Originally posted by: naraine
I also live abroad and work in the social/health care field with lots of children and can tell you NGO involvement isn't the perfect solution either. First step was what Vaishnavi did--draw attention to the problem to the parents themselves. The second step involves someone monitoring the situation--if she continues to be abused by the step-mom, then protective custody would be important or else, Raja Rancho has to be willing to leave his wife. I truly do feel that Raja did not realize his mistake before because he has grown up in a society where sons are treated like kings and girls are less important (I don't agree with this, but the reality is that 60-70% of Indian families believe this). I think Raja will pay better attention. The reason I say NGO involvement is that once sent to a foster family, there is no guarantee of a better future either. I have seen here, because foster families are paid to take kids in, that sometimes, they just do what they minimally need to do to keep them okay with the authorities. The emotional trauma a child goes through being put in a new surrounding away from its familiary is sometimes not addressed, leading to low self esteem, which can affect the child at school, and hence, their future. However, back to the point about saying that "others should not be shamed"--I think that was inappropriate--the IF member is not trying to shame the effort, but that this knee jerk reaction by everyone needs to be thought of carefully, otherwise, you can do more harm than good.