Protect children from exploitation

 Number of homeless children in our country, poor, deprived of education, are abandoned or orphaned. Vulnerable position because they are not in a position to resist. Therefore easily become victims of criminals. Children living in homes are not safe either. They can be abused anywhere and anytime. Private schools in Delhi recently by van driver's sexual - abuse and made obscene MMS of the incident have been the horror of many parents.

The idea, destitute or juvenile offenders, care, protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation.

Caring for children under the age of 18 - Security is the responsibility of the whole society. These are the children who sit violation of the law. Begging him to order, physical - mental or sexual abuse, drugs or substances to do business, denial of education, out of the house all such acts fall into the category of crime. Family, community or institutions are not beyond the bounds of the law. Homes, schools or children in any location can not be tortured. Child - Juvenile Justice Board for offenders has been formed. State governments will be constituted in each district, the Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate and two social workers and one of them will be women. Magistrates Law and Child - Psychology should have special knowledge. The social worker is also important that the children's health, education and child welfare movement is connected to at least seven years.

Criminal child can ever be presented to the board, regardless of the departmental board or board full time or not, or may not be present forum. At least two members of the board, which then may be hearing a magistrate. Any member may be the child's muscle. The Board shall have powers to solve every problem related to the child.

The day of the incident he was under age 18 when his case will be assigned to the Juvenile Justice Board. If the offense is strong evidence that the child will be sent home to her observation. Neither the jail and not be punished.

Prevent Crime in institutions

1. Child - interest entities created for the license to be mandatory, so that it can be examined whether the organization provided the necessary infrastructure. The Women's and Children's Institutions Act made in 1956. The institution without running the offense. If the company violates the terms of his license could be revoked.

2. Such entity children, parents, parents and staff to run.

3. The staff of the institution to police verification. Norwegian law, the appointment of staff in the nursery school was first given to him by police certificate of good character - letter is required. In India, there should be.

4. There should be adequate number of staff to care for children.

5. Institutions are open, not closed. Children, schools, training centers, medical facilities, recreational facilities should as well.

6. When children know their rights.

7. Children taken to facilitate someone who could resolve their complaints heard.

9. In the case of child sexual abuse or torture investigation body must come to terms and convict the guilty.

Join the new provisions in the law

Be mandatory for anyone that hair - hair department about the crimes or the nearest police report. Hospitals and schools are similar in scope. The intent of the law first came to Malaysia in 1990 and the U.S. in 1991. Child - reporting crimes to law is essential in the provision of security. For the safety of children is a multi - should Disiplinri team, including lawyers, doctors, teachers, media professionals, writers, artists must be able to solve various problems of children.

Case Freddie Peet

Children's sexual - abuse is also important to mention events. State vs. Peet's and Freddie's case is noteworthy in this context. Peet's orphanage, a man named Freddie gurukuls ran in Goa. During 1991 to 1980 she Sweden, Australia and New Zealand from 27 children of the orphanage together with three other sex offenders - were committed. These children were photographed naked. They were given a lethal injection, was tortured so they fear to indulge in such heinous acts. Freddie is now serving life imprisonment.

Law Commission of India: 172 th Report 2000

The Indian Penal Code Section 377 (unnatural sex) were the bulwarks.

Convention on the Rights of Children, 1989

Children's rights: the first draft of the Declaration of Geneva, in 1923 Great Britain was created by Inglantain pocket. Needed to make the draft after World War I. The reason was that the war had increased the number of orphans and handicapped children. After World War II and was expanded in 1948, this draft. Then again in 1959 and lost their all round development of children's rights has received much attention and interest.

But these laws are not the declaration, declaration of goodwill are filled. The United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989 accepted the recommendations of the Conference. He was born on September 2, 1990 entered into international law. Global legal standard to ensure that such children. They torture, abuse, negligence was the point of saving. Recognizing that they all said their human rights, social, cultural, educational rights are received, which are essential for all round development of human beings.

Police, schools, and other institutions to this careless neighbor. Many times these people are involved in the exploitation. Just six months imprisonment with children is such torture. Begging him to three years imprisonment. Involved in drug sales to teach him or her to three years imprisonment. Such children may be adopted by the Juvenile Board. Foster parenting can be kept at home for them. Can sponsor their expenses. Their case in the media - broadcast, and can not be displayed. If kept in an institution parents - kids can afford. For such children have special police unit, which will examine their cases.

 
 
 

A report issued by the intelligence services recently estimated that Britain is subject to as many as 1,000 attacks every hour

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 WHO ARE THE HACKERS? HOW DO THEY DO IT?
 THE DANGER OF PASSWORDS WHAT’S BEING DONE TO STOP IT?WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT ITTEN WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR PC FROM A CYBER ATTACK1. USE DIFFERENT USERNAMES
2 DON'T RE-USE YOUR EMAIL PASSWORD
3 DON'T ADD STRANGERS AS FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK
4 DON'T BE FOOLED BY 'CRIES FOR HELP'

5 BE WARY OF ‘FUNNY’ LINKS

6  BE CAREFUL ON PUBLIC WI-FI
7 DON’T TRUST PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW
8 USE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
9 USE EXTRA PASSWORDS
10 SET EVERYTHING TO UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY

The jackpot for a cyber criminal is your banking details, and they don't need to hack into your online account to find them

Like most victims of cyber crime, Ritu Taura, a housewife and mother-of-two from Hertfordshire, is still not sure how her computer became infected. What she does know is that it was soon out of her control, emailing all her contacts. 

Then, slowly and stealthily, money began to disappear from her own bank account.

The infection probably arrived via a spam email. But the first sign of it was when she became a spammer herself, bombarding friends with emails offering once-in-a-lifetime deals. 

Then the money started going from her account, first in small amounts – £10 or £20 at a time – so it wasn’t noticed. 

Then the withdrawals ramped up, with hundreds of pounds being taken at cashpoints across the UK. 

She reset her passwords, cancelled her cards and thought it was over. But within days, she was once again spamming her friends with messages to ‘Click this link and you get a free TV.’ Then money began to disappear again.

She realised then that the problem wasn’t simply an easy-to-guess  password: one of the laptops in her house was ‘handing’ her details to cyber criminals. 

Perhaps she had clicked on a cleverly disguised attachment – ‘Your invoice is attached’ – or visited an infected website. 

Once one infection has ‘breached’ a computer, more will follow, with the original hacker selling on details to other criminals and installing more and more software to steal credit card details, passwords and private information. 

It’s probable that the criminals who tricked their way into her computer were based abroad and simply sold her account details to criminals in the UK. 

The malicious software used to effect this sort of crime has evolved rapidly, from crude viruses that used to be easy to spot, to ‘stealth’ programmes that can sit on a PC, monitoring keystrokes and even intercepting communications with a person’s bank. 

‘But who do you call?’ asks Taura today. 

‘You can’t find Hotmail or Google’s phone number, and are the police going to help? I didn’t know who to turn to.’

The scale of the damage is huge - cyber crime is estimated to have cost the country £35 billion last year. Falling victim is easy, even for the computer-literate

‘This escalation of theft is typical,’ says Orla Cox, security operations manager at software developer Norton. 

‘Once a cyber criminal has control of a PC they often attempt to make money in any way they can – by selling account details or exploiting a computer’s internet connection for large-scale spam campaigns – but they will always try to remain invisible so that they can remain in control as long as possible. 

'Often it’s not your PC that will give you the first sign, it’s that your bank account is being emptied.’ 

The jackpot for a cyber criminal is your banking details, and they don’t need to hack into your online account to find them. 

These can often be found from someone’s main email address, in past emails where someone has sent a sort code, an address, or an account number. Emails can yield everything from passport scans to addresses – it’s a tool kit for identity fraud.

If someone can get into your email, they can probably get access to your Amazon, Paypal or eBay accounts, too – anything that can be used to transfer money or make purchases online. 

These account details might be used straight away or sold on, to be used at a later date with your money siphoned off and transferred through the accounts of criminals known as ‘money mules’, who are paid to move money from place to place.

A recent survey by non-profit organisation Get Safe Online found that more than 56 per cent of Britons have been victims of cyber crime. Almost one in five people have lost money because of a fraud.

Crimes often go unreported – up to one in five people say nothing because they feel it is somehow their fault. The problem affects individuals, businesses and governments. 

A report issued by the intelligence services recently estimated that Britain is subject to as many as 1,000 attacks every hour.

The scale of the damage is huge – cyber crime is estimated to have cost the country £35 billion last year. 

Falling victim is easy, even for the computer-literate. The average victim loses £247; Ritu Taura lost £700. For spammers who can send out billions of attacks a day, it’s a business with unthinkably huge profit margins.

‘Hackers aren’t just one type of person,’ says Cal Leeming, a former hacker responsible for a £750,000 theft who now works in computer security. 

‘It could be one person at home, a 15-year-old kid maybe, but there are others who have jobs, too.’

‘It’s an underground economy,’ says Kevin Haley, Norton’s director of security response. 

‘It operates across geographic boundaries. It is spreading so  that a lot of it now comes from countries that already have a high level of violent crime – developing countries with large computer populations such as South Africa and Brazil.’

In the past year, cyber crime has become dominated by organised, professional gangs that operate like legitimate IT companies. 

In the cyber crime heartlands of Russia and eastern Europe, the criminals often are professionals. 

Corrupt internet service providers often host the machines used by cyber criminals – the notorious ‘Koobface’ gang, which at one point made $1 million a month from disseminating viruses through Facebook, is largely comprised of webmasters in the pornography industry. 

Despite being named last year, and having pictures of their offices circulated, all are still at large. 

When your credit card details are stolen, it’s usually by well-trained groups of about a dozen people. 

‘It pretty much is an industry,’ says Orla Cox. 

‘There will be a manager behind the scenes and multiple players located in different parts of the globe. These people are launching millions of attacks every day.’

The lower ranks have few IT skills, having been taught one simple part of the ‘trade’, which they repeat over and over again for pay – such as simply sending out thousands of spam emails that, when opened, can infect your PC. 

Once a PC is infected, it will be handed to another ‘junior’ criminal who will infect it with more malicious software, then pass it on to their bosses, who reap the profits.

‘Some groups of hackers will just buy a kit that provides all you need to launch a fairly sophisticated cyber attack,’ says Cox. 

‘It has the tools and instructions to compromise a website to infect computers that visit it. Then the attackers will get paid for every time they install this infection on a computer.’ 

A software package that could be used to infiltrate a bank or similarly well-protected target used to cost about $8,000 on Russian cyber crime forums – now it can be bought for $380. Cyber crime is no longer for a hacker elite.

‘We are at a tipping point for the power and reach of organised digital crime,’ according to a report by British Aerospace’s cyber defence wing, Detica, which has begun to offer its expertise in bulletproof defences against hackers to ordinary companies. 

For hackers, the man on the street is a more tempting target than a well-defended bank or government website. 

In terms of damage caused, the global cyber crime industry has already overtaken the global trade in heroin, cocaine and marijuana, according to figures from Norton.

The Government is taking the threat seriously, too.

‘It has never been easier to become a cyber criminal,’ Foreign Secretary William Hague said at the Budapest Conference on Cyberspace in October last year, as he announced a  £2 million centre to protect the UK against attack. 

‘Today, such attacks are criss-crossing the globe, recognising no borders, with all countries in the firing line.’ 

A public-awareness campaign is also being launched in the spring to advise schoolchildren, and also men, who it is claimed can be reckless about online security.

The ‘old style’ of organised criminal is taking notice now, too. Mexican drug gangs have begun to diversify into cyber crime, kidnapping IT professionals and forcing them to hack into people’s bank accounts, or directly into banks. 

Cyber attacks still often begin with your PC being infected with a virus

Cyber attacks still often begin with your PC being infected with a virus. 

These are spread in familiar ways – usually by email – but the attacks are often now cleverly disguised as invoices or even as deliveries scheduled to arrive at a home address. 

Once a victim clicks a link or opens a document with invoice details, the infection has begun. 

One in ten infections also now come via Facebook. Attacks often spread as videos that fail to play, instead popping up with a message that you need to ‘upgrade your video player’. 

If you click the link malicious software invades your computer.

‘Over the past ten years we’ve seen incredible growth in the amount of personal information people will voluntarily share,’ says David Emms of antivirus software developer Kaspersky Lab.

‘Cyber criminals have naturally “followed the money” by creating scams and malicious programs specifically targeting social networks.’

Either way, the result is the same – an infection that takes over your PC, often downloading new software ‘to order’. Criminals will harvest passwords and bank details, and ensure that they remain undetected. Then the stealing will begin in earnest.

Cyber criminals ‘rent’ access to infected PCs for $2 a day. They sell time on it for use in spam attacks (which is when your friends notice that you’re sending them all kinds of unwanted emails).

Infected PCs no longer slow down or crash. Instead, they listen for instructions from their new masters. 

Often, criminals will steal information with software that logs every keystroke typed on a computer, or by implanting software into web browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. 

Banking ‘apps’ on mobile phones can seem like a gimmick but they are usually safer than accessing a bank’s site from an unsecured PC. If you are unsure, phone the bank direct.

By another sleight of hand, banking attacks can now infest your internet browser, bringing up a fake page that ‘reassures’ you that nothing has happened, whereas in fact, money is vanishing from your account. The fake page shows only the real transactions you’ve done yourself.

‘For a criminal, it’s a lot safer than grabbing a bag in the street,’ says Haley. 

‘Crooks are clueing into that. There are groups of people who have decided they are going to make their living this way.’ 

A fundamental weakness is still our use of passwords, and the sheer number of websites that require one. 

Your email account, your Amazon account, eBay, Paypal, buying a plane ticket, booking a hotel room, signing up for a mailing list, playing an online game, trying to trace your family tree or find old schoolmates – to do all these requires a username and password. 

As many of us have at least a dozen user accounts, some of which we don’t use very often, we tend to use the same or similar passwords every time. 

For simplicity, many sites now use your email address as your username, as it’s easier for you to remember. But that’s one less thing for a hacker to find out. 

Passwords are much more vulnerable now than they used to be, even so-called ‘strong’ passwords with numbers and symbols. 

Ones that seemed robust a decade ago are now a hundred times easier to break. If they’re not being broken one by one, they’re being hacked en masse, as happened to Sony’s database of PlayStation users, which ended up costing the company $171 million. 

If you avoid your password being hacked, leaked, stolen by a virus that watches keystrokes or re-set by a con-artist pretending to be you (after all, he knows your first pet, maiden name, primary school and favourite artist), then there is an excellent chance it will just be guessed. 

Despite the warnings, surveys continue to show that ‘password’, ‘123456’ and ‘12345678’ are the most commonly used passwords.

The trouble is that a ready solution is not forthcoming. Biometric data – iris scans and fingerprints – was thought to be a possible answer, but few will be willing to invest in a home fingerprint scanner, and there’s no guarantee that these personal identifiers will be any harder to steal.

And if that happens, it’s a lot harder to get new fingers than change your password. Ever-harder passwords would be inconvenient, cumbersome and, in the long run, just delay the inevitable. 

At the moment, systems such as Google’s dual-identification process are probably the best compromise around: ‘lost password’ resets are accompanied by a text message to your phone to check that it’s really you that needs to get into your email account. 

In the meantime, the onus should be on all websites to block the use of passwords that match a database of lazy choices.

For the police, prosecuting gangs that operate across dozens of countries is a thorny problem. 

The Crown Prosecution Service has no figures for how many people have been prosecuted for cyber crimes, as they fall across divisions such as fraud and theft.

Even notorious gangs are still free. 

Last month Commissioner Adrian Leppard, the head of the City of London Police, said that online fraud ‘is rising exponentially’, and warned that a quarter of the 800 specialist internet crime officers employed to tackle the problem could be lost as spending is cut. 

In the absence of rapid responses from the police and governments, tracking and fighting cyber crime often falls to antivirus companies and small groups of ethically minded hacking experts.

‘We have to find the holes before hackers do,’ says Tom Beale, who works for digital security company Vigilante Bespoke. 

Beale has worked in ‘penetration testing’ for a decade, trying to find weaknesses in corporate and government systems. But while technology changes, the weaknesses don’t.

People who have fallen victim should contact their bank immediately, run a virus scan on their PC to check for the root of the infection – and contact their email provider saying they have been hacked. 

There is never a time when ‘a couple of viruses’ don’t matter. 

Today’s infections are built so they can instruct your machine to download new software at any time, so it can be months before money suddenly begins to vanish, or your machine is used as part of a spam campaign or hacker attack.

As Tom Beale says, ‘The human factor is always  the weakest link in the chain. Humans are too trusting. People are easily distracted – and others are going to prey on that.’ 

The sheer number of passwords and usernames required to live a normal online life mean that people often recycle. Cyber criminals can simply use Google to ‘join the dots’, connecting them across all the different online worlds they live in. Fewer usernames makes finding a ‘way in’ far easier. 

Your email password is the ‘key’ to all your accounts – if hackers want to access your Facebook account, say, they can reset it via your email. Even if you DO reuse passwords, the one that you should never reuse is your email password. If you do, you’re handing out the keys to be breached, giving hackers access to the information they’ll need to hack your bank account and other networks you use. 

Facebook is full of information that can be useful to hackers – including the names of family members, addresses and email details that can fill in crucial ‘blanks’ for identity theft. People still ‘friend’ people they don’t know – not realising they are handing over the ‘keys’ to their online life. 

Some of the most effective attacks are ‘cries for help’ from friends – such as emails saying that someone is stuck abroad and needs money sent by wire transfer. The emails are actually spam, sent by email from a compromised machine. If it’s someone who travels a lot and their email is hacked, it’s more convincing when you get an email saying that they are stranded abroad and need money. All the hackers need is one person to respond for it to have been worth their while.

Facebook links are often used by cyber criminals – with ‘funny’ videos designed to con people into clicking a link that will infect their machine. Often a ‘video’ link will try to fool people into visiting an infected site or downloading something in the guise of video software. Your only defence is to think, ‘Would my friend really post that?’ So be careful about people you only half-know. 

Laptops and phones both ‘remember’ Wi-Fi networks they ‘know’ – so hackers can use this to break in. It can be hard to tell whether a network is real – or  is being run by a hacker who wants to steal your details. If you’re going to use public networks for business, use a laptop because the browser will warn you of security breaches – your mobile won’t. 

Security experts recommend doing an ‘offline test’ – ie, would you do the same thing if you were offline? If you are chatting to someone online and you tell them something, would you have handed the same information to someone you were chatting to in a bar?  In a bar, you at least know who you are chatting to – online, you can never know whether someone is  who they claim to be. 

Antivirus software is not a Holy Grail but it helps you to deal with known problems – although machines can still fall victims to new attacks, and will be easy prey until the antivirus companies respond to the attack. 

‘Two-factor’ passwords, such as a password plus a secret code where you only hand over one or two letters at a time, offer an extra layer of security. Many sites offer this as an option, but people tend to resist except when they’re made to do it – eg, by their bank. Other banks provide customers with a device that uses your password to generate a random code number that allows access to your account.

Messages such as ‘Windows is downloading updates’ can be irritating – but if you don’t set every piece of software to auto update, you’re leaving yourself open to attack. Attackers actively look for vulnerabilities not only in your operating system but also in your browser and other software.

Online fraud in India

Not just individual savings accounts, even the accounts of banks are no longer safe. A local bank, which had a current account in another bank, fell prey to online fraud when Rs 1.05 crore was siphoned off from its account through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS).

Even the police were stunned at the way the fraud took place as various security features are involved in an RTGS transaction. The customer is issued temporary password for each transaction. An RTGS payment is initiated only after the customer gives a written request for the same.

According to a police officer, the fraudsters managed to break into the bank's online security apparatus and within an hour transferred the Rs 1.05 crore into 12 different accounts through RTGS. The money was immediately withdrawn from those accounts.

Additional commissioner of police (crime) Niket Kaushik said, "We are inquiring with the bank about the incident and how the transactions took place despite the presence of various security features. We initiated the inquiry and will question the persons concerned about it."

The south Mumbai-based cooperative bank had a current account in a public sector bank at Central Mumbai. The police said that the accused broke into the online security of the central Mumbai bank and committed the crime.

On December 15, around 11.30am, the accused broke into the bank's security network and, within half an hour, they transferred the money into different accounts.

The officer stated that half an hour after the fraudsters transferred the money into different accounts, they withdrew it through credit cards and other means.

The cooperative bank received an alert about these transactions later. When the bank tried to block the transactions, it was learnt that the money had already been withdrawn.

Bank customers mostly use RTGS to transfer large amounts. The financial intermediaries can settle inter-bank transfers for their own accounts as well as for their customers.

The police said that they are verifying the details of the accounts where the money was transferred to. The police are not ruling out the possibility of insider involvement in the case.

The city police will organize a cyber safety week from next month to spread awareness about the security and safety needs to be adopted during online transactions.

The officer said they are focusing on youths and will organize awareness programmes in colleges.

Here is one more example
I HAVE PAID RS 15,000 FOR REGISERTRATION AND FURTHER THEY ARE DEMANDING RS 60,000 THEY ARE CHEATERS .I TOO TOOK THE HELP OF C.I.D (HYDERABAD),AND FREEZED THE BANK ACCOUNT,PLEASE DO TAKE FURTHER ACTION AGAINST THEM.
Name: Kapil BakshiA/c: 32520135257branch :jhandewalan extnpan no : bskpb0345h

chit fund

The Commission of Inquiry set up by the West Bengal government to probe irregularities in the chit fund schemes of the Saradha group and other such companies began work here on Friday.

The five-member panel headed by Justice (retired) Shyamal Sen will submit its report within six months.

 Urging depositors duped by the Saradha group’s “chit fund” company not to panic, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said steps would be taken to pay compensation to those recommended by the Commission.

 “Our intention is clear: we want to help the people. Some are trying to create panic for political reasons,” Ms. Banerjee said.

 “All will get justice, the inquiry will be impartial,” Justice Sen told journalists, adding anybody could lodge a complaint with the commission.

To a question on his association with the Saradha group as alleged recently by a senior CPI(M) leader, he said: “I attend welfare programmes [on invitation]; had gone to the ones organised by them [the Saradha group] also.”

 Governor M.K. Narayanan, when asked by journalists on the sidelines of an event whether there was need for a probe by the CBI, said: “There are several inquiries which are going on but the most important issue now is: can we give some money back to those who have lost it?”

 The Left Front and the Congress in the State had demanded a CBI probe into the chit fund scam, claiming that an impartial inquiry could not be expected from the Trinamool Congress government as the ruling party had ties with the company in question.

Things one should knew about police

Why do we have a police force?
We have a police force to provide citizens with a sense of safety and security. The police are there to maintain peace and order in society as well as prevent and detect crime. They are there as the law enforcers - to make sure that everyone, including the police force itself, follows the law at every step.

 What are the police supposed to do?
The police force has several duties: it must prevent and control crime, and detect and investigate it properly whenever it happens. It must also prepare an honest, evidence-base case for the prosecutor to present at court. The police force has a responsibility for maintaining overall law and order and for this purpose also
gathers information about what is happening in and around the community it serves.

What is meant by police powers?
The police have all sorts of different powers, all of which are given by law and they must use them only according to the procedure laid down in the law. So they can make arrests, carry out search and seizures, investigate offences, question witnesses, interrogate suspects, disperse unruly crowds and maintain order in
society, but they have to do it strictly in the way the law lays down and not any other way. They cannot act just as they wish or want to. Any abuse of power or negligence of duty will amount to a breach of discipline, civil wrong or a crime and the police officer is liable to be punished.

How do I join the IPS ?
First you have to sit for the preliminary examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Dates and venue are published from time to time in local and national newspapers. If you pass that you can sit for the main written examination.If you clear the written examination you are interviewed by an interview board. When you are selected you are asked to indicate which central service you would
like to join - the Foreign Service, the Administrative Service, the Police, Forest or Revenue. Only if you score very high marks will get your choice of service, because allotments to different civil services are merit-based.

How can I tell if a person is a police officer and not some other official?
Police officers have a distinct uniform in khaki or blue with a cap, belt, and shoulder epaulettes that show their rank and which force they belong to. Police officers should also have a name tag displayed on the chest.

What is a beat constable?
No, it is not a police officer who beats you! Just so you know, no policeman is allowed to use force with anyone except if they are resisting arrest or trying to escape. A beat police officer is called that because he has a regular specific area or route which he patrols - sometimes with another police officer - to check if
everything is in order and nothing suspicious is going on. On night patrols the beat constable will sometimes call out or bang their lathis to indicate that he is on his rounds.

How do we know that the money the police get is properly spent?
There is an annual audit of accounts and monies spent by the police conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). These accounts are submitted to Parliament and state legislatures. Once examined, they are available on the website of the home/police department or in the Parliament library. You can also use the Right to Information Act to ask for annual police spending. Since policing is done using tax-payer's money which means your money, you should take an interest to ensure that this money is properly spent.

What does a Police Act say?
Police acts usually talk about what the police can and cannot do; how the police force will be organised; what ranks there will be; who will supervise the force; who will make appointments; what punishment and disciplinary actions the police will face for doing wrong. It also lays down some rules for the public to follow.

Why does the Police Act have offences by the public in it?
These few offences are put in to make sure that everyone keeps roads and public spaces clean, uncluttered, safe, decent and free from disease.For instance, the police can immediately arrest a person for letting animals roam around on the road, slaughtering them, or being cruel to them. People who obstruct the road, dirty it, put goods out for sale on the road without a licence, are indecent, drunk or riotous, or neglect to make sure that dangerous places like wells were kept safe by fencing, etc can also be arrested immediately.

 What does' rule of law' mean?
It means that we, all of us, high or low, rich or poor, man or woman, even the government and public servants like the police, have to obey the law and must live according to the laws that are laid down in our country under our Constitution. No one is above the law. It also means that every action by the police has to be according to the law and, if not, the police will be accountable before the law. It also means that the laws that are made must be reasonable, just and apply to all of us in a fair way.

Can a police officer be punished if he has done wrong? 
Yes. A police officer just like anyone else can be punished if he breaks the law. In fact, because he is a person entrusted with upholding the law he should be punished more severely for breaking it.

How is a police officer punished?
There are many means of punishing a police officer who has done wrong. If he has committed a crime then he can be brought before the courts and tried just like anyone else. If he has been rude, behaved badly or not done his duty as he should, then his senior officers can punish him by giving him a warning, or even cutting his pay, reducing his rank, suspending and transferring him.

Can I hire a police officer for my own security?
 Actually, you can, if there is a grave threat to you. Sometimes the state will arrange security; sometimes the security has to be paid for by you. According to the Police Act if you need extra police persons deployed to an area and the authorities agree to it you can pay for the additional police arrangements for a limited period of time. So, for example, for a large marriage or private occasion the police may agree to provide a few extra hands in that area at your cost. But if an area is crime prone or there is a public rally or event taking place, it would be the duty of the police to provide extra people and no question of payment would arise.

 Do I have to listen to every order of the police officer?
Yes, if it is a lawful order that is related to his duties. In fact, everyone has a duty to assist a police officer in doing his duty; especially if the police officer is trying to stop a fight or prevent a crime or trying to stop someone from escaping his custody. In fact, if you have information about a crime it is your duty to pass that
information on to the police. It is also a duty not to shelter or harbour any proclaimed offender. You also have a duty to give evidence in a court of law if you know or have seen something in a case

Do I have to go with a police officer if he asks me to come with him somewhere?
No. However, if the police officer is asking you to come along to be a witness to something he is doing as part of his duty, like arresting a person, seizing property,or examining a crime scene, then you must go along and help. Traditionally, that is called being a pancha- a person who can tell the court independently what he
saw at that moment.

 Do I have to answer all the questions the police officer asks?
Yes. It is always better to answer questions honestly in a straightforward manner and inform the police of any facts you may know. If you do not know something, then the police officer cannot force you to make any statement, or put words in your mouth. It is always better to make sure that someone else is there with you
when you are being questioned.

Does the police officer have a duty to help me when I am in distress?
Yes. In 1985, guidelines for the code of conduct for the police were issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and communicated to all chief secretaries of all states/union territories and heads of central police organisations. This requires the police to give any assistance to all without regard to wealth and social standing. According to the code their general duty to provide security to all without fear or favor includes keeping the welfare of people in mind, being sympathetic and considerate toward them, being ready to offer individual service and friendship.

Can I ask the police to help me out with family problems?
It depends on the problem. If what is happening is a crime like violence in the family, badly beating a woman or a child, or incest, or trespass, of course the police must help you and cannot turn you away and say it is a private affair. But if adult children are disobedient, say they run away to get married, then it is no business of the police to chase after them or force them to return. That is purely a family matter.

If a police officer will not help or there is no police officer around, can the public catch a thief or wrongdoer and punish him there and then?
Yes and no. You can make what is called a "citizen's arrest" and catch the wrongdoer and take him to the nearest police station. That is all. But you cannot beat up the wrong-doer or join a crowd that is doing that. Members of the public only have a right to act to protect themselves which is called the right to defense
but that too has to be reasonably used. It cannot turn into a one-sided beating or horrible humiliation and a police officer who allows that or joins in is likely to face disciplinary or criminal charges.

 What can I do if the police officer does not help me?
Willful breach or neglect of duty by a police officer is punishable with imprisonment. If the police officer is not helpful and you have been harmed, then you can complain about it to his senior. In such a case he may be found guilty. for dereliction of duty.

 Can the police do anything they want?
Not at all. They can only do what is lawful. In fact, they are very strictly governed by many, many rules. These include their own regulations, the procedures laid down by the criminal codes, the orders given by the Supreme Court and the guidelines of the human rights commissions.

 But supposing police officers do not obey them? 
You can complain to his senior or to the magistrate depending on how serious the matter is. It is always better to complain in writing and get a receipt.

What can I complain of?
You can complain of any wrong-doing by a police officer because he is a public servant bound to do his duty at all times. He cannot neglect his duty, or delay doing it.

 But suppose the police officer is rude and insulting to me?
Again, you can complain to his senior if it is a matter of breach of duty or discipline. But if it is anything more serious than that or amounts to a crime then you can file a complaint against him at a police station or go straight to the local judicial magistrate and file a complaint.

But if I file a complaint with the local police station they may refuse to take 1t against their own officer?
Yes, that does happen often. But it need not be the end of the matter. You can take a complaint about rude or discourteous behavior or neglect of duty or abuse of police power to the chief of police or if it amounts to a crime you can take it to the nearest magistrate.

 But it is so difficult to take matters to court and it also takes very long!
To make it simpler to bring complaints against the police and to make the process easier and quicker some states have set up police complaints authorities. They are special bodies who only look at complaints about the police from the public. In addition, anyone who has a complaint against the police can take it to the many
other commissions that have been set up at the national level and in the states. These include: the National Human Rights Commission and state human rights commissions; the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission; the National Commission for Women and similar state commissions; and the Commission for Children. For issues related to corruption there is the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Central Vigilance Commission, Lok Ayuktas and the State Vigilance Departments. These commissions will look into your complaint, make inquiries and according to their powers can direct an FIR to be registered against the policeman or order compensation to be given to the victim.

Suppose I want to tell the police about a crime, what do I do?
If it is a serious crime like theft,housebreaking, eve-teasing, assault, molesting a child, rape, kidnapping,trafficking, and even rioting you can immediately file an FIR directly with the head of the local police station and they are bound to take it down in writing and give you a copy. You can even go to the magistrate with your complaint and he will register it.

What is an FIR?
That is the just short form for First Information Report. A victim, witness or any other person knowing about a "cognisable" offence can file an FIR. What you say in the FIR will start the police making inquiries about the matter and gathering facts to see if there is a case that can be made out.

Do I have to go only to the local police station or can I file my FIR with any police station?
You can file an FIR in any police station. But it is better to go to the local police station in whose jurisdiction the crime occurred because they can swing into action quicker. If you file in any other police station the police are bound to make an entry of the complaint and send it to the concerned police station. They cannot
refuse to file your FIR saying that the crime did not happen in their jurisdiction.

 Can the police refuse to file my complaint?
Yes and no. In India crimes are divided into those that are "cognisable" and "noncognisable". A "cognisable" crime is for example murder, rape, rioting, dacoity, etc. which means that the police can take notice of them directly, register an FIR and begin to make inquiries. A "non-cognisable" crime is for example cheating,
fraud, forgery, bigamy, selling underweight or adulterated food or creating a public nuisance, which means that the investigation will start only when a magistrate has taken the complaint on record and directs the police to investigate. The way of understanding this rough division is that crimes that need a more urgent response can be complained of directly to the police and others go to the magistrate. So, even if the police cannot take your complaint on board they should at the very least listen to you, enter your matter in the daily diary, give you a signed copy of the entry, free of cost, and direct you to take it to the magistrate.

 Suppose my complaint is about a "cognisable" offence but the station house officer refuses to register it. Then what can I do?
You can still get it registered by taking the complaint to a senior officer/head of district police or to the nearest judicial magistrate and they will order it to be registered. To make sure that your complaint is on record and will be followed up, hand deliver the complaint or if you send it by post, register AD it. In any case, always get a receipt that proves that it has been received and keep that safely. That will show that the complaint has been actually received by the concerned officer. That takes care of your complaint but you should also complain about the difficulty you have had in registering your matter in the first place. That way the officer is less likely to do it again.

What must be put down in an FIR?
The FIR is your version of the facts as you know them or as they have been told to you. It is always better if you know the facts first-hand but it is not necessary that you yourself have seen the offence. Whichever it is, you must only give correct information. Never exaggerate the facts or make assumptions or implications.
Give the place, date and time of the occurrence. Carefully, describe the role of every person involved: where they were, what they were doing, the sequence of what was being done by each person, any kind of injury or damage to property that has been done. Do not forget to mention the kinds of weapons involved. It is best to get all these facts and circumstances recorded as soon as possible. If there is some delay in recording a complaint make sure the reason for the delay is also written down.

How can I be sure that the police have written what I told them correctly?
Remember that the FIR is your version of what you know. It is not the police version of anything. The police are just there to take it down accurately without adding anything or taking out anything. To make sure of this, the law actually requires the police officer to read the FIR out to you and it is only once you agree with what is written that you need to sign it. The police must also give you a true copy of it free of cost. The FIR is recorded in the FIR register and a copy goes to a senior officer and to the magistrate.

 What happens once my FIR is filed?
The FIR sets the police investigations in motion. As part of that, the police may speak to victims and witnesses, record statements including dying declarations, check out the crime scene, send articles for forensic examination and bodies for post-mortem as necessary, question several people and with each lead make further investigations. Once investigations are complete, the officer in charge must make a full record of it. This is called a challan or charge sheet.

What is a challan or chargesheet?
After all investigations are done the officer in charge will look at the facts and decide if there is enough evidence to show that a crime has been committed and record it in the charge sheet for the prosecution and the court. If all the elements of a crime are not made out it will be a waste of time to bring the accused to court. The prosecution and the court will examine the charge sheet independently to see if a possible crime is made out.

Will the police automatically arrest everyone named in the FIR?
No, and they should not. Just because someone is named in an FIR is no reason to
arrest a person. It is only when there is sufficient ground for believing that a person
may have committed a crime that the police can arrest him.

Can the police close my complaint and not take further action?
Yes. If after making their own inquiries the police decide that there are no facts that support the idea that a crime was committed or there is not enough evidence to support allegations or acknowledge that a crime has been committed but the people who did it are not known - then they can close the case after giving reasons to the court. They must also inform you of their decision. You, then, have a chance of opposing the closure before the court.

Will I be kept informed of the progress of my case? 
There is nothing specific in the law which requires the police officer to keep your informed about the progress of a case. But it is good practice to tell a complainant how the case is going provided it does not compromise the investigation.

What can I do if the police are not investigating the matter or are doing so very slowly or refusing to examine the most obvious lines of inquiry?
There is an important principle in law that no one can interfere with police investigation. That said, if the police refuse to move forward or do it excessively slowly or willfully disregard obvious lines of inquiry you can certainly complain to senior officers or to the nearest magistrate who can order the police officer to
investigate and he can as well call for the record of investigation. Again it is important for you to ensure that everything is done in writing and a record of receipt kept with you.

Can I call a police officer whenever I want?
Yes and no. The police are overworked and their numbers are few, so the public cannot constantly call them up with frivolous complaints and unsubstantiated information. However, of course you can call the police if you are in trouble, if a crime has occurred or is occurring, if there is likelihood of some riot, if some people are fighting and there is likelihood of disorder, or if you have serious information to give them. But you cannot call the police for things that are not connected with their job. Sometimes people play mischief and call the police even if nothing has happened. You can be punished for such pranks.

Can a police officer come into my home unasked and search my home and take things away?
Only in certain very limited circumstances. If the police come to your house for questioning they may enter only at your invitation. However, even if the police have reasonable grounds for believing that you are hiding a suspect or criminal, or you have stolen property or an illegal weapon in your home, they can only enter
your house with a search warrant from a magistrate. But if the suspect, criminal or object needs to be obtained without any delay and there is fear it will be lost without seizure then they can enter your house without a warrant.

You mean the police can just enter my house and take away anything?
No. It is only when there is real urgency - for example there is a real possibility that a suspect will run away or if evidence is likely to be destroyed - that the police can enter your house without a warrant.With or without a warrant there is a whole procedure to be followed. The police must have at least two independent local witnesses with them. The search must be made in the presence of the owner. The owner cannot be told to leave. The police must list what they are taking. The witnesses, police and owner must sign, verifying what is being taken. A copy must be left with the owner. If there are purdah women in the house a woman officer must be part of the search party and they must conduct the search with strict regard to decency.

What is a search warrant?
People's homes and offices are private places and cannot be open to searches and entry from any authority without some really good reason. So the law requires anyone wanting to enter to explain why they find it necessary to disturb that right. The police therefore have to go before a magistrate and explain the reasons for their thinking there are goods, papers or people that are hidden in the premises which will help them solve a crime. If the magistrate is convinced that the police officer is not on a "fishing inquiry" he will give the authority. The authority is very limited and gives the name and rank of the particular officer allowed to enter that particular place and is issued under the sign and seal of the court.

If I am walking down the street, can a police officer stop me and ask me anything he likes?
No. In general the police are not supposed to interfere with people going about their lawful business. But if they think that someone is loitering in a place especially after dark, he is entitled to stop and ask your name and what you are doing. If there is something suspicious or fishy about the whole thing then you can be arrested. Police use this power often as a means of rounding up suspected persons and habitual offenders. The over-use of this power has often been discussed by reform committees and condemned.

Can the police stop me from being part of a procession or street meeting?
No one can stop you from taking part in a peaceful procession. But ideally a procession must have prior permission from the local police. If they feel that a procession is likely to become disorderly or violent then they can refuse permission to hold it in the first place. If the procession later becomes disorderly then the police can stop it, ask the people to leave and take action if they do not disperse. On the one hand, the police have a duty to make sure that things remain peaceful. On the other hand, they have a duty to facilitate citizens in exercising their fundamental right to hold peaceful public meetings.

Can the police hold me in a secret place or not tell anyone that they have got me?
No. The police are known to do this often but this is against the law. As soon as the police take you into their custody, your physical well-being and the protection of your rights becomes their responsibility. If you come to any harm or your rights are not respected but violated in any way the police are responsible. This is an important legal point to keep in mind.Next, the fact that the police are duty-bound to make a record of all those who come to the station in their station's general diary will indicate what time you were brought in for questioning and when the arrest was made. This will also be in the case diary of the investigating officer. The police control room must also display an updated list of all those arrested in the last 12 hours.Finally, the fact that you are entitled to a lawyer during your interrogation means, at a minimum, that the place of custody must be known and accessible to friends or relatives.

Can the police officer hold me at the police station or can I leave when I want?
Unless you have been formally arrested for good reason you cannot be held in custody against your will. If the police have summoned you for questioning you have a duty to cooperate with them and help them with their inquiries. But the questioning has to be prompt and efficient and cannot go on and on. The police cannot make you wait endlessly at the police station. In any case, you can leave when you want.

Suppose the police officer does not let me go, what can I do?
Keeping you in custody against your will even for a moment if you are not under formal arrest is a serious offence. It is called illegal detention and either you or your family or friends can complain about the officer to his senior or even the magistrate. Most importantly, you can go to the high court or even the Supreme Court immediately through your lawyer, family or friend and me a habeas corpus petition seeking your immediate release.

What does Haber corpus mean?
This is a very old remedy against people being picked up by agents of powerful rulers and being helpless to protect themselves. It literally means "produce the body". It is a most practical remedy against wrongful detention. The courts - either the high court or the Supreme Court, deal with it on an urgent basis. Once the court gets an application indicating a disappearance that shows that the victim was last seen in the custody of the police, the court will ask the police to produce the person before it immediately and release him if the detention cannot be justified. If the detention has been illegal then the court can even grant compensation to the victim.

 Is there any other way of finding out about a person who has been arrested illegally and I don't know where he is kept?
Yes. You can file a Right to Information application at the police station asking for the whereabouts of the person. Since the information is relating to the life and liberty of a person, the police are bound to give you the information within 48 hours.

Can a police officer arrest me without giving reason? 
No. Police can make arrests only if there are good grounds for the arrest. Say if a person is caught red handed in the middle of some wrong-doing, or if many circumstances in the investigation point the finger of suspicion towards him, or a person is found to be helping someone else with a crime before during or after its
occurrence, then he can be arrested. There has to be a "good reason" for making an arrest. Just because someone has named someone else in an FIR cannot be a reason for arrest. There has to be something more in the form of evidence to arrest you. Experts have repeatedly pointed out that as many as 60% of all arrests are unnecessary or unreasonably made.

 If the police suspect me of committing a crime can they also arrest my family members?
No, never. There is no guilt by association. Each person's guilt or innocence has to be judged by their own individual actions and not because they are close to or related to someone else who is a suspect. No one's freedom can be taken away except for a specific lawful reason.The police cannot threaten family members or friends or take them into custody as bargaining tools. This kind of hostage-taking would amount to the serious crimes of illegal detention or kidnapping, at a minimum.No matter how difficult the case is that the police are trying to solve, they cannot resort to illegal practices in order to put pressure on the suspect to give himself up or make a confession. The only people who can be arrested are those against whom
there is a reasonable ground for thinking they have committed a crime.

 Are there special rules for arrest and treatment of women in custody?
Absolutely! No woman can be arrested between sunset and sunrise unless there are very special reasons for doing so. Even then,special permission must be given in writing by a magistrate after the magistrate is satisfied that there are reasons for allowing this. A woman police officer has to be present with the police making the
arrest. The woman has to kept in a separate lock-up in the police station and any examination, body search, etc. has to be done by a woman officer or doctor. It is in the best interests of the police officers themselves to make sure that all procedures relating to women are carefully followed and records are meticulously kept. The law says that if a woman in custody complains of rape, it will be accepted unless the police officer can show that it did not happen.

What about children? Is there some special procedure for them?
Under the general law, children under 7 years cannot be accused of a crime, so naturally they can not be taken into police custody. However, the procedure for questioning, apprehension, custody, release, bail, of children up to the age of 18 is governed by the Juvenile Justice [Care and Protection of children] Act, 2002.
Each police station must have a juvenile police unit with specially trained officers. They are responsible for the care and well-being of the child who must not be kept in the lock-up at all. Instead, the child must immediately be handed back to the parents on bail and their assurances. If the parents are not available, or it is felt that the child is at risk of falling into bad company, then the child must be sent to the local observations home till he / she is brought before the juvenile court. The main principle that governs the treatment of a child in conflict with the law is that all processes must have a child-friendly approach "in the best interest of the hild for their ultimate rehabilitation".

If the police arrest me, can they keep me for as long as they like?
Absolutely not. The longest time anyone can be kept in custody in a police station is for 24 hours. That is the maximum. The police must produce anyone in their custody before the magistrate with all the necessary papers that justify the arrest before the 24 hours are up and not later than that.

 How then, are people arrested on Friday evening and kept in custody until the following Monday?
The excuse for continuing with this illegal practice is for the police to say that there is no magistrate available over the weekend. But in reality there is always a magistrate on duty available 24 x 7. A person in custody whose 24 hour time limit is ending after regular court hours can always be produced before the magistrate at
his home. The magistrate can not be refuse to see the suspect.

How will anyone know where I am?
The law has plenty of safeguards against you getting lost in the system. As soon as the police have arrested you they have to do several things. They must prepare what is called a "memo of arrest" and send that to the local magistrate. They must make sure you know you can immediately get a lawyer - your own or from the
legal aid system. They must inform a family member or friend of your choosing about where you are. All these things have been fixed by law to reduce the chances of abuse of power by the police. If the police do not follow these rules they will have to answer to the courts.

What use is a "memo of arrest" to me?
It is a safeguard against illegal detention. The memo of arrest must have your name, time, date and place of arrest, reasons for the arrest and what the suspected offence is. It has to be signed by the police, two witnesses and you to make sure that the record gives a truthful account of the facts. It is given to the magistrate and when the magistrate meets you for the first time he will double-check if what has been said is correct. The police also have to make up an "inspection memo".

What is an inspection memo?
It is a short description of your physical condition when you were taken into custody. It is expected to record your general physical condition and note major and minor injuries. Again, it has to be signed by you and the arresting officer and a copy is given to you. But the difference between this memo and the memo of arrest is that you have to request for it.Otherwise it need not be done. This procedure is meant to ensure that there is no beating or torture in custody. But it is not clear who has to examine you. If the arresting officer himself is examining you there is little protection that a piece of paper can give. However, since an approved doctor's certificate has also to be given to the magistrate with all the other papers at the first appearance, a doctor must examine you and make a statement about your physical condition before you are first produced before a magistrate.

How am I supposed to know all this?
By law, at the time of arrest the police are supposed to inform you of all your rights. In addition, the guidelines mentioned above, which are sometimes called the D.K. Basu guidelines after the Supreme Court case that shaped them, have to be displayed on boards in all police stations and chowkis.

Can the police officer beat me in custody?
No. He cannot beat you, slap you, threaten or intimidate you in custody. It is against the law and the police officer can be punished for it.

 Can the police officer force me to make a confession?
No. The police officer has aright to question you but he cannot force you to say anything you have no information about, anything you do not want to say, or confess to some crime that you have not committed. A confession made to a police officer will not in any case be admissible in court.

Can the police do their jobs of arresting the guilty with so many 
restrictions?
First of all it is not the job of the police to decide who is guilty or who is not. The police are only to apprehend or catch suspects and accused people. But they cannot behave as if the person is already guilty and they have the right to punish them. That is a job for the courts. Meanwhile, people in custody must be given every protection from false accusations and mistreatment. That is why the "restrictions" are there. Actually they are not restrictions at all, but just procedures designed to make sure that everyone has a fair chance before the courts.

But aren't there too many rights for the accused person? What about the victims?
A lot of people think that no one is looking after the victim. But actually the whole might of the state is behind the victim. It is on behalf of victims that the state goes about looking for the criminal. It is on behalf of the victims that the state appoints a prosecutor to argue before the court. It is on behalf of the victim that the state punishes the guilty. But the accused stands alone. He may not be guilty at all. So to balance the power of the state against one individual who has to defend himself, the law has created safeguards and given facilities like free legal aid to those who cannot afford it.

Can I get bail from the police?
It depends. If you have been arrested for a bailable offence then you can get bail from the police. But if you are arrested for a non-bailable offence then the police cannot release you on bail.

Is it important to know what is a "bailable" and "non-bailable" offence?
Yes. Bailable offences are less serious offences in which bail is a right. In such cases you must get bail immediately from the police. Non-bailable offences are serious offences where bail is a privilege and only the courts can grant it.

 Will I never get bail if I am accused of a non-bailable offence?
No, not necessarily. You can get bail even for non-bailable offences. You have to make an application for bail before the court. The court will look at the seriousness of the offence, whether you will run away if released on bail, whether you will threaten witnesses or tamper with the evidence. If the court feels that you will not do any of the above then it will grant you bail.

Does that mean I am now free?
No. You will still have to face the trial during which time the court will decide whether you are guilty or innocent.

childhood sexual abuse

It is beginning to be acknowledged that Childhood Sexual Abuse happens far more frequently than most people believed, or previously wanted to believe. Around 65% of women that contact rape crisis centers are adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Sexual abuse involves an abuse of power and an abuse of trust - the abuser being an adult, or sometimes, an older child.

As children we look to adults and older children for guidance about how to 'be' in the world, to show us what is acceptable and what is wrong. If a manipulative adult /older child abuses that trust and coerces a child into a sexual situation, possibly saying it is right, or that something bad will happen if the child does not do as they are told, it is hard, if not impossible for the child to disobey even when it results in distress and confusion in the child's mind. 'Grooming' a child is common practice among abusers who will spend time and effort insidiously compelling a child to do as she or he is told. Often bribes or threats are used to maintain compliance.

In determining whether the actions of an adult or older child can be defined as sexual abuse, it is necessary to understand the intention and motivation behind the behavior - watching a child in the bath is not necessarily sexually orientated or abusive. Also, sexual abuse has nothing to do with 'sex play', which can often be indulged in quite normally by consenting same age children, and is a part of their learning experience.

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse it is possible that you will be feeling recurrent depression or anxiety; you may suffer panic attacks, phobias and/or flashbacks. Maybe you are filled with anger and shame and/or feel worthless. You cry a lot or you find it difficult to show emotion. Perhaps you suffer from disturbing thought patterns and intrusive memories, and your feelings reveal themselves in physical symptoms, unexplained illnesses - maybe you find relief by self-harming - cutting or burning yourself, neglecting your needs or drinking too much. Feeling sick or afraid when you hear the abuser's voice or a similar voice, seeing an object or place that reminds you of the abuse, feeling confused about what happened, remembering only parts of what happened or remembering it in vivid detail, blaming yourself for what happened are all common responses to childhood sexual abuse.

If you have been sexually abused as a child you may recognize that you experience some of the effects mentioned above. Maybe it feels quite frightening to see all the possible ways that you may have been affected written down. Whatever those effects are, there are also ways of improving your life that you can benefit from. It is important to understand that however you have been affected, and whatever your feelings about the abuse, it is OK to feel whatever you do - your feelings are individual and normal.

It is also important to believe that it is never the fault of the child when they have been abused - the blame and guilt always lie with the abuser.

Abuse thrives on secrecy, and speaking out and acknowledging what happened to you is a very important part of healing. Some survivors find it easier to speak to people over the phone to begin with; others find it helpful to read books on the subject - reading the testimonies of other survivors can help you to feel less isolated.

As a first step you could try talking through your options with a rape crisis worker on our helpline. You are in control of the call, and can decide what you do or do not want to disclose. It may help you to be clear in your own mind how you want to proceed with your healing. It is completely confidential.

There are several stages in the process of healing including acknowledging what happened to you, breaking the silence, believing that you were not to blame, living through and integrating the feelings of grief, pain and anger and, maybe if it feels right for you, confronting your abuser. It is hard work and it takes time and it may be painful, but eventually you will reach what is known as the stage of resolution, where, at last, you will be free to move on and concentrate on the present and your aspirations for the future.