‘
Suraksha Humara Haq’
Voices of children through theatre on the issue of child protection
Lucknow,
18th September, 2014 - A one day children’s festival on the issue of child protection was organised by CRY-
Child Rights and You and its state alliance, VOP-
Voice of
People. In its third year, the theatre festival was focused to highlight the gaps and create awareness on the issue of child protection.
‘Suraksha Humara Haq’ voiced the opinion of almost 40 children in the age group of
6-14 years from different districts of
Uttar Pradesh. The children presented their stories of hope and despair which they face in their day to day life, through the process of ‘children’s collective’ which emphasizes on issues pertaining to children. In this one day festival, children presented three short plays on the following themes:
•
Child Marriage
•
Child Labour
•
Missing Children
The three plays were named ‘Gumshuda
Bachpan’, ‘Kaam
Nahin Kitab’ and ‘Aaj
Hai Meri
Shaadi’ respectively and they put forth the need for strong child protection mechanism in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
A three days theatre workshop facilitated by Mr.
Walter Peter (Ex
Member,
TIE,
National School of Drama) culminated in sharing their experiences of bringing about lasting change in their own life & the communities they live in.
After the presentation of plays, a panel discussion also formed a part of children’s festival. The objective of the discussion was to understand the gaps and way forward to strengthen child protection mechanism in the state.
Pankaj Mehta, Associate
General Manager,
Development Support, CRY- Child Rights and You, said “
Children subjected to violence, abuse and exploitation are at risk of death, poor physical and mental health and other socio- psychological problems.
Child protection and well-being consists of reducing risks of violation of child rights, making children's rights a reality, and creating an enabling environment that supports children's positive development.
Data shows the poor indicators of child protection mechanisms in the state and thus, there is an urgent need to create a protective environment in Uttar Pradesh in which a child is assured of living in safety and dignity.”
Shruti Nagvanshi, Convener, VOP- Voice of People, said “The data of child protection presents a horrible status in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The state records high number of missing children, sex ratio, child labour, child marriage and child abuse among others. We demand to establish and strengthen a robust preventive and responsive child protection system at state, district, and community level by creating and reinforcing structures, promoting coordination and accountability of all stakeholders.“
Some of the specific demands that were presented to the panelists were:
•
Create a protective environment for Children for protecting children from abuse, violence & exploitation.
• Strengthening of
Child Protection structures at all levels –the village, block & district child protection units including capacity building programmes under
ICPS, for functionaries at different levels.
• Ensure formulation of
Standard Operating Procedures for Missing Children in the
State.
• Activation of
Anti-human trafficking cell across all districts in the State.
• Make it mandatory for police stations across the state to compulsorily register missing complaints of any children and appoint a special police officer to handle complaints of juveniles, as per the guidelines of the
Hon. Supreme Court. Each missing child report must be converted into FIRs.
• To identify vulnerable families through district-level assessment under ICPS and strengthening of non-institutional care, including sponsorship & foster care.
• Enforcement of all legislations for protection of children from abuse, violence and exploitation; for example, effective implementation of
Prohibition of the Child Marriage Act,
2006;
Child labour prohibition & regulation Act,
1986; the POCSO Act,
2012 etc.
Status of Child Protection in UP :
In 2012, According to State
Crime Records Bureau, a total of 3879 children went missing out of which,
2310 children came back and rest 1569 are still missing.
As per census
2011, many districts of the state record a very low child sex ratio Acc to
NSSO 2009-10, UP has 1775333 child labourers in the state. The highest in the country Data from
NCRB 2011 shows 24% increase in crimes against children in UP
The infant mortality rate is high at 70 deaths per thousand live births as against the national average of 52 per
1000 live births
- published: 26 Dec 2014
- views: 19