Sunday 19 April 2009

India is currently a source and destination country for trafficking. Save the Children’s work includes protecting children from trafficking in India, where it has operated for more than 30 years.

India is a growing economy; however an estimated 300 million people still struggle to live on US$1 a day.

Adrian Lovett, Director of Campaigns and Communications for Save the Children UK, says ‘While poverty is a critical reason for parents to consider selling their child, it is NOT the only reason. Unscrupulous agents, often known to the parents living in desperate conditions, set out to prey on their vulnerability and entice them into believing that their children will be better off in a city working and making a lot of money. Little do they know that the child ends up working 12-14 hours a day, ill-treated, not paid and often physically or sexually abused.’

Shireen Miller of Save the Children India adds, ‘Cultural acceptance of child labour is a key reason but trafficking trends also point to attitudes towards girls and women, who are often treated as commodities and property to be bought and sold. Agents often entice parents with promises of marriage, and in a society where the dowry system is still widely prevalent, exchange of money is not often seen as a “sale”.’

Save the Children call for stringent laws to tackle the sale of children and to put an end to child trafficking.

Anti-trafficking law does not currently address children and they are often most at risk. The community where the child lives must be vigilant that he/she is protected and not taken away.