C S E C The Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/childprostitution/India.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in India. Some of these
links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated,
misleading or even false. No attempt
has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of child prostitution are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring how children got started, how they survive, and
how some succeed in leaving. Perhaps
your paper could focus on runaways and the abuse that led to their
leaving. Other factors of interest
might be poverty, rejection, drug dependence, coercion, violence, addiction,
hunger, neglect, etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to write about the manipulative and dangerous adults
who control this activity. There is a
lot to the subject of Child Prostitution.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims International Organization for
Migration Childline Toll Free 1098 www.childlineindia.org.in/1098/b1a-telehelpline.htm ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Families of Bharatpur
push their minor girls into prostitution Indo-Asian News
Service IANS, July 2, 2006 gulfnews.com/news/world/india/families-of-bharatpur-push-their-minor-girls-into-prostitution-1.243147 [accessed 24 May
2011] 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.” Arabian Sex Tourism Daniel Pipes, Front
Page Magazine, October 7, 2005 www.danielpipes.org/3022/arabian-sex-tourism [accessed 24 May
2011] 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." Using minors in prostitution
is a billion dollar industry in the city Haima Desshpande,
Daily News & Analysis DNA, Mar 9, 2007 [accessed 24 May
2011] 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.” Study reveals male
child sexual abuse in Puri Toysoldier, November
28, 2008 toysoldier.wordpress.com/2008/11/28/study-reveals-male-child-sexual-abuse-in-puri/ [accessed 24 May
2011] According to the
study, all the children explained poverty as one of the factors responsible
for their situation. “I am staying
with Joseph (a French tourist) for the last five years. He says that he will
take me with him. I have sex with him regularly. Initially it was
painful, I used to cry. Now it is a daily routine. He gives money to my
family. He has sex with other children also. Sometimes, he wants us to have
sex with each other (peer children). I am just waiting for the day when he
will take me with him and so I agree with whatever he does to me and my
family,” said Raju, a 15-year-old boy, according to the study. “Building
relationship with foreign tourists is more profitable than domestic tourists
as foreign tourists provide children with toys, chocolates, cycles, nice
dresses and sometimes money to renovate their houses or to build house as
well.” They have sex with a wide range
of tourists who pay any amount ranging between Rs 50 and Rs 200 per day, the
study says. ***
ARCHIVES *** CHILDLINE - Toll
Free Call 1098 - Night & Day www.childlineindia.org.in/1098/b1a-telehelpline.htm [accessed 12 August
2014] 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 Anasuya Menon, The
Hindu, Coimbatore, Feb 10, 2007 www.hindu.com/2007/02/10/stories/2007021013590100.htm [accessed 10
February 2011] www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/website-to-track-missing-children-launched/article1795170.ece [accessed 6 November
2016] 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. National Center For
Missing Children India www.missingindiankids.com/index.htm [accessed 24 May
2011] National
Center For Missing Children (NCMC) is a non-political,
non-profit making and a non-governmental organization offering the services
free of charge. ECPAT Country
Monitoring Report [PDF] Irene Pietropaoli, ECPAT International, 2011 www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/India%202nd.pdf [accessed 31 August
2020] Desk review of
existing information on the sexual exploitation of children (SEC) in India.
The report looks at protection mechanisms, responses, preventive measures,
child and youth participation in fighting SEC, and makes recommendations for
action against SEC. Human
Rights Reports » 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 10, 2020 www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/india/ [accessed 31 August
2020] SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN - The law prohibits child pornography and sets the legal
age of consent at 18. It is illegal to pay for sex with a minor, to induce a
minor into prostitution or any form of “illicit sexual intercourse,” or to
sell or buy a minor for the purposes of prostitution. Violators are subject
to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine. Special courts to
try child sexual abuse cases existed in all six Delhi courts. Civil society
groups observed, however, that large caseloads severely limited judges’
abilities to take on cases in a timely manner. Lack of training in handling
forensic evidence also adversely affected case handling. NGOs noted a
significant increase of death penalty sentences for those convicted of
egregious cases of sexual assault of children. In 2018 trial courts sentenced
162 persons to death, which was the highest in two decades. At the same time,
the Supreme Court commuted death sentences in 11 out of 12 cases that came
before it. Supreme Court justice Kurian Joseph expressed concern about the
constitutionality of the death penalty in an opinion, highlighting that the
death penalty lacks deterrent and reformatory purpose. NGOs suggested within
a dominantly punitive environment, the Supreme Court judge’s views were
indicative of the understanding of how punitive justice may not be as
effective as is widely presumed. In May the Delhi
High Court examined the extended delays of child sexual abuse cases in Delhi,
numbering 6,414 cases, and directed the Delhi government to establish 18 more
fast-track courts to address pending cases. The movement toward
harsher punishments for child sexual abuse continued. On August 1, parliament
passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill,
2019. The act seeks to protect children from offenses such as sexual assault,
sexual harassment, and pornography and provides stringent punishment for
sexual crimes against children and death penalty in cases of aggravated
sexual assault. 2018 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, US Dept of Labor, 2019 www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2018/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 31 August
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 617] Child victims of
commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking are more
likely to be children from marginalized groups, such as low-caste Hindus,
members of tribal communities, and religious minorities. (65) Children from
marginalized groups also face barriers to accessing education. Teachers
sometimes subject these children to discrimination and harassment. (93,94) Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 26 February 2004 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/india2004.html [accessed 10
February 2011] [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. Prostitution of boys
at India's pilgrim sites called rampant Deutsche
Presse-Agentur (German Press Agency) DPA, New Delhi, Mar 10, 2009 www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1463757.php/Prostitution_of_boys_at_Indias_pilgrim_sites_called_rampant_ [accessed 29 May
2011] nchro.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6694:prostitution-of-boys-at-indias-pilgrim-sites-called-rampant&catid=50:children [accessed 6 November
2016] Sexual exploitation
of boys in three of India's major pilgrimage centres is pervasive and on the
rise, a study released Tuesday said. The study focused on
male children in prostitution at Hindu temple sites of Puri in eastern Orissa
state and Tirupati and Guruvayoor in southern Andhra. 'There is a dearth
of information on male child sexual exploitation and prostitution due to the
assumption that most sexual exploiters are men and therefore their victims
are women or girls. However, this is not true,' said S Vidya, a coordinator
with the Equations. 'The double standards
that society has about homosexuality and the fact that it is criminalized in
India only makes the problem less visible.' In
Tirupati, which receives mostly Indians, a survey of boys aged between 6 and
18 years revealed that sexual abuse of boys is rampant due to demand from
domestic tourists. Pressure on boys to earn a living for the family was cited
as a reason why they were forced into prostitution. 'Family
members saw less risk when male children are involved in selling sex as
compared to girls, as the social stigma is less and the fear of pregnancy
does not exist,' the report said. Prostitution
thriving on teenagers in northeast Maitreyee Boruah,
Indo-Asian News Service IANS, Guwahati, May 31, 2008 The contents of this
article had appeared under a different title and may possibly still be
accessible [here] [accessed 29 May
2011] All is not well
with children in India's northeast. A study conducted by a Guwahati-based NGO
along with the police has revealed that a shocking 20 percent involved in
prostitution in the region are aged between 11 and 17 years. The survey conducted this year by the
Global Organisation for Life Development (GOLD) also pointed out that there
was a five percent rise in children taking to sex work over last year. Titled "Rise in Child Prostitution in
Northeast", the study lists poverty and displacement of population
because of violence as prime reasons behind the increase in the number of
children as commercial sex workers in the region. "It is mostly the children of poor
parents who are forced to take to prostitution to earn money for the family,"
director of GOLD Rajeev Sarma said. In addition, the
report also states that most of the children are victims of acute physical
torture. "They are initially raped and flogged almost to death to take
up the profession," the report said. Assam human trafficking:
A startling revelation! Jogesh Doley,
merinews.com, Apr 06, 2008 www.merinews.com/article/assam-human-trafficking-a-startling-revelation/131876.shtml [accessed 10
February 2011] Every year
thousands of tea tribe girls are lured by people and taken to different parts
of India, to work as slave and in most of the cases they lands up in
brothels. Those who are forced into sex work, or who are vulnerable to sexual
exploitation as domestic labourers, are particularly at risk of sexually
transmitted infections, including HIV, and unwanted pregnancy. The plight of the
women from this community has remained unheard and unattended, since ages and
they are have no other options but to migrate and to follow the people who
lure them and assure them good jobs out side the state. - htcp The scourge of
human trafficking in India Sandhya Nigam,
merinews.com, Mar 17, 2008 www.merinews.com/article/the-scourge-of-human-trafficking-in-india/131079.shtml [accessed 10
February 2011] When Mona was 13
years, her mother died and her father remarried. The stepmother was
uncomfortable with Mona and wanted to send her away for some job, where she
would be able to look after herself. Along came a ”contractor”
who arranged jobs for youngsters as domestic help, etc. He paid a certain sum
of money to the stepmother and took Mona to a town far away. He got her
a job in a massage parlour as a ‘receptionist’. Even before Mona got to know
the work profile, she realized that she had been trapped into sexual exploitation. She
had become a sexual slave to the ‘customers’ who frequented the place for
full-body massage. HIV Prevention
among street children in India : Lessons learned Mohammed MU;
International Conference on AIDS -- Int Conf AIDS. 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:
abstract no. WeOrD1273, S.V.University, Dept. of Population Studies, Tirupati
- Andhra Pradesh, India gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102253115.html [accessed 25 May
2011] India has the
largest number of street children in the age group of 8-18 years. They are
exposed to all kinds of risky social environment. They are prone to drinking
alcohol, smoking, begging, pick-pocketing and many other similar vices. A
vast majority of the street children indulge in sex at a very young age
(after crossing 14 years of age). The Government of India felt that there was
a potent danger of the spreading of HIV/AIDS among the street children and
from them to the general public. - sccp Children’s Day
under the shadow of the rape of childhood Rishabh, merinews,
Nov 13, 2007 www.merinews.com/article/childrens-day-under-the-shadow-of-the-rape-of-childhood/127664.shtml [accessed 25 May
2011] The definition of a
‘child’ in the Indian legal and policy framework is someone below 18 years. Our
laws are neither child friendly nor child oriented. Here are few
figures: - sccp q Less than half of
India’s children between the age of six and 14 go to school. q Only 38 per cent of
children below two years are immunised. q Over 50 per cent children
are malnourished. q One out of every six
girls does not live to see her 15th birthday. q Of 12 million girls
born, one million do not see their first birthday. q Females are
victimised far more than males in their childhood. q 53 per cent of girls
in the age group of five to nine years are illiterate. q There are two
million child commercial sex workers between the age of five and 15 years. q 17 million children
in India work out of compulsion, not out of choice. Women emerge as
primary victims in trafficking Nava Thakuria, Law
Resource India, October 28, 2007 -- National Network of Lawyers for Rights
and Justice NNLRJ indialawyers.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/women-emerge-as-primary-victims-in-trafficking/ [accessed 10
February 2011] 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 The Hindu, New
Delhi, Oct 10, 2007 www.hindu.com/2007/10/10/stories/2007101055541300.htm [accessed 29 May
2011] [accessed 22 October
2017] 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 Press Trust of
India, 3 Oct 2007 www.nts-pd.org/admin/affix/1193046531.pdf [accessed 11
February 2011] 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 Kevin Jackson, The
Christian Post, Jul. 22 2007 www.christianpost.com/news/natalie-grant-helps-expand-efforts-against-human-trafficking-28557/ [accessed 29 May
2011] 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 The Telegraph,
Guwahati, July 17, 2007 www.telegraphindia.com/1070718/asp/northeast/story_8071092.asp [accessed 29 May
2011] 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. Untamed legacy Ashish Mitra, Screen
India - The Indian Express News Service, 2007-07-13 www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=16426 [accessed 29 May 2011] 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 Susan Stewart, New
York Times, June 23, 2007 www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070623/FEATURES12/706230318/1023/FEATURES12 [access restricted] 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. Slavery In India Author/Publisher
unknown - Apr 26, 2008 www.orkut.com/Main#CommMsgs?tid=2596748312649411734&cmm=48174284&hl=en [accessed 14 July
2013] 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 newindpress,
Bhubaneswar Orissa, April 12 2007 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14
September 2011] 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 entrepreneur Nikhil Mustaffa, The
Daily Mirror, March 15, 2007 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 14
September 2011] 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. From street child
to surgeon, Indian girl follows dream Jeremy Lovell,
Jaipur, Reuters, 19 February 2007 www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2007/February/todaysfeatures_February36.xml§ion=todaysfeatures [accessed 26 May
2011] www.reuters.com/article/us-india-poverty-children-idUSDEL17460820070218 [accessed 6 November
2016] 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. Rape for Profit:
Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to India's Brothels Human Rights Watch,
1 June 1995 www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,49709ebd2,3ae6a7e24,0.html [accessed 29 May
2011] www.hrw.org/reports/1995/India.htm [accessed 8 November
2016] 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. Child prostitution
in India Child
Exploitation.org At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 29 May
2011] 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 United News &
Information UNI, September 12, 2006 n-cat.blogspot.com/2006/09/bombay-hc-lambasts-police-inaction-in.html [accessed 11
February 2011] 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 [PDF] Mohan Budhair,
Kathmandu Post, Paliya India, 8 September 2006 www.ipcs.org/pdf_file/news_archive/sep_06_sanepal.pdf [accessed 29 May
2011] [page 22] 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 and the City of
Joy Sarah Stuteville,
The Common Language Project, University of Washington, Kolkata, May 8, 2006 clpmag.org/article.php?article=Sex-and-the-City-of-Joy_034 [accessed 29 May
2011] 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. India is transit
hub for human trafficking Indo-Asian News
Service IANS, New Delhi, June 22, 2006 Click [here]
to connect. The URL is not shown
because of its length [accessed 21 April
2012] '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. Sexual Slavery;
AIDS; India's Hidden Enemy Calgary Sun, 13
August 2006 [access information
unavailable] 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. Slavery in Our Time Nicholas D. Kristof,
The New York Times, January 22, 2006 www.pekingduck.org/2006/01/nicholas-kristof-slavery-in-our-time/ [accessed 12
February 2011] 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 Asian News
International ANI, Lahore, February 6, 2006 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 29 May
2011] 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 Prof. Donna M.
Hughes, University of Rhode Island, National Review, January 26, 2006 www.nationalreview.com/articles/216608/working-together/donna-hughes [accessed 26 January
2015] 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 Nicholas D. Kristof,
The New York Times, Calcutta, January 24, 2006 query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=F60913F9385B0C778EDDA80894DE404482 [accessed 14 July
2013] 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 Kolkata, Nov 20,
2005 – Source:
news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=167534&cat=India [accessed 21
April 2012] ''Young girls are
trafficked from Nepal to brothels in Mumbai and Kolkata at an average age of
twelve. They are trapped into the vicious cycle of prostitution, debt and
slavery. By the time they are in their mid-twenties, they are at the dead end
or 'cul-de-sac','' the study noted. USAID Funds NGO in
India that Helps Brothels Retain Child Prostitute Catholic Family
& Human Rights Institute, New York, October 21, 2005 www.c-fam.org/fridayfax/volume-8/usaid-funds-ngo-in-india-that-helps-brothels-retain-child-prostitute.html [accessed 19
September 2011] In May, Restore
International, an anti-trafficking non-governmental organization (NGO) in
India that works to stop underage prostitution, performed a raid that
resulted in the rescue of 35 girls from an Indian brothel. A Bush
Administration official told the Friday Fax that while Indian law allows
legal prostitution, it is forbidden for girls under the age of 18. The source
said such teenage prostitutes are common due to the easy accessibility of
forged documents. Teen escapes sex
trade The Telegraph, Krishnagar,
August 10, 2005 www.telegraphindia.com/1050810/asp/bengal/story_5096435.asp [accessed 12
February 2011] 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 Kashmir to be sold off to flesh traders. Speaking out for
the `nameless' S. Anil
Radhakrishnan, The Hindu, May 31, 2005 www.hindu.com/lf/2005/05/31/stories/2005053100690200.htm [accessed 12
February 2011] "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. Five Years After
Stockholm [PDF] ECPAT: Fifth Report
on implementation of the Agenda for Action ECPAT International,
November 2001 www.no-trafficking.org/content/web/05reading_rooms/five_years_after_stockholm.pdf [accessed 13
September 2011] [B]
COUNTRY UPDATES – INDIA
– The Government of India has had a national Plan of Action to Combat
Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children since
1998. The plan provides specific measures to be taken by Central and State
Governments for the prevention and suppression of CSEC. The Government states
that it has given financial support to NGOs to rehabilitate victims and their
children through education and income generation programs, as well as to
provide temporary shelter in transit homes. However, NGOs claim that the
government is inactive in implementing the Plan of Action and that most of
the programs remain only on paper. Thailand Ranks
Third in Number of Child Prostitution – [Editor’s note: India Ranks First] People's Daily
Online english.people.com.cn/200112/14/print20011214_86677.html [accessed 29 May
2011] Thailand ranks
third after India and the U.S. in the number of child prostitutes, the United
Nations (UN) said in its report prepared for the Second World Congress
Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
According to the U.N. report, about 400,000 women and children are
believed to be sexually exploited in India, between 244,000 and 325,000 in
the U.S., 200,000 in Thailand, 175,000 in eastern and central Europe, 100,000
in Brazil and 35,000 in West Africa. Child Prostitution
in Nepal/India Plan-UK At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 29 May
2011] Every year,
thousands of Nepalese girls, some as young as 11 are sent to or procured for
brothels in the big Indian cities, like Bombay or Calcutta. They are often the daughters of poor
farming families, where everyone must help with the family income. Child
Prostitution In India Sarika Misha,
People's Union for Civil Liberties PUCL Bulletin, August 1987 www.pucl.org/from-archives/Child/prostitution.htm [accessed 29 May
2011] V. CONDITIONS - For decades the
most important red light areas have been enjoying the police protection. The
policemen themselves go to the brothels for tea snacks and girls. They inform
the brothel keepers in advance about the raids which are scheduled to take
place. The police, the
brothel keeper, and pimps share the major part of the earnings of the
prostitutes and the rest of it that percolates down to the prostitutes is a
mere pittance. It is alleged that the police and abet the running of the
brothels. They accept the hospitability, money and free use of the girls. The
police helps the brothel keeper even by bringing
back the ones who have run away. In a case where a girl named Geeta who was
ten years old was rescued by a hawker after many attempts was returned back
to the brothel keeper by the inspector himself on the same day. Action against
child prostitution in Maduraï Enfants Des Rues -
Reper www.enfantsdesrues-reper.org/179-Action-against-child-prostitution-in-Madurai-India [accessed 29 May
2011] [click on The Local Context] Certain studies in
India indicate that over 50% of girls are raped before reaching the age of
15. A decade-long drought in the area
around Madurai, has provoked a rural exodus. A large
part of the population that is leaving for the cities consists of
children. Fending alone for
themselves, they are easy targets for gangs who are always searching for new
recruits. In this way, a lot of children wind up in organized crime,
prostitution, become shoplifters or purse-snatchers, middlemen in the resale
of stolen goods, drug-dealers, mendicants... Child
Prostitution Figures Up in India Bhawana Negi, Stolen
Childhood, Oct 17 2005 www.stolenchildhood.net/entry/child-prostitution-surges-up-in-india/ [accessed 29 May
2011] Girls under 14
years of age constitute 30 percent of 900,000 prostitutes in India. It was also estimated that in the coming years,
the situation could become worse if the rehabilitation is not provided to the
“retired” prostitutes, who drag children in this profession as the source of
income. When
Police Act As Pimps: Glimpses Into Child Prostitution In India Debabrata R., PMID:
12321933, [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE], U.S. National Library of Medicine,
National Institutes of Health, 1998 Mar-Apr;(105):27-31 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12321933?dopt=Abstract [accessed 29 May
2011] A random sample of
28 out of 86 brothels along the G. B. Road in India revealed that almost 60%
of the prostitutes were children.
Police officers extort money from traffickers, prostitutes, and madams
and abet the system of prostitution through a scheme of false registration of
the girls that creates the fiction that they are not minors. Cops
Involved In Child Prostitution Times News Network
(The Times of India) TNN, Mumbai, Jul 15, 2004 [accessed 29 May
2011] 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] Joseph Gathia, Child
Rights and the Media Asia Regional Meeting in Bangkok Thailand Organised by
The International Federation of Journalists IFJ with the support of the
European Commission At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 29 May
2011] 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 Professor Yi Ki Ho,
Korea -- Project co-ordinates: Srijana Acharya, Nepal, and Rajender Singh
(Rocky), India www.idea.org.np/Children%20&%20Women%20Trafficking.html [accessed 29 May
2011] 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. Goa fast becoming a
hub of child prostitution The Goan Voice
Newsletter. Issue 2004-21. Jun 03, 2004 www.goanvoice.org.uk/newsletter/2004/Jun/issue1/ [accessed 29 May
2011] [scroll down to GOA
NEWS HEADLINES] 28 MAY. TIMES OF INDIA. HEADLINE - Goa fast becoming a hub of child prostitution. Excerpt: Once a hot tourist spot, Goa is now witnessing an alarming rise in sexual abuse of children in the 10-16 age group. According to social scientists, more than 10,000 paedophiles visit the coastal state every year and molest children. Young flesh in the
trade Malvika Kaul,
Women's Feature Service WFS, New Delhi, October 2004 indiatogether.org/2004/oct/hrt-traffic.htm [accessed 12 February
2011] Out of the 464
victims of CSE, almost 23 per cent started their lives in the brothels when
they were less than 16. Two per cent were aged between
13-15. According to the victims, both men and women (in almost equal
numbers) were involved in trafficking. Over 68 per cent were lured by
promises of jobs while 17 per cent were promised marriage. Despite being in
brothels for several years, almost 61 per cent had no savings. – htcp ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** ECPAT Global Monitoring
Report on the status of action against commercial exploitation of children -
INDIA
[PDF] ECPAT International,
2006 www.ecpat.net/A4A_2005/PDF/South_Asia/Global_Monitoring_Report-INDIA.pdf [accessed 29 May
2011] Research conducted
in 2003 by ECPAT International and Equations, its affiliate group in India,
highlighted the increase of child sex tourism in India. Offenders include
foreign tourists and local citizens. It is important to note the local demand
for sex tourism, as the general perception is that only foreign tourists
engage in child sex tourism and there is either ignorance or total denial of
the local demand for child sex. Ways in which offenders gain access to
children vary from directly approaching children on the beach by offering them
a drink or a meal and taking them back to their hotel or going through
intermediaries, such as shack owners or taxi drivers. Aside from Goa, there
have been reported cases of child sex tourism in Mumbai, Kerala, Kolkata, Pondicheri and other popular tourist destinations. A
report released by the Institute of Social Sciences in New Delhi warned of
India becoming a destination for paedophiles in the
so-called ‘Golden Triangle’ of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Similarly, there have
been media reports of the popular ‘house boats’, which are used for sexual
exploitation of children in the State of Kerala. In some cases, the hotels
are linked with such illicit activities or are aware of cases of individuals
regularly abusing street children, as reported by Sanlaap,
an ECPAT member group, in Kolkata. Bringing these hotels to the attention of
law enforcers has proven difficult given the lack of strong witness reports
that provide evidence for use in a court of law. The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the
Worst Forms of Child Labor U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2005 www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/india.htm [accessed 10
February 2011] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Commercial sexual exploitation of children,
including child sex tourism, occurs in major cities. India is a source,
destination, and transit country for trafficking of children for the purposes
of commercial sexual exploitation and other forms of exploitive labor.
Children are reported to be trafficked from India to the Middle East and
Western countries such as the United States and Europe; into India from
Bangladesh and Nepal; and through the country to Pakistan and the Middle
East. Mumbai, Calcutta and New Delhi are major destination cities for
young girls trafficked from Nepal and Bangladesh for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. Children are also trafficked within India for
sexual exploitation and forced or bonded labor. Organized crime and police
corruption were common factors that contributed to the overall situation of
trafficking in India. An August 2004 study by the government estimated that
almost half of the trafficked children interviewed were between the ages of
11 to 14 years. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61707.htm [accessed 9 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS -
An estimated 6 to 10 thousand children from Nepal and Bangladesh were
trafficked into the country annually for commercial sexual exploitation.
Girls as young as seven years of age were trafficked from economically
depressed neighborhoods in Nepal, Bangladesh, and rural areas of the country
to the major prostitution centers of Mumbai, Calcutta, and New Delhi. NGOs
estimated that there were approximately 100 to 200 thousand women and girls
working in brothels in Mumbai, and 40 to 100 thousand in Calcutta. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Child Prostitution - India",
http://gvnet.com/childprostitution/India.htm, [accessed <date>] |
