India: Religious sisters in Tamil Nadu care for victims of violence and abuse

By Anne Preckel

Abuse survivors often tell her, “I don’t know why people reject me or why they look at me differently now. I am not accepted. I haven’t done anything."

This is what Indian Sister Johncy Namikairaj shared in an interview with Vatican News, noting that it is often the victims and their families who are stigmatized when people find out about the abuse.

Sister Johncy is a social worker who works with children from poor backgrounds from the community of Gudalur, in a mountainous region in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

“Some have faced various forms of abuse: physical, mental, sexual. We have a home for them, we care for them and also provide first aid. When they come to us, we offer consulting in various stages," explained the religious, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Saints Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa (SCCG), also known as the Sisters of Maria Bambina, a religious order founded in Lovere, Italy, in 1832.

Sister Johncy at a workshop

Poverty and abandonment are fertile ground for abuse, explained Sister Johncy, referring to social circumstances.

“These girls do not have the necessary privacy at home, and then there’s poverty. The parents leave them on their own because they have to work. Minors undergo abuse, for example, at the hands of neighbours or people who know the family.”

Tamil Nadu is one of the most industrialized and relatively prosperous states in India. Nevertheless, there are social inequalities and problems like child labour, malnutrition, unemployment and abuse.

“Children who have been abused are destroyed inside," said the social worker. “On the surface, it seems that everything is fine. But when one draws closer to them, one realizes how deeply wounded they are."

Sister Johncy currently looks after 50 young women/girls, many of whom are orphans or half-orphans. The congregation is not able to offer them therapeutic help, but it can provide housing and education. Others, unfortunately, have to be sent back home, where they are often not safe.

To reach victims, the congregation also cooperates with a hotline, “ChildLine 1098," where victims and “kind-hearted” citizens can report cases of abuse.

Sister Johncy explained that abuse is still a social taboo in India and that this is one of the biggest challenges in her work to help those affected. As talking about sexuality is shameful, for many, it is even more difficult to talk about sexual violence, and therefore, it is not reported.

“In our culture, we do not talk about these things," said Sister Johncy. This makes prevention more difficult and makes victims and their families suffer even more, especially when the injustice goes unnamed and unpunished, but rather tends to be hidden.

Sister Johncy at a workshop

Statistics show that violence against girls and women is an enormous problem in India. Most cases take place at home, where the number of unreported crimes is even higher.

To contrast this situation, a new penal code was enacted in the summer of 2024. Among other things, it calls for a faster processing of cases by police and the courts.

The Catholic Church in India is ever more committed to raising awareness of the issue and to combating abuse. In the fall of 2023, Sister Johncy was sent to Rome to receive formation on safeguarding at the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. She now applies what she learned in Rome to her work in India.

The religious sister also works to raise awareness in schools and among refugees, who are at higher risk of becoming victims. She explained that some progress has been made.

“Since we started raising awareness, there are more parents who talk about the problem—not everywhere, but in some cases, they are slowly talking about it more. We teach children to talk and parents to listen. There is still much to do, but we can see slow progress.”

Although the Catholic Church in India makes up a minority (less than two percent of the population), her influence in the social, education, and health sectors is important.

Through her network, the Church has enormous potential in the safeguarding sector, not only in the world’s most populous country, India, but in the whole world.