“All my childhood I lived a dual life—the life when I was being abused, and the life when I wasn't. It dictated my very being. It was years of continuous abuse, years of pain, years of breach with not a single soul to reach out to. I bled from my anus often, and once did gather the courage to tell mom. And she thought it was because of the summer heat. I don't blame her now. She was completely ignorant about the fact that male children are susceptible to sexual abuse and need to be protected.” - Harish Iyer, adult survivor of child sexual abuse
Children do not talk about sexual abuse. They continue to be threatened by the secrecy they were sworn into and slowly grow to ‘accommodate’ the abuse. They also lack the vocabulary to talk about it. Even if they eventually talk about it, parents don’t pay much attention as they are unaware about child sexual abuse, what it is, its symptoms, its prevalence and the immense negative impact it can have on a child. They also do not know that boys are as susceptible to sexual abuse as girls.
ARPAN, an NGO in Mumbai creates awareness on child sexual abuse amongst parents so that they can help prevent child sexual abuse and intervene appropriately in the event of any abuse. Arpan has reached out to over 4000 parents so far and needs your support to reach out to thousands more.
Harish is running for ARPAN in the Mumbai Marathon on 17th January, 2010 to support Arpan's work on preventing child sexual abuse and healing it’s ill effects.
Help him raise funds for ARPAN. Funds collected will be used for teaching children skills to protect themselves from sexual abuse and help child and adult victims heal through counseling and therapy.
Funds collected so far – Rs. 76,100/- Target amount – Rs. 1,01,000/-
Donate now.
To pay online click here. http://www.unitedwaymumbai.
org/index.php?option=com_ content&view=article&id=146& popup=1&template_id=42 for tweeting, you could use tiny url www.bit.ly/HopeRuns
To pay via cheque, please send cheque in the name of ‘United Way of Mumbai’ to
ARPAN
Unit 24, 2nd flr, 105, Apollo Street, Mumbai Samachar Marg, Mumbai – 23.
Please forward this email to all your contacts and help spread the word around. Thank you.Watch out for updates on www.Hope-Runs.blogspot.com , www.facebook.com/hoperun and www.twitter.com/hoperuns. Join Arpan's facebook group. - facebook/arpan
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United Way of Mumbai is the Charity Partner for Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2010 and will be sending the receipt and 80 G certificate to you for donations made. Donors outside India can donate but wont get any tax rebate. After the marathon, United Way will give the funds collected to ARPAN. To know more about United Way of Mumbai and the Marathon visit www.unitedwaymumbai.org
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What can you do about child sex abuse : you could blog/tweet and forward this email extensively. Let everyone read it. click on the Share This link below to share with your friends, acquaintances and people should know about the evil.
I have received several calls and emails from other survivors ever since this campaign was initiated. I understand that just by acknowledging and sharing, the burden of the lump in the chest is lessened. Though, I am not a counselor, i try my best to listen, assist and share... and request them to speak to psychotherapist if the issue is beyond my control. You could reach me at +919833100340 or mail me personally at hi@hiyer.net - Harish Iyer
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