A session on ‘Prevention of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA)’ was recently organised jointly by Chalk Tree Preschool and School of Life. Nitin Gupta, Director, Chalk Tree Preschool, said, “We have always firmly believed that to fight against such an evil in society, it is imperative that we join hands and form strong collaborations between educators, parents, NGOs, Government bodies and the media. Talks and programs such as these are tiny steps that we can take towards ensuring greater safety for our children and awareness amongst the parents.” The Session was facilitated by leading Clinical Psychologist and Trainer, Ms. Nikita Gupta, who talked of the steps that can be taken towards creating children’s safety and for providing an informed & aware environment, as well as identifying indicators of potential sexual abuse in children and knowing how to respond to and prevent such abuse. Nikita highlighted many easy and preventive steps that could be taken by parents and educators at the early learning stages of a child. She appealed to the participating parents to equip themselves to recognise the risk factors and to educate their children about safety measures. This would increase the chances of prevention, as also ensure the right intervention at the right time. There was also a discussion among a panel of experts: Ms. Aparnaa Laxmi Singh (Social Activist and Founder of Radiant Kids Foundation), Ms. Tarika Ahuja (Author), Ms. Preeti Vaishnavi (Founder, Kids Gurgaon), Ms. Reena Dhankher (Journalist), Ms. Aditi Chadha (Founding Member, Gurgaon Citizens Forum) and Ms. Nikita Gupta (School of Life). Ms. Jyoti Grover, Director and Founder, School of Life, said, “Child Sexual Abuse is a social epidemic shrouded in silence. We earnestly wish to create higher awareness on this very crucial aspect of child welfare.” Moderating the panel discussion, Ms. Vidya Raja, Admin. GurgaonMoms, stated, “As a community with over 5,000 women members, this is one topic that is very close to our hearts. We all should facilitate such talks to ensure that our kids feel confident enough to discuss abuse with us and instill in us, as parents, enough emotional strength to handle the situations.” Ms. Preeti Vaishnavi opined "Being proactive is the need of the of the hour while dealing with CSA. We as parents and as part of the community at large need to talk and act on this now, instead of blaming the system, school or society after it has struck us. We should discuss, agree and then take proactive measures to prevent CSA incidents.”
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