Deepika Kumari interacts with students of Sacred Heart Convent School in Jamshedpur on Wednesday. (Bhola Prasad)

“Bolna bahut zaruri hai. Nahi bologe to dusron ko pata kaise chalega kya ho raha hai (It is very important to speak up. How will people know if you don’t speak),” said archer Deepika Kumari to schoolgirls.

Unicef and Jharkhand Police brought their End Violence Against Children campaign to Jamshedpur on Wednesday, choosing to kick off the three-month-long awareness drive to end any kind of child abuse on the campus of Sacred Heart Convent in Jamshedpur.

A first-of-its-kind initiative, Unicef and Jharkhand Police, aided by state HRD department, social welfare department, Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (Jhalsa) and other civil society organisations, will target 40,000 schools across the state to motivate students to speak up against any kind of abuse.

The campaign was launched in Ranchi on October 10 and already, 10 schools in the state capital have been covered.

In Jamshedpur, invitations have been sent to 10 private English-medium schools. Efforts will be taken to reach out to government schools as well.

Jharkhand’s golden girl Deepika Kumari added a celebrity touch to Wednesday’s launch as she apprised the schoolgirls of their rights and the need to speak against abuse and share their troubles with near and dear ones.

The CID’s helpline for children — 8877444444 — was also launched.

“Violence and sexual abuse against children take place everywhere, every day. However, we ignore it; turn a blind eye to it. This is not right. We must raise our voice against child abuse as it adversely affects the physical and mental development of children. The damage caused is often irreversible,” the recurve archer exhorted.

Unicef chief, Jharkhand, Job Zachariah informed the students about child abuse statistics in India. Quoting from the National Crime Records Bureau, he said 53 per cent of the country’s children are victims of sexual abuse and 69 per cent are victims of physical abuse. According to NCRB’s Crime in India Report 2013, Jamshedpur and Ranchi are the safest cities for children among 53 mega cities in India. No crime against children was reported in both cities in 2013, the report says.

“The cases go unregistered because there is nobody to retaliate. The problem is that most abusers are from the family and they create a situation where the child cannot speak out of fear. It is also a taboo for families to speak on these topics. So, parents too will have to come out of their shells. In fact, we are planning a similar session with parents,” Zachariah added.