Pedophilia In Goa -- Cyber Legal Aid

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Date Posted: 10:09:42 02/25/06 Sat
Author: Sanford Facho
Subject: Pedophilia In Goa

PEDOPHILIA IN GOA
Goa one of India�s major tourist destinations, having miles and miles of sunny beaches, to the splendors of its quaint cities and towns, Goa is more than just beaches and sunshine. It's also the charm and magic of toxic resorts, topped with the celebrated warmth and hospitality of the Goan people.
Goa attracts over a million visitors annually, three quarters of them from overseas. All you need for your stay in Goa is loads of suntan lotion and a holiday spirit. This magical land has through the years cased its spell on the hearts of many, and many have made it their home.
Goa which was ounce known for its sunny beaches, for the warmth and hospitality of its people is now slowly gaining notoriety for a variety of reasons, many of which initially germinated with tourism and are now growing on their own. As a tourist destination, Goa first faced the hippies, and then came the drugs, the rave parties, and now pedophilia and sex rackets.
�Pedophilia�, an unheard term broke into the local daily in the year 1991, when it was discovered that under the pretext of running a shelter for children Albert Freddy Peats, a social worker of foreign origin, was involved in prostitution of young boys. He was the first person in India to serve a life term for pedophilia. His arrest and conviction sent ripples across the land. Bringing about a realization among the locals that tourist and so called benefactors who came to Goa, had more in mind then what was apparent. The evil which initially began with the tourism industry has now spread its tentacles. Seeing the demand and the money paid by pedophiles for the supply of children, a number of cartels have sprung up within the state.

In Goa, children of migrants or locals are often used by their families if economically backward to support their kin. They work as vendors on the beach, sell plastic bags in the market places or go around the city and villages in the search of scrap. Once away from their kin they are exposed to the danger of being picked by a cartel and be supplied for prostitution. From the cases that have been reported after 1991, it brings a very disturbing fact to light, that the demand for children has increased to such an extent that has led some suppliers to bring children from other parts of the country into the state for the purpose of prostitution. Many of this organized cartels work hand in hand with Intermediaries. Intermediaries such as Motorcycle Pilots & taxi drivers, Adult vendors, Shack owners and Former victims are used to provide them with the supply of children.
Pedophilia itself is not a legal term, as it does not describe an act, but a psychological state and should be differentiated from child molestation. A child molester is often a stranger to the family. He is the one who targets a child, he sees and often acts almost immediately on his impulse. He will grab the child, perform sexual acts, and sometimes will even murder his victim. The perpetrator of such a crime may snatch a child from the grocery store, the mall, the park, or even from in front of the child's own house. Perpetrators of such a crime have no love for children whatsoever. They act out of violence and a need to exert power over those who are weaker than themselves. While child molesters are often strangers, they can also be family members, neighbors or friends of the family.
A pedophile unlike a child molester, genuinely likes kids. It is just that somewhere along the way the pedophiles thinking concerning love, sex, and kids has got completely muddled. Most of the pedophiles are very insecure and lonely people. They feel that only children will give them unconditional love, and in their psychologically unbalanced minds, they equate love with sex even when the object of their affection is a child. They even do not view their behavior as wrong. To them adult men have the right to have sex with kids if there is mutual consent. They feel that they have advanced far on this view point compared to the rest of the society.
To protect our children and to deal with the problem of pedophilia we need to learn the profile of a pedophile so that it will make it easier for us to spot the warning signs. First and for most since the sexual act involves a child, a pedophiles will always find ways to be around children and as often as possible, he may achieve this by taking up a job as teacher, camp counselor, school bus driver, daycare worker, or may even enter the priesthood. Some may even go to the extent of entering into marriage or become roommates with women who have children. They may even become friends with single moms so that they can have access to their kids. Some will even seek out those kids whose fathers are no longer in their lives. Once the pedophile has gained access to the child he will then try to satisfy the child�s craving for attention, affection and will show acts of kindness towards his victims, he may achieve this by taking the child to grooming places, such as movies, roller skating, fishing, amusement parks and the like. He will during this phase try at all times to stay close to the child; he may keep his hand around the child or may even make the child sit on his lap, the child being innocent and totally unaware of the intentions of the pedophile may over look these acts as touches or acts of comfort and strength. This phase can last from a couple of days to weeks and even years until such time that the pedophile has gained the trust and confidence of the child, enough to let him fondle the child. Many pedophiles today use the internet as to seek out their victims, they love when the child has his own email address or knows how to chat and will use the internet to build his relationship with the child.
If you notice any person behaving in a suspicious manner with a child, immediately make a report of the incident to the nearest police station. If for some reason the presence of a police cannot be secured then you could call 2428992 which will get you connected to Children�s Rights in Goa, an NGO dealing in this field. If there would be a delay in any of the NGO�s member arriving at the scene, then you must personally or with the help of others confront the pedophile, and place the child in the nearest children�s shelter home (Upna Ghar at Merces) till the presence of a police officer can be secured.
For an offence to be registered by the police as a sexual offence against a child, the victim should be a child as mentioned under the Indian Penal Code (below 18 years). In other states the police while framing the charge will have to apply section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which relates to unnatural offences. Till date there has been no special legislation enacted by the central government for dealing with this issue. But the Goan Government has gone one step further and enacted the Goa Children�s Act of 2003, which is a comprehensive legislation on the subject. The Goa Children�s Act of 2003 provides not only for special courts to try cases relating to child abuse but also lists out awards of punishment that could be attracted by perpetrator of such a crime.
Some myths that need to be discarded from our minds if we want to save our children for such abuse. First the notion that all pedophiles are male, is not true even though more pedophiles are males, there are women pedophiles as well. Secondly the belief that such kind of abuse is done by strangers is not true, most children who are abused know the offender, either as a friend of the family or relative. Thirdly the belief that children benefit from such sexual act, as it fills the void of love and affection denied to them by their parents, it not true, children at such age are innocent and do not know of the long term effect that will follow into their adolescence.

This is a problem and we need to solve it. The problem can be tackled at three levels:

The First Level: This level lies entirely in the hands of the perpetrator, if he is willing to under go the following stages. The first stage, is a stage of acceptance, he should accept that he has a problem. The second stage starts when the pedophile develops empathy towards his victims; he has to understand the harm that has been caused to the victim. In the third stage the pedophile has to begin to work with his problem, this is done by removing him self from the environment of children and being in the company of adults, this may be achieved by joining a club. The forth stage is perhaps the most challenging one, the pedophile has to start his life over again, face all those situations which previously were a stumbling block.

The Second Level: Sensitization is the best way to protect kids from becoming victims of pedophiles is to educate them. Make them aware that there are people in this world who do not have their best interests at heart. Tell them about good touch and bad touch in an age-appropriate way. Tell them that sometimes people who appear to be nice and friendly and generous are in actuality very sick people who need help. Make it clear to the kids that if someone should ever try to molest them or hurt them in any way, or if someone tries to seduce them or do anything that the child feels uncomfortable with, that it is not the child's fault. Tell the kids the things that these men will do and say to get them not to tell an adult what happened. Discuss with your kids the ways that pedophiles and child molesters operate. You certainly don't have to go into a lot of sordid details; just tell them that if anyone ever tries to touch their private parts, or tries to get the child to touch their private parts, they are to tell you immediately. Make it clear that these men are very sick people and that they need help. What they are doing or attempting to do is not only wrong but also illegal. The more we educate the kids about these issues, the more likely they are to be assertive about turning these guys in.
The Third Level: Strong enforcement of law required. The Department of Tourism should establish a sub-committee to study the issue and report to the local government and national commissions to take action against promoters of sex tourism. There should be a strong network between NGO�s and the police.

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