SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF BOYS IN SOUTH ASIA A ...

1.4.2 The community
Sexual abuse of children in the community falls into two forms of coercion: manipulation of
the child’s trust, such as in abuse by family friends, child caretakers, or neighbours; and
exploitation of power, by those who can exert control over the child or the child’s parents.
Disempowerment, poverty, membership in a disadvantaged ethnic group, or disintegration of
the social fabric due to war, corruption or lack of civil authority can be at the root of child
sexual abuse experienced in the wider community. As families may suffer from extortion,
violence and eviction from the power elements of a community, so may their children be
subjected to sexual abuse. Sexual abuse in the community often goes unreported, particularly
if the abuser is a police officer, community leader, gang leader or other person with power in
the community. In such circumstances, both the child and family fear physical reprisal as well
as social ostracism.
Research has shown that while girls face greater threats of sexual abuse in the private sphere,
boys face more risk in the public sphere, including in parks, markets, theatres and the
perpetrator’s house. 35
1.4.3 Educational settings
Studies indicate widespread sexual abuse in schools throughout South Asia. 36 It is perpetrated
both by teachers/school attendants and by the children’s peers. Enticement of financial
rewards or passing marks provides opportunities for coercion, as does the threat of
punishment, given the prevalence of corporal punishment in educational settings. Children
are usually reluctant to report abuse by staff because they fear reprisal or think they will not
be believed. Few educational settings provide children with access to service providers
outside the power structure who can help them. As a result, many abused children drop out of
school. 37
As children’s participation in school increases throughout the region, school becomes the
primary venue of social identification with a child’s age group, and peer pressure can be very
strong. Exerted through social networks and dominant children, it provides numerous
opportunities for sexual coercion. Children submit to sexual abuse by other children for fear
of being denounced by their peers, and they deny it for fear of being shamed.
In co-educational settings, girls face more non-physical forms of abuse, such as teasing and
sexual language. But for boys in private settings, particularly in residential schools, physical
35
Child Workers in Nepal and UNICEF, 2005, ‘Violence against children in Nepal: Child sexual abuse in
Nepal: Children’s perspectives’.
36
Breaking the Silence Group, Bangladesh, 2003, ‘Learning from experience: Case studies of non-commercial
sexual abuse of children in Bangladesh’; Virani, P., 2000, ‘Bitter chocolate: Child sexual abuse in India’; Child
Workers in Nepal and Save the Children Norway/Nepal, 2003, ‘Silent suffering: Child sexual abuse in the
Kathmandu Valley’.
37
Ibid. (all documents)
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