Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Role of Non-Governmental Organisations Civil society organisations (independent institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and independent experts) have a positive role to play in the effective implementation of the 5 Section 23 (2): No reports in any media shall disclose, the identity of the child including his name, address, photograph, family details, school, neighbourhood or any other particulars which may lead to disclosure of identity of the child. Provided that for reasons to be recorded in writing, the Special Court, competent to try the case under the Act, may permit such disclosure, if in its opinion such disclosure is in the interest of the child. 58 POCSO Act, 2012 not only in raising public awareness on children‟s rights and in disseminating a new culture of child-adult relationships, but also in preventing and responding to violence against children by providing active support to reported cases through individual and group counselling and services for rehabilitation of abused children. 6.1 Relevant legal provisions The POCSO Act, 2012 and POCSO Rules, 2012 envisage the involvement of NGOs as support persons for the child, as well as under various other provisions. i) Making report to police under Section 19(1) of POCSO Act, 2012 - any person, including a member of an NGO, may make a report under this section. Many NGOs work closely with vulnerable children and are in a position to detect child abuse. In many cases, a child may feel more comfortable disclosing abuse to an NGO worker rather than someone in his/her own family. An NGO that has knowledge of the sexual abuse of a child is also bound by the principle of mandatory reporting under section 21(1) of POCSO Act, 2012. ii) An NGO worker is included in the term “person of trust and confidence”. Thus, such person‟s presence can be requested at the time of recording a statement before the Police or Magistrate [section 26(1)], medical examination [section 27(3)], and Special Court proceedings [section 33(4) and 37]. iii) An NGO worker may be appointed as a support person by the CWC to assist the child through the pre-trial and trial procedure (sub-rule 7 of rule 4 of POCSO Rules, 2012). Also, the parents, guardian or other person in whom the child has trust and confidence can approach an NGO to act as a support person (proviso to sub-rule 7 of rule 4 of POCSO Rules, 2012). iv) Where an NGO is appointed as the support person, its worker has a right to be informed under sub-rule 11 of rule 4 of POCSO Rules, 2012 of the developments, including the arrest of the accused, applications filed and other court proceedings. The NGO support person in turn communicates this information to the child and his/her family. v) The NGO assisting a child can, under rule 7 of POCSO Rules, 2012 file an application for interim and final compensation with the Special Court, as well as with the Legal Services Authority. 59 It has been noted that victims of child sex abuse, and often their families, prefer to approach and seek advice from an NGO even before they report the matter to the police. Thus, in such situations, the NGO becomes a first point of contact for the child, providing counselling, legal advice and assistance to report the matter. NGOs must maintain regular contact with the SJPUs and local police stations in their areas of operation. Cooperation between the police and NGOs would facilitate speedy action and reduction of secondary trauma. Where an NGO is approached by a child and/or his/her parents or guardian or other person in whom the child has trust and confidence before the latter approaches the police, the NGO can arrange contact with the police. On the other hand, where the child and/or his/her parents or guardian or other person in whom the child has trust and confidence approach the police on their own, the police can inform and refer them to NGOs that offer support and guidance. This course of action has been recommended for the police in many districts, and is followed in some. Where an NGO worker is appointed as the designated support person under Rule 4 of POCSO Rules, 2012 such person should refer to the guidelines for support persons. 6.2 General Comments: In addition to these support functions, an NGO can also play a vital role in identifying child sexual abuse concerns. A number of NGOs work with children closely, and are aware of the particular problems and behaviour of each child. The NGO worker is in a position to keep a watch on these children, and to look out for children who are at risk of sexual abuse as well as for signs of sexual abuse even before the child himself may disclose it. In this way, an NGO worker can contribute to the detection of sexual abuse and to the initiation of remedial measures, including judicial processes, in respect of the sexual abuse. NGOs are the primary channel for awareness-generation and proactive monitoring of government policies and action. They can contribute to the objectives of the POCSO Act, 2012 by providing technical support to children‟s institutions in developing Child Protection Policies addressing issues of recruitment, monitoring, complaints mechanism, disciplinary proceedings, and police reporting within their own organisational or institutional setting, and training their staff in this regard. They can also train CWC, lawyers, doctors and other professionals who come in contact with children about the POCSO Act, 2012 and in 60 communicating with children. In addition to this, they can set up education and training programmes for children and youth. They can hold consultations with children and youth to understand their views and perspectives on the issue of child sexual abuse and provide them with opportunities and ways to put recommendations forward as well as opportunities to get involved in implementation. In addition to this, NGOs can monitor media coverage and ensure sensitive handling of the issue. They can also develop and disseminate position papers and other academic and awareness materials. They can create alliances with other NGOs, business groups, private organisations and the local, national and regional media networks, share best practices, submit articles, involve the press in relevant events and lobby with the media to raise awareness with the general public. NGOs can thus play a vital role in the implementation of the provisions of the POCSO Act, 2012 and in general in combating the problem of child sexual abuse. 61 Chapter 7 Child Development Experts Child development refers to the various stages of physical, social, and psychological growth that occur from birth through young adulthood. A child who has been the victim of a sexual offence is likely to have been severely traumatised, both mentally as well as physically. A child development expert is therefore a person who is trained to work with children with physical or mental disabilities, to evaluate such a child's mental and physical development in the context of that child‟s experience, and to accordingly facilitate communication with the child.