Society not safe for minor girls — Child Welfare Committee member

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Jan. 23 (EMN): The society for minor girls is no longer a safe haven, especially when an adult guardian becomes the perpetrator of crimes and violence against the girl child, stated Lima Longkumer, member of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Dimapur, on the eve of National Girl Child Day on Sunday.

The situation of minor girls in Nagaland is ‘most alarming’ with cases of minor girls being raped and sexually abused reported on a daily basis, Longkumer told Eastern Mirror.

“Being a minor by itself makes such children already vulnerable in the society where there is an increase in crime rate, and all the more, when the society at large is ignorant about the fundamental rights and welfare of the children.

“And in general, most of such minor children who are victims of exploitation and inequality are from weaker sections of the society, children of broken homes and economically deprived parents. As such, both are victims of inequality in our society without any distinction,” she added.

She said that people were hesitant to come forward and report the crimes and violence against a girl child to the concerned authority due to ‘customary practices, where the rights of the children are overlooked, delay in the delivery of justice system and also pressure to withdraw the complaint or the case by the abusers/accused family and society and most importantly due to the societal stigma’.

Longkumer added that one cannot deny gender parity when it comes to male preference in every area as ‘our society is a patriarchal society and since time immemorial; a woman has always been treated as a second class citizen to be confined only within the house’.

For instance – girl child has no property rights, non inclusion in decision making bodies and is deprived of matrimonial rights, which are gender biased, she said.

She stated that crimes and violence against girl’s child during the pandemic situation in the state were on the rise but due to the timely intervention of authorities and care givers like DCPO, CWC, Childline and Police, many such victims were rescued and rehabilitated 

According to Longkumer, the best way to ensure that every girl is treated equally is by creating more sensitisation and awareness amongst the stakeholders like NGOs, churches and various other organisations about the importance of the rights of girl child and to empower and protect them by continuing to support victims of violence and abuse and not to re-victimise them.

 ‘Girls are not a burden but an asset to the society and therefore let’s make our society a safe haven and a protector of our girl child’, she added.

National Girl Child Day, which is celebrated every year on January 24, started in 2008 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development with an aim to promote and spread awareness about the rights of the girl child and to increase awareness on the importance of girl education, and their health and nutrition.

This year National Girl Child Day will be celebrated on the theme “Empowering girls for a brighter tomorrow.”

Naga traditions and customs partly responsible for gender divide

Naga culture, customs and traditions have played a part in creating inequality between boys and girls, with boys traditionally being treated as the ‘head’, opined Mhonbeni Wijonamai, Co-founder of Grace Orphanage Home at Virazouma, Chumoukedima.

Wijonamai told Eastern Mirror that the best way to ensure every girl is treated equally is education, while awareness on the importance of equality must be imparted to both girls and boys in school and at home.

Wijonamai said that in Nagaland, ‘most girls do not get as much freedom as boys, there are many don’ts and objections, and one of the examples is that they do not get property share’.

However, the inequality between boys and girls has decreased to some extent with increasing educated parents, she said.

In matters of crimes or violence against girl children, Wijonamai said many are hesitant to come forward and report the crime as ‘they fear to lose the family honor and are shamed by society’.

When asked if she had encountered some cases where family members preferred to give more opportunities to a boy child, Wijonamai said that when there are financial problems in the family, ‘they would choose to give the opportunity to the boy child saying that they are the inheritance of the family.’ Wijonamai shared that she had encountered many cases even in the orphanage where ‘parents chose to keep the boy child and abandoned the girl as they had financial problems’.

Wijonamai shared that girls are a blessing to the family and society.

“Do not underestimate the strength of women and girls! They can conquer the world equally like any man can do. Or even more,” she added.

Meanwhile, Director of Hope Channel Dimapur, Tiala said that Naga culture, tradition and customs play a major role in creating gender inequality ‘as we can see that we are male dominant culture where every right is given to males only’.
Moreover, some crimes against girl children never come to light as people are hesitant to report to the concerned authority ‘because of the society and to protect their family and kin’s reputation.’
‘Educate a girl child, give her every right. Make her understand her duty in order to educate and lead the world’, she said.