“Thrill,” says Emidio Pinho, Coordinator of the NGO ‘SCAN’ (Stop Child Abuse Now) when asked about the reason that draws most children to commit crimes. He gives the example of children involved in bike theft cases to illustrate the thrill factor. An adult stealing a bike would most likely dismantle the bike and sell the parts individually. However, most children steal a bike and ride it till the petrol gets over. To come back, they pick up another bike.“There are a lot of cases where these children said that they love to ride bikes. They usually don’t commit theft in terms of earning money,” adds Emidio.
The founders of SCAN, Emidio Pinho and Audrey Pinto, were initially part of an organization that dealt with children’s rights. Since that organization didn’t assist children in conflict with the law, they decided to join hands in 2013 to form SCAN. This NGO gives equal importance to its two wings: child abuse and children in conflict with the law.
SCAN is also the brains behind the community service program in Goa for children in conflict with the law. Earlier, children guilty of a crime were either advised or put in Apna Ghar for a particular period. SCAN pioneered this idea of community service where these children in lieu of their crime spend time helping out in old age homes or serving as traffic wardens upon the recommendations of the Juvenile Justice Board. SCAN also assists in the rehabilitation of these children in terms of education, vocational training and counselling.
SCAN handles references from the Juvenile Justice Board for social investigation reports, home-studies and community service recommendations for children in conflict with the law. SCAN also runs two government projects namely the Victim’s Assistance Unit (VAU) and One Stop Centre where they get cases from police stations.
A Victim’s Assistance Unit (VAU) had to be set up as per the Goa Children’s Act, 2003 and the first VAU in Goa was set up in 2014 at Goa Medical College in Emidio’s name, with SCAN being the backbone. The VAU has a lawyer, counsellor and social worker. As soon as a child-related case comes to the police station, the team is notified and they assist in talking to the child victim and taking the statement. A One Stop Centre also in Emidio’s name was established to assist female victims above 18 years of age.
Ongoing training to deal with child abuse cases is given to police, doctors, para-legal volunteers, judges, counsellors and other stakeholders by SCAN for the last three years in collaboration with the Juvenile Justice Board and Department of Women and Child. Awareness programs are also conducted in schools and even at the anganwadi level where information is given about the existing laws.
“The Goa Children’s Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Juvenile Justice Act are three laws that govern all child abuse cases and children need to be aware of these laws,” says Emidio.
SCAN has been the driving force behind the streamlining of many procedures relating to children’s rights in Goa. A recommendation made by SCAN resulted in the appointment of a full-time judge (President) for the Children’s Court in Goa in 2014 which has assisted in the speedy disposal of cases. Also earlier, the forensic department consisted of only male doctors conducting the medical examination of female rape victims. After several meetings, the gynecology department with female doctors now conducts the medical examination. Another idea of SCAN was the creation of a ready reckoner (guide sheet with crimes and relevant laws) for child abuse made for law enforcement agencies.
In the current technological age, “parents need to give time to their children to converse with them and should simply not bribe children with expensive gadgets,” says Audrey Pinto, Director of SCAN citing as example the accidents caused by underage youth riding bikes simply because parents give the children bikes before the legal age.
SCAN has pioneered other ideas relating to children’s rights in Goa apart from the community service concept. ‘Going to Court Program’ is a brainchild of SCAN where law students are deputed to assist child victims and witnesses who come to the Children’s Court and Juvenile Justice Board. These law students take the children around to familiarize them with the proceedings. This program is in association with the Department of Women and Child, Department of Prosecution, Children’s Court and Juvenile Justice Board. Other states are also showing interest in replicating this program. SCAN has also pioneered the designation of three Juvenile/Child Welfare Officers in each police station as compared to the earlier one officer.
Audrey Pinto sums up the work of SCAN beautifully saying, “So many of these children have made a success of their lives and they themselves are so happy when they come back to meet us…I think that keeps us going.” Definitely, the ‘C’ in SCAN is the purpose of this NGO: the children.
For further details visit: www.scan-goa.in
