CII Young Indians releases white paper

Child abuse often steals the innocence of children and impacts them physically and socially, in an interactive forum CII Young Indians hosted a conclave that acted as a catalyst to bring a white paper to help build policy that allows children to thrive. Thought leaders from Government of Karnataka, education, law, mental health, civil society, and media. The event marked a decade of impactful wor
- (1888PressRelease) June 05, 2025 - “Commemorating 10 years of working in promoting awareness against child abuse, CII Young Indians Bengaluru Launches White Paper on Child Sexual Abuse Prevention at National Conclave”
Child abuse often steals the innocence of children and impacts them physically and socially, in an interactive forum CII Young Indians hosted a conclave that acted as a catalyst to bring a white paper to help build policy that allows children to thrive. Thought leaders from Government of Karnataka, education, law, mental health, civil society, and media. The event marked a decade of impactful work under Project Masoom—CII Young Indians (Yi)'s flagship initiative to prevent child sexual abuse.
Ms Poojitha Prasad, Chapter Chair, CII Yi Bengaluru, emphasized, "Masoom has stood as a shining example of Yi’s enduring commitment to child safety and protection. Over the past decade, we have touched thousands of lives through impactful awareness campaigns, teacher training, and advocacy efforts. This conclave is reaffirmation of our shared responsibility to build a safer ecosystem for children in Karnataka. We hope this whitepaper a step that brings a consolidated effort from government bodies, schools, and stakeholders."
Dr VIJAYALAKSHMI DESHMANE, PADMA SHRI AWARDEE reiterated, "Children are the most vulnerable members of our society. We must build a future where child safety is not a privilege, but a right. Conversations like these are critical to shifting mindsets and creating safe environments across homes, schools, and communities."
Panel Discussion were curated on the themes of, Safeguarding Children – Voices from the Frontlines and Inclusive Protection: Preventing Abuse Among Children with Diverse Vulnerabilities. A workshops on identifying signs of possible abuse and also on the legal provisions were also part of the conclave.
Some key suggestions were
• Create training modules for teachers on demystifying sexual abuse C sexuality and on legal awareness that would be conducted annually.
• Identify 1 teacher in each school who could enable mental health wellbeing among children.
• Identify a reporting pathway with safeguarding officers in each school that could direct the children to appropriate channel for resolution.
• Create a map of counsellors who can support children in need of help to allow easy access to caregivers.
• Create Peer Mentoring Safety Nets as part of Child Protection Committees in all schools. The committee to include teachers, parents, adolescent children apart from the peer mentor.
• Create a state level awareness C media campaign to educate of how touching children inappropriately is a legal offence to act as a deterrent
The panelists included Dr Kaushik Murali (Sankara Eye Foundation), Ms Kushi Kushalappa (Enfold), Mr Rengarajan M (Vanguard B-School), and Mr Robin Christopher Joseph (Cyber Verse),Ms Shukla Bose (Parikrma Foundation), and Ms Maya Sharma (Senior Journalist) Ms Shashikala KB (Retd Senior Assistant Director).
The event concluded with Ms Priyadarshni Modi, Chapter Co-Chair, Yi Bengaluru, reaffirming Yi’s commitment to child safety and thanking all stakeholders and partners for their continued support.
The conclave was attended around by 80+ government officials, educators and mental health professionals. The conclave also served as the launchpad for a forthcoming White Paper on Child Safety, compiling recommendations from all sessions to be submitted to policymakers, education boards, and civil society partners.
About Project Masoom:
Since its inception, 10 years ago, Project Masoom has sensitized over 10 lakh students on child safety and trained over 10,000 people on facilitating sessions on child safety. Initiatives include India’s largest Train-the-Trainer session in partnership with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (recognized by India Book of Records), puppet shows for younger children, Braille and sign-language content, awareness on Digital Safety, and the launch of Leher, a short film on child safety. Yi has entered Guinness Book of Records for sensitising largest number of children on child safety with over 7000 students attending the session under one roof.
For more information, please contact:
Kishore Saravanan of PRHUB @ 82484 65122 | kishore ( @ ) prhub dot com or Alan Joy of PRHUB ( @ ) 97781 39760 | alan ( @ ) prhub dot com
CII Young Indians Bengaluru Chapter
https://youngindians.net
LinkedIn - Young Indians Bengaluru
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