Twelve-year-old Arijit Chauhan (name changed) used to lie awake at night because of the pain caused by blisters on his private parts. When his parents finally took him to JJ Hospital for a check up, they were shocked to learn that their son was suffering from a sexually transmitted disease caused by sexual abuse.
“Every week, we receive 2-3 such cases in which a boy is sexually abused. Some of them are so severe, that they require surgical intervention,” said Dr Minakshi Nalbale Bhosale, a paediatric surgeon from the hospital.
However, according to data of the National Crime Record Bureau, not a single sexual abuse case involving boys has been recorded in Mumbai. Explaining the reason, Dr Bhosale said, “Due to the stigma attached to then, no one reports such cases. In fact, they also don’t come to us directly until the child develops behavioral or health issues.”
To address the gap in the number of abuse cases involving boys and their reportage, she has created a booklet titled, ‘Child sexual abuse — Recognise it, report it, prevent it’.
According to medical experts, out of the total child abuse cases, 20-30 per cent are related to boys. “We get many boys who suffer from mental trauma where we have to keep counseling them. In fact, we get children with injury marks on their private parts caused by the abusers,” she added.
Like sexual abuse cases involving girls, it is mostly persons who are known to the victims, such as family members and neighbours, who exploit boys. “In such cases, the trauma is more as the child can’t tell his parents and the shock leads to psychological trauma. Many a time, the perpetrators keep repeating the abuse by threatening the boy,” said Vaijanti from Maharashtra Childline, an NGO working for child rights.
In fact, in the long run the trauma caused by such incidences make victims more prone to committing sexual abuse in their adulthood. “Such incidences at a young age leaves a negative impression in the mind of children that later encourages them in getting involved in criminal activities. Many sexual abusers have shown history of harassment in their childhood,” said Dr Sagar Mundada, psychiatrist from JJ Hospital.
