Courageous crusader

Making a difference: Pranaadhika (centre) with her Right Now Kolkata team. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

She has one mission in life ? to eradicate child sexual abuse. While that may be a Utopian dream, 19-year-old Pranaadhika Sinha is single-minded in her pursuit of creating awareness, and with a vengeance. Having been a victim of sexual abuse herself as a child, Pranaadhika?s campaign is very personal. Research done, it?s time for action.The former La Martiniere for Girls and Calcutta International School student took two years out from studies after her O-levels last year, to work on the issue of child sexual abuse (CSA), with the aim of doing something to change the situation. So, on June 8, she started Right Now Kolkata, which, although some distance from being an NGO (the paperwork is in progress), is a youth organisation and support group for victims of CSA and incest.

?I had a very difficult time dealing with my experience. I tried to commit suicide lots of times. There is no support system here, and I got through it mainly with help from my parents and friends. I want to help others deal with it. Apart from a flood of emails and people dropping in at home just to talk, I get phone calls literally in the middle of the night,? she says. ?I have no real formal training, but the been-there-done-that approach works, because they know I understand.?

In four months, from three friends reaching out (Pranaadhika, Trina Dasgupta and Anusya Ray are the core group), there are now 20 volunteers pitching in, and the number is growing every day, adds Pranaadhika. They meet every week to talk. Their aim is to break the silence surrounding the issue.

Just how rampant is CSA?

Of the 20 volunteers between 16 and 30 years of age, 16 were once victims.

The young lady from Hungerford Street is following in the footsteps of her friend, philosopher and guide Anuja Gupta. The Calcutta girl started Recovering and Healing from Incest (RAHI) in Delhi in 1997 to help adults who were abused as children.

?The problem with CSA is that firstly, there is no law defining the wide-ranging purview of the crime, which is clubbed together under various crimes like rape. Secondly, most of it goes unrecorded, so while different agencies like NGOs or police stations might have some data, for every one reported, 100 go unrecorded,? explains Gupta.

?Pranaadhika is doing great,? adds Gupta, about the girl who had worked with RAHI and has now struck out on her own, armed with an arsenal of information. Pranaadhika?s top priority is changing the law to include CSA, for which she has already written a petition.

In a few weeks, the group has managed to get over one lakh signatures, from around the country and abroad. Some arrived in couriered packages, others were collected from friends and family.

The team has the law on CSA, or the lack thereof, at its fingertips. The courageous crusader is also working on a website, the group?s public forum, writing a play, Aaina, which was a catharsis of sorts for her, and developing an idea for a film.

?Somebody has to do something, because the support structure now is, quite frankly, rubbish,? she signs off.