There was a worrisome increase in crime against children in the past decade. Though legal provisions were available, there was an urgent need to promulgate a stricter law specifically for dealing with crimes against children. After a lot of research and deliberations, the government has come out with a POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses),  to provide for the protection of children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography while safeguarding the interest of the child at every stage of the judicial process by incorporating a child-friendly mechanism.

The law has been enacted in 2012 and since then it has really become a deterrent to the offenders of crime against children. Since the victims included small children, who do not understand the nuances of the POCSO Act, it was necessary to educate or create awareness about the easy way to protect themselves from the crime.

In order to attain the same, we have introduced a program ‘Safe Touch and Unsafe Touch’ starting from the small kids and extrapolating the program to suit even the senior kids. Parents were also made part of the awareness program in which the salient points of the POCSO Act were explained to them by legal experts and the rights of children under the act. Local police personals were also made part of the program and they have also given valuable inputs to both the students and the parent community. Special awareness programs were conducted for mentors to deal with the situation in case of anything untoward happening and the ways to prevent any crime against children.