Monthly Archives: December 2014

Childhood Matters.

Notions of childhood may vary but we all agree that Childhood matters. Childhood is a safe nurturing space, separated from adulthood, in which children can grow, develop and flourish; a time to be healthy, carefree and happy; playing an influential role for the rest of our lives. At Leher, we believe that when caring families, alert communities and responsive governments come together a fulfilling childhood is possible for every child. Let’s pledge to a happy childhood for every child in 2015.

Childhood means much more than the time between birth and adulthood…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

When children are loved and nurtured in caring families and communities…

Photo- Unknown, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Unknown

Are well nourished with their basic needs met…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani , Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Are healthy and happy…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Go to school…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Their early years safe and protected…

Photo- Dan Romeo, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Dan Romeo

With equal rights…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

And time to play…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Safe from abuse, violence and exploitation…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Able to learn, explore, question…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

And dream…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Without fear and discrimination…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Boys…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

And girls…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Together…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Are able to live carefree…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

On a healthy and friendly planet…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Where every adult makes a promise…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

To care, protect, nurture and keep safe every child…

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Because CHILDHOOD MATTERS!

Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani, Childhood Matters | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
Photo- Rajagopalan Sarangapani

Inspired by ‘A Childhood for every child

To school or not to school?

A pakistani soldier shows members of the media a burnt-out classroom, the day after the Taliban attack on a military school (Photo- A Majeed/AFP)
A pakistani soldier shows members of the media a burnt-out classroom, the day after the Taliban attack on a military school (Photo- A Majeed/AFP)

“Schools must be safe and secure learning spaces. Getting an education is Every child’s right. Going to school should not have to be an act of bravery.” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon statement delivered during a Security Council meeting on 16 December 2014 after an attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan

Going to school is one experience that millions of children across the world have in common. Yet, this so-called place of safety is violating those very rights of a child that he/she aims to fulfill at school. The incidents of last week can happen anywhere, in any school, cutting across class, religion, education, ethnicity and borders.

The numerous violations of children’s rights in school have shattered the collective conscience of people world-over. Schools that are supposed to be safe places for children are increasingly becoming places of the worst kind of violations- terrorist attacks, sexual abuse and physical abuse leading to death.

These events are a harsh reality, a rude awakener and a gory recollection of what remains severely wrong with a society we have created for our children. The issues that pervade our lives are far deeper than we’d like to dig. While the justice system needs to further articulate the role of families, communities and duty bearers, it cannot take away the trauma of a child or bring back a lost life. Therefore, changing laws, organizing candle marches or having closed door conversations is of no significance until every member of society takes responsibility and collectively acts to prioritize the safety of all children.

But if we don’t work on preventing it now…there’s no stopping a repeat of what went wrong last week.

Here’s a compilation of incidents across the world that will strengthen your conviction to ACT!

Peshawar, Pakistan

In the deadliest slaughter of innocent children in Pakistan, Taliban gunmen attacked a military-run school and mercilessly killed 136 students by entering theirschool auditorium on 16th December 2014. The terrorists targeted the 9th-10th grade students, taking revenge on their army fathers. The school today is like a morgue with blood stained desks, chairs and books, signifying lost lives and lost futures.

Read more: http://cnn.it/1xBkUIS

Mumbai, India

The police arrested a 32 year old non- teaching employee of a private school in Bhandup, Mumbai who allegedly sexually assaulted a four year old girl in Junior KG on December 9, 2014, triggering protests by a group of people who vandalised the school property. This case opened a can of worms and horrifying details of sexual assaults in the institution. The survivor said her three other classmates were also sexually assaulted by the non-teaching staff.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1z9hfxg

Baraeilley, India

A 7 year old boy was beaten to death on 16th December 2014 by his teacher in Uttar Pradesh for not doing his homework and not paying his school fees on time. When the school authorities sensed the seriousness of his injury, he was taken to a nearby hospital. His parents were called asked to come to the hospital, while the school authorities tried to escape and not take responsibility for the child or their actions.

Read more: http://bit.ly/16G5Tu0

Texas, USA

Former elementary teacher John Joseph Vasquez was sentenced to 16 years in prison for charges of indecency with two 10-year old girls. Committing the ultimate betrayal by an educator, he has abused them while they were 6 year olds in the first grade. This act of violence by an educator on a student had broken the trust of all students, parents and teachers too, never fully understanding the impact of these actions on students.

Read More: http://bit.ly/1Asyvjg

Devon, England

Briton Simon Harris committed 6 offences of indecent assault against three boys aged between 13 and 14, when he was a teacher at Shebbear College, Devon in the 1980s. Not having
faced any charges at the time, Simon was free to continue absin vulnerable children. Today, he is guilty of preying on Kenyan street children. Convicted of eight charges of indecent and sexual assault on youngsters in Gilgil, and four of possessing indecent images of children, it was the first prosecution to use legislation that allows British citizens to be tried for sex offences committed abroad against children if it is also an offence in that country.

Read more: http://bbc.in/1wCnVGR

Jakarta, Indonesia

Two teachers at the prestigious international school in Jakarta have been charged with multiple counts of rape against three former students. The indictment, contains five allegations of sodomy against Canadian administrator Neil Bantleman and Indonesian teachers’ aide Ferdinant Tjiong, involving three different pre-school aged boys. It’s alleged that the boys were raped in a secret room of the school.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1ve1CDn

Motherhood, Media and the Mayhem around Juvenile Justice

www.noprisonforchildren.com, Motherhood, Media and the Mayhem around Juvenile Justice | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization
www.noprisonforchildren.com

There were so many emotions running through my head after 16th December 2012. Rage, frustration, humiliation, despair and misery that such brutality could be inflicted on another human being, simply because she was a woman. Another brutal gang rape in my city and the rape of Nirbhaya compeled me to take action. I actively campaigned for safer public spaces for women in Gurgaon together with other concerned citizens.

After a long wait, I miraculously became pregnant. We were hoping for a girl. We had so many hopes for her, so many dreams attached to this little life. Unfortunately, the acts of violence on women and young girls in my neighbourhood remained engraved in my mind. I feared the safety of my little child. What if something happened to her? Something unfathomable like rape? My first instinct I admit was to tear apart the people who had done this, with my bare hands. Each and every one of them!

And then began the media frenzy. There were graphic accounts of the violence perpetrated on Nirbhaya (which I began avoiding). It came to my knowledge that one of the rapists was a juvenile and he was illustrated as being the most brutal and vicious of the rapists. There was public outrage and demands for for his castration and capital punishment. Conversations on social media revealed anger towards the youth and their contribution to a destructive society. The media too continued to direct blame towards the youth, their access to pornography leading to increasing violence amongst them.

This got me thinking. How could this be true? Were we blaming the media for its pernicious influence on us and at the same time lapping up sensational news they threw at us? What are the real facts? According to a recent article by an expert, juvenile crimes has been a mere “1.0% to 1.2% in the last three years. Approximately 65% of juveniles were apprehended for property-related offences such as theft and burglary. As opposed to this, only 5%-8% were apprehended for crimes such as rape and murder.” And this, incidentally, is a far lower rate than the USA having far more stringent juvenile justice laws than in India. In fact, another recent article, which quoted several reliable studies has illustrated how juvenile crime rates have actually fallen in the US with more liberal laws that focus on understanding the juvenile and correction as opposed to incarceration.

What remains unknown to most of us is that in the Nirbhaya case, the police had actually withdrawn their observation that the juvenile was the most brutal of the accused. This was a matter of court record. This however, was never highlighted by the media because, hey, it’s not really, you know “breaking news!”. Isn’t it much more interesting to play on the emotions of unsuspecting people and stir up a witch-hunt against all juveniles?

And that pushes me to ask think: Why do juveniles commit crimes? Is it because they are deprived of family and state support, guidance and a conducive environment that they are unable to grow into responsible adults? If we as a society, were more careful to keep children off the streets, ensure quality education and fill in for the gaps in their life we would surely see a drastic reduction in juvenile crime! It’s very easy to put a 17-year-old behind bars and demand a change in the law. But it isn’t as easy to blame ourselves collectively as a society and ask, “Why was the 17-year-old living on the streets for several years?”

As I write this, I know that my daughter will probably get far more nurturing and guidance than the accused juvenile did. But there is always a “what if”. What if she experiments with drugs with friends? Will I want her tried in an adult prison and thrown into jail with hardened criminals?

What happened to Nirbhaya was wrong. There’s almost no debate on that. But another wrong we’re about to take responsibility for – calling for a law that tries juveniles as adults.

Do the right thing. Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/narendra-modi-no-prison-for-children

And if you’re still not convinced, read here: http://www.noprisonforchildren.com/