Jharkhand mein “Bachcha Bikta Hai”!
Child Trafficking is an evil reality which the States of Jharkhand, Assam, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha are grappling with. Lets try to do a quick review of the WHYS of this menace…
There shall be a Series 2 – for the HOWs of child trafficking…coming up!
This huge demand and supply connect has found a hugely secure online connect via watsapp, FB, emails etc.
Payment options are also converted to online payments – though this is tougher as the payments for ‘buying the child’ are large – and middle men are finding it tough to justify large amounts of money online!
Top reasons for the SUPPLY (ie the WHY it happens):
- Overwhelming and crippling poverty – people are literally dying of hunger! And this hunger has no way of being addresses as there are no access to jobs and neither are the people skilled to go look for any jobs outside. This leads to children being treated quite like cattle – an asset to be “sold” for money. And the expectation is that the child shall have a large one time settlement endowed on the family and then have a monthly earning.
- No State sponsored programmes for orphans – thus rendering them as easy targets. Orphans in villages and city slums are the easiest to handle – a little promise of food and shelter and monthly income makes them a “cheap and best solution”. If the orphan is living on the streets its the easiest. But even if the Orphan is living with a relative – the relative normally “sells” the orphan at lesser rates – as he/she is considered to be a burdon which is being rid off at “some value”
- High amounts of money – lead the middle men to invest a lot in their “promotional activities” in the villages. They spend a lot of time and money to lure simple people in need of money. They show detailed employment schemes and safety norms for the children. They have promises on monthly income post the one time settlement amounts.
- Kids themselves wish to leave their miserable lives – this is another mess which gets added with the kids are either from abused families or families which have both parents as delinquents or drunks. They see the “promise of a better future” as a “dream come true” for their future. This especially works with the Bollywood dream which is shown to kids!
Top reasons for the DEMAND (ie the WHY it happens):
This is the MOST tragic part of this game! 🙁
- People get unpaid and bonded labour – people in cities get access to cheap and easy labour. And since they have a child working for them – he/she doesn’t even know his/her rights! The child is easily handled by food and shelter – and the one time payment to the middle man makes it cheaper for the city people
- Pedophiles get access to children – this is an amazing access to bonded sexual abuse of predators
- Sexual predators – this is specially ugly for teenage girls – who are sold for their virginity to the highest bidder. Then their hymen is stitched and they are re-sold. This is a proper racket with the pimps and madams in place.
- People unable to have children – this is the sadder part where genuine childless people simply chose to “buy a child” rather than go for painful adoption processes in India
The reasons are soo many that this small a space isn’t nearly enough…
BUT these reasons stated above shall give you a COMPACT idea about WHY child trafficking actually happens.
The HOWs of child trafficking – COMING SOON….
Thanks, great article.