Satyarthi seeks support of IT professionals in fight child sexual abuse

Nobel laureate tells parents not to t keep quiet to protect 'family honour'

 Nobel peace prize winner and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi has given a call to all IT professionals in Bengaluru to use the power of technology in the fight against child sexual abuse and violence against women.

The Bengaluru stretch of Satyarthi’s ‘Bharat Yatra’, a 35-day march from Kanyakumari to Delhi to make the country safer for children, was flagged off on Saturday from the Government ITI College grounds, Dairy Circle. The march was flagged off by Kripa Amar Alva, the chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. Children, college students, NGOs and others took part in the rally and pledged to stop sexual abuse and trafficking.

The march moved to Christ University, where Satyarthi addressed a gathering of students.

“What better city than the Silicon Valley of India to lead this war against abuse, trafficking, and rape? Across the world, Bengaluru is acknowledged as a hub of IT and innovation. If entrepreneurs can use technology to change our day-to-day living, surely we can together come up with technology to protect our children? “ he said.

The march then moved to the Jawahar Bal Bhavan in Cubbon Park where Satyarthi inaugurated a project by Young Indians of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The project, titled ‘Leher,’ aims to create 52 short films on child sexual abuse through a competition. The videos will be free to be used for creating awareness on the issue.

Speaking after the launch, Satyarthi urged parents to become friends to their children rather than just being mentors. “It is very important to build a culture where children are able to speak their mind freely. Parents should speak up when child abuse happens and throw away the cover of protecting the so-called dignity and honour of the family,” he said.

He stressed the need for creating a national sex offenders registry so that people who commit such crimes can be named and shamed. “The names and faces of sex offenders should be made public so that employers and others know who they are. They should be socially boycotted and they should not be able to get employment,” Satyarthi said.

He also stressed the need for better laws on trafficking as the existing laws are ‘obsolete’.