Child Abuses: A National Security Issue Next In Line?

By K.A. Waruni Madhubhashini –OCTOBER 2, 2020

Waruni Madhubhashini

Children are the world’s most valuable resource and the best hope for the future because they are the blooming opportunities and strength of the country. In today’s world affairs children have plenty of abilities to address the significant issues by intermediating and debating on various avenues which helps to create a new dimension of strategic solutions. Children are the most vulnerable group of this current society by being violated and abused in many ways. The government has failed to protect the safety and security although when there are many rules and regulations available. When you think of child abuse, your first thought may be of a child with bruises or other marks that raise red flags. But the signs aren’t always so clear. Abuse can be physical, sexual, or emotional such as Violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination. Therefore, Child abuse is not just physical violence directed at a child. It is any form of maltreatment by an adult, which is violent or threatening to a child.

During the lockdown period due to the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus many schools were closed, children were stuck at home all day and many parents were unable to go to work. Stress, isolation and economic hardship factored for the increasing risk of domestic violence, child cruelty and abuses in all over the world. In Sri Lanka, just over 140 incidents of rape, 42 cases of serious sexual abuse and 54 cases of child abuse have been reported from various police divisions in the country within the first 15 days of 2020. According to the statistics it shows that child abuses are varying in a broad array of types. From the 1st of January till 31st December 2019, “1929” child helpline reported 8558 complaints in which children have been abused in various forms (National Child Protection Authority, 2019). Child abuses has increased dramatically even when there were many rules and regulations to protect children from abuses. This is controversial question which will be coming up as a serious human security issue next inline in the national security.

Crimes against children in Sri Lanka are rising at an alarming speed within short time period of time each incident more shocking than the previous one. Cruelty on child, sexual harassment, grave sexual abuses and neglect on child are the most reported crimes against children. There are many unreported crimes in rural areas because of the lack of knowledge, fear of reporting the incidents and unawareness of the procedures to file a complaint. Perpetrators have the opportunity to continuously practice same when they are aware of the loopholes in the law and order. The inability of the State and non-state actors to protect and secure children has allowed the perpetrators to scot free is even more disgraceful. 

From Law enforcement to protect children in practically

The Sri Lankan Government has identified the protection and promotion of the rights of children as a strategic policy goal and the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has been assigned as a lead agency to implement this policy through strategic plan on prevention of child abuse based on Cabinet Decision of 24 May 2016. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) is also been established by the parliament of Sri Lanka under the Act No.50 of 1998 to protect the children from these misbehaving and abusing, although these rules and laws have been implemented and regulating all around the country still children are directly targeting to the abuses (National Child Protection Authority, 2019). The failures of Judiciary System, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), Police, National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) and other respective organization in protecting children and promoting their rights have resulted in frustrating inadequacies, lengthy and painful progression of inquiries. For the moment, Sri Lanka needs more advanced law implementation which is practically applicable than the theoretical arguments.

The lack of consensus on how a child is defined, creates gaps in how the substantive law is applied. The Penal Code on Sexual Exploitation of children has many shortfalls. The current legislation in Sri Lanka on child pornography or Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) does not adequately cover Online Child Sexual Exploitation (OCSE) and because of the loopholes of CSAM, Sivaloganathan Vidya was brutally murdered and still these kinds of incidents are happening. Furthermore, the legal framework in Sri Lanka fails to codify grooming as a crime. The OCSE does not have a section in penal code on cyber-crimes (United Nations, 2002) and it is problematic. Male victims of OCSE are not recognized as victims of OCSE in Sri Lanka. The current substantive law in Sri Lanka uses gendered pronouns within the definition of the crimes thus creating a vacuum for male child victims. This is especially a challenging situation for prevention of child sex tourism industry in Sri Lanka (Nazim, 2018). 

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