The Petticoat Journal

[theshepherdofreadersburg]

Child sexual abuse: C’mon kids, let’s make the devil sweat!

Our current edition looks at a very serious and present issue affecting our children and young adults: Child Sexual Abuse. We bring you the front page of the running issue. The edit page has a note for parents on how to deal with a situation where their children reports to them about sexual abuse. Here’s the full text of the cover story:

The Shepherd of Readersburg: What if you are walking in the park in your apartment society premises and the gardener hits you on your hand while he walks past you? You will react by being angry. You may even yell at him for hurting you, isn’t it? Or you may even run up to him and hit him or get the grownups hanging out there to do the honours on behalf of you. Then, you will come home and tell your entire family about it. The family may take it up to the management and lead to official action against the gardener. He may even be sacked. 

Now let’s get to something much more serious. We will begin by telling you about how a girl of around your age was severely attacked by 17 men, including men as old as her grandfather and father. This happened in Chennai. They kept violating her frequently for seven months. 

A 66-year-old man, Ravi Kumar, who was the lift operator in the building in which this little girl lives in an apartment with her parents, was the first one to violate her. Then one by one, the other lift operators, plumbers, electricians, a housekeeping employee and the gardener joined in. They mixed drugs in soft drinks and made her drink these spiked drinks. When she was unconscious, they touched her body, they violently touched her private parts and made her touch theirs. This is called sexual assault or rape. This leaves children mentally scarred for life.

The 66-year-old man took the 12-year-old hearing-impaired girl to isolated places within the apartment building like gym, public washrooms, terrace etc as soon as she got off the school bus. Her mom would think she got late because she stopped by to play with her friends. The men made videos of their violent acts and threatened the girl that they would show the videos to everyone if she told anyone about it.

Last Saturday, on 13 July, the girl had severe pain in her stomach. She told her elder sister about the pain and then told her about how these men had been violating her over the past 7 months. Her sister lives in Delhi and was visiting home for a few days. The sister informed her parents and they reported the matter to the police. The violators have been arrested.  

It’s outrageous! It’s sick! And this is not the first time that a child has been violated this way. It happens quite frequently. Sometimes it’s the conductors and drivers or the school bus, sometimes a male teacher at school or a cousin or any other relative etc. And not just girls, even boys are sexually assaulted.  

But why are we telling you all this? We do so because we want you safe. Because we want you protected. And how? Should you get scared and stop going out? But what if someone breaks in or someone inside the house is a perpetrator? So then should your parents hire bodyguards to accompany you all the time? Well, what if the bodyguard turns out to be a violator? Hey, we are not saying all men are bad, but the motto is: RESPECT ALL, TRUST NONE. So, the real deal is, WE WANT YOU TO BE BRAVE. BOLD. SMART. AND PROTECT YOURSELF. Okay, forget yourself for a while and think of your favourite bag and, let’s say, it has a lot of money in it one day which your mom gave you to pay the tuition teacher. You stop by at a park on your way to the tuition to meet a friend. Would you leave this bag just like that on your cycle trusting everyone around and thinking they would not steal it? Definitely not! So why should you trust anyone and let them touch your body? Your body is your most priced possession! You have to keep it safe. 

So what should be done? Well, the best way to protect yourself is to make yourself smarter and stronger. EQUIP YOURSELF! First, no need to talk to strangers no matter how sweet they are to you. Then, a young bhaiyya or an old uncle may have been visiting your house and may have known you and your family for years. But you don’t need to venture out with them out of turn. No need to go out for an ice cream or a drive with them. Why do you need to? Go with your parents! And if they try to touch you in a certain way, if they try to touch the private parts of your body or ask you to touch theirs, SCREAM! YELL! BITE THEM! BEAT THEM! PUNCH THEM! RUNNNN!!! And KEEP SCREAMING AS YOU RUN AWAY! BE A COMPLETE BRAT! No need to be nice! And why? Remember, this person you are running away from is a predator and will attack you if you are nice to him Another thing, this perpetrator could be a relative as well. So don’t hesitate to react even if it’s a cousin or any other relative. If they already touched you, no need to be scared of the threats. Go and tell your mom, your sister, your brother, your dad, or your teacher if she is close to you. DO IT RIGHT NOW!

After this, after you have made a scene and told your family about it, this same attacker may become so sweet and try to look so innocent that it will be hard for anyone to believe he was trying to do something so obnoxious like sexually attacking a child. But you have seen his other side and you know exactly what happened. So you don’t have to start feeling sorry or doubting yourself. You, and your safety, come first. DON’T EVER GET CARRIED AWAY! If they wanted you to be nice to them, they should not have violated you. Simple!

Hey, psstt! Go, learn some taekwondo…karate and go woosh! woosh! bang! if some sick-head tries to lay his hands on you. Yo! YET, FIRST, USE YOUR BRAINS to handle the situation and get away unhurt, untouched, and to bring the incident to the notice of your folks.

© Copyright. All rights reserved. The Shepherd of Readerburg.

[thepetticoatjournal]

here’s the full text of the cover story of the current edition of our children’s weekly @theshepherdofreadersburg ...because we want our children safe and we want them to handle abuse intelligently and boldly. ...so here

[thepetticoatjournal]

and what? look who’s one today! 💕 So ...our Shepherd turns one... It was a Sunday, a day exactly like this one last year ...not so rainy, a little sunny... and someone came to this world to make it much brighter ...and a year later, the world is definitely shining a little more brightly ... Here’s wishing a very Happy Birthday to @theshepherdofreadersburg ...🎂 🎁 🎊 Thank you all the sheep and our little shepherds for being friends with this Shepherd from Readersburg... this Shepherd loves you all too much! We’ll stick around forever! 💕❣️ it’s been a beautiful trek ...let’s look forward to some more...many more ... 🎉 #happybirthday #happyfirstbirthday #oneyear #startup #successstories #success #entrepreneurship #womenentrepreneurs @ishrutikohli #entrepreneurshipgoals #goals #targets #scaling #storytelling @storytellersetal @taleadoodledoo #storytellers #children #teenagers (at The Shepherd of Readersburg)

[thepetticoatjournal]

In the current issue of our weekly newspaper, @theshepherdofreadersburg, read our cover story on how physical books are going to absolutely make it through the digital boom. Sohini Mitra, executive editor of Puffin Books (Penguin Random House), sounds positive when she tells The Shepherd of Readersburg that physical books are here to stay... so here ...our current issue ... #newspaper #childrensnewspaper #tabloid #weekly #newspaperreading #startup #newsmedia #penguinbooks #puffinbooks @penguinbooks @penguinrandomhouse @penguinindia (at The Shepherd of Readersburg)

[thepetticoatjournal]

#womencycling here’s where ...your Sunday morning date with romance ... just how can you not be there? Let’s unfold a love story ... #cycling #cyclists #cyclingevent #jabalpur #jabalpurdiaries #smartcityjabalpur #smartcity #cycletrack #pedaldiaries #fitnessdiaries #fitness #lovecycling #cyclepeople #bicyclediary #bicycle #womencyclists #womencycling (at Dumna Nature Park)

[shrutikohli]

mornings …how perfectly they begin with #coffee and @theshepherdofreadersburg … #morningcuppa #cuppa #coffeemornings☕️ #newspaper #weekly #startup #startupmornings #womenentrepreneurs #entrepreneurship (at The Shepherd of Readersburg)

[thepetticoatjournal]

our journalism bootcamp for teenagers, being organised by our newspaper @theshepherdofreadersburg begins tomorrow. The Broadsheet is a journalism bootcamp designed to give exposure to a new career and to improve talking and thinking skills of teenagers. The bootcamp will be conducted Monday through Friday 4 - 5:30pm every week for 13 - 16 year olds. Activities include newspaper reading, group discussions, debates, news analysis, news reporting, news writing etc. For more information, call [phone] #journalism #reporting #newsreporting #startup #entrepreneurship #theshepherdofreadersburg #womenreporters #newsreporting #teenagers #newswriting #careerinnews (at Storytellers et al)

[thepetticoatjournal]

Hi Readers, our tabloid @theshepherdofreadersburg did not publish this week as the press remained closed until over the weekend. The previous issue would still be available if you’d want to get it... #newspaper #newspaperreading #children #tabloid #diwali2017 #diwali #festivals #noissue #startuphiccups #startup #sisterconcern #business #company #mediacompany (at The Shepherd of Readersburg)

[shrutikohli]

#MeToo If all the people who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem…. If we were to get down to detailing when and where, it would be an endless list. Even the close relatives haven’t spared us! Cousin, uncle …and then you see them being happily married and having children, daughters too, and marrying off their daughters and becoming granddad, of grand daughters! And you wonder … #sexualharrassment #metoo #sexualassault #women #men #genderproblems

[thepetticoatjournal]

Our story on #MaternityAct2017 ...moms say it's not about laws, it's about mindsets. Companies may not have a reason to smile anyway ... Full story at this link: http://petticoatjournal.com/sto-ries/maternity-benefit-act-2017-an-employee-on-paid-leave-is-a-non-performing-asset-for-a-company/ #womenatwork #womensrights #workingmoms #maternitybenefits #paternityleave #thepetticoatjournal #womenempowerment #genderequality #glassceiling #womenpower #women

[thepetticoatjournal]

The shrewd bat

Once upon a time there lived a shrewd bat. His favourite topic of daydream was to imagine himself as the king of the jungle. One day, a fight broke out in the jungle between the birds and the animals. Earlier both lived with a benevolent attitude. There were mignon birds and handsome animals.

The bat, who was a funambulist, created a hypothetical situation that the birds would win and he started supporting the bird flock. At one point, the clever bat felt that the animals would win and he started supporting the team of animals.

The battle continued without any result and one fine day, when it was drizzling and the was in a good mood, both the teams made friends with each other. They removed the bat from their united group for he was a friend of nobody. The poor bat had to pay for his cunningness. 

Devansh Dubey, 11 years old

[thepetticoatjournal]

The connection

Once there lived a benevolent funambulist. He used to work in a circus which was near a sea shore the circus would often get filled with water. One day a boy came with his mignon sister. She was so excited that she couldn’t wait to go in. The boy didn’t have enough money to go in and see the show. On seeing this, the funambulist said to the ticket seller, ‘Sir, please let them go in and you can deduct the money from my salary.’ 

The ticket seller was astonished and asked him, ‘Are they your family members?’ The funambulist said, ‘No, they are not my family members.’ The girl said, ‘Thank you, uncle.”

After a few days, while the funambulist was day dreaming, he saw both the children in his reverie and in that hypothetical situation he felt the children had a connection with his family.

- Dhaarna Chaudhari, 11 years old

[thepetticoatjournal]

A naughty boy’s reverie

Once upon a time, there lived a cloth merchant in a village. He had two sons named Yuvraj and Mannat. Yuvraj was mignon and benevolent. But Mannat was a very naughty and mischievous boy.

He played many tricks on people. He would not leave a single thing in the house intact or undisturbed. Not only that, he often harassed the boys in the neighbourhood as well as his elder brother. Mannat's father spent his whole day in the shop, so his mother had to listen to to the complaints of the people. She was fed up of Mannat's behaviour. He had a habit of day dreaming. He often thought about the person who walks on tight rope free handed.

Once imagined in his reverie that his elder brother walks like a funambulist in a hilly area. Hypothetically he assumed that his brother was about to fall. All of a sudden his dream broke and he wakes up. He was very afraid by his dream and told his mother about his dream and promised her to become a nice boy.

- Ravleen Kaur Chera, 8 years old

[thepetticoatjournal]

Choosing between friends & chocolates

Once upon a time there was a little kid named George who lived in a far away village with his father who worked as a funambulist and his mother who was a benevolent woman giving her free time to charity work.

One day as his mother sang his favourite lullaby, George slipped in to a beautiful reverie, where he found himself floating on the clouds above the rainbow. Very soon George found himself entering into the kingdom of chocolates. As he wandered through he saw the king of the chocolate kingdom punishing two of his friends for stealing some chocolates. George was a nice child and so he begged the king to forgive his friends. The king agreed to do so only if George would surrender all his chocolates his mother had given him last night. George thought for a moment and realised that his friends were more precious than any chocolate in this world. On hearing his reply the king was very happy.He not only forgave all three of them but also gifted them baskets of tasty chocolates from his kingdom. Suddenly George woke up and realised that it was just a hypothetical situation that he had entered into.

- Dron Punj, 11 years old (the story has been very mildly edited by Tale-A-Doodle-Doo to maintain the essence of innocence in it)

[thepetticoatjournal]

A reverie ride

One day I daydreamed. In my reverie, I saw a beautiful hypothetical world. A world in which there is no dust and colourful flowers are spread everywhere around. The children of this world are benevolent and happy. I saw a group of mignon children playing in a park. They were trying to cross a small shallow lake like a funambulist. I also asked them to teach me this trick. One of the children named Maxo taught me the trick and they became my friends.

After this they took me for an elephant ride. They told me that their friend named Kem had a pet elephant who would take us for a ride. We all went for a long ride to the jungle where we saw many animals. We had a lot of fun together. At last, we had a party together in which we had lots of delicious food and soft drinks. There was no one to stop us for anything. We also danced on music and enjoyed a lot. I didn’t know when this music changed into a loud noise which broke my reverie and brought me back to the real world.

- Shouryavan Bhalla, 9 years old

(the story has been very mildly edited by Tale-A-Doodle-Doo to maintain the essence of innocence in it)

[thepetticoatjournal]

Diamonds in the desert

My story starts with a circus, 'Pillady Circus', that used to perform in our village annually. For three years, they came unfailingly and each performance saw me fall into a reverie. The clowns, the animals, the trapeze artists, the funambulists, the bearded lady, the dancing horses, all gave delight to my boyish heart. For a poor orphan like me, life couldn't be any better. 

But at their fourth visit, they announced their decision to leave, never to return. I was flabbergasted! I had struck up a friendship with the bearded lady, who used to fondly call me, 'my mignon!' and who with a motherly affection, used to correct my faults by giving hypothetical examples. I couldn't imagine anyone more benevolent. "Why do you have to leave?" I asked her. "We have orders," she replied stroking my unkempt hair. "But... But I" "Say, why don't you join us?" she said suddenly, "I'm sure we can find you a spot!" "Go with the circus?" I repeated mechanically and as the full impact of the words smote me, I cried out, "YES!" Well, I joined the circus. I was ten. For six years, I remained with them and there was no one to touch us. But misfortune hit us in the form of the death of our leader. Many left our group till only few remained. 

We trudged through harsh deserts and deep snow without food or drink. Then something fairy tale- like happened and we came upon a chest, only to find it empty. Mad with hunger, my people decided to part ways. I stayed till the others were mere specks and then I smiled. The sun rays were reflecting off the numerous diamonds studded in the chest. Sonal Okhade, 16 years old

(the story has been very mildlyedited by Tale-A-Doodle-Doo to maintain the essence of innocence in it)

[thepetticoatjournal]

My day at the circus

Dear diary Today I went to a circus. It was the 'Great Indian Circus '. I enjoyed my visit to the circus. My father ordered me to buy tickets for my family. When I went to the ticket counter , the lady at the counter was in her reverie. When I woke her up she was benevolent to me and she gave me tickets. Now let me come to the circus part. The first thing I saw was a mignon teddy bear with a pink hat, then came a clown who didn't have a red nose which I hypothetically assumed that he must be having. Then at last came my favourite show that was of a funambulist’s, he was hundred feet above the land and walked on a thin wire which had no right to be called a rope. I enjoyed in the circus.

- Sneha Titoria, 11 years old

(the story has been very mildly edited by Tale-A-Doodle-Doo to maintain the essence of innocence in it)

[thepetticoatjournal]

Dreaming about circus

Once upon a time there lived two friends Mohan and Rohan who were benevolent. Mohan used to daydream and Rohan had to wake him up out of his reverie each time. That Sunday they planned to go to a circus. While going there, they bought a mignon teddy bear and after entering inside they saw a funambulist and a joker juggling some balls. After the circus shows got over they were returning home and on their way they passed through a forest and suddenly a lion was about to attack them,  they both ran for their lives and after running so much they at last reached home and told everything... whatever had happened in their dream,  after all it was all hypothetical. - Anurati Sharma, 9 years old (the story has been very mildly edited by Tale-A-Doodle-Doo to maintain the essence of innocence in it)