Human Trafficking in [India] [other countries]Street Children in [India] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [India |
Child Prostitution The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children The Republic of India [map] is the second
most populous country in the world, stretching from the Arabian Sea (W) to
the Bay of Bengal (E), bordering Pakistan (W); China, Nepal, and Bhutan (N);
Bangladesh (NE); and Myanmar (E). |
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ECPAT – On-line form for reporting child prostitution and other sexual offences against children Quick
Search for Missing Children - Select
Gender, Country ( CHILDLINE - Toll Free Call 1098 - Night & Day CHILDLINE reaches out to all children in
need of care and protection such as: street children, child labourers, children who have been abused, child victims
of flesh trade, differently-abled children, child
addicts, children in conflict with the law, children in institutions, mentally
challenged children, HIV/AIDs infected children,
children affected by conflict and disaster, child political refugees,
children whose families are in crises. Delhi Govt. Started the toll free 'Youth Phone service’ 1-800-11-6888 The Government of Delhi running
the 'youth' helpline named Yuva Phone line in
Delhi. The counsellors are available round the
clock on toll free no 1800116888. The
helpline is specially for students. Website
to track missing children launched Anyone who has lost their child
can post a message on this website and a search will be set in motion
simultaneously in 40 cities in the country.
Launched by Don Bosco National Forum for
Youth at Risk in association with UNICEF, www.missingchildsearch.net will be closely watched and
monitored by child welfare organisations in all
major cities in the country and a search will be generated immediately. The
Don Bosco National Forum for Youth at Risk is a
major partner of Childline India Foundation and
extends service to hundreds of children who are victims of war, conflict,
natural calamities, sexual exploitation, trafficking and HIV/AIDS. They also
take care of street and working children. U.S. Dept
of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Commercial sexual exploitation of children, including child sex
tourism, occurs in major cities. Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS - An
estimated 6 to 10 thousand children from Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2004 [74] The Committee expresses its
concern at the increasing number of child victims of sexual exploitation,
including prostitution and pornography. Concern is also expressed at the
insufficient programs for the physical and psychological recovery and social
reintegration of child victims of such abuse and exploitation. Women emerge
as primary victims in trafficking Porous borders with economically poorer Bangladesh
and Nepal (from where none need visa to visit India) aggravate the problem of
cross-border trafficking. Bangladesh remained a source country for women and
children for a quite a long time, traffickers target their preys in the
poverty stricken rural areas. On the
other hand, Nepal is identified as a source country in the region. Fair
looking Nepali young women are the primary victims of the trafficking, though
new trend emerges with attraction for boys too. Unconfirmed statistics reveal
that in average 12,000 Nepali women with minors are trafficked every year for
sexual exploitation in outer countries. Most of the trafficked women from
Nepal were later found infected with HIV/AIDS and also tuberculosis. Addressing the conference, the minister Ms Chowdhury also argued that trafficking is by and large a
gendered phenomenon. The trafficking in India is primarily for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. There are nearly three million sex workers in
India and 40 per cent of them are children or adolescent girls. Statistics
reveal that children below the age of 10 years are also found in the brothel
of Indian cities like Mumbai and Delhi now a day, the minister disclosed. "Many believe that having sex with
young and virgin girls would cure them of diseases. It is nonsense," Ms Chowdhury uttered. She emphasized on reducing the demand
for prostitutes, engagement of children in workplaces, use of forced labour and empowering all collaborative efforts of
governments, NGOs and other institutions to deal with the situation. - htcp Action
plan to combat human trafficking According to the Minister of State
for Women and Child Development (independent charge), Renuka
Chowdhury, there were about three million sex
workers, 40 per cent of whom were children, and their demand was increasing. Over
650 Indian trafficking victims rescued: UNODC Over 650 Indians, including 138
minors, who were victims to human trafficking, were rescued during the first
six months of this year, an United Nations agency
said here today. He claimed the average age of
girls being trafficked in South Asia was dropping. "While in 1980, the average age of
trafficked girls was 14 to 16 years, it dropped to 10-14 years in 1994. The
figure in 2006 has decreased," he said. Natalie
Grant Helps Expand Efforts against Human Trafficking Grant has been able to witness the
process first hand with her travels around the world, particularly a trip to
the red-light district of Mumbai, India.
"I was walking down the street in Mumbai, in broad daylight, when
my eyes locked on a little girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old, peering out of a
cage, looking at us on the street below. It was beyond my imagination,"
said Grant on her website. "I'll never forget that moment. That was her
life. Every day people walked by, and they didn't
even notice her." "Homelessness and poverty are
tragic enough," added Grant, "but some of these children are kept
in cages and forced to perform heinous, unfathomable acts 50 and 60 times a
day. And you never hear anyone talk about it." No
age of innocence, this Study reveals 14% of sex workers are children aged
10-17 If this makes you wince, there is
more. A study conducted by Global Organisation for
Life Development, an NGO, in co-ordination with Guwahati
police has revealed that a startling 14 per cent of those involved in
prostitution are children aged between 10 and 17. And those who gratify their
lurid and perverse desires by exploiting children are not part of the city’s
underbelly but affluent, well-heeled people who lend Guwahati
much of its sheen. Behind every minor languishing in
the flesh trade is a heartrending tale. Some have been forced into
prostitution by acquaintances or relatives, while others have been lured by
the hope of a better life. For a few, the parents themselves turned into
pimps. Police have identified Kalapahar, Nabin Nagar, Rajgarh, Pandu, Dispur, Beltola, Ganeshguri and Hatigaon areas of Guwahati as
hubs of prostitution and trafficking. WHAT WAS IT IN THE REPORT THAT
MOVED YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE MATTER? - I cannot talk about it in detail but at one
point I read, “The Dommara tribe from Andhra
Pradesh and several tribes across the Northern belt of the country practice
family-based prostitution. The Dommara tribe’s
pushing their girls into prostitution at puberty is the most extreme example
of prostitution - based gender oppression within a community. Sex abuse of
girls in this system manifests even before the girls’ initiation into the
system. Young girls who will be initiated into the system are often subjected
to sexual abuse from family and villages right upto
the time of their initiation ceremony. At that point, they go through a
ritual that is typical in that they are married to the village deity. The
girls are forced to submit to group sex with village leaders and priests
within the temple for a full week while her family and the rest of the
village feasts and celebrates. My grief knew no ends but I at the same time
resolved to research on the matter myself. Documentary
tells story of India's child prostitutes The India story becomes only
sadder: Ling tells us that there are half a million "sex slaves" in
India, and that the average age of a prostitute is 14. The increase in human trafficking
cases in the last couple of years is worrying NGOs and exposes the
government’s apathy towards the social evil.
Figures say that more than 60 girls from Karnataka, who fell prey to human trafficking, have been rescued from
brothels and red light areas in Mumbai, Kolkata and
Delhi. These rescued girls, in the
age-group of 12 to 20 years, are mostly from the northern districts of Bijapur, Bagalkot, Shimoga, Mysore, Mandya and Chamrajnagar. They fall easy prey to the agents who
assure them of jobs and attractive earnings, but they land up in brothels. State
unaware of child abuse situation, projecting deflated figues The pilgrim town of Puri is a haven for child prostitution and rampant paedophilia. A recent study conducted by the Institute of
Socio Economic Development with support from United Nations Development Fund for
Women says that Puri is the heart of child
trafficking and accounts for over 43 percent of the cases. But the State Administration and
Police make no attempt to move because the holy town also happens to be a
tourist hotspot. How to change the
world - The role of the social entreprenuer As Childline
expanded to new cities, the call-tracking system also emerged as an important
source of child protection information. National data showed that the biggest
killer of street children was tuberculosis, but regional call patterns
revealed a variety of local problems. In Jaipur,
for example, childline received reports of abuse in
the garment and jewelry industries. In Varanasi,
there were reports of children being abducted to work in the sari industry.
In Delhi, many calls came from middle-class children. In Nagpur,
a transit hub, there were frequent reports of children abandoned in train
stations. In Goa, a beach resort, a major problem
was the sexual abuse of children by foreign tourists. Using
minors in prostitution is a billion dollar industry in the city For most, Mumbai remains a city of
dreams. But, for some, it has become a place full of nightmares. In recent years, the financial capital of
the country has emerged as one of the leading markets for trafficked minors
who engage in prostitution or, in other words, the commercial sexual abuse of
a minor. As instances of HIV and AIDS reach
alarming proportions, demand for younger, pre-puberty girls has hit an
all-time high. Girls as little as seven and eight-years-old are being forced
into prostitution, both in the red-light areas and as “professional” call
girls (always accompanied by an adult), according to a DNA
investigation. “Trafficking in minor
girls has seen an estimated 30 per cent increase from previous years,” says a
social activist working at Kamatipura — the city’s
most notorious red-light district. “Poverty due to prolonged drought,
mounting farm debts, unemployment and lack of livelihood are the triggering
factors, which are forcing parents to send their daughters out of town for
employment.” “Even when girls are
rescued, families are unwilling to take them back,” says the police source.
“This has become a common story in the rural areas.” From
street child to surgeon, Indian girl follows dream Chand’s mother was a prostitute with 16 children living in Japiur’s red light area, and the girl — her family name has been withheld to protect her — was already a child prostitute when she ran away to eke an existence on the streets aged six. Even for Chand,
there is the constant threat of her past dragging her back to wreck her
future. “If I saw my family again they
would want me back to become a prostitute again to earn money,” she said
simply. When they brought me here, it was
in a taxi. I kept looking around, wondering what kind of work was going on in
this area of this big city. Everywhere I looked, I saw curtained doorways and
rooms. Men would go and come through these curtained entrances. People on the
street would be calling out, “Two rupees, two
rupees.” I asked the other Nepali women if these were offices; it seemed the
logical explanation. In two days I knew everything. I cried. Tara N., a
Nepali woman who was trafficked into India at sixteen. A survey conducted
by Indian Health Organization of a red light area of Bombay shows:- 1. 20% of the one lakh
prostitutes are children. 2. 25% of the child prostitutes had been
abducted and sold. 3. 6% had been raped and sold. 4. 8% had been sold by their fathers after
forcing them into incestuous relationships. 5. 2 lakh minor
girls between ages 9yrs-20yrs were brought every year from Nepal to India and
20,000 of them are in Bombay brothels. 6. 15% to 18% are adolescents between 13 yrs
and 18 yrs. Bombay HC
Lambasts Police Inaction in Curbing Human Trafficking The court was told that the number
of minor girls rescued from brothels during the last three years was
shocking. As many as 26 girls were rescued in 2003, twelve in 2004, 31 girls
were rescued in 2005 and 27 during the current year, the court was told. Human
trafficking from Nepal on rise Trafficking of Nepalese women and
children into India, especially from the western districts, has increased
significantly in recent days due to lax security at border checkpoints. A large number of women and
children are being trafficked into India from checkpoints west of Butwal, representatives of several Indian and Nepalese
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and security officials stated during an
interaction on 'controlling cross-border human trafficking'. Sex
Workers in the City of Joy ONE WOMAN’S STORY - At 14, Pandey
was married off to a man 20 years her senior who had designs on inheriting
her ailing father’s government job and a cut of his pension. When another
sister’s husband got the position instead, the abuse began. Families
of Bharatpur push their minor girls into prostitution The girls are mostly aged between
12 and 15, though some are as young as 10. They stand at the roadside along
with their fathers and brothers who fix the 'price' for them. “What can we do, we have to send
our daughters into this profession as there are no alternative means of livelihood.” India
is transit hub for human trafficking 'Although Mumbai and Goa are the favourite
destinations for paedophilic activity, where
children are trafficked, tourist destinations in Kerala,
Tamil Nadu and Orissa are
also not far behind,' Kant said. Who’s
responsible for child prostitution? In 10 per cent of the cases, the
relatives are responsible for forcing a girl into prostitution, and in 12.6
per cent of cases, the neighbours and friends are
responsible. Paramours, lovers and even the husbands are responsible in 50
per cent of cases for forcing a girl into prostitution. Sexual Slavery; AIDS; India's Hidden Enemy1 Though it's been against the law
since 1982, as many as 5,000 families each year still offer daughters to a deity
or temple, sometimes before the girls reach puberty. Secret wedding services
take place at night, and child-brides, each month, are given in marriage to
the gods. It's usually the priests, or uncles, who take the devadasis' virginity -- once they've had their first
period. Then, at a price which starts at the equivalent of a few dollars,
they belong to upper-caste community members. Or whoever can pay, as they try
to compete with traditional sex workers. Often, the women do their duty to
the gods, and men, while living with their parents. The temple girls are
never allowed to marry. They are common property. The men -- for a night or
months or even years -- own them, body and soul. Historians will look back in
puzzlement at the way our 21st century world tolerates the slavery of more
than a million children in brothels around the world. India alone may have half a
million children in its brothels, more than any other country in the world.
Visit the brothel district in almost any city in India, and you can meet
14-year-old girls who have been kidnapped off the street, or drugged, or
offered jobs as maids, and then sold into a world that they often escape only
by dying of AIDS. Indo-Pak girls forced into prostitution In a startling case of organised women trafficking that has come to light, Pakistani
and Indian girls aged between 11 and 13 are being smuggled to the Middle East
countries for being forced into prostitution there. The girls, who are shown
as aged between 20 and 22 on their passports, are brought to these countries
on the pretext of getting them attracting jobs. Working
Together - Fighting the sex-trafficking menace The Prerana
Anti-Trafficking Center is a nongovernmental organization run by Pravin and Priti Patkar in Mumbai, India. The Patkars
have initiated many programs, trainings, and camps to assist victims of the
sex trade. They have developed curricula for training police and service
providers. They run a camp every year for vulnerable children to prevent them
from being drawn into the sex industry. The Patkars
run a night shelter to protect the children of women who do not yet have the
resources to leave prostitution, but want their children away from the
red-light area. They have challenged traffickers in court when traffickers
tried to regain custody of girls rescued in raids, and they have advocated
for stronger laws against pimps and traffickers. Hitting
Brothel Owners where it Hurts Imagine what you would have done
if you'd been in Hasina Bibi's
sandals. She was a lonely 16-year-old
working in a garment factory in Bangladesh when an older employee began
mothering her. They grew close, and one day the older woman gave Hasina some cakes to eat.
Two days later, Hasina emerged from a
drug-induced stupor in India, sold to a brothel in faraway Gujarat. The
brothel's owner beat Hasina and threatened to
deform her face with acid if she tried to escape. She had to do whatever the
customers wanted, with or without condoms. Prostitution
of Nepalese girls rampant in Indian brothel ''Young girls are trafficked from USAID Funds NGO in India that Helps Brothels Retain Child
Prostitute In May, Restore International, an
anti-trafficking non-governmental organization (NGO) in Tasmina Khatun agreed to elope
with Muku Mondal, a man she loved, not knowing the nightmare she was
inviting. Police yesterday rescued the
15-year-old girl from the Sunderbans when she was about to be taken to Speaking
out for the `nameless' "Anamika" (the nameless)
is a documentary on trafficking of women and children from Andhra Pradesh to
various parts of the country. It
narrates how young girls are deceived, forced or coerced to enter the trade
every year. ECPAT:
Fifth Report on implementation of the Agenda for Action [DOC] [B]
COUNTRY UPDATES – National
Center For Missing Children India - Thailand
Ranks Third in Number of Child Prostitution – ( Child
Prostitution in Nepal/India Every year, thousands of Nepalese
girls, some as young as 11 are sent to or procured for brothels in the big
Indian cities, like Ironically child prostitution is a
special category of rigorous case of child labor and it raises more troubling
ethical problems than child labor in general. Sunita Krishnan, head of an anti human-trafficking
organization, Prajwala, makes the only too-obvious
point that girl children are not valued. "If a girl child is sold or her
life ruined, it is not a national loss, that's why this is a non-issue, both
for community and to society." Certain studies in Child
Prostitution Figures Up in India Girls under 14 years of age
constitute 30 percent of 900,000 prostitutes in When
Police Act As Pimps: Glimpses Into Child Prostitution In India. A random sample of 28 out of 86
brothels along the Cops
Involved In Child Prostitution Social activist Anson Thomas, who
has accompanied the police in at least 14 raids at brothels in Nagpada and D B Marg areas,
alleged that some constables and sub-inspectors are known for taking bribes
directly from minors. A
Brief Report on Study on CSEC [DOC] STUDY IN
CHILD PROSTITUTION BY CCCL - The study revealed the policies
of promoting tourism without being sensitive to the local needs, is causing a
phenomenal growth in child prostitution. The study pointed out that the golden
triangle of tourism on Agra- Delhi Jaipur belt has
spewed a flourishing trade in child prostitution among Rajasthan’s
nomadic tribes-with middlemen coercing and luring girls as young as ten years
into sex business. Growing tourism is
major contributing factor to this phenomenon. Children
and Women Trafficking in Nepal It was 10 years ago.13-year-old
Mira of Nepal was offered a job as a domestic worker in Mumbai, India. Instead
she arrived at a brothel on Mumbai's Falkland Road, where tens of thousands
of young women are displayed in row after row of zoo-like animal cages. Her
father had been duped into giving her to a trafficker. When she refused to
have sex, she was dragged into a torture chamber in a dark alley used for
'breaking-in' new girls. She was locked in a narrow, windowless room without
food or water. On the fourth day, one of the goondas
(thug) wrestled her to the floor and banged her head against the concrete. When
she awoke, she was naked. Later she was raped by the goonda
and red chilly powder was put into her vagina. Afterwards, she complied with
their demands. The madam told Mira that she had been sold to the brothel for
75,000 rupees (about US$ 1,000), that she had to work until she paid off her
debt. Now when she returned back to her house and told that she was carrying
AIDS she was prejudiced from her family and society so she is staying in
rehabilitation center in Kathmandu. 1.
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Human Trafficking in [India] [other countries]Street Children in [India] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [India