One girl child is sexually abused in every 15 minutes in India, experts said at a roundtable organised by Visakha Forum for Child Rights (VFCR) and Rotaract Club on prevention of girl child sexual abuse at Durgabai Deshmukh Centre for Womens Studies of Andhra University, on Thursday.

Referring to the National Crime Record Bureau survey, they pointed out that more than 1.04 lakh cases were registered under the POCSO Act in the country between 2014 and 2016, with 36,022 being reported alone in 2016, which included 19,765 rape cases and 12,262 sexual assaults.

Around 24,000 children and women were identified as victims of human trafficking in 2016, with a rise of nearly 25% over that of the previous year. Visakhapatnam district recorded 320 cases under POCSO Act from 2012 to 2018, which is a fairly alarming figure, VFCR president Prof. RD Sampath, who is also a professor at Social Work Department of Andhra University, said.

AU former Vice-Chancellor K.V. Ramana said that child marriage and abuse at home by neighbours and relatives were the major areas of concern.

Taking a cue from Prof. Ramana, Andhra University Law College Principal Prof. S. Sumitra said economic condition was forcing the poor to get their girl child married at a very tender age and there was a need of an integrated approach to address the issue.

Awareness needed

Dr. Sunitha from Andhra Medical College said that abuse of girl child was rising at a pace of 30% annually, and it needed to be checked. Abused children are more prone to become drug addicts and the issue can be tackled by creating awareness about their rights, she said.

Prof. Ratna Kumar of Durgabai Deshmukh Centre for Women Studies, AU, pointed out that 57% of girl child in tribal areas of Visakhapatnam were forced into child marriages. She said police, media, and other stakeholders needed to be sensitised .

Cartoonist Hari, who designed the poster that was released on the occasion, said awareness should be created among girls at schools .