Recognition and response to child sexual abuse (CSA) by the medical professionals in India

Background & Aims: The health and security of every country’s children are integral to its progress and development. According to the Government of India (GOI) in 2007; over half of Indian children have faced some form of... [ view full abstract ]

Background & Aims: The health and security of every country’s children are integral to its progress and development. According to the Government of India (GOI) in 2007; over half of Indian children have faced some form of sexual abuse. Medical professionals are often the first point of contact for an abused child and are required to take prompt action to provide immediate health care and assure protection of the child. The paper aims to bring awareness and training of the medical professionals to recognize and respond to Child Sexual Abuse (CSA).
Methods: To address the challenges, the Indian Child Abuse Neglect Child labour (ICANCL) group (www.icancl.com) conducted several advocacy and training initiatives in the field of CSA.
Results: The 9th ISPCAN Asia Pacific Conference (2011) Conference was held in New Delhi to raise awareness of the needs of abused children. A new law “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences” (POCSO) Act 2012 created a sense of urgency for a more robust systems response. The Indian Medical Association, UNICEF, and ICANCL faculty conducted several regional training of trainers (TOT) workshops (2014-15). At the National Conferences PEDICON 2013 and CANCL-CON 2015, a series of symposiums were organized on How Medical Professionals should respond to CSA? Given the huge population and socio-economic challenges, efforts were made to implement “personal safety and privacy” guidelines to prevent CSA. The recent GOI initiative to start “One Stop Centre (OSC)” Scheme in every state medical facility to support women and girls below 18 years affected by violence is a great opportunity to collaborate, coordinate services and participate in multidisciplinary training.
Conclusions: This paper will highlight the challenges faced in responding to CSA as well as successful strategies to develop policies, protection and clinical services to support the needs of victimized children in low income countries.