Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 29: Directorate of School Education Jammu, through its Counselling Cell today organized a mega ‘Mothers Centric Parent Teacher Meet (PTM) on POCSO Act and Child Sexual Abuse protection using both online and offline modes in all the schools of Jammu Division, marking the end of one month awareness campaign on provisions of the child protection law.
Around 1.08 lakh stakeholders were sensitized covering students of Primary, Middle, High and Higher Secondary levels and their parents, specifically mothers.
The campaign was launched in response to vulnerability of the children to sexual abuse during COVID-19 pandemic as the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed alarming statistics of crimes against children in India in its recent report.
Director School Education Jammu, Anuradha Gupta said that the objective of the campaign was to make child protection activities sustainable by involving all the stakeholders. She added that such events will go a long way in bringing the much needed social change and build up a healthy atmosphere for the children. She said that child sexual abuse is an issue which is rarely talked about in households as if it did not exist but the statistics reveal a completely different picture. “The most concerning and scary part of it is that in majority of cases the crime is committed by someone within the family or the trusted person making it impossible for the child to share it with parents” she said and added “It is therefore very important that parents, especially mothers, are made aware of the magnitude of the problem and also equipped with the knowledge of the legal provisions like POCSO Act which can help them protect their young ones.”
The month long campaign witnessed panel discussions, counselling sessions, audio and video series by students and teachers contacting PRIs, publication of posters and advisories in newspapers. The students from University Departments who are doing internship training with counselling cell were also involved in this awareness programme.
“There is a dire need to scare the potential culprits by invoking the stringent possible punishment enshrined in the POCSO Act to eliminate the menace of child sexual abuse”, observed Romesh Kumar Sharma, Head Counseling Cell, DSEJ.
The schools from the far flung areas and hilly terrains like Poonch, Ramban, Kishtwar, Rajouri, Doda Kathua, Reasi, Udhampur showed overwhelming response in participation-cum-organizing this mega event.
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