State to empanel translators to protect Russian children victims

Panaji: The women and child development department will empanel Russian translators to better address issues of domestic violence and protection of children of Russian tourists who visit Goa in large numbers.

The department under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules has for the first time advertised for empanelment of translators to translate from Russian to English in addition to Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

“Areas like Morjim and Arambol are already full of Russians so we decided to empanel Russian translators, keeping in mind issues that have arisen and those that may crop up in the future,” a department official said.

Stakeholders dealt with cases in the past of sexual violence of Russian minors, domestic violence cases where the interest of children had to be looked into, cases of neglect of children who had to be rescued and sent to Apna Ghar and other cases.

“Child victims must always be permitted to recount their experience in their own local language they’re comfortable in. We have come across cases where all the family members spoke only Russian and used a translator on their phone to communicate with us but as this is not good enough we then call for a Russian translator,” a stakeholder said.

“The victim then recounts what happened with the help of the translator. When the statement is recorded finally it is signed by police, the translator and the counsellor,” the stakeholder told TOI, adding that many Russians, including children, however have picked up Hindi.

A translator is also important to communicate with children in domestic violence cases, the stakeholder said.

The Posco rules mandate that the district child protection unit maintains a register with names, addresses and contacts of interpreters, translators, special educators, experts and support persons.


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