abused india...

recently there was the news in TOI as well as on NDTV that almost 70% of the children in india are abused, in some way or the other (physically/sexually).
it was quite alarming to see that a survey would come out with such a horrific result. it makes you think not just about the number of those people who are responsible for commiting such acts, but also about the fact that there are so many around us who have probably undergone such trauma, undergoing mental agony each day. research suggests that these children often end up blaming themselves for whatever has happened. and this often leads to disinterest in normal day to day activities (loss of appetite, sleep disorder, aloofness, nightmares etc). i think, worst affected are those who don't have anyone to talk to. there are different reasons for this. often, the abuser ends up either threatening the victim with dire consequences if he/she comes out with it, or makes him/her to believe that it (the abuse) is 'good'/ok/normal. also, the initial shock of the incident leads to prolonged mental agony for the person, which can easily extend to years at a stretch. my purpose of writing this article is not just to draw attention to the issue, but to actually make anyone reading this to act and take care of those around us. we have brothers, sisters, friends, relatives, maids, servants of which any one could be a victim. you must read more about the ways to handle such situations on the internet and the newspapers, because you never know when you might just need to handle one. in all the cases, i think, the first thing to be put across the victim should be that there is no shame in coming out and you can always get over it. a friend of mine knows a person, who disclosed his story to a a few persons, and from one of those friends, instead of support that he expected, what he got was arrogant behaviour and being sidelined. this made the person feel more guilty, but thankfully that 'friend' was just a conceited asshole and later somebody actually handled him pretty well. he is leading a normal life now. the story of physical abuse as brought to limelight by the movie 'provoked' and the sexual abuse of teri hatcher ( the desperate housewives star, who opened up when she saw that her uncle who had once abused her, had done the same with a girl, who later committed suicide) are just reminders that the world is full of survival stories as well as stories where the one who was abused ruined his life and in many cases ended it. all i want to say in this article is, please take notice. you might just be able to save a life. and also provide meaning to it.