Sexual Abuse of Children

537 Pages·2016·4.06 MB·English

Sexual Abuse of Children: A Sociological Study in
Delhi Metropolis
by
Hunny Matiyani

University School of Law & Legal Studies

Submitted
in fulfillment of the requirement of the Degree of Doctor
of Philosophy
to the

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
Dwarka, Delhi
November, 2011

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Acknowledgement
After few years of hard work and efforts, my doctoral thesis on “Sexual Abuse of
children: A Sociological Study in Delhi Metropolis” has finally taken a concrete shape. The
thought of doing something productive on this topic at the beginning would not have taken this
form if some very generous people did not take out their valuable time from their schedule to
support my research interest.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to my guide my trail-blazer
Prof. B.N. Chattoraj for his inspiring guidance, constant encouragement, valuable suggestions
and personal involvement during all stages of this research which have been of immense value in
shaping the quality of the research in its present form.
I wish to express my gratitude to Ms. Meenakshi Sinha, Reader Sociology, LNJN NICFS
for her unquestionable support during my whole research period.
I would like to thank Bureau of Police Research & Development for providing me the
financial assistance in the form of Research Fellowship to carry forward my research work
without any monetary hurdles.
I am also grateful to LNJN National Institute of Criminology & Forensic Science for
providing me all the basic facilities especially library and computer lab for the smooth
functioning of my PhD thesis.
I would like to have the privilege of sincerely thanking Mr. Rajan Bhagat, ACP, Delhi
Police Research Wing for making me available all the relevant official data related to the
research topic and also for granting me the necessary permission to collect the addresses of the
victims from the concerned police stations. My thanks are also due to those police officers who
helped me immensely in the study by giving access to the needed records and finding the
victim’s houses and to those who helped me in contributing their thoughts for the research study
to analyze this problem in a better way.
I wish to express my gratitude to the Department of Women and Child Development and
Law Officer, Tihar Prison for permitting me to collect data from Nirmal Chhaya Children Home
and Tihar Prison.
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I want to take this opportunity of acknowledging my debts especially to Dr. Anuja Gupta,
RAHI, Dr. Rajmangal Prasad, Pratidhi, Mr. Girish Chandra, IMDT and all other NGO personnel
who took out precious time from their busy schedule to share their work experience in the field
of child sexual abuse with me.
My warmest gratitude to my parents for their affection, kind understanding and unfailing
moral support without which it would have been extremely difficult to produce the work in its
final form. Thanks are also due to my sister Ms. Indu Matiyani who made my walk among the
distressed people possible and for her constant help and support.
I am lucky to have friends who were ever ready to help in whatever way possible. In this
regard, I must appreciate the generosity of Mr. Mehul Tyagi who has been the wind beneath my
wings during this maiden flight and helped me in overcoming all the obstacles I came across
during the entire period of the study.
I could not end this acknowledgement without conveying my gratitude to all the others
who have helped me directly and indirectly in the completion of this work.

Hunny Matiyani

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ABSTRACT
The research study on sexual abuse of children has got five major objectives in mind i.e.
(i) to study the socio-economic background of the families of child victims and the perpetrators
involved in sexual abuse cases, (ii) to unravel the diverse forces which are operative in the
process of sexual victimization of children, (iii) to identify and study in depth the areas which are
prone to these types of crimes, (iv) to study the consequences of sexual abuse on children and it’s
after effects on their future and finally (v) to suggest the ways and means for reducing the
menace of child sexual abuse in the city.
The study has been carried out in the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the period
of the study was from 2006 to 2009. An Exploratory Research design was adopted to carry out
this study. There were four categories of samples i.e. (i) the female child victims of sexual abuse
from 3 to 18 years of age, (ii) the convicts sentenced and lodged in Tihar Prison involved with
various types of child sexual abuse cases, (iii) police personnel who have dealt with these cases
and (iv) few prominent NGOs working in this field.
The study report is spread over eleven chapters. While introducing the main theme of the
study, the first chapter on Introduction covers the importance of a child and the profile of
children in India. The patterns related to the upbringing and socialization of a female child in
India has been discussed in brief. An effort has also been made to enumerate all the rights related
to children and the problems faced by them in India. Child abuse being a major problem in India
has been concisely discussed in this chapter. The major issue of concern i.e. child sexual abuse
has also been explained in detail by covering its definitions, types, general preconditions for
sexual abuse, progression phases, indicators, effects on children, its history etc. All the laws
directly or indirectly related to child sexual abuse has also been mentioned in the introduction
portion. At the end, the objectives of the study, basic assumptions, scope, conceptual
clarification, research methodology and the limitations of the study has been written down to
explain the take off stage of the research study.
An attempt has been made to review the maximum possible literature (international as
well as national) related to the topic of the research study and has been explained in the second
chapter along with the detailed theoretical framework. In pursuance to the first objective of the
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study i.e. to study the socio-economic background of the victims of sexual abuse, the third
chapter gives a detailed analysis of the social as well as economic profile of the victims studied.
The overall analysis of the respective cases of all the victims has also been discussed under this
chapter.
The fourth chapter explains the socio-economic profile of the convicts lodged in Tihar
Prison under the cases of child sexual abuse. The thrust has been given on their childhood history
in order to establish a relationship between their disturbed childhood and troubled present as well
as future. Also, an overall analysis of their case histories and the changes they have noticed in
their personal profile post-incident has been discussed in this chapter. In pursuance to the second
objective of the study i.e. to unravel the diverse forces operative in the process of sexual
victimization of children, the fifth chapter mentions about the personal characteristics, family
characteristics, family environment, occupation of parents or victims, socio-economic status,
absence of sex-education and some other characteristics as few of the important factors which
facilitate child sexual abuse.
The contents of the sixth chapter explain the consequences of sexual abuse on children.
The consequences can be categorized into three categories i.e. social, psychological and the
personal changes which a victim experienced after the abuse. The sociological consequences
discussed in this chapter include the discontinuation in the studies, change in the behavior of
parents/siblings/neighbors/friends, change in the place of living and difficulty in trusting others.
The psychological consequences includes the change in the perception of men, depression,
suicidal tendencies, revengeful attitude, uncomfortable in crowd, isolation etc. and the last self or
personal changes includes their same interest in carrying forward their studies, hobbies or any
other work which they likes to do quite often.
The seventh chapter emphasizes on those areas where the frequency of sexual abuse
cases are more and which are characterized by low population density, low literacy level, low
work participation rate, unemployment, unavailability of basic resources etc. An attempt has also
been made to compare these areas with the areas where the intensity of crime is low in this
chapter.
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The eighth chapter highlights the working pattern of police officers like the ways with
which they handle the child victims and their family members, preference of NGO intervention
in dealing with the victims, time taken in investigation and the procedure followed, protection
schemes for child victims in case of threat calls etc. The viewpoints of police on the role of
NGOs and mass-media in managing and tackling the child sexual abuse cases has also been
discussed in this chapter. Lastly, the factors responsible for the increment of the sexual abuse
cases in Delhi as per the knowledge and experience of police officers have been explained in the
end of this chapter.
The ninth chapter gives an in depth analysis of nine Delhi based NGOs working in the
field of child sexual abuse. The greater thrust was given on their area of services, modes of
handling the child victims, types of counseling techniques they use in different categories of
cases and their point of view on the role of media in reporting and prevention of child sexual
abuse cases. In the end, their views on the factors responsible for increasing sexual abuse cases
in Delhi have also been highlighted. The tenth chapter contains four case studies which were
developed for the research study in order to give a deeper understanding into this problem. They
were developed each on neighborhood sexual abuse, father-daughter incest, boyfriend sexual
abuse and under-age compelled prostitution respectively.
The sum up of the outcome of the research study has been highlighted in the last chapter
along with some practical recommendations for the better handling and prevention of these types
of cases in order to give a bright future to children. An effort has also been made to create some
of the prospective future research directions to carry forward further researches in this field so
that some more workable solutions can be devised to put an end to this problem. At the end, the
whole study was concluded by emphasizing on the truth that sexual abuse of children in India is
a large problem without an easy solution. Hence, the stress should be made on the point that the
whole incident should be deal at the right time and in an appropriate manner so that a child
victim can easily be rehabilitated and can enjoy life like any normal person.

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Table of Contents

List of Tables/Figures i-xii
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1(a): Importance of a Child 1
1(b): Profile of Children in India 2
1(c): Upbringing and Socialization of children - female children
vis-à-vis male children 10
1(d): Rights of a child [Indian Perspective] 13
1(e): Problems faced by the girl child in India 18
1(f): Child Abuse (special reference to Child Sexual Abuse) 19
1(g): Child Sexual Abuse: Main Issue of Concern 26
1(h): History of Child Sexual Abuse 55
1(i): Criminal Law and Child Sexual Abuse 59
1(j): TAKE OFF STAGE 70
- Statement of the Problem
- Objectives of the study
- Basic Assumptions
- Scope of the study
- Conceptual Clarification
- Research Methodology
- Limitations of the Study

Chapter 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE & THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 85
Chapter 3: PROFILE OF VICTIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 134
3(a): Social Profile 135
3(b): Economic Profile 147
3(c): Case Profile 150
Chapter 4: PROFILE OF CONVICTS 184
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4(a): Social Profile 192
4(b): Economic Profile 213
4(c): Childhood History 218
4(d): Case Details 225
4(e): Personal Profile (Post-incident) 248
Chapter 5: FACILITATING FACTORS BEHIND CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 259
Child Rape & Molestation/Harassment Victims
5(a): Personal Characteristics 260
5(b): Family Characteristics 271
5(c): Family Environment 273
5(d): Occupation 279
5(e): Socio-economic Status 281
Child Sexual Exploitation Victims
5(f): Individual Characteristics 284
5(g): Other Characteristics 287
5(h): Absence of Sex-education 294
Chapter 6: CONSEQUENCES OF SEXUAL ABUSE ON CHILDREN 298
6(a): Sociological Consequences 299
6(b): Psychological Consequences 312
6(c): Personal (self) changes 327
Chapter 7: THE DARK SIDE OF THE CITY 332
7(a): Child Rape & Molestation/Harassment Victims 332
7(b): Child Sexual Exploitation Victims 352

Chapter 8: HANDLING OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASES
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(Police Viewpoints) 373
Chapter 9: ROLE OF NGOs IN THE PREVENTION OF
SEXUAL ABUSE ON CHILDREN 384
Chapter 10: CASE STUDIES 398
Chapter 11: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, CONCLUSION
& FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
411

References i
Appendix A xv
Appendix B xxiv
Brief Bio-data of the Author xxxix

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List of Tables/Figures Page
Profile of Children in India
Figure 1(b).1- Incidence of Crime against Children during 2008 8
Figure 1(b).2- Rate of Crime against Children during 2008 9
Table 1(b).3- Crimes against Children in the country and % variation in 2008 over 2007 7
Table 1(e).1- Problems faced by girl child in India 18
Social Profile- Rape and molestation/harassment victims
Table 3(a).1- Age group of victims 135
Table 3(a).2- Age and Abuse of children 136
Table 3(a).3- Religion and Category of the Victims 137
Table 3(a).4- Studying 137
Table 3(a).5- Level of Education 138
Table 3(a).6- Level of Education and Age 138
Table 3(a).7- Type and Size of the Family of Victims 139
Table 3(a).8- Type and Size of the Family of Victims and their abuse 140
Table 3(a).9- Locality of the Family and Type of Society 141
Table 3(a).10- Locality of the Family and Type of Society and Abuse of children 142
Table 3(a).11- Nature of Neighbors 142
Social Profile- Child Sexual Exploitation victims
Table 3(a).12- Age group of victims 143
Table 3(a).13- Religion and Category of the Victims 144
Table 3(a).14- Level of Education 144
Table 3(a).15- Type and Size of the Family of Victims 145
Table 3(a).16- Locality of the Family and Type of Society 145
Table 3(a).17- Nature of Neighbor 146
Economic Profile- Rape and molestation/harassment victims
Table 3(b).1- Family Income 147
Table 3(b).2- Abuse and Family Income 148
Economic Profile- Child Sexual Exploitation victims
Table 3(b).3- Family Income 148
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