Arpan

Arpan is the largest non-profit providing Child Sexual Abuse Prevention and Intervention services for both children and adults. As a critical stakeholder for state and non-state actors, Arpan is a leading voice in the field of CSA Prevention and Intervention in India, and uses advocacy and research to push for policy and systemic change at the local, state and national levels. Arpan has impacted over 18.3 million children and adults through their innovative and unique Personal Safety Education (PSE) program.

The Problem
In India, there is a significant social and cultural taboo around sexuality, resulting in a lack of vocabulary and dialogue around sexual abuse, which is alarmingly prevalent with one in two children affected. A wide variety of societal, cultural, individual, and family-related normative frameworks restrict initiating this dialogue, and sexual violence against children is often hidden, unseen, and under-reported. The responsibility falls on the education system to provide children with essential skills to keep them safe, but there has been little focus on this subject to date.

Compounding the problem is the reality that only a few organizations actively work in this space, and there is inadequate country-specific research, expertise, and resources available to guide practice. Trauma from child sexual abuse (CSA) can be lifelong; survivors can experience PTSD, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideas, and substance abuse. In the U.S., the estimated lifetime economic burden of CSA is $9.3 billion, and in the U.K., annual CSA costs are estimated at £3.2 billion. While corresponding figures for India are unavailable, with approximately 50% of 1.3 billion people experiencing some degree of CSA, the magnitude of the resulting emotional and financial burden is enormous.

The Solution
In the context of the prevention of and intervention in cases of CSA, Arpan works from a rights-based approach, believing that every child has the right to be safe from abuse. Through established programs, Arpan has demonstrated how to reduce CSA incidence through prevention measures. Additionally, Arpan has built an innovative and unique Personal Safety Education (PSE) program that enables safe and private disclosures by children, intervening to stop ongoing abuse, promoting healing through therapy, and providing psycho-education to families. Arpan also continuously conducts rigorous evaluations that guide and strengthen program strategy. The field of CSA suffers from a lack of evidence-based research to guide practitioners — Arpan is filling this gap.

Looking to scale their reach, Arpan is reimagining ways to train children and adults in personal safety, resulting in transformational change. Strategic partnerships continue to be critical in replicating and scaling their work. Arpan trains partners on the PSE model, who in turn implement the program in their respective settings so millions of children are reached with messages of personal safety and caring adults in their ecosystem are equipped to keep them safe. To further scale in India and reach global audiences, Arpan has digitized their content and created e-learning courses as effective as in-classroom sessions.