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 ‘The world day for the prevention of child abuse is not November 19
– It is every day.’ This was one of the posters that emphasised the
need for protecting children from being sexually abused, at the
annual exposition organised by Tulir Centre for Prevention and
Healing of Child Sexual Abuse. Sad and frightened figures were in
the pictures in some of the posters exhibited in Spencer Plaza on
Friday.
Vidya Reddy, director of Tulir, said, “Rape is not the only form of
abuse. They even include fondling, kissing and other things.” She
added that it was not only children who were vulnerable to such
abuse.
Meenakshi Rajagopal, special secretary, Social Welfare and
Nutritious Meal Programme, said in Tamil Nadu there was a three tier
systems: state, district and panchayat level, to look into the
issue. Also workshops were being conducted about prevention of child
sexual abuse by the Government of India. She added that this
exposition was helpful in reaching out to the masses and teaching
them to protect their children from near and dear ones.
 Tulir, a non-governmental, non-profit organisation, was started in
2004 to work against child sexual abuse in India. “There were
organisations which worked for child welfare as a whole. But there
was no organisation that took efforts against CSA (child sexual
abuse). This made us come with Tulir,” says Nancy another associate
of Tulir.
Tulir tries to make people understand that being sexually abused is
not the end of the road for a child. They conduct various programes
and workshops on ways to protect children, explaining to them about
good touch and bad touch, and making every child feel safe at all
times. They also help children get psychological help, if needed.
 Tulir has been organising various programes in the month of November
every year from the day of its inception. Also, these programes are
not funded by Tulir! “We believe in community participation,” says
Nancy. Spencer Plaza allocates the place for them free for one day.
“This is the reason why we are having it on November 16 and not on
19,” she added. Also the posters they exhibited were designed by
advertising agencies such as Orchard at no cost. This year, on
November 19th they had fliers distributed in a corporation school by
the Chennai Mayor.
They adopted the idea of a yellow badge which says ‘Yes to
prevention of child abuse’ from WWSF and developed on the concept
with their permission. “We have been getting good response from the
people” says Vidya. Young World allotted them free space to publish
their flier and NDTV had accepted to wear the yellow badge on
November 19.
The centre is also organising a lecture by Shanta Sinha,
chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights,
later this month.
 Anasuya, one of the visitors of the exposition says, “Child sexual
abuse needs to be prevented and expositions like these help us in
understanding its evil face”.
Tulir, which means first tender leaves of a plant, is taking the
first steps which will sustain a strong action in the long run.
Dhivya
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