Maneka launches POCSO e-button for children to file complaints of sexual abuse

New Delhi: Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi today launched an online complaint box for reporting child sexual abuse, the POCSO e-Box. The innovative Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO), e-Box, is an online complaint management system for easy and direct reporting of sexual offenses against children and timely action against the offenders under the POCSO Act, 2012.

Though sexual offenses against children are rampant, only a small percentage gets reported. According to a study, about 53 per cent of children surveyed, reported having faced one or the other form of sexual abuse in their lifetime. Speaking about the inspiration behind the scheme, Ms Gandhi said the idea of an e-Box came out of a police initiative in which physical complaint boxes were placed in schools.

The e-Box will make it possible to implement it on a large scale throughout the country. 'A large number of incidents of abuse are against close relatives and so they get pushed under the carpet,' she said. Simple to operate, the e-Box will help to maintain the confidentiality of the complaint, she explained.

MoS for Women and Child Development Krishna Raj and NCPCR Chairperson Stuti Kacker, who were present, said all efforts should be made to generate awareness about the e-Box so that more and more children can come out with their suffering. Highlighting the lifelong trauma of a child suffering from abuse, Ms Kacker said the online facility has been created so that the child can be given immediate help. (UNI)