Projects > Goa

State Level Programme in Goa

Children's Rights in Goa (CRG) is the first organization in India to attempt to build a coordinated community response to trafficking of children and tourism-related pedophilia, since October 2000. CRG also actively campaigns among tourists, the majority of whom appose the activities of pedophiles. It conducts training programs for the Goa police and assists on cases. It works with the tourism industry to develop a child-friendly tourism code.

Child Right Programme in Goa

To effectively combat paedophiles, it is vital to constantly be in touch with the most vulnerable section, children who roam around on the beaches without any adult supervision, working as masseurs, vendors or just 'hanging around' on the beach in their free time. CRG has a non-formal education program in three coastal villages for such children in the afternoon for two-and-a-half hours on weekday afternoons, including Saturdays. Children do come to these informal schools. But it will be much more effective if a small mobile group of field workers is continuously on the move in the entire north coastal belt, interacting with children, visiting settlements where their parents stay and gathering information about any suspected paedophiles. The 4 Beach Nodal Centres would comprise of 2 fieldworkers in each. As the public transport system is poor, it would be essential to ensure that the team is mobile.

Child Resource Centre

A children's resource centre centrally located in North Goa, equipped to handle counseling, medical check-ups, augmenting the non-formal education & vocational and recreational for the children as per the CRC) is the need of the hour. This center would be the link to the beach nodal centers and the 'Open Schools' run by CRG. Here children could also be integrated into vocational training

The centre will also be used to conduct training in sensitizing all stakeholders to improve the efficacy of the Goa Children's Act 2003.

It could be used by teachers and parents for capacity building and would also be the meeting ground of community people and stakeholders in their capacity as 'preventers' or 'protectors' of the children against tourism related sexual abuses including pedophilia and would connect them to the entire process.

All training programmes for stake holders police, panchayat leaders, teachers ,students, judiciary, govt. officials, tourism industry, TTAG, hotel owners / shack owners, parishes, department of education / social welfare / labour, Women and Child department, B.D.O's and C.D.P.O's will be conducted in the Centre.

Training to Investigate and Prosecute Paedophiles ( Legal cover by SariQ)

CRG has already conducted around 40 training programs with groups of police officers. But there is lack of skilled personnel with enough direct personal experience in prosecuting paedophiles. Resource persons from Sri Lanka , Thailand and the Philippines , who have worked with law enforcement agencies and have successfully prosecuted paedophiles, could conduct these programs. Governmental and non-governmental agencies that could be approached in this regard are: The National Child Protection Authority in Sri Lanka; Fight Against Child Exploitation, National Child Protection Committee and Center for Protection of Children's Rights in Thailand; Task Force on Children in Need of Special Protection, Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse, The Center for International Crime Prevention and the United Nations Inter-regional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) in the Philippines.

Better presentation equipment would help to improve the effectiveness of the training programs. Training manuals focusing on best practices in investigation and prosecution procedures will be a resource created as an outcome of the training programs.