Author Name:   shankarmegha

The ritual sacrifice of children has been taboo for thousands of years. Yet tragically it is practiced everyday across our world. We sacrifice children on the altars of our most destructive sins.

The Veracity of Child Prostitution in India

“The ritual sacrifice of children has been taboo for thousands of years. Yet tragically it is practiced everyday across our world. We sacrifice children on the altars of our most destructive sins. When the sickness of pornography has run to its most evil and destructive end, it takes the form of child pornography. When prostitution reaches it sickest, most depraved form, it becomes child prostitution.”- Wess Stafford

Child Rights and Child Abuse require greater understanding. Child abuse is the violation of basic human rights of a child. The problem of child abuse and child rights violation is one of the most critical matters on the International Human Rights Agenda. In the Indian Context, acceptance of child rights as primary inviolable rights has been recently understood. According to the WHO, “Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and emotional ill-treatments, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.”

The current population of India is about 1.27 billion, among whom there are 9, 00, 000 sex workers all over the country. Now, among them, 30% are children and the recent reports estimate the number to be increasing by 8% to 10% per annum. In one study of 456 sex workers in Mumbai, who had been rescued by police, one-fifth of them were under 18 years and two-third of them were less than 20 years. According to a madam in Kamatipura, the average age of girls supplied to the brothels in the last two years has decreased from 14 and 16 years to 10 and 14 years. A girl between 10 and 12 years fetches the highest price. So, one can analyze the reality of child prostitution or child sex rackets in India. “Child prostitution is the ultimate denial of the rights of the child.” Although there is a dearth of data on the nature and magnitude of the incidence of child abuse in India, data on offences against children reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is the only authentic source to estimate the number of children in abusive situations.

All are aware of the gruesome story of an innocent life named “Baby Falak” who died on March 15, 2012. She was admitted in AIIMS with a fractured skull, bruises and human bite marks all over her body. She fought a sixty day battle for her life and she died of cardiac arrest. This case exposed many child sex rackets in Delhi hotels.
When the country dozes off, these children stay awake to quench the thirst of lusty men who roam around to find someone for the same. There are places where the children who are compelled to indulge in prostitution, are required to give their body to seven men in a day and god damn! They need to reach their objective otherwise they would be forced to complete the same the next day. Not only this, they work for six days a week. This is a country where law dances only in books, that is to say, it seems more on pen and paper because it lacks proper implementation. There are other examples too which can be cited here and yes, they are really eye-opening. A case of Delhi, where a girl was married at the age of 12 and soon after the marriage she came to know that her husband was a pimp or a man who controls the prostitutes and arranges clients for them, taking part of their earnings in return. The horror is yet to come! She serves six clients per night. Whatever she earns, she gives off as rent for her small room and rest is snatched by her husband. Another astounding incident of Uttar Pradesh, where a girl of 10 years old was sold by her aunt for Rs 3,000 to a client who forced her to have sex. When she refused, she was kept in a dark room where she was horrified by the snakes and cockroaches. As she was scared, she agreed and within a splash of second, the client raped her at that very moment. It seemed as if he yearned to satisfy his lust anyhow. She now lives in the red-light area in Mumbai and she is known as a prostitute.

There is another heartbreaking story of a girl, aged between 12 and 18 years, who was the native of West Bengal. She was taken to Ludhiana in the name of marriage by her relative but was abandoned. Then, a lawyer took him to his house and she was subjected to physical abuse. The lawyer used to give her sedatives and she was never explained as to why she was forced to have the same and for what purpose. One fine morning, she was served something with the tea. When she woke up, she found herself in the hospital. As she felt pain in her stomach, she touched and found a bandage there. She cried aloud because she did not understand as to why she was operated. She was then taken to a gynecologist to know what happened with her. The doctor scanned her stomach properly and came to the conclusion that she had undergone Tubectomy operation and that she can never be a mother in her life.
Many horrific cases of child abuse came before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the year 2012. The children who were compelled to go with their client were asked to garland the men they went out with. Besides, they were made to undergo abortions “by inserting foreign objects in their private parts”. In furtherance to this, they were made to sit naked for long periods and were photographed. They were forced to perform yoga naked. One can only be bewildered after listening to such incidents. There are many other cases of child abuse. Another one to quote: The children in Mumbai were forced to dance naked and were threatened by sodomy. For several years, they were forced to strip in front of a trustee of their shelter in Thane, Mumbai. Sometimes, they were also asked to sleep naked beside him and was threatened of sodomy if they denied for the same.

Around four years back, many newspapers reported that around 2, 000 girls, mostly minors, were sold to Gulf Countries, particularly Dubai for prostitution. Their passports were also taken away so that they could not flee. They were also made to dance in the bars and were paid huge sum of money as compared to the prostitutes. Besides, recently, two Indian origin men were jailed for child prostitution in UK. One was jailed for sexual services of the child, inciting child pornography and trafficking the girl by driving her to a location for sex and the other one was jailed for attempting to pay for the sexual services of the child. They were punished because they treated the girl as a “sexual commodity”. This was really a very stringent action against them.

Hence, what comes to light is the veracity of child prostitution in India. People have become very sickle-minded. Proper and appropriate measures should be adopted and implemented to curb such violations of children’s rights across the country so that their exploitation comes to a standstill. Again! Amendments are not required. What is required is effective implementation of the same so that these children, who are the future of our country, can live their life to the fullest as per their will.

People can fight for their rights for years but when they fail to get any remedy, they give up. By now, they are tired and cannot run more. And this is the time, when they feel they should say “Merci” and walk away.
***************
# Dr. Nuzhat Parveen Khan, Child Rights and the Law (Universal Law Publishing Co., New Delhi).
# Study on Child Abuse, India 2007, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India (2007).
# World Health Organization, (1999): Report of the Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention, Geneva, (1999), as mentioned in Study on Child Abuse, India 2007, Ministry of Women and Child # Development, Government of India (2007).
# Available at http://www.hum-coolie.com/child-prostitution.htm as visited on September 19, 2013.
# Available at http://www.hum-coolie.com/child-prostitution.htm as visited on September 19, 2013.
# Dr Jon E Rhode, UNICEF representative in India.
# Study on Child Abuse, India (2007), Ministry of Women and Child Development Government of India, A report by Dr. Loveleen Kacker (IAS), Srinivas Varadan, Pravesh Kumar and supported by Dr. # # Nadeem Mohsin and Anu Dixit

Follow the Procedure Below To Submit Your Articles

Submit your Article by using our online form Click here
Note* we only accept Original Articles, we will not accept Articles Already Published in other websites.
For Further Details Contact: editor@legalserviceindia.com

File Your Copyright - Right Now!