A family, or in a larger sense, a society that treats its children in a violently ill manner will never progress, because children are its future, plain and simple. A society with rich resources can never prosper if its children are not treated well, given the right kind of education and atmosphere for them to grow up as healthy citizens. Violent treatment of children can cause them to lead a deviated life. Nobody will say that an ideal atmosphere for children exists in Bangladesh. Far from it, like its women members, children are also constantly facing violence from their elders in society including parents, teachers, and job givers as well as people in the neighborhoods where children live.
A recent research shows that all of the 150 children aged below 16 on whom the research was conducted experienced at least three types of violence: physical, sexual and domestic. These children were of the lower income group of society. The research findings presented at the “National Symposium on Child Protection in Bangladesh”, jointly organised by Unicef and the European Union at a city hotel yesterday, show that 73 per cent of these 150 children needed hospital care.
It was also found in the research that around 48 percent of the children do not live with their parents afterwards and live off of robbery and begging. A hundred percent of them are school dropouts, with no intention to rejoin formal education.
No, in Bangladesh society we do not have a small section of people who belong to the lower income group. They make up the majority population in Bangladesh. This presents a very depressing scenario, because the section of people, who are rich and educated in the true sense in our society, is very small. While sociologists will point out that a lot of people living in society is yet to learn how to treat children fairly, the fact must be accepted that even though there are stringent laws for deterrence against violence, as they are hardly implemented, the problem is not only continuing, in reality, it is increasing also.
That is why to control violence against children, it is as much necessary to educate the members of society as it is important to enforce the relevant laws in their words and spirit. When it is related to educating people about crimes, if education and punishment for criminal behaviour does not act as complementary, it is not possible to bring the desired change in society regarding violence against children.
Social awareness development groups and NGOs as well as media with the active help from the government can do this by organising campaigns against violence. Conscious individuals in their own domains such as families and workplaces can also play their due role.
