Arpan - Towards Freedom from Child Sexual Abuse

The content has been created in workshop mode after numerous discussions and consultations with the MoE, MoHFW, NCERT, PHFI, UN agencies such as UNFPA, UNESCO and other civil society organisations such as Arpan over 2 years. – Safety and Security against Violence and Injuries (within which we have included Personal Safety Education) – Promotion of safe use of Internet, Gadgets and Media (within which we have included how to be safe online) Whilst the programme has been envisaged for all school going children from pre-primary to senior secondary, to begin with, it has been initiated from the upper-primary stage (age 11 years and above). The programme will be delivered through two trained teachers in every school designated as Health and Wellness Ambassadors and is envisaged to reach 260 million (26 crore) children.

While the context of the movie tries to take a coming of age stance that shows a young girl grappling with personal challenges versus a changing digital culture and reclaiming her childhood at the end of the movie, it fails in its treatment of this context. Fifty eight minutes into the movie the lead child actress is shown twerking for two men who manage a facility the girls had entered without making the requisite payments, one of the men is shown to be checking the girl out and enjoying her actions. While the intent behind the making of the movie may have been positive, the treatment of the movie making process, the final scenes that the audience views, as well as the basic content of the movie itself places children in an unsafe sexualised environment and subjects the artists of the movie to possible consumption of the movie in an unsafe manner. The filmmakers and Netflix have stated that the intent of the movie was to throw light on and criticize the hypersexualisation of young children, especially young girls.

The nation is at a standstill – families are huddled indoors, schools are shut and anxiety and frustration levels are at peak. Home is not always a safe space, and post reports of spikes in domestic violence helplines, comes more sobering news: The Childline India helpline received 50 percent more calls than usual during the first 11 days of lockdown. In the 10 days of the lockdown – between 20 and 31 March, we saw a 50% increase from the typical period – normally would receive two lakh calls but this time we received around three lakh. From these, we conducted 4800 interventions where we physically went to the child in need.

Soledad Herrero, Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF India, said the focus has been more on a legalistic and responsive approach, and less on prevention and changes in social behaviour. It is critical to provide the right protection programmes to adolescents as life skills are important for the children to become selfreliant and emotionally regulated humans who can make the right decisions,” she said. Ms. Herrero said programmes for adolescents’ parents are important to ensure the family is well equipped and prepared to deal with their needs and questions, energy and excitement. Professor Saroj Yadav, Dean (Academic), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), spoke of the role teachers play in shaping adolescents’ lives.