How safe do you think your children are? What is your reaction
towards child sex abuse cases that you read in the newspapers? What do you
think is the probability of such an incident happening within your close
circle? Do you know that boys could also be victims of child abuse?
I’ll tell you what most of you answered.
You think your children are in the safest hands all the time. You
feel that what you read in the newspapers happens to one in a thousand children
and mainly because of parents’ ignorance. You think that you hail from a decent
family and there is no room for such incidents. And you want to ask me, ‘Did
you mean B-O-Y-S?!’
The Silent Scream raises an alarm against all your innocent
perceptions. There is much more happening to children around us than newspapers
tell us. Most importantly, it warns us that child abuse is not confined to
class, caste, religion, family background or gender.
So, be safe. First of all, learn to be safe! That’s what this book
intends to do.
A must have book for all parents. I am not recommending the book
just because I reviewed it. It’s a request to all parents. Don’t think even
once. Just order it!
Note: A part of the profit from the sales of this book would be
donated to the Arya Orphanage in New Delhi towards the education of the girl
children there.
The Silent Scream has several components, I
would say, all possible components that will help readers not only to gain
awareness about child sex abuse but also suggestions and warnings to keep
children safe from insensible monsters.
Part I – The Story of Harshita
This is a 48-page fiction, based on a real-life
story, about what happens to a six year old little girl, Harshita. As you can
assume by now, Harshita gets sexually abused. However, the circumstances under
which the incident occurs will come like a shocking blow to readers.
Harshita’s story seemed a perfect beginning to
begin the discussion in the book. It brings readers to the right focus that is
required to grasp the message in the rest of the book. Well-narrated and the
author’s brilliant ease of flow of words can be vividly experienced.
Part II – Real Life Cases
Following the fiction, ten real life cases of
child abuse are narrated briefly, one page each. The cases cover different
child abuse situations including upper and lower strata families, male and
female victims, accidental and incidental occurrences and also a few of
parents’ role and involvement.
The real life cases prove an efficient source of
information, for readers get to learn the different situations and tactics
underlying child abuses.
Part III – Awareness (though the author titled this part as ‘rape’, I
would define this section as awareness)
This part makes the core of the book. The author
has discussed many helpful topics that can serve as an immense wealth of
information to readers. Here’s a list of a few:
Types of sexual offences
The types of rape and acts that come under
sexual offences and sexual exploitation are mentioned. If you’ve not heard
before, you will be surprised with the term ‘Marital Rape’, the one which
happens without the consent of the spouse.
A detailed insight about Abusers and how to
identify Potential Abusers
The author has made a sincere effort to detail
the facts gathered about the nature, intentions and socio-psychology of child
abusers. Also, signs of danger and common traits of such sex offenders are
shared for the benefit of the readers. Here are a few randomly picked lines
from this part of the book:
Most of these offenders are people who are close
to or related to the victims. This is one of the major reasons that the
offenders are able to gain the child’s trust and then misuse it. (Page 80)
Some of these offenders can surprise you with
their high intelligence. They can be well-educated, suave and have flourishing
careers. They are generally very manipulative and are able to easily convince
others. (Page 82)
They would generally shower their (potential)
victim with a lot of special attention and praise. (Page 82)
An Alarm to Parents
Some children lead a normal life and do not show any symptoms of
being sexually harassed at all…….. It is not that the parents of these children
were irresponsible but some of their protectors transformed into predators.
(Page 98)
The Reasons
Reasons behind child abuse from an abuser’s
perspective are discussed. It is interesting to note that it’s not always
related to a bad past or themselves being maltreated at a young age. It could
also be associated with their present intimate relationships.
The Repercussions
This is a touching discussion on the
after-trauma effects of child abuse. The author concludes saying, ‘Love is the
real antidote to all your wounds, time isn’t!’
The Indian Law
The current laws in India against child abuse
are discussed briefly. With regret, the fragility of such laws is addressed. My
heart went out to so many of such women pleading for justice. This is one of
the author’s strongly-voiced areas in the book. Phew! So much needs to be
changed!
Instructions to Parents
I encourage readers to make a special note of
these 15 pages of instructions in their journal. It explains all the possible
help that parents can do to protect their children from abusers. If I have to
quote lines from this part, I would want to quote all of the 15 pages. For the
benefit of parents, I request the author to permit pages 117 to 131 to be
circulated publicly for free. It’s the need-of-the-hour!
A few are:
- Teach them right touch and wrong touch
- Teach them to question
- Keep their secrets; they won’t share anything with you
if you break their trust
- Do not threaten them
- Appreciate their honesty
A note to child abuse survivors
If you or any of your known people are child
abuse survivors, you shouldn't miss this encouraging and helpful note.
At the end, there are details about NGOs that work towards the protection of rights of
the children.
With
all my heart, I hope and pray that all children in the world lead a healthy
childhood. Please take time to share this review and the book through social
media.
To
conclude, here's a responsible message from the author:
If
at anytime of your life, you get the urge to abuse a child for some reason,
please consult a psychiatrist immediately and prevent yourself from harming the
child.
My personal appreciations and thanks to
Siddhartha; I need not tell you why nor is my thanks huge enough for your
efforts.
Reviewed
for the Author
Disclosure
of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy from the
Author in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive
review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Title: The Silent Scream
Author: Siddhartha Garg
Publisher: Rumour Books
India
Pages: 156
Author
Connect
Email: sidg1639@gmail.com
Buy
Online
About the Book
Child abuse, one of the many problems that
persist in India today, is arguably one of the filthiest ones. Of late, we have
heard a lot of instances of children being exploited but the most gruesome
abuse occurring in and around the nation is child sex abuse. The term may sound
too demeaning and give you goose bumps but it is in fact a very sensitive issue
which needs to be addressed on a broader platform.
This book tries to take up a similar sensitive
issue which people normally turn a blind eye to even though it persists
nationwide.It is a sincere effort to throw some light on the highly sensitive
and serious problem that continually affects the life of many in the society
but most of the cases die a silent death with the individual. Forget justice,
the plight of the individual is more often than not kept in the dark for the
sake of preserving their honour and position in the society.
The book encapsulates Harshita’s story
primarily, but also narrates the story of ten other child abuse victims, to
make the reader aware of the many ways a child can be abused. It later on tries
to throw some light on awakening the senses of people against these criminals
and empowering women in India so as to help and make the nation a better place
to live in. An earnest effort is also made to help develop awareness by
providing a few crucial points that should be taken care of by all concerned to
avoid falling into such terrible situations.
In short, this book can become a ready guide to
create awareness about this rampantly growing evil and sensitise everyone
regarding the ways child sex abusers operate. A humble effort is also made to
counsel the victims and provide insights to them on how they can make their
life better and also carry their war against this menace so that other innocent
souls are saved.
About the Author
Siddhartha Garg is a techie by profession, a
woman and child rights activist by passion and an active blogger. Coming from a
middle class family based on the outskirts of Meerut, Siddhartha has always
been fond of writing and expressing his thoughts. He started penning verses at
a very young age. He published his first book, In Love With Your Friendship, a
story of love and friendship and its complications. He, however, claims that
this would be the only fictional writing coming through his pen. Siddhartha
intends to focus on issue-based writing to sensitise the nation on the various
problems that plague our society. He believes his writing would be a very
potent weapon in his fight against social ills. In this book, he talks about
child sexual abuse, one of the filthiest crimes that persist within our
society. The Silent Scream targets teenagers, the youth, parents and all the
child abuse survivors and acts like a handbook/guidebook to them providing
solutions and measures to deal with the hideous crime along with some preventive
measures. His next book, Maya, is a true story that narrates the trials and
tribulations of a rape survivor. Siddhartha works in NOIDA and lives with his
friends.
A taboo area that is hardly talked about. It needs to come out of the closet. Thanks for sharing the review of this book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support. Definitely, it's high time we talked about it openly. I hope this book reaches many. Thanks for your time here, Somali. Glad to connect with Scribble and Scrawl.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing review of this book - lack of awareness about this sensitive topic is so important. It is sad that such things still happen. You captured few very important points from the book in this review.
ReplyDeleteYes Piyush, awareness level on child abuse is poor inspite of the frequent cases. Thanks for your time here. Pseudo random thoughts and soulful excursions are beautiful blogs. Happy to have found them today.
ReplyDelete