FACSE
Credits-Website,FACSE
Situated in a nondescript building, the office for the Forum Against Child Sexual Exploitation (FACSE) is a quiet place from an outset. It is located in the Agripada area of Mumbai Central.As you enter the place, you find it bustling with activity as the professionals work on their respective computers occasionally discussing with each other work related ideas. It is like any other office where the work to be done is planed, agendas set and executed with equal pressure.
Founded in 1995, the organization, FACSE,is often mistaken for an N.G.O but it is actually a network of NGOS.
As the name suggests, the organisation works for the children who are victims of sexual abuse in our country. According to the coordinator of F.A.C.S.E, Ketaki Doshi, the rate of child sexual abuse in India is 53% which means that one of an every third child has been abused sexually. Thus the organization aims at making the general public aware of this crime which is prevalent at such a magnitude and also to lobby for the necessary changes in the laws regarding child sexual exploitation.
It currently employs seven core members and the members are assisted by other experts like doctors, psychiatrists, lawyers and media professionals
It has been involved in around 25 legal cases in last 3 years
HOW DOES FACSE WORK?
The organization mostly relies on the newspapers for the cases for sexual abuse across the parts of the country. Other than that, they also work extensively at the grassroot levels, teaching and educating the lower class, middle and also upper class about the perils and prevention of sexual abuse especially to women and children.
Credits-Google,images
Once a case is noticed by FACSE, the primary investigations are made, the victim is contacted and necessary counselling is carried out on a priority basis. The distinct feature of this procedure is that, the parents of the victims are encouraged but never pressurised to take any legal action, instead a member of FACSE works for the mental and physical wellbeing of the victim. The necessary anonymity is maintained by the member handling the case
PROJECTS UNDERTKEN BY THE FACSE
F.A.C.S.E doesn’t only work for the children who are victims to sexual abuse but they also carry out various programmes to make the people aware of these vices existent in our society. The members of the organization work at very grassroots levels to educate and teach the children to fight these evils at an individual level.
Credits-Google,images
Says Ketaki Doshi, coordinator of the organization that, “It is very important that the children and the women of the society are taught ways and means of dealing with the people with criminal intentions effectively and expertly”. For this purpose the organization has conducted various sessions for visually impaired children where they are trained for the same. Ketaki observes that there is a persistent anger in these blind children against this crime so much so that she often gets extreme reactions from them and the children often forget that they are physically inadequate to implement them but still they are taught tactics for their self-defence by the members of FACSE.
Credits-Bitter Choclate,Bloomsbury Publications
Interview with Ms.Ketaki Doshi ,Co ordinator,FACSE
In order to understand the work and extent of the organization, I interviewed the coordinator of FACSE, Ketaki Doshi. Ketaki is a science graduate with a post-graduation in Social work from Mumbai University. She works for FACSE since three years.
It was very interesting to know the views of this young, sprightly and dedicated social worker on the sexual exploitation of not just children but also adults with respect to the conservative society we reside in and also her take on the various facts and myths in taking up social work as a fulltime profession.
1. What propelled you to work in this field? Were you always interested in social work?
K.D.I had never really planned to work in the development sector but I got interested in this field in my college and began researching on the same. I read a lot on the subject and finally discovered that my calling was Social Work.
2. Please tell us about the challenges you face in dealing with the sexually exploited victims and their family…
K.D.I have generally observed that the people do not accept and deal with the sexual exploitation in our society, the reason being that as a society we are very inhibited and always want to keep such things under wraps. Our challenge lies in to make them aware that they have to take a stand and fight against such evils.
3. Would you like to share any such instance where in you experienced difficulty in doing the same?
K.D.Yes, I was once conducting a session for the women in the slum areas .We were talking about how to identify and prevent this crime happening in our family when suddenly a woman started hurling abuses on my face. This continued for a couple of days. On the third day she called me aside and confided in me that the reason for her behaviour was that her daughter in law had been a victim to same abuse and the discussion brought back those memories….
Credits-Google,images
4. There are so many social evils existing in our nation, what made you choose this particular area?
K.D.As I mentioned earlier, we do not want to accept social abuse and easily we choose instead to ignore it. And when it comes to the children getting abused, it is harder as the victim as no awareness that he/she has been abused sexually and in the most cases, it is the distant family member who abuses the child. It is thus very challenging to work for the victims of domestic sexual abuse than the ones abused commercially.
5. What are the dynamics of professionally working for the society as oppose to indulging in it as a mere hobby?
K.D.Nowadays the development sector is almost competing with the other sectors so it’s a myth that the social workers do not get paid well. We work as any other professionals .We get a proper salary, holidays and other facilities. In addition to it we get rewarded with innocent smiles of children who we come in contact with….So yes the job satisfaction we get is really precious.I would like more and more youngsters take up this profession.
Related Articles -SILENT VICTIMS
Preeti Kulkarni
TYBMM,45
Joshi Bedekar College
For futher information please refer the above mentioned website.
Both articles are good.
ReplyDeletePreeti, put a diff sub-head where the interview starts
HAVE DONE THE NEEDFUL...THANKS MAM!
ReplyDelete