SOCIAL MANAGEMENT MODEL OF HOLISTIC GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK FOR PREVENTION OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

 

Aslam Moideen Chekkara ¹ , Dr. Sony Kunjappan ²

 

¹ Research Scholar, Center for studies in Social Management, Central University of Gujarat, India

² Assistant Professor, Center for studies in Social Management, Central University of Gujarat, India

 

1. INTRODUCTION

CSA has become a major source of worry across the world, since millions of children are victims of violence and abuse. India is no exception to this. According to 2007 research conducted by the "Ministry of Women and Child Development," 53.2 percent of the children examined were victims of CSA, with 20.9 percent of the children being physically hassled and exploited. In order to address the enormity of the issue, and to scale down the surging cases of CSA, the Parliament, on November 14, 2012, passed the POCSO legislation. The flagship feature of the POCSO Act is that it created a platform to engender awareness programs about the severity of CSA, and also to divulge more of such cases to the limelight. According to the preamble to the "Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India (2013) "all children have the right to grow up in a happy and understanding home setting." Furthermore, the NPC has said that "survival, health and nutrition, education and development, protection and participation" of children should be prioritized. Chopra (2019). It is the joint obligation of all citizens to engender an appropriate and safe environment for a child's growth. Of the world's total child population, India positions itself at fifth and data shows that 40 percent of India's children are vulnerable to trafficking, homelessness, forced labor, drug misuse, criminality, and are in need of protection Chopra (2019). The MWCD's 2007 study on CSA in India, it was found that one out of every ten children are sexually assaulted. The survey also revealed that “every 155th minute, a child under the age of 16 is raped, and every 13th hour, a child under the age of 10 is raped”. When we try to scrutinize CSA in accordance with the Rational Choice Theory of Criminology, as put forward by Proulx et al, there are five stages before someone commits an act of child sexual abuse.

1)     Choosing the hunting field: An act was offenders hunt for victim

2)     Choosing a time to attack

3)     Choosing a victim based on his or her erotic worth, fragility, and familiarity

4)     Choosing an approach technique for the victim

5)     Choosing a method to engage the victim in sexual activity

 Beauregard and Leclerc (2007).

 

2. Child sexual abuse

“The World Health Organization (WHO) defines CSA as a child's engagement in sexual behaviour that he or she does not understand or is unable to consent to, or that child is not developmentally equipped and is unable to consent. This action between a child and an adult or another child who, due to age or development, is in a relationship of responsibility, trust, and authority participates in an activity to gratify or meet the opposite person's expectations. This includes:

·        coercing a child to engage in any illicit sexual practices

·        Child exploitation in brothels or other illegal sexual practices.

·        Child exploitation in pornographic industry” World health organisation (2003)

All forms of physical or mental violence, harm and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, were referred to as child sexual abuse in article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF (2015).

As per POCSO act, 2012, A child is defined as someone who has not attained 18 years of age. It also defines various forms of child sexual abuse as given below.

·        “Penetrative sexual assault” occurs when a person inserts a penis or other item into a child's body or pushes a child to do so.

·        “Aggravated penetrative sexual assault” occurs when an individual associated with government sector, or any trustable individual engages in sexual intercourse without consent or pushes a child to do so.

·        “Sexual assault” occurs when an individual with sexual intent touches or requests a child to touch a child's private body parts.

·        “Sexual harassment” occurs when a person makes an obscene statement about a child, stalks a child with sexual intent, or shows a child pornographic information. All of the aforementioned fall under the ambit of sexual harassment. Chopra (2019)..

 

3. Effective prevention programs in various countries

Various countries have adopted a plethora of measures to counter and thwart CSA in order to ensure child development and safety. A brief analysis of the 16 papers reviewed is put below to convey the need for a multi-faceted or holistic approach toward betterment of the child community at large.

1)     Coaching boys into Men – USA

This is a small group programme targeting adult men and women aimed at changing the allegiance to unscientific and inhumane gender roles. Two years after it came into force, there has been a reported decrease of 38% in case of physical or sexual violence toward one’s partner World Health Organisation (2016).

2)     SASA – Uganda

SASA stands as a community-based method practised in order to thwart violence against women. It serves as an illustration of how pragmatic methods to norm transformation can be successful. This programme has been so effective that it revolutionized communities that participated. Women who participated in this programme experienced 52% fewer instances of physical violence from their partners and the social legitimacy bestowed upon such vicious attacks diminished in due course. According to WHO, proper community responses were doubled among women who had suffered intimate partner abuse, and follow-up research showed that it benefited children three times more than it really did. World Health Organisation (2016).

3)     Green Dot – USA

A violence prevention programme that equipped youngsters to prevent violence against dating partners. This programme assisted in lowering interpersonal violence victimisation rates (measured in the previous academic year) among participating students to 17%. World Health Organisation (2016).

4)     Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) – USA

The NFP was established in 1977 with the purpose of empowering first-time parents and enhancing material aid “for families by connecting them to health and social services” in order to foster a healthy home environment. Registered nurses visit young, first-time, low-income mothers at home during their pregnancy and for two years following delivery. Three randomised controlled NFP trials spanning decades yielded a variety of long-term favourable results, including enhanced parental health, fewer children’s injuries, fewer unwanted pregnancies, and higher mother employment. The first experiment, which lasted 15 years, found 48% less child abuse and neglect among families who got regular home visits compared to those who did not. World Health Organisation (2016).

5)     ACT raising safe kids – USA

This programme was implemented in more than 10 states in the USA and also several low and middle-income countries. This programme evaluated and found to be effective in reducing child maltreatment by up to 50 percent World Health Organisation (2016).

 

 

6)     Parents/ families matters – Africa

This is a programme focused primarily on parenting. Parents are inculcated with healthy parenting techniques which involves parent-child communication on various subjects such as “sex, sexuality, sexual risk reduction, HIV prevention, physical and emotional aggression”. This programme seeks to raise parents' understanding of their own relevance in their children's life as they enter adolescence such as to improve “positive parenting skills” and encourage “parents to discuss sex-related matters with their children”. This program's pre- and post-test results revealed that parents greatly improved their knowledge, abilities, and confidence in communicating with their adolescent children about sexuality and sexual risk reduction. World Health Organisation (2016).

7)     Parenting for lifelong health (PHL) – South Africa

This programme was put in place to stop child abuse as well as other forms of violence such “intimate partner and juvenile violence”. It is based on concepts from social learning that are widely accepted, including “modelling learned behaviour, good parenting techniques, discipline, positive reinforcement to encourage good behaviour, giving positive instructions, avoiding negative attention-seeking behaviour, and establishing nonviolent boundaries”. According to early findings from a significant “randomised controlled trial of the PLH adolescent prototype programme” carried out in rural and urban areas of the Eastern Cape Province, it was found that physical abuse was decreased by 44 percent among caregivers and 48 percent among teens when compared to a control group. In addition to the aforementioned, emotional abuse got reduced by 61 per cent among caregivers and 28 per cent among teens, positive parenting improved by 17 percent in caregivers and 7 per cent in teen intervention groups when compared to the control groups World Health Organisation (2016).

8)     IMAGE – South Africa

“Intervention with Microfinance for Aids and Gender Equity” (IMAGE) is a microfinance programme in rural South Africa. It includes education on “HIV infection, gender norms, domestic violence and sexuality”. An analysis of the programme disclosed that it had reduced “physical and sexual violence” by 50 percent among the participated groups. World Health Organisation (2016).

9)     ELA – Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Uganda

ELA is an initiative that offers millions of girls aged between 14 and 20 a chance to live a prosperous life through mentoring, life skills and microfinance training. The initiative is also replete with “life and livelihood skills”, so that “social empowerment” is reinforced through “economic empowerment and training”. Participants in this system are supplied with through clubs rather than schools. Clubs are designed to provide safe spaces for females to discuss concerns in “small groups and create social networks to ease the pressures of family and male-centered society”. “In 2014, the World Bank undertook an evaluation of the ELA's impact in Uganda, which ranked first among nations with the largest number of unemployed young women and a teenage pregnancy rate of 10-12 percent”. The survey discovered that among ELA participants (as compared to non-participants), adolescent pregnancy rates were reduced by 26%, condom use increased by 28%, early marriage or cohabitation was reduced by 58%, and unwanted sex was reduced by 50%. World Health Organisation (2016).

 

 

 

10) Safe environment for every child – USA

It includes instructing paediatric primary caregivers on how to recognise and handle parents who have difficulties with stress, depression, substance abuse, and intimate partner violence. A randomised controlled trial of this intervention in a low-income urban community in the United States resulted in a 31% reduction in child protection service reports, less neglect-related problems recorded in children's medical charts, and a decrease in self-reports of severe physical assault by mothers. World Health Organisation (2016).

11) Hawaii Healthy Start Program – USA

 A programme that deals with violence in close relationships. The home-visiting programme decreased violence against children and intimate partners. Following an examination, it was discovered that regular home visits by semi-professionals to high-risk moms were beneficial in lowering intimate partner violence by 15% and child maltreatment by 40%. World Health Organisation (2016).

12) Raising voice – Uganda

This is a non-profit organisation established in Uganda that aims to reduce school staff violence against children aged 11 to 14 by fostering a healthy school atmosphere and positive connections between kids, their friends, and school personnel. The toolkit was tested at random in 42 schools in Uganda's Luwero area and was shown to be beneficial in preventing violence towards children by school workers. World Health Organisation (2016)

13) Safe and enabling environment in school programme – Croatia

The initiative was divided into two stages. The first was a "stop violence against children" campaign aimed at encouraging social change by raising awareness about physical and verbal abuse in schools. Second, to increase safety and begin on an inclusive method of education in which students have a role in school policy making and do numerous duties to stop violence. When the programme was examined in 2008, it was shown that the prevalence of regular bullying fell from 10% to 5%. Furthermore, the proportion of children who bully others has decreased from 13% to 3%, and more than 55% of children feel comfortable at school. World Health Organisation (2016).

14) No Means No IM power- Nairobi, Kenya

This programme aims to empower teenage girls by raising their morale and teaching them self-defence skills in order to lessen the danger of sexual assault. In the yearly statistics, there was a 34% rise in the chance of disclosure of sexual violence among the intervention group and a 38% drop in the rate of social assault, according to a study of the programme. World Health Organisation (2016).

15) Safe dates- North Carolina, USA

This program was targeted at preventing intimate partner violence among unmarried teenage lovers. Various reviews indicate that the programme has resulted in 25 per cent lesser psychological, 60 per cent lesser physical and 60 per cent lesser sexual violence in a span of one month among participants, both girls and boys aged 12-14 years World Health Organisation (2016).

16) Steppingstone – South Africa

This is a life skills training programme aimed at reducing physical and sexual partner abuse in men and women aged 15 to 26. Through role-playing and drama, the programme is thoroughly studied and deployed internationally to encourage participants to reflect on their attitudes and behaviours. World Health Organisation (2016).

 

4. Holistic Governance Framework

The Holistic Governance Framework is a response to atomization in public administration. This establishes a combination of organizational forms and stakeholders on a different level. It coordinates the relationships between organisations, stakeholders, and networks in order to achieve resource efficiency, discussion of shared concerns, and delivery of public services Shuzhuo et al. (2013). It is a social management framework that incorporates a three-dimensional model that unifies the activity of government agencies and departments. This model stresses government's horizontal organisation inside a vertical hierarchy that includes numerous levels, functions, and stakeholders. It seeks to construct a social order based on social equality and fairness in order to encourage social mobility and sustain social harmony. The framework's goals are to solve social issues, modify social behaviour, coordinate social interactions, and handle social hazards. Shuzhuo et al. (2013). There are four concepts in the holistic framework:

1)     Governance level and social risk

Social management concerns are frequently linked to a wide range of social hazards, which differ at the macro and micro levels. As a result, Social Management must take a multifaceted approach to applying many levels of management techniques and controlling risks at each level. Shuzhuo et al. (2013).

2)     Integration of governance and regulation of social behaviour

The characteristics of modern administrative integration should be reflected in social management. Every society's needs must be met via social groupings. They are, in fact, expected to be normal in their relationship. To respond to compliance and infractions, the social management process employs social rewards and sanctions. Policy formulation, in conjunction with a well-coordinated legal system, plays an important role in incorporating social norms into the formal process of governance. Shuzhuo et al. (2013).

3)     Coordination of departments and social relations

The public sector, autonomous institutions, business organisations, and other elements of civil society may all face various governance issues. This will encourage public-private cooperation for mutual gain, finally resolving the social management challenge through coordination. Shuzhuo et al. (2013)

4)     Multi-faceted approach on public policy

Public policy is the most important component of social management. Different governmental policies are required to address diverse conditions and different societal concerns. The public policy system incorporates all areas of social management, including risk management strategies for social concerns, social relationship coordination, and social behaviour modification. Shuzhuo et al. (2013).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1

Figure 1 Social Management Model of Holistic Governance Framework, Source: Li Shuzhuo, Shang Zijuan, Marcus W Feldman. (2013). Social Management of Gender Imbalance in China: A Holistic Governance Framework. Economic & Political Weekly, 31;48(35),79-86

 

5. Holistic Governance Framework for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse

The comprehensive social management framework for child sexual abuse in India is summarised in this essay and is based on comprehensive governance theory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2

Figure 2 Compiled by Author Holistic Governance Framework for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse.

 

This framework consists of five parts:

1)     Goal of social management: Creating a conducive atmosphere for children’s wellbeing: This comprehensive method aims to put an end to child sexual abuse. A potential technique for minimising violence against children is to create and maintain secure social situations. Safe environment techniques strive to change society's social and physical environment in order to promote beneficial behaviours and discourage dangerous ones. World Health Organisation (2016).

2)     Social risk elimination: To resolve social risk due to child sexual abuse:  Here, it's important to concentrate on the societal and cultural perceptions of child sexual abuse. People can believe, for instance, that females are molested because of how they dress or because they don't adhere to conventional norms. Technical causes, such as a lack of understanding on the part of kids and parents/guardians, may be accompanied by macro-level governance problems, such harmful environments for kids, and micro-level governance problems, like stress and disorders.

3)     Social Behaviour Regulation: The ostrich behaviour of society is a major issue concerning child sexual abuse. The seriousness of Child Sex Abuse is often undermined by a vast majority and there are instances where people are hesitant or reluctant to report cases that they see around. Thus, attitudes and behaviours are issues to be reckon with through the lens of social management. We need to first take into consideration people's attitude toward matters of reproductive health.

4)     Social Management Method: In addition to the existent public policies against child sexual abuse, there comes a need to formulate a public policy system that encapsulates sex education system, security system and medical system.

5)     Coordinating social relationships: Many government agencies in charge of overseeing child security must strengthen their collaboration with civic society. The inclusion of childcare organisations and institutions, particularly familial and educational ones, is also necessary.

 

6. Conclusion

This framework was developed with the help of various programmes which were successfully implemented, practised, and evaluated. It incorporated all the aspects of child sexual abuse. Sixteen different successful programmes were reviewed to understand the gaps in child sexual abuse and the ways in which they were dealt with by various nations. In India, the Parliament has passed POCSO Act for the prevention of child sexual abuse which holds good as a legislative deterrence but does not provide a multi-faceted or a holistic approach to obliterate the root cause. Therefore, the Holistic Governance Framework will include all stakeholders and help impede child sexual abuse.

 

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

None. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

None.

 

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