The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) of Ministry of Women and Child Development has been conferred the Skoch Silver and Skoch Order-of Merit award. The award was received by NCPCR Chairperson Smt. Stuti Kacker from Sh. Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT at an event attended by representatives of Technology Companies, Govt. Departments, Public Sector Undertaking, Research Organisations in New Delhi last week. The two awards were received by NCPCR for applying technology to develop an electronic drop box, POCSO e-Box for registering complaints on Child Sexual Abuse. Speaking on the occasion, Smt. Kacker said that everybody should stand up against Child Sexual Abuse, a heinous crime that leaves permanent scars on the psyche of the child.
The competition saw more than 3000 participants and NCPCR’s project, POCSO e-box was considered among the top 30 entries.
POCSO e-box is a unique endeavour by NCPCR for receiving online complaint of Child Sexual Abuse directly from the victim. The system maintains confidentiality of the victim/ complainant. Through a well defined procedure complaints are directly followed up by a team which counsels the victim, providing further guidance for required legal action. Through a short animation film embedded in the e-box it assures the victim not to feel bad, helpless or confused as it’s not her fault. With the e-box, it is easy to register complaint through a step-by-step guided process.
According to a study, conducted by Ministry of Women & Child Development during 2007, about 53% of children surveyed, reported having faced one or the other form of sexual abuse in their lifetime. It has been found that in most cases, the offender is a family member/near relative or an acquaintance. The child victim in such cases generally does not report such incidences.