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'Creating Safe Spaces': Schools Join Arpan’s #ProtectedByPOCSO Campaign Through Unique Uniform Installation

By TheCSRUniverse Team Published 30 Nov 2024

Mumbai, Nov 30, 2024: To combat Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), schools across Mumbai and other states have teamed up with Arpan, an NGO dedicated to the prevention of CSA, and joining their campaign --#ProtectedByPOCSO.

The #ProtectedByPOCSO campaign, launched during Child Safety Week (Nov 14–20), serves as an urgent call to action against CSA offenders.

With staggering statistics revealing that 50% of children in India have faced sexual abuse and 182 cases being reported daily along with the recent cases of CSA in schools, this campaign is more crucial than ever. The campaign is making waves as schools proudly display school uniforms at their gates with the caption "All children in India are #ProtectedByPOCSO’ and an accompanying poster sending out a bold message to the offenders, ‘Stop Right Now or Get Caught.’

These striking uniform installations accompanied by posters highlighting essential campaign messages, serve as a visual reminder that offenders will face severe legal consequences under the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences, 2012). These posters also educate the public on what constitutes CSA, emphasising that Child Sexual Abuse is a punishable offense and such behaviour is neither acceptable nor tolerable. This campaign has sparked crucial conversations and strongly communicates society’s zero tolerance towards such offences.

Beginning with schools in Mumbai, the movement is gaining momentum, now echoing through various schools in districts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Goa, and Andhra Pradesh. Some of these schools are also Arpan’s long-standing partners and have been conducting Arpan’s Personal Safety Education (PSE) programme, which equips children with critical life skills such as decision-making, resilience, and self-awareness and helps them identify unsafe situations, refuse them and seek help.

“The uniform installations send a loud and clear message to offenders that they are being watched, and our community is united in protecting children,” said Pooja Taparia, Founder and CEO of Arpan. “Schools are not just centres of education but also safe spaces where children need to learn about their rights, personal safety, and how the law protects them under the POCSO Act. With our partner schools taking this bold step, we are driving home the importance of child safety while standing firm against CSA offenders,” she said.

Educators are also echoing these sentiments. Shobha Manoj Rethrekar, Vice principal, Sandesh Vidyalaya, Jr College of Arts ,Commerce & Science, Vikhroli (E) emphasized, “Our participation in the #ProtectedByPOCSO campaign stands testament to our commitment to making schools safe for our children and not just sites for learning. Through these uniform installations we are warning the offenders and sending a strong message to them to stop as otherwise they will face severe social and legal consequences."