Worrying trend: Hundreds of child abuse survivors drop out, T seeks their return to school | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: A growing number of child survivors of sexual abuse in Telangana are dropping out of school after the offence, prompting the women’s safety wing to launch efforts with the education department to help them return to classrooms and rebuild their lives.Days after the Telangana high court, while rejecting bail to an accused in a Pocso case, observed that crimes against children are offences against society as a whole, state police have identified another worrying trend: A large number of child survivors of sexual abuse are discontinuing their education after the incident.A recent review of cases recorded over the past three years revealed a rising dropout rate among child survivors. According to police data, 449 survivors are currently out of school.An analysis showed that 1,220 children dropped out of school for prolonged periods during the past three years. While 595 children subsequently resumed their education, 449 survivors are yet to return to the classroom.Officials said several factors contribute to school dropouts among survivors, including trauma, fear of stigma, social isolation, and lack of family support. In some cases, children are reluctant to return to school, fearing humiliation or exposure of their identity.A section of the cases also involves children who have reportedly eloped. Officials noted that where the survivor and accused are known to each other, there is often anxiety that the child’s identity may become known within social circles, making reintegration difficult.“If the survivor and accused are known to each other, there is a possibility of others knowing about the identity of the survivor among their circles. This puts stress on some survivors as they find it difficult to return to mainstream. But conditions must be created to make the survivor gain the mental strength and facilitate bringing her/him back to the mainstream,” sources said.Police said Bharosa centres have been playing a key role in supporting child survivors through counselling and regular follow-up.“In every district, Bharosa centers do hand holding of the victims of sexual abuse through our counsellors. Trained counsellors and police do interact with them on a periodical basis with an objective to help them overcome the trauma. Apart from extending this service, our prime objective is to follow up each case till completion of trial,” a police officer told TOI.Over the past three years, 7,695 child survivors were assisted by Bharosa centres. As part of a recent exercise, police verified the educational status of survivors on a case-by-case basis and identified children who had either discontinued schooling or were at risk of remaining out of the education system.To bring them back into mainstream education, police have written to district education authorities seeking intervention.“We have written letters to the district education officers (DEO) concerned asking them to take initiatives to reach out to the survivors and help them by revising their schooling. We are waiting for a response from the DEOs,” police sources said.Officials said special efforts are also being made to support older children. Those aged between 16 and 18 years who had dropped out were enrolled in bridge schooling programmes. However, challenges remain for survivors who have crossed 18 years of age.“There are instances where children have crossed the age of schooling. Children who earlier dropped out and now attained an age between 16-18 years were made to join a bridge school. But for children who crossed 18 years, there is no policy on how to help them in providing education,“ officials said.Graphics-Year ; Dropout ; Re-admission ; School continuation2024 ; 300 ; 148 ; 11792025 ; 515 ; 191 ; 22212026 ; 405 ; 256 ; 1689