PANAJI
Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) has called upon every section of the society, including the State government and religious leaders, to observe Child Safety Week across Goa from November 14-20 as a collaborative movement to raise awareness and encourage collective action on the issue of child sexual abuse.
The Commission gave a call to State government, political leaders, educational institutions, corporates, and leaders of various social organisations, local body representatives, faith leaders and social influencers in the State.
Chairperson Peter Borges said that the State has witnessed growing crimes against children, especially sexual abuse in the recent times. “Every child deserves to be safe and all of us have the shared responsibility of a child’s protection and safety from unsafe situations and people. Many children suffer silently from the trauma of it,” he said.
The Commission has endorsed Child Safety Week, the initiative of Arpan, an award-winning national NGO, which initiated the observance in 2019 and which now has taken the shape of a people-led movement.
The child safety week has several days which has focus on child abuse and children, that is November 14 as Children’s Day in India, November 18 as World Day for Prevention, Healing and Justice to End Childhood Sexual Violence; November 19 is celebrated as World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse and November 20 is marked as World Children’s Day.
“Observance of the week is a good time for organisations to move beyond symbolic gestures and implement effective child protection practices and policies. That would be a more meaningful way to honour children under our care and protection,” Borges said.
This year the objective of Child Safety Week is to help adults understand that ‘It’s Okay To Say No’ and to challenge the cultural norm of saying ‘Yes’, thus ensuring the safety of children.
