POCSO e-Box for children

Offence against children in India

Sexual offences against children are rampant but only a small percentage gets reported. According to a study, about 53% of children surveyed, reported having faced one or the other form of sexual abuse in their lifetime.  In most cases, the offender is a family member/near relative or an acquaintance.  The child victim in such cases generally does not report these offences.  Sexual abuse scars the psyche of the affected child for  entire life. A child who is sexually abused has to face very serious consequences such as cognitive impairment, violent and risk behaviour including depression and anxiety. Feeling shame and guilt with poor interpersonal relationship & self esteem are other consequences of sexually abused children.

POCSO e-Box for children

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) e-Box is an online complaint box for reporting child sexual abuse. It is an National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) initiative to help children report such crimes directly to the Commission. The online complaint management system enables easy reporting and timely action against the offenders under the POCSO Act, 2012. E-Box is very simple to operate and will help to maintain the confidentiality of the complaint.

How it works?

• To access POSCO e-Box, click here. The link is also incorporated prominently (as shown below) in the home page of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) website , where a user has to simply push a button named POSCO e-Box.

Step-1

It will navigate to a page with a window containing an animation movie. The animation movie reassures the child that whatever has happened to him/her is not his/her fault and she/he need not feel guilty and that NCPCR is a friend which will help her.

Step-2

After the user presses the arrow on page, it navigates  to another page where he/ she has to select at least one picture option (describing the category of harassment).

Step-3

Fill the form with details such as mobile number, e-mail and description of the harassment followed by  the ‘submit’ button.The complaint is then registered and a unique auto-generated complaint number is flashed.

Cyber crimes against children can now be reported at the POCSO e-Box

Child victims of cyber crimes can now lodge their complaints at National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)’s POCSO e-box. Considering the growing menace of cyber crimes targeting children, NCPCR has now enhanced the scope of POCSO e-box to handle cyber bullying, cyber stalking, morphing of images and child pornography.

Child victims themselves or their friends, parents, relatives or guardians can report cyber crimes by pressing the e-box button available at the Commission’s website, www.ncpcr.gov.in. They can also register their complaints on email id: pocsoebox-ncpcr@gov.in or mobile no.: 9868235077.

Child abuse is finding new forms and channels through mobile and digital technologies. In India about 134 million children have access to mobile phones and the number is growing very fast with even faster access to internet. While this provides opportunities for accessing useful material for learning purposes, lack of digital literacy and online safety measures expose children to hazards of cyber crime.

About POCSO Act

Being concerned about such offences against children, the  Government enacted POCSO Act, 2012 to protect them from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography, while safeguarding the interest of the child at every stage of the judicial process, by incorporating child friendly mechanisms for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and speedy trial of offences through designated Special Courts. Any human being up to the age of 18 years is recognised as a child under the POCSO Act.

Source : National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)