A small-scale study has unearthed significant exposure of schoolchildren to sexual abuses by some of their teachers or relatives, who abuses children by sexual touch or physical contacts at children's tender age.
'The issue is grossly hidden and many parents are unaware of it (sexual abuse of their kids by others,)' said a young professor of Dhaka University, who is now undergoing doctoral programme in Australia.
Farah Deeba, assistant professor of Clinical Psychology Department, said she has conducted a study over 581 schoolchildren in five districts and found one in 15 boys and over 15 per cent of girls have experienced sexual abuse of different forms at very young ages.
'This abuse leads to serious emotional and psychological problems of a child who suffer from depression, anti-social behaviour, identity confusion, frustration and substance abuses,' she said at function at Dhaka University senate hall Tuesday evening.
The girls in rural areas are more prone to sexual abuse than their urban counterparts, Deeba said, adding nearly five per cent urban girls have reported sexual abuse against over 10 per cent of rural girls.
'We need to figure out how we can restore and secure mental health condition of our children and we need to understand why they are experiencing such incidents,' she suggested, but urged guardians to be alert that children at most cases are at risk of being abused or harassed by their known persons close to them.
She also said both girls and boys need to be taken care of in order to protect the young children from such abuses at their growing stage and prevent them from mental trauma at later stage of their lives.
A student of Viqarunnisa Noon School said sexual abuses had long been continuing in the school, but those were not reported until a recent incident disclosed the horrific stories of abuses by teachers. She said there should be psychological tests for teachers at times of their recruitment.
Source : New Age
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