Dreaming of a world free from violence against children

 

About one billion children have faced various forms of violence in the last year, according to the World Health Organization. (Image: Pixabay)

The recent brutal killing of three children at a state-run juvenile correction facility in southwest Bangladesh has brought to the fore state violence against children in the country.

At first it was reported the children died at Jessore Juvenile Development Center following a clash between two groups of inmates on Aug. 13. Later, a police investigation found the children died from injuries resulting from merciless beatings by staff. Public shock quickly turned to fury and strong calls for justice.

On the day, a guard of the facility — which holds 280 boys either convicted or awaiting trial for juvenile delinquencies including theft, rape and murder — allegedly ordered some boys to have haircuts, leading to a scuffle. The attack left the guard with a broken hand.

In response, the staff held a meeting and decided to beat up the children “to teach them a lesson.” Some 18 boys were allegedly sorted out, tied with ropes and had their mouths gagged with towels. They were beaten for an hour with steel pipes, sticks and cricket stumps before they passed out.

The seriously injured children died before they were rushed to a local hospital. Police detained five staff for the assault and launched a probe into the incident.

Such inhuman treatment of children in state-run juvenile rehabilitation centers is not new. In 2015, some 20 children cut their wrists protesting torture by staff in another juvenile center, forcing the government to suspend the head of the facility.

Child rights activists have complained on many occasions that these facilities were more for punishment of children than rehabilitation in the absence of effective correctional mechanisms and monitoring.

Children's dreams nipped in the bud

No caption needed, the picture tells it all. (Photo: GMB Akash)

Internationally acclaimed Bangladeshi photographer GMB Akash posted an image on Facebook on June 10 that showed an approximately 10-year-old girl, dressed in school uniform, riding an auto rickshaw with her father at a traffic signal in Dhaka. Standing nearby, a boy of her age was trying to sell popcorn to her.

The caption read: “At the age where he should play and study, he is earning to fill his stomach! No one deserves this childhood!”

Thousands expressed their shock at this sad reality, while dozens blamed the boy's parents and failed social and state systems for failing to ensure his proper upbringing.

The scene is shocking and heart-rending but it is a familiar picture in poorer and developing nations around the world. Millions of children continue to lose their childhood, potential and dreams every year.

Some 153 million children aged 5-17, or almost one out of 10, are engaged in child labor across the globe, including 73 million in hazardous jobs, according to the United Nations.

South Asia, which accounts for one third of the world’s poor, is home to 17 million child laborers and 50 million children are out of school, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported.

The death ride



Thousands of people gather around the spot where the tragic accident occurred on July 11, 2011 (Photo: Focus Bangla News)



July 11 was a long, hot and tiring day. After a full day’s work, I had a long meeting at the National Youth Commission, where I’m a volunteer. It was 9 o’clock when I got home, exhausted, hungry and badly needing a shower. But there was no electricity, so not only was there no hot water, there wasn’t even water in the tank.

The power came back after an hour. I turned on the TV and suddenly, my little problems didn’t matter any more. They were updating the news; a road accident had killed 44 schoolboys near Chittagong.

Between 60 and 70 were packed into the back of a mini-truck, coming home after winning an inter-school football match at a local stadium. The truck driver was allegedly the driver’s assistant and was unlawfully talking on a mobile phone. He lost control while giving way to an oncoming vehicle, crashed and flipped into a pond.

Many were trapped, even though the pond was not deep. People rushed to the rescue before the emergency services came. But it was too late. Most of the kids died on the spot.

The incident was the lead story on ucanews.com and made headlines all over the world. And every time I read about it, it hurts.

I picture myself as one of the kids who succumbed to death after trying to survive beneath the overturned truck, or as one of the people at the school, the families and the villages, overcome with unfathomable grief.

Who can bear a tragedy like this?

I remember those days when I was at school. I too enjoyed it when our village or school team had won a football match. Coming back in the truck, we used to joke and make up funny football chants. Those kids were probably doing the same. They were only 1.5 kms away from their school. But they didn’t make it.

Now the question is being asked: who can escape blame for this? The driver, the school authorities, the law makers, the rescue services? I say no one. Whatever is being promised to the bereaved families, no condolence can be enough.

Published at UCAN Blogs on July 14, 2011

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