Silence of Male Child Sexual Abuse in India

Victimisation of children occurs both inside the care institutions and inside their own homes around the world, India being no exception. There have been many instances in which a child is sexually victimised inside the orphanages or educational institutions or shelter homes and most of the times these crimes even go unreported. Ministry of Women and Child Development, India in the year 2007 conducted a nationwide study of children aged between five and eighteen years of age and found out that a shocking 52.94 percent of boys had experiences some kind of sexual trauma and 23.06 percentage of them had faced a severe sexual assault. This research article aims to examine several elements of male child abuse, including the underreporting of such crimes and the related stigmas. The researcher will also study the impact such abuse has on a male child and how these cases of abuse are dealt with in India. Mapping the interventions of government as well non-governmental organizations, it further examines different practices and challenges faced in the process of addressing the issues emanating from the dominant notions of masculinities and sexuality in the context of India. The instances of such abuse are dealt under the POSCO Act, 2012 which was enacted by the government to bring the abusers to justice.