Voice against child abuse
Child abuse has been on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the statistics are real victims. Behind the numbers are disrupted lives.
Addressing this grave issue, the Rotaract Club of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, has launched the “Voice Against Child Abuse” initiative – aiming to “garner public attention on the matter, alleviate stigma surrounding victims, understand the thought process of a pedophile, and slowly but surely rid our country of child abuse.”
‘Be the Voice’ – the first phase of the project, spreading awareness about child abuse and educating the public commenced in October 2020 with the launching of the project’s own Facebook page. A series of trilingual awareness flyers were released on Fb, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Shortly after, the Instagram page up and running. In November, the National Child Protection Authority endorsed the project.
On the ‘World Day for Prevention for Child Abuse’ on November 19, a video compilation featuring 40 personalities from 20 other Rotaract and non-Rotaract clubs was released. Under the leadership of Kusala Fernando and Ashinsani Fernando, a series of articles penned by club members was published on the club’s official blog and Facebook page which ended up reaching thousands as they were in all three languages.
Phase 2 – ‘Be the Change’ is focused on educating the public on preventing child abuse, empowering children, and building a guide for teachers. Collaboration with a few other Facebook pages such as Ammai Babai etc. helped reach young parents.
‘Parapuraka Abhiyachanaya’, the Interschool debate competition saw eight schools from four districts taking part on Zoom on March 1 and 2. After a close final battle, Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya was crowned champions with D.S. Senanayake Vidyalaya adjudged runners-up. The recorded episodes were broadcast on the official Facebook pages of VACA, SCC, FoS and Lankadeepa. The final attracted over 6000 views!
May 19 was marked as the day of ‘The Final Pledge’ of Project Voice Against Child Abuse where a zoom conference was live streamed on the project’s Facebook page. The official launch of the VACA theme song “Igilenna ida denna” (Let them fly) also took place.
A cartoon addressing the fine line between ‘good touch and bad touch’ compiled with the aid of Toon Studios, with characters brought to life by the club members was also released as it is believed that a cartoon is the best way to reach the minds of the little ones.
The publication of a syllabus for teachers on how to identify an abused child and what to do took place on this day as well. This is to be integrated in to the curriculum of school and preschool teacher-training with the collaboration of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Psychiatry.
Chaired by Hansana Priyan, vice president of the community services avenue, assisted by Anuki Hewavithana, Ashinsani Fernando and Sanduni Wijerathna, the VACA project is overseen by club president Thanuja Kotawalagedara and secretary, Sandamini Liyanage. The public relations team is headed by the editors, Afrah Niyas and Shanya Mudannayaka with the community service subcommittee headed by Kusala Fernando, Fayaz Ahmed and Charuka Deshapriya.