App to report cases of child rights abuse

In what looks like a quick response tool to combat the abuse of child rights in India, a Chennai-based NGO has come up with a mobile app called Child Rights Monitor (CRM) that can be used to report and seek solutions on instances of such abuse. 

The android app, developed by MACT, a charitable trust, has the functionality to report incidents, facilitate child rights advocacy, offer support services through NGOs or government bodies and even function as a knowledge base for issues pertaining to the rights of children. 

Speaking at the launch of the app, Job Zachariah, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) says, “According to a nationwide study commissioned by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, one in every two children, in the surveyed sample size, had been sexually abused. As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the reportage of instances in states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala are higher compared to reportages in states such as Jharkhand, whose capital Ranchi has registered zero cases in the last three years. This does not mean it’s the safest city for children. Instead, the cases of abuse are being hushed up there.” 

Zachariah is part of the team that will relaunch a Pan-India campaign called ‘Break the Silence’ which will tentatively begin in October this year. 

The campaign is a concentrated effort at addressing sexual violence being perpetrated against children and coming up with solutions. He opines that an app such as this speeds up the process of reporting such instances, thereby expediting remedial measures. 

S Cyril Alexander, Executive Director of MACT tells us, “Over the long term, we aim to utilise the CRM application to provide state and district-level figures on child rights related issues. It will also be a networking platform for groups working on child rights to exchange information and brainstorm on solutions.”