#WhenIWas: Tales of child abuse

A project called Everyday Sexism, which had been started in 2012 (by Laura Bates, a British female writer), showcases examples and incidents of everyday sexism which women all over the world have experienced at some point of time in their childhood.
Everyday Sexism started the hashtag – #WhenIWas which encourages everyone who has ever been sexually abused in their lives to open up and tell the world about their experience, unashamed and unafraid.
Many have unfolded their long-kept tales. They have opened up and tweeted about the horrifying incidents they had been the victims of.

Here, women are finally disclosing their tales of being sexually abused as a child. These appalling incidents will leave you disturbed and disgusted when you realize how vile, vicious and perverse this society has become.

Recent research shows that more than 53% of the children in India have faced sexual abuse or harassment or some sort. Alas, most of these occurrences have remained unannounced and unspoken of because of social stigma, lack of information and awareness, and stress of the society.
And often, most children are too young to comprehend that they are being sexually violated till they grow up to fathom what it all meant.

One of them confided that when she was of age 6, her father used to ‘touch’ and feel her up to the point that it made her feel uncomfortable. Her father would not stop even at her request, claiming that he owned her body.

Patrice Em tweets – that when she had been 7-years-old, she had been dragged into the toilet by a few boys who had forcefully tried to undo her uniform. She had informed the teacher regarding this assault, but the teacher had turned a deaf ear to her.

Individuals are sexually abused most often by other individuals they are already familiar with, that is inclusive of their kinsfolk, acquaintances, family friends, uncles, etc.

Many NGOs in the country are helping bring about awareness and understanding among the children, regarding how to differentiate a ‘bad touch’ from a ‘good touch’. Whether a person has good intentions when he/she touches you, or whether it is a ‘bad touch’, that is, touching with the wrong intent. But considering the increasing population, they have to widen their reach.