11 Ways We Can Try To Create Safe Spaces At Home & School To Prevent Child Sexual Abuse!

Trigger Warning: This deals with child sexual abuse and may be triggering to survivors.

Since children spend their time in both home and school, it’s imperative that both these spaces need to be insulated from predators for children who are very vulnerable.

We sometimes wonder how one can be unsafe at home- the safest haven for all!

At Home

1.In joint families, children may become objects of abuse not only by older cousins but even by mature old adults.

It is therefore the prime duty of parents to make sure that they shadow their children, do not send children with others alone for a considerably long time, and give a patient listening to whatever the child has to say.

Teach them about inappropriate touch and look out for red flags in their changing behavioral patterns.

2.When circumstances lead into a remarriage of the woman already having a child, it should be made sure that the new parent or any relatives not well known are not abusing the child.

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3.Helps in home need to be supervised carefully so that they not only keep a distance from children, but also do not let their acquaintances enter home without permission.

4.Tuition teachers/ other teachers coming home should be given a space for their classes where they can be easily seen by other family members.

5.Children with special needs need to be shadowed at all costs at all times.

At School

1.It starts from the school bus/ van wherein it should be ensured that no child is ferried without a lady escort in the bus.

2.The security guards need to be under surveillance and those near the toilets and secluded areas should be lady guards.

3.Teachers should not be allowed to hold any extra classes for a child exclusively.

5.More lady Physical Training teachers could be recruited, and male teachers could be sternly asked to keep a safe distance from all kids.

6.Every class teacher/ subject teacher should develop such a bond with the kids that they feel free to come and share their ordeals if any. For this monthly or weekly classes could be held in the form of role plays where children are also made aware of these hazards.

7 Last but not the least, the school bullies should be handled in the strictest of manner so that they do not pick the courage to do any smaller kid any harm.

Let’s Create a Safe Space to Speak abut Child Sexual Abuse

Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Month [CSAAM] is about taking back our power, our lives, even if it is years after it has happened. It’s a violence that preys on the fact that a child is vulnerable to both – the abuse itself, and to the guilt a predator burdens them with, effectively silencing the survivor. Add to that the fact that in majority of cases, the predator is someone the child knows socially, possibly in family, and who takes advantage of that fact.

We need to take this power away from these predators, and reclaim it by speaking up.

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