CHILD LABOUR AND TRAFFICKING

Child labour is the exploitation of children through work. When this is done, we are denying the child the right to enjoy their childhood, the opportunity to attend school regularly and also causing them physical, mental and emotional harm. We know this is wrong, and yet, there are scores of children that are put to work every day and who haven’t been given a choice in the matter.

The worst forms include any form of slavery, such as when trafficking takes place, prostitution, use for pornography, illicit activites such as drug trafficking and any other work that is detrimental to the health, safety and morals of the child.

Hazardous child labour refers to work with dangerous machinery or substances, in confined spaces or underground or at great heights, work for long hours or during the night and that which exposes the child to physical, psychological or sexual abuse.

Poverty plays a significant role in deciding whether children get sent to work or not. Parents are often left without much of a choice in the matter as they are unable to think beyond survival. But when children are pulled out of schools and put to work, the vicious cycle of poverty continues. The uneducated child grows up to be an adult with extremely limited prospects, thereby incapable of breaking free of the clutches of poverty. This pattern continues with the next generation and carries on forward, ensuring that the poor remain poor.

What’s needed is a disruption in the way things are happening currently, and this is what Maatru Pratishtana is focused on achieving. Our work is aimed at intervention at the community level, we want to unburden the marginalised and struggling families, ensure that their children can attend school uninterrupted and gradually escape from poverty.

When it comes to trafficking, those from India’s most disadvantaged social strata are vulnerable — lower caste people, members of tribal communities, religious minorities etc. More than 10 million children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 14 are forced to work in our country, often through trafficking and bondage. A study from the 2010-2014 period of children that went missing revealed that 61% of the total were girls. Most of them are forced into the sex trade, hardly any are able to find a way out of it.

Lack of awareness — about ways to protect themselves from trafficking, and about services that could help them in such a situation — is prominent in India. Communities as a whole need to be made aware of what can be done and this begins with creating awareness among parents.

We help victims of child trafficking by working with the District Child Protection Officer and the Juvenile Justice System to identify instances of trafficking taking place. Once this is done we provide need-based support at the point of rescue; assisting the police department, CID, ChildLine and the Directorate of Social Welfare. Finally, we take the children away from the situation, place them in safe havens and ensure that they receive counseling and education. Ultimately, we want to reunite children with their families and reintegrate them into society.