The problem comes with the assumption that an equal, or more, number of children will experience no short or long-term effects of their sexual abuse in the future since the country is far more liberal sexually than it ever was.

This assumption would be incorrect—and grossly unfair to children—for the same ‘liberal’ reasons. With urban Indian children getting sexualized almost as soon as they enter their teens today, they are more aware than adults of the rights of the space surrounding their bodies. They are exposed to far more on television, through magazines and the internet, through the print media, than ever before. Homosexuals and lesbians are cogently presenting their case and talking about what they see as valid reasons for choosing these alternative sexual lifestyles. Condoms are freely available. Sex is not the four-letter word it used to be, it has turned into another misplaced and much misunderstood three-letter word spelt as f-u-n. All of this is sharpening teen instincts about the ethics of modern sexual behaviour. The information explosion on Aids is assisting greatly in this direction.

And all of this is reflecting in a greater awareness on fondling and how much with which boyfriend or girlfriend, ‘okay sex’ how often. Modern sexual ethics, in short.

What was okay until recently for one section might not be so-okay shortly for a lot more.

This is already being reflected in the attitudes of children. In Dr Shekhar Seshadri’s survey of young boys 15 per cent report Child Sexual Abuse; the boys also report their experiences with older males as both unwanted and unpleasant.

Older males themselves are beginning to disclose their sexual abuse as children. ‘A much larger number of men than one would expect,’ points out Chennai’s Dr Vijay Nagaswami. An individual and marital psychotherapist, Dr Nagaswami is counselling an overwhelming number of males from upper and middle-class homes who have suffered sexual abuse as children in one form or another. He adds, ‘A few come directly with their disclosure though this is rarely the presenting symptom. My experience in dealing with adolescents and adults who come in with other problems is that some or all of this can be traced back to their having been sexually abused in childhood. A large amount of this Child Sexual Abuse has happened at the hands of family, relatives, persons trusted by the child like servants and family retainers. And it has happened at the child’s home.’

Home, where the maximum harm is. Where a few children—mostly boys—are now trying to fight back.

A thirteen-year-old Pune boy has reported to his parents that a female cousin has been seducing him since quite some time with gifts and games. The reason for the disclosure? The little boy said he did not want to get Aids.

An eleven-year-old Bangalore boy being sexually abused by his neighbour since the last several years, walks up to his home and punches him straight in the stomach with a warning that he should never, ever, be touched again.