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Child sex: Choke the demand

In a country of 1.4 billion people, the issues that one faces on a day-to-day basis are as diverse as its culture. Apart from the amazing facets, one often comes across an aspect that leads to a conflict within. When it becomes a practice, over the years, for families to push their daughters into sex trade for a mere Rs 200-500, then it’s definitely time for some introspection, a time to shake our collective conscience, finds Harshita Saini.

Child sex: Choke the demand

Representational Image.

There is a tradition in Bachhada community, living along the Mandsaur-Neemuch Highway in Madhya Pradesh, to put young girls into sex work. In this community, when a girl is born they celebrate and the birth of a boy does not bring joy. They think girls are there to earn, so why should men do any kind of work ~ they can live off their daughters’ income.

At the age of 11-12, girls of this community are sent into this profession. The little girls are not aware of what is happening to them or how this will affect them. They are completely ignorant. When a girl turns 11-12 years, she is sent along to an older girl, who is already in this profession, so that she can pick up all the tricks of this trade.

Shifting focus to another part of the country, young girls in the age group of 11-14 years are regularly trafficked from small towns of West Bengal to big cities, particularly the Metros. A “sleeper” lures the parents in some very poor families into sending their daughters, promising work and good money. Where the young girls actually end up is often not known to the parents till it is too late.

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Focusing on this issue, Amoli, a documentary based on child trafficking, sparks an urgent need to punish customers who pay to have sex with children. This documentary is particularly based on how girls of 11-14 age group are being trafficked from the small towns of West Bengal and many more cities by the sleeper.

The documentary also spoke of how children are sold for a mere Rs 200-400. This is reflective of the families’ financial condition. And this business, the film noted, is running on a very large scale in the entire country. It is an invisible trade. One can get an idea of the scale from statistics that every eight minutes a child is being trafficked or sold.

An event recently organised by Change.org, a global technology platform for social change, and Youth Ki Awaaz, India’s citizen journalism platform, at Bikaner House, where the documentary was screened, looked at “ways to tackle the demand for children in the sex industry”. The life of every single child is important, the participants pointed out.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion by eminent speakers and experts like Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson, Swati Maliwal; president of Shakti Vahini, Ravi Kant; national award-winning actor Adil Hussain; India Today Associate Editor, Chinki Sinha; and filmmakers Avinash Roy and Jasmine Kaur.

Demand for child-sex

“The level of investigation in human trafficking cases needs to be improved,” said Ravi Kant, president of Shakti Vahini, an organisation at the forefront of rescuing minors from trafficking.

“The police must investigate the entire chain of traffickers to look into the source, transit and destination. Aspects of money laundering and organised crime must be investigated as supply of human trafficking victims through online medium is increasing. In order for this to happen the government needs to invest in building skills of law enforcement agencies and also provide them resources which are at present negligible.”

The authorities are always on the lookout for perpetrators of this crime, but these criminals keep hunting newer avenues to fulfill the customers’ demand. From forging documents of young girls to running private brothels and online sex rackets, these criminals have spread their network far and wide.

The demand for children will not go down until and unless the customer is convicted, the experts pointed out. The system needs to be tightened. Strong actions should be taken against these cases.

“What we saw in that documentary is just a glimpse of the many faces of this monstrous reality,” the panellists said. “The real truth that almost never comes completely to the fore is even more heinous. Everyday, children are being bought and sold like commodities and sexually exploited in the garb of false masculinity.

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