SEXUAL ABUSE OF GIRL CHILDREN: Some Hidden Facts

Our society is grappling with many problems and one of the serious problems is girl child sexual abuse. In India, the issue of girl child sexual abuse is still kept veiled and socially unspeakable. Even though some studies have shown its prevalence in India; social stigma, traditions and cultural barriers have always kept this issue in the dark. Owing to restrictive social upbringing, abused girls do not seek any help from family or from outside. The socialization process teaches the girls to not respond, rather remain silent and bear, adjust and suffer in silence. This book is an attempt to break this silence of the abused girl children. Drawing upon the research conducted in Beed district of Maharashtra, the book tries to portray the severity of the physical, emotional and psychological pain of the sexually abused girl children. This book would be useful to parents of girl children, social workers, teachers, students, women studies researchers and all the NGOs working on this issue. Moreover, this book will help policy-makers and government for intervention in strategies and rehabilitative programmes.