OFFENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION
In the ancient Indian women held a high place of respect in the
society as mentioned in Rigveda and other scriptures. Volumes
can be written about the status of our women and their heroic
deeds from the vedic period to the modern times. But later on,
because of social, political and economic changes, women lost
their status and were relegated to the background. Many evil
customs and traditions stepped in which enslaved the women
and tied them to the boundaries of the house . The official
statistics showed a declining sex-ratio, health status, literacy
rate, work participation rate and political participation among
women. While on the other hand the spread of social evils like
dowry deaths, child marriage, domestic violence, rape, sexual
harassment, exploitation of women workers are rampant in
different parts of India. Humiliation, rape, kidnapping,
molestation, dowry death, torture, wife-beating etc. have
grown up over the years.
According to Hess & Orthmann (2010), law enforcement
agencies are charged with investigating all crimes, but the
responsibility is greater when children are involved. Because
children are more vulnerable than other members of society,
their protection under the law must be greater. Crimes against
children cover an extensive range of crimes, including but not
limited to: maltreatment, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse,
abduction, trafficking and molestation. Child abuse
investigations involve many challenges and therefore warrant
specific techniques and considerations for successful outcomes
in terms of cases solved and prosecutions. This paper will begin
by defining specific terms that are germane to the topic of
crimes against children. The next section will provide a scope of
the problem concerning crimes against children. The following
section will offer a theory framework to account for offenders
of crimes against children. The fifth section will offer a
literature review of current research findings regarding crimes
against children investigative techniques. This is followed by a
discussion section that will identify strategies and
recommendations for successful investigative outcomes.
Finally, the last section will summarize and conclude the
important aspects of crimes against children investigation
strategies as they relate to successful outcomes and
prosecution. The significance of this paper is that it contributes
to the criminal justice system by critically reviewing
investigative strategies and techniques as they relate to their
mission of successful outcomes in crimes against children
cases. This paper is written for colleagues and clerisy who have
a professional or academic interest in reducing crimes against
children through utilizing the best investigative strategies and
techniques.