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The editorial spine

What we believe. And what we refuse.

Eight beliefs. Eight refusals. Each is a working commitment, not an aspiration.

01

Most child sexual abuse in India is committed by people in positions of trust.

So we will not run stranger-danger campaigns.

02

How abuse hides and surfaces is shaped by caste, class, religion, region, gender, and disability.

So we will not code the perpetrator by any of them.

03

Survivors are experts on their own experience.

So we will not identify any survivor without their explicit, informed consent. Ever.

04

The work of safety is the work of the village.

So Kaaval makes work for the adults around children, not for children themselves.

05

Cultural change is a lane the Indian CSA field has not yet built.

So we will not duplicate the helplines, shelters, and curricula others have done for decades. We are the cultural infrastructure around them.

06

Pride activates action. Shame protects silence.

So we will not borrow shame. No saviour framing. No pity-fundraising aesthetics.

07

Art carries meaning that words alone cannot.

So we lead with art, in the Indian languages families actually live in.

08

Editorial independence is the foundation of the work.

So we will not name a living individual as a perpetrator outside a final court verdict, will not depict the abuse itself, and will not take funding that requires us to soften the work.

Tell us when we get it wrong.

Write to founders@kaaval.org
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