BHUBANESWAR: Social media is causing perversion of mind leading to increasing cases of child sexual abuse in the society, said Nobel laureate and child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi . Addressing a huge gathering during Bharat Yatra- a nationwide mass awakening campaign for safe childhood- safe India in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, he said, child sexual abuse is spreading like an epidemic and making our society hollow.His campaign got a rousing response in the city as thousands of people from all walks of life including school children participated in the rally that flagged off from Janata Maidan and concluded at Kalinga Stadium here."It is a national shame that our children are subjected to sexual abuse, rape, trafficking and we are silence and doing nothing about it. It is self-contradictory as we are celebrating Durga Puja at the same time continue to mistreat our girls, each of whom is a Durga in herself," said Satyarthi asking all including children to break the silence and speak out against child abuse of all types: sexual, physical or emotional.He said, around 53% children in India are sexually exploited and one child is sexually abused every half an hour and one child is sold in every two minutes. "Don't you feel disturbed with these figures and the shameful reports of children being raped by their close relatives? Bharat Yatra aimed to bring this shame to an end." He urged religious leaders to outcast them from the society and ostracize from the religion who commit such heinous crime of child sexual abuse. "These criminals have no religion," he added.Highlighting the failure of legal framework to check child abuse, Satyrathi said, there are around 16,000 cases registered under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) act. But the conviction rate is only 4%, acquittal rate is 6% and the rest 90% cases are pending for hearing. "It will take around 40 years to dispose all the pending cases. In such a situation how can we ensure justice to our children?" he said.Speaking about the impact of Bharat Yatra, Satyarthi said, "It has got tremendous support from across the country in the last 15 days. People started talking about this serious problem of child sexual abuse on which they remained mum for years due to social inhibitions. Today's youth must take this fight forward and join hands to end exploitation of childhood."The yatra started on September 11 from Kanyakumari and will cover 11,000 km across 22 countries to end child abuse and trafficking in India.Assuring all support to Kailash Satyathi's efforts to check child abuse, state women and child development minister Prafulla Samal said, "Odisha government has taken several steps to end all forms of abuse and volence against women. The Integrated Child Protection Scheme launched by the state is a unique initiative. We are ready to provide all possible help to create a safe and child-friendly society."Rajya Sabha legislator from Odisha A B Swamy emphasised on enforcement of child protection laws. "Only framing rules and passing acts is of no use unless we ensure enforcement and implementation of those, which is a collective responsibility of each of us."Among others higher finance minister Sashibhushan Behera, higher education minister Ananta Das, sports and youth affairs minister Chandra Sarathi Behera, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani, chairperson of Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) Kasturi Mohapatra were present on the occasion.

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