'Sit "properly", Don’t wear provocative dresses,” says textbook to prevent abuse
Shun ‘provocative’ clothes, warns Tamil Nadu Class VIII science text “When you are going to school by auto, bus or by train keep a safe distance from the other sex.” “Take care of the way you sit.” “Don’t wear provocative dresses”, warns the Class VIII science textbook on how to prevent child sexual abuse. The books have been published by the Tamil Nadu government under its Samacheer Kalvi (Balanced Education) system. Shockingly, the government has for 12 years been printing a textbook that explicitly warns children against cross-gender interaction and issues a retrograde caution against “provocative” clothing, it in a way suggests that children bear the responsibility of meeting an unspecified, nebulous dress code —to avoid being abused. School education department principal secretary Pradeep Yadav said he was unaware of the issue and would look into the matter. State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), Tamil Nadu, director G Arivoli said the authorities had cleared the textbook for printing 12 years ago. “It was a long time ago. All these chapters will be revised,” Arivoli said. “We have consulted officials with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to provide inputs this time on ways to prevent abuse. Sherin Bosko, co-founder of Chennai-based Nakshatra, an NGO that works with victims of child sexual abuse, said the tone of the textbook only reinforces the notion that victims are responsible for rape. “What message are we sending to our children? ‘Sit properly or you will be raped’,” she said. “And to the boy? ‘If you rape a girl who doesn’t sit properly, it is her fault’.” She recalled the 2014 rape of a 9-year-old girl and how a Child Welfare Committeemember had instructed the victim to “sit decently” as they waited for doctors to arrive and conduct a medical examination. “Our education system will drive home the same message to the same girl — that she is to blame for what happened,” she said. -PTC News
