Sexual Offences Against Children in India examines the evolution of the law pertaining to sexual violence against children, the judicial decisions since the inception of the POCSO Act till date with respect to aspects of the POCSO Act and the best practices from other developed jurisdictions for handling cases and victims of child abuse. Despite being prevalent, violence against children is often hidden or underreported, though its impact is widely acknowledged. In a country like India the vocabulary to communicate around sexuality and sexual abuse is almost non-existent. India has seen its journey from having no law on sexual abuse of children to having a “special” law in the form of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act 2012 (POCSO Act). This book demystifies the problem of sexual violence against children in India pre- and post-POCSO Act. There is also a novel attempt to examine the implementation of the POCSO Act in the eastern Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, and if its objectives were being attained – in content, in implementation, and in impact. This book will be useful for police, judiciary and government officials, scholars, and researchers studying comparative aspects of dealing with sexual offence cases against children.

In the past 20 years, the progressive uncovering of child sexual abuse in institutional settings has reverberated across the globe with simultaneous investigations across Europe and the English-speaking world. However, most books on child sexual abuse are narrowly focused and do not situate this most distressing of human behaviours within a social or historical context. Children, Sexuality, and Child Sexual Abuse examines child sexual abuse from a broader perspective in order to understand how and why child sexual abuse is perpetrated, by whom, under what circumstances, and with what societal consequences for victims and perpetrators. This book will be an essential reference for all those working in the field of child sexual abuse. Beginning with histories of childhood and sex, and their intersections, the book goes on to analyze sexual development, sexuality, and sexualized behaviour in children and adolescents. This is followed by an examination of the extent of child sexual abuse in the English-speaking world, including its prevalence in the Indigenous communities of Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and in once-trusted societal institutions including the Church, orphanages, and schools. The book focuses on issues of concern to all those who encounter the problem of child sexual abuse and addresses questions such as: How and when do children disclose child sexual abuse? What are the characteristics of memory that affect reporting? How are disclosure claims assessed? What are the effects of having experienced child sexual abuse? Finally, there is an examination of young people who offend sexually.

Syed Umarhathab, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor (Due Associate Professor since March, 2020) in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Director i/c. Centre for Students Affairs, Youth Welfare Department, and members of several committees and boards at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India. He has completed Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. (The New College) from the University of Madras, with over 14 years of experience in teaching, research, training, module preparation- distance education, E-content development, and syllabus preparation for short- and long-term courses in Criminology, Victimology, Criminal justice, and allied field. He is the Vice- Chairperson of the Indian Society of Criminology. He was a Co-investigator of a national study funded by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, and has completed 1 minor project funded by UGC. He was awarded four times with Best Research Paper. Twice for presentations in the national conference on a reservation in India and social justice, respectively, and twice in the international conference for the paper titled Child Rearing in South India and protection of women in spaces. Awarded RM Mahadevan Gold Medal for securing First Rank in M.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice Sciences in the year 2003. Awarded Senior/ Junior Research Fellowship of University Grants Commission (National Eligibility Test for Lectureship in India), in the year 2002. He was awarded the most promising researcher award by SASCV in the year 2015 and he is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Criminology, since 2014. He has authored 1 book, Co-edited 2 book, and published over 50 Articles in reputed academic journals, 15 book chapters, and 10 conference proceedings to name a few. He has presented more than 90 papers at International, National, and State level conferences and seminars. He has organized an international symposium, 5 National level conferences/symposiums, over 8 workshops, and 70 one-day programmes at regional levels. He has organized over 12 extension programs (Crime Prevention and Awareness Campaigns) for the benefit of villages, schools, and colleges within the university jurisdiction. He has conducted several training programmes for in-service and newly recruited police officers, probation, and home guards of Tamil Nadu. Also, he is a member of several academic and examination boards in universities for under and post-graduate programmes in criminology, police science, human rights, duties education, security management, private investigation, and victimology courses. His area of academic competence includes Economic Crimes with special reference to study of Anti-corruption studies, Cybercrimes, Drug Abuse, Social Justice- Reservation in Education and Employment, Victimology, and Contemporary Crimes. As a part of his co-curricular activities, he has functioned as a NSS Programme officer of Unit 166, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, and was awarded best NSS programme officer in the year 2016. He may be reached at his E-Mail: drsyedumar@msuniv.ac.in.

This updated and expanded edition provides comprehensive coverage of the theory and practice of counselling survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA). In a reasoned and thoughtful approach, this book honestly addresses the complex issues in this important area of work, providing practical strategies valuable and new insights for counsellors.

Written for mental health professionals, this indispensable guide reviews the range of relevant literature covering issues in assessing child molesters. Fully updated, this volume directs the professional to the most current knowledge available on the subject in a compact, accessible form. Readers will learn from this resource which characteristics do and do not distinguish child molesters, which situational factors are related to molestation, which instruments are used in the assessment of child molesters, how assessment information is used to appraise risk and guide treatment, and all of the elements of a useful assessment report.

This courageous and powerful book is a first step in addressing the secrecy, distress, anger, and fear surrounding female sexual abuse of children. Refuting the rationales for our lack of attention to the problem and contradicting some commonly held beliefs about sexual abuse, it combines accounts from survivors with input from professionals working with both survivors and abusers. Part I presents contributions from professionals who discuss aspects of female sexual abuse ranging from impact and treatment issues for victims of childhood sexual abuse by female perpetrators to the paradox of women who sexually abuse children. The second part is devoted to survivors--it presents stories from both men and women, then provides self-help guidelines for both. The book concludes with a valuable section on resources which includes a review of the existing literature on female child molestation as well as a listing of pertinent books and help organizations. FEMALE SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN also addresses the controversial issue of current statistics that show that female sexual abuse is very rare and the question of whether it is being underreported due to fear from survivors that they will not be believed or supported. Regardless of the true magnitude of this problem, secrecy or denial about any aspect of child abuse must be avoided. Whatever future studies may show about this problem, it will not diminish this book's importance in taking the step of exploring this issue.

Written by a multi-disciplinary group of leading practitioners, Sexual Offending Against Children provides an account of the practice, policy and management issues involved in the assessment and treatment of adult and adolescent sexual offenders against children. Written for practitioners from all disciplines concerned with this area of work, it is underpinned by a strong theoretical base, giving a practical and detailed description of the management of sexual offenders, as well as the potential impact on service providers.