Proactive role of the teachers can be the best way of protecting the boys from sexual abuse, assault and exploitation as they are the future driving force of the nation.
For the sake of their proper physical and mental development, all sorts of violence and repression against boys must be stopped with integrated efforts of the government and non-government organisations concerned.
Teachers and development activists came up with the observation while addressing an orientation meeting titled "Role of Teachers to Prevent Sexual Violence against Boys" with participation of 40 members of Rajshahi District Teachers Association (RDTA) in Rajshahi on Monday.
Association for Community Development (ACD) organised the dialogue at its office conference hall to mark the Blue Umbrella Day-2023, supported by Family for Every Child discussing and devising ways and means on how to ensure a friendly atmosphere for the boys.
Blue Umbrella Day is an initiative of Family for Every Child, a global alliance of children's organisations that work together to improve the lives of children and families worldwide. This year's main theme of the day is: Better Protect Boys by Joining Blue Umbrella Day-2023.
"Boys need adult care and protection too, Boys can be victims of sexual violence and Being a real man means being kind to yourself and others," were the main focuses of the day.
The meeting was told that the Blue Umbrella Day raises awareness of how to better care for boys and protect them from sexual violence.
RDTA President Mojibur Rahman, ACD Project Coordinator Subrata Kumar Paul and Programme Officers Krisna Biswash, Monjurul islam and Israil Hossain addressed the meeting disseminating their expertise on the issue.
They unanimously viewed that the society as a whole should come forward and work together to protect the boys from all sorts of repression and oppression because there is no way but to build them as worthy citizens through flourishing their latent talents.
The discussants unanimously mentioned that an enabling situation should be established for the boys for grooming their potentiality to serve the nation.
Forging a social movement against the crime against boys has become crucial. They also advocated for bringing the areas vulnerable for the boys under monitoring and vigilance to attain desired yield in this field and call to protect boys from repression, exploitation.
