Newswallah: Long Reads Edition

ReutersA magazine stand on a railway platform in Mumbai.

“What explains this increasing perversion in society, where even children aren’t spared?” Debarshi Dasgupta and Prachi Pinglay-Plumber ask in Outlook magazine (print only). The authors survey the increasing number of reports of child sex abuse and ask what it is about Indian society that is causing this phenomenon. According to the National Crime Records Bureau between 2001 and 2011 there has been a three-fold increase in registered cases of child sex abuse, from 2,113 in 2001 to 7,112 a decade later. In speaking with experts in the field and those who deal with victims and perpetrators of child sex abuse, the authors find that it is not easy to determine a direct cause for the increase in sex abuse among minors. They find that offenders vary in behavior and psychology and therefore it is both hard to draw any generalizations and create effective means of prevention.

Moreover, the authors argue that even in cases where an instance of child sex abuse is brought to light, social stigmas prevent people from coming forward and registering a complaint.

“Dealing with child sex abuse is even more difficult in a society like ours where families often prefer to have a child kept quiet and protect their honor, especially if the offender happens to be someone from the family or close to them,” the authors write.

The authors contend that while it is necessary to improve policy in dealing with reported cases, it is equally important to acknowledge the issue within the home.

“But it’s not just the police, any effective action also requires us to acknowledge that perpetrators are from among us,” the authors write. “We need to stand by our children, by being both more compassionate and vigilant at the same time.”

The issue of child abuse also finds a prominent mention in Tehelka magazine. The story titled “What Are We Doing To Our Kids?” looks at the rampant prevalence of child sex abuse and dubs it “our dirty national secret.” While the article lists instances of child sex abuse that have made it to the front pages of national papers in the past few weeks, it suggests that only the most horrific and violent cases are drawing the nation’s attention.

“Violent rape of minors is only one aspect of a hellish self that India must now confront,” the authors write. “One of the most crucial aspects of child sexual abuse and rape that must be acknowledged, therefore, is that it is rampant, indiscriminate and cuts across class, geography, culture and religion. It happens in cities and villages, by fathers, brothers, relatives, neighbors, teachers and strangers.”

In a piece titled “Love Jihad” in Open Magazine, Anil Buddar Lulla looks at the hostility of right-wing fundamentalists in Karnataka toward couples seeking romantic alliances outside their faith. As the Bharatiya Janata Party completes a full term in power in the southern state and prepares for next month’s legislative elections, party members are raising their voices in defence of Hindu girls who are supposedly vulnerable to the overtures from Muslim boys.

Mr. Lulla argues that communal issues have been turned into an electoral issue in a dangerous trend. He writes:

The Congress alleges that Mangalore district, which borders Kerala, has been turned into a Hindutva laboratory, pointing to incidents of the saffron moral brigade attacking partying teenagers, forcibly breaking up suspected friendships between Muslim and non-Muslim college students, ambushing vehicles taking cattle for slaughter, and attacking churches to stop their alleged conversion of Hindus to Christianity.