blog-aswathi-blog

[blog-aswathi-blog]

Workshop on Child Protection and POSCO Act held at SNIS (Sharanya Narayani International School)

POCSO or The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012 was established to protect the children against offenses like sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and pornography. It was formed to provide a child-friendly system for trial under which the perpetrators could be punished.

Sharanya Narayani International School (SNIS) considers it to be of utmost importance to make its students aware of the POSCO Act and different situations wherein children should be vigilant. In a bid to sensitize our children and bring awareness, Sharanya Narayani International School (SNIS) with expert help from Faith Foundation, an NGO which specializes in Child Protection against abuse, conducted age-appropriate awareness workshops for the students on 1st March 2019.  

Under certain specific circumstances POCSO states a sexual assault is to be considered “aggravated if the abused child is mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a member of the armed forces or security forces or a public servant or a person in a position of trust or authority of the child, like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor or a person-management or staff of a hospital — whether Government or private.” SNIS feels that the biggest issue in reporting a crime is the vocabulary, the vocabulary to communicate sexuality and sexual abuse is non-existent in India, especially amongst children. In such a context, the onus is on the education system to provide children with the essential life skills to identify unsafe touches and situations and seek help.

SNIS is an international school in Bangalore that considers the importance of child security and safety to be paramount. Several security measures including placing CCTV cameras and female security guards at strategic locations, proper visitor management, appropriate transportation system management, a strict background check before the hiring of school staff and more are undertaken by the school in order to ensure 100% student safety.