India Urged to Protect Children from Sex Abuse

New Delhi: India should improve protection for children from sexual abuse as part of broader reform efforts following the Dec 16 gang-rape and death of a young woman here, Human Rights Watch said.

Child sexual abuse was disturbingly common in homes, schools and residential care facilities in India, the group said in an exhaustive 82-page report. A government-appointed panel set up after the New Delhi sexual assault to recommend legal and policy reform found that child protection schemes have "clearly failed to achieve their avowed objective".

The report, "Breaking the Silence: Child Sexual Abuse in India," examines how current government responses are falling short, both in protecting children from sexual abuse and treating victims.

Many children were effectively mistreated a second time by traumatic medical examinations and by police and other authorities who do not want to hear or believe their accounts, Human Rights Watch said.

Government efforts to tackle the problem, including new legislation to protect children from sexual abuse, will also fail unless protection mechanisms were properly implemented and the justice system reformed to ensure that abuse is reported and fully prosecuted, it said.

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