Sexual abuse survivors narrate harrowing tales

​Hyderabad: Child survivors of sexual exploitation on Friday made an appeal to media to cover issues of rape and sexual exploitation with much more sensitivity and lay emphasis on the perpetrators rather than the survivors.

Change.org, an online petition website along with The News Minute, a news website held a workshop on Friday in Hyderabad, titled ‘Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children’ for the journalists on how media can cover news about sexual assault and sexual exploitation ethically with its own limitations. 

In an interaction session, three survivors of sexual exploitation who came forward to share their ordeal, broke down and unanimously appealed the journalists to not disclose things, which will lead to identifying them, for instance: name, caste and village etc. “We feel like killing ourselves whenever the media names us or discloses details which will help identify us. How can I make friends, who will talk to me when they get to know what happened to me,” one of the survivors cried, while sharing her plight. Other two survivors too echoed the same. 

Sandhya [name changed] was forced into prostitution by an adult who befriended her when she was 12-year-old. On the pretext of marriage, he asked her to come with him. He later cheated her and sold her to the pimp, who posed herself as the accused’s mother.

Similar were the stories of the other two minors, who were exploited by stepfather and relatives who sold them to a broker. The three minor girls who were rescued are under rehabilitation in Help, an NGO based in Ongole Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, working to curb human trafficking.

Speaking about the conviction rates of the heinous crimes, Vijay Sagar, an activist with Help said, “I followed up around 200 cases, and in only two cases the accused were convicted,” he said alleging the negligence of the investigation authorities. “Sometimes, police will record the victims as majors even though they were minors, to avoid the consequences of child sexual abuse,” he added.