Children are the assets of a country. They mould and binds tomorrow’s nation. Therefore it is the duty of each and every citizen to protect these children and their interests. Instead the pathetic situation that is prevailing currently is the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children. The bruises, burns, fractures, lacerations and abrasions, abdominal injuries and human bites are the indicators of physical abuse. The behavioral indicators of physical abuse are that the abused child becomes reluctant to contact with adults, he /she becomes apprehensive when other children cry, show aggressiveness in behaviour, seem frightened of parents or caretakers and afraid to go home or cries when it is time to go home. Child sexual abuse has been defined as the involvement of dependent and immature children in sexual activities they don’t fully comprehend to which they are unable to give informed consent. According to The Juvenile Justice Act 1986,the child sexual abuse is an interaction between child and the adult in which the child is being used for the sexual stimulation of the perpetrator or the other person.

Now days in India the children are exploited by the adults to a great extent. They are exploited in their work places by their employers. The children here suffer from all kinds of abuses, as stated above, from their masters. Instead of being sent to school for imparting education, these children are compelled to work in factories and in many dangerous surroundings at their very young age. They are forced by their parents themselves for the same because of the poverty and pathetic situation that is prevailing in their families. Most of the child abuses thus take place at the workplaces.

One of the important measures that is adopted by the government for the eradication of this child exploitation is the declaration of free and compulsory education for children up to the age of 14 years. This therefore to a very great extent eliminates the practice of child exploitation. Imparting education protects the children and enables them to have a decent standard of living in the future. Therefore the government has played a very dominant role through the same declaration in prohibiting to a great extent; such an important social evil was prevailing in the Indian society.

Report by Sharika