On 14th February, the Thursday activity included a guest lecture by the End Incest Trust. The Trust has taken up the initiative to spread awareness about the sensitive issue of sexual abuse in family. The guest lecture was addressed by three eminent speakers : Ms. Supreet Dhiman, Dr. Simmi Waraich, Dr. Amritpal Kaur. The objective of the session was to apprise the students about what is incest, how is it different from other sexual abuse and to identify signs and symptoms of incest in individuals around them. Ms. Supreet Dhiman focused on the definition of incest and the abuser. She also stressed upon the statistical data on the age and gender of the abusers and the victims. The students were made aware of the social evil through video clips and newspaper reports by the speakers.
Dr. Simmi Waraich stressed upon coping mechanisms of the victim and behavioural patterns, mannerism and Time of Approach of the perpetrator. Dr. Amritpal Kaur discussed about punishment and Reporting Procedure laid under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. She also illustrated examples from real life scenarios through case laws and newspaper reports.
The guest lecture ended with the result of 18% being the victims of sexual abuse in family in the gathering of 150 students in AIL. Hence, we must all spread awareness about these social evils and help out those in need through social and moral support to our near and dear ones.
The write-up has been prepared by Aradhya Jain (Ist Year).
