Is it Possible to Tell People About Child Sexual Abuse in One Minute?

Deepa Grover holds a doctorate in social psychology and works in the areas of child rights and development, gender and development, and behaviour change communication. She has been associated closely with the production of television spots and other film pieces on these subjects. This article emerged from her work as Thompson Social's Child Rights Adviser for the duration of the Child Rights Campaign in Bangladesh, 1998-2000. To request further information, please see her contact details, below.

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This article tells the story of the making of a television spot on the subject of child sexual abuse. In 2000, as part of a communication campaign on child rights, which was sponsored by the Government of Bangladesh, Thompson Social, a South Asian regional social communication agency, undertook to produce a television spot on child sexual abuse for broadcast on Bangladesh Television (BTV), the state-owned channel. The process of developing the spot was criss-crossed with numerous conceptual and ethical dilemmas. In this article, we relive the concerns with which we were faced and describe for the reader how, through a participatory process, we succeeded in developing a simple and direct short film on a subject that is complex and sensitive and which typically lies buried under robust layers of denial and silence.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Neha Kapil for sourcing a large amount of web based information. She was also in-charge of overseeing the design and production of the Television Commercial(TVC) as well as coordinating the over 20 persons involved in its creation; tasks she conducted with enviable spirit and competence. I am very grateful to Shivaji Bhattacharya, then the Vice President and Manager of Thompson Social, for providing valuable feedback on an early draft of this article and for his faith in my ability. G. Balagopal, Senior Adviser, Child Protection, UNICEF, has always been generous with his encouragement and I wish to thank him for reading and sharing my work with others. I would also like to thank the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, Government of Bangladesh and the Child Protection Section - UNICEF Bangladesh, particularly Rushnan Murtaza, for their total involvement in and enthusiasm about the Child Rights Campaign.

Table of Contents

The Challenge

Our Concerns

A Process of Many Stages

The Television Commercial (TVC)

Looking Back

References & Endnotes