusively for males, reports PTI.

"Another much neglected sphere of child sexual abuse is male survivors. Child sexual abuse (CSA) is gender neutral. Boys who are sexually abused as children spend a lifetime of silence because of the stigma and shame attached to male survivors speaking out. It is a serious problem and needs to be addressed," she said in her response to a petition on Change.org by filmmaker Insia Dariwala on male child sexual abuse.

The minister said that following the petition, she had instructed the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in September 2017, to look into the issue of male survivors.

"As per recommendations that emerged from the conference, it was unanimously decided that there should be an amendment in the existing scheme for victims of CSA, to also include compensation for boys who have been sexually abused or raped," she said.

During this conference, the NCPCR studied a preliminary research conducted by Dariwala with 160 male survivors of sexual abuse from across the country, which revealed a possible correlation between unresolved sexual trauma on boys, and increasing violence on women and children.