| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* For the year
2000, the ILO projects that there will be 13,157,000 economically
active children, 5,992,000 girls and 7,165,000 boys between the
ages of 10-14, representing 12.07% of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
*
The Law Minister said that the country has 20 million child labourers.
("Laws alone cannot tackle child labour",
Indian Express, 5 February 2000)
*
India's Country Report states that the number of working children
was estimated to be 17 million. The present figure is estimated
to be around 20 million. However, this is without including employment
in the unorganised sector of the economy such as domestic workers,
agricultural workers and so on. (CACL,
"An Alternative Report on the Status of Child Labour in India",
submission to the UN CRC, September-October 1999)
* Based on the
number of non-school going children and families living in destitution,
CACL estimates that there are between 70 to 80 million child labourers
in India. (CACL,
"An Alternative Report on the Status of Child Labour in India", submission
to the UN CRC, September-October 1999)
*
There are an estimated 111 million child labourers. (CACL,
"An Alternative Report on the Status of Child Labour in India",
submission to the UN CRC, September-October 1999, citing The Balal
Data Bank, Manila, based on the premise that if half of India's
over 800 million population lives in poverty, the number of working
children in India is likely to be over 100 million)
*
Unofficial child labour estimates are as high as 111 million, which
is slightly equivalent to the number of 'out-of-school' children.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate
Child Labour, 1998)
* Interpolation
of census figures by the National Labour Institute indicates that
out of 203 million children between the ages of 5 and 14, 116 million
are in school, 12.6 million are in full-time employment, and the status
of 74 million is unknown. Most, if not all, of the 87 million children,
not in school, do housework, work on family farms, work alongside
their parents as paid agricultural labourers, work as domestic servants,
or are otherwise employed. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* There are
150 million child workers. (IWGCL, Working Children: Reconsidering
the Debates, 1998)
* In 1998,
the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS) estimated there
were 60 million child labourers in India. (SACCS,
Kailash Satyarthi, personal communication, 1998)
*
The ILO estimated the number of child workers as 44 million, while
some NGO estimates show it as 55 million. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
* As many as
100 million boys and girls are believed to be working in homes and
factories across India, many under conditions akin to slavery.
(ECPAT, "Child Labour Ruling Provokes Scorn", Bulletin,
Vol. 4/1, 1996-97)
* A survey
of child labour throughout the country ordered by the Supreme Court
was completed during 1997, and it documented the existence of some
126,665 wage-earning child labourers. When this figure was challenged
as patently low, the states conducted a second survey, in which
an additional 428,305 child labourers in hazardous industries were
found. However, even the combined total of the two surveys understates
the true dimension of the problem. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Francoise
Remington, founder of Forgotten Children, estimates India has 55
million child workers in the age group of 6-14 years. (Mary
E. Williams, Child Labor And Sweat Shops, 1999, citing testimony
before the US Sub-Committee on International Operations and Human
Rights, 15 July 1996)
* There are
around 77 million child labourers in the country. (CACL,
"An Alternative Report on the Status of Child Labour in India",
submission to the UN CRC, September-October 1999, citing Commission
on Labour Standards and International Trade, Government of India,
1995, based on the families living below the poverty line)
* In 1995,
there were 14,802,000 economically active children between the ages
of 10-14, representing 14.38% of this age group. Of these children,
6,725,000 were girls and 8,077,000 were boys. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* The figures
for child labour are 20 million. (CACL,
"An Alternative Report on the Status of Child Labour in India",
submission to the UN CRC, September-October 1999, citing the Indian
Labour Minister, August 1994)
* The government-established
Commission on Labour Standards found the number of child labourers
in 1993 to be 25 million, and growing at 4% each year. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
*
The Government of India acknowledges 17.5 million working children, but
other estimates note 44 million to over 100 million child workers. (US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children, 1994)
*
There are 17 million child workers according to the 43rd NSS report. (ILO-IPEC,
Implementation Report, 1992-1993)
*
Total child labour is estimated to be between 17 to 44 million, of which
80% are in the agricultural sector. (ILO-IPEC,
Implementation Report, 1992-1993)
* Of the 210
million children between the ages of 5-14 years, 11,285,000 are
child workers (5.4%) according to
the 1991 National Census. (US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate
Child Labour, 1998)
*
The government estimated in 1990 that there were 22 million child
workers. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
* 44 million
children are estimated to be employed. (CACL,
"An Alternative
Report on the Status of Child Labour in India", submission to the
UN CRC, September-October 1999, citing Operations Research Group,
1983)
*
According to the Planning Commission, in 1983, there were 17.36
million child labourers. (CACL,
"An Alternative Report on the Status of Child Labour in India",
submission to the UN CRC, September-October 1999)
LOCAL STATISTICS
*
Andhra Pradesh has 1.662,000 child labourers, the highest in the
country, with the problem being very acute in Mahboobnagar, Kurnool
and Prakasam districts. ("Andhra Pradesh
has Highest Number of Child Labourers", Press Trust of India, 12
September 2000)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Most of the 87 million
children, not in school, do housework, work on family farms, work along
side their parents as paid agricultural labour, work as domestic servants,
or are employed in industries which utilise child labour such as hand-knotted
carpets, gemstone polishing, brass and brass metal articles, glass and
glassware, footwear, textiles, silk and fireworks. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
|
| Child
Slavery |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* There are
no universally accepted figures for the number of bonded child labourers.
However, in the carpet industry alone, human rights organisations
estimate that there may be as many as 300,000 children working,
many of them under conditions that amount to bonded labour.
(US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
* The labour
commissioner estimated that there were 3,000 bonded child labourers
in the Magadi silk twining factories in Karnataka. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
* Some NGOs
estimate that the number of bonded labourers is 5 million persons.
However, in a report released during the year, Human Rights Watch
estimated that 40 million persons, including 15 million children,
are bonded labourers. The report notes that the majority of bonded
labourers are Dalits, and that bondage is passed from one generation
to the next. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
* There are
5 million adult bonded labourers and 10 million child bonded labourers.
(ILO-IPEC,
Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999)
* An estimated
15 million children are working under bondage. But other estimates
suggest there are 15 million alone in agriculture. (ILO-IPEC,
Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999)
* Human Rights
Watch estimates that there are 300,000 children working in the carpet
industry, 270,000 of whom are bonded labourers. (US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Consumer Labels and Child
Labor, 1997)
* 10 million
children were in bondage in 1996. (Volunteers
for Social Justice, Jai Singh, statement to the UN Working Group
on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1996)
LOCAL
STATISTICS
* 15% of the
100,000 children working in the carpet industry of Uttar Pradesh
are in debt-bondage. (ILO-IPEC,
Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999)
* 70-80% of
the 8,000 to 50,000 children in the glass industry in Ferozabad
are bonded. (ILO-IPEC,
Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999)
* 30-40% children
in the match and fireworks industry are bonded. (ILO-IPEC,
Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999)
* Half of 100,000
girl prostitutes between 10-14 in Bombay are from Nepal and kept
in brothels against their will. (Penelope
Saunders, "Sexual Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Children",
29 October 1998)
* A report prepared
by advocate Mohammed Siraj Sait and NGO activist Dr Felix Sugirtharaj
submitted in the Supreme Court in February 1996 estimates that there
are some 1 million bonded labourers in Tamil Nadu. Bonded labour
was found to exist in substantial numbers in all the 23 districts
of Tamil Nadu and in over 20 occupations. The largest proportion
of those in bondage were adult men, with the largest single group
working in agriculture and the next largest in stone quarries. It
was found that the largest numbers of bonded children were in four
industries: silk-weaving, growing flowers, silver work and rolling
bidi (local cigars). In the age group below 15, accounting for almost
10% of all those in bondage, there were almost as many girls as
boys. (UN Working Group
on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1996)
ADULT STATISTICS
* 90% of the
100,000 women in prostitution in Bombay are indentured slaves.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Robert I. Freidman, "India's Shame: Sexual Slavery
and Political Corruption are leading to an AIDS Catastrophe", The
Nation, 8 April 1996)
* Over 10-20
million people are subjected to debt-bondage largely in India, Bolivia,
Brazil, Peru and Philippines. (Debt Bondage:
The Challenge for the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery,
submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery,
June 1996)
* There are
15 million bonded workers. (UNICEF,
Atlas of South Asian Children and Women, 1996)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Domestic
media reported that child labourers were being sold in an organised
ring at the annual Sonepur cattle fair in Bihar.
(US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
* In West Bengal,
the organised traffic in illegal Bangladeshi immigrants is a source
of bonded labour. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
* Persons sometimes
are sold into virtual slavery. Many boys, some of whom are as young
as 4, end up as riders in camel races in West Asia and the Gulf
States, especially in the United Arab Emirates, or begging during
the Haj. Girls and women end up either as domestic workers or sex
workers. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
* In the following
industries, there is a reasonable basis to believe that products
were produced using forced or indentured child labour: brassware;
hand-knotted wool carpets; explosive fireworks; footwear; hand-blown
glass bangles; hand-made locks; hand-dipped matches; hand-broken
quarried stones; hand-spun silk thread and hand-loomed silk cloth;
hand-made bricks and bidis (hand-rolled cigarettes).
(US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999,
25 February 2000)
* There are
element of bonded labour in the gem industry. Parents of 80% of
children who worked full time had taken loans against their children's
labour. (ICFTU,
"Union Investigation Reveals Dirty End of the Diamond and Precious
Stone Business", 1997)
* A large number
of bonded children were found working in 4 industries i.e. silk
weaving, flower growing, silver work and rolling bidis. ("India
court investigation reveal scale of bonded labour", UN Working Group
on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1996)
* It takes
up to 15 years for girls held in prostitution via debt-bondage to
purchase their freedom. (Robert I.
Freidman, "India's Shame: Sexual Slavery and Political Corruption
Are Leading to an AIDS Catastrophe", The Nation, 8 April 1996)
* Bonded child
labour is evident in the Indian carpet industry.
(US
Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children, 1994)
|
| Child
Trafficking |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* Over 1 million
girls and women are believed to be forced into the sex industry
within the country at any given time. Women's rights organisations
and NGO's estimate that more than 12,000 and perhaps as many as
50,000 women and children are trafficked into the country annually
from neighbouring states for the sex trade. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* According
to an ILO estimate, 15% of the country's estimated 2.3 million prostitutes
are children. The traffic is controlled largely by organised crime.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* An untested
estimate of 270,000 child prostitutes, the problem of child prostitution
in India is widespread and quite visible. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* Estimates
vary, but a safe guess is that several thousand Bangladeshi girls
and five to seven thousand Nepalese girls are trafficked out of
the country and primarily to India each year. It is estimated that
Nepalese children constitute 20% (40,000) of the estimated 200,000
Nepalese prostitutes in India. Girls as young as seven years are
trafficked from economically depressed neighborhoods in Nepal and
Bangladesh, to the major prostitution centres of Mumbai, Calcutta,
and Delhi. In Mumbai, an estimated 90% of sex workers started when
they were under 18 years of age; half are from Nepal. India is also
a significant source and transit country. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* There is a
growing pattern of trafficking in child prostitutes from Nepal.
According to one estimate, 5,000 to 7,000 children, mostly between
the ages of 10 and 18, are drawn into this traffic annually. NGOs
in the region estimate that some 6,000 to 10,000 girls are trafficked
annually from Nepal to Indian brothels and a similar number are
trafficked from Bangladesh. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Women's rights
organisations and NGOs estimate that more than 12,000 and perhaps
as many as 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the country
annually from neighbouring states for the sex trade. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* 200,000 Nepalese
girls under 16 years are in prostitution in India. (Penelope Saunders,
"Sexual Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Children", 29 October
1998)
* Every year
between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into the red-light
districts in Indian cities. Many of the girls are barely 9 or 10
years old. 200,000 to over 250,000 Nepalese women and girls are
already in Indian brothels. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood', Outlook, 1998)
* 27,000 Bangladeshi
women and children have been forced into prostitution in Indian
brothels. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Women Forced into Indian Brothels", CWCS, June
1998)
* Over the last
decade, 200,000 Bangladeshi girls were lured under false circumstances
and sold into the sex industry in nations including Pakistan, India
and the Middle East. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Tabibul Islam, "Rape of Minors Worry Parents",
IPS, 8 April 1998)
* Nepalese,
Bangladeshi and Pakistani women are trafficked to India, and through
India they are trafficked to Eastern Europe and Saudi Arabia.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Meena Oudel, Oxfam Nepal, 18 March 1998)
* Bangladeshi
police estimated more than 15,000 women and children are smuggled
out of Bangladesh every year. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Boys, rescued in India while being smuggled to
become jockeys in camel races", www.elsiglo.com, February 1998)
* There are
200 trafficked Bangladeshi women and children in detention centers
in India awaiting repatriation. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Hindu, 19 February 1998)
* 20% of the
child prostitutes in India come from Bangladesh and Nepal.
(BNWLA, Salma Ali, Country Report on Trafficking
in Children and Their Exploitation in Prostitution, October 1998,
citing a research publication by Dr. K.K. Mukherjee of India)
* A survey by
the Central Social Welfare Board of India indicated that the population
of Nepalese women and child victims of commercial sexual exploitation
in Indian brothels would be between 70,000 to 100,000 of which 30%
were below 18 years. (ILO-IPEC,
Usha D. Acharya, Country Report: Nepal, October 1998)
* More than
9,000 girls are trafficked each year from Nepal and Bangladesh into
bondage in India and Pakistan, often with the acquiescence or cooperation
of state officials. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Amnesty International press release, 22 April
1998)
* The brothels
of India hold between 100,000 and 160,000 Nepalese women and girls.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Gustavo Capdevila, IPS, 2 April 1997, citing Radhika
Coomaraswamy, UN Special Report on Violence Against Women)
* CWIN's studies
have revealed that Nepalese children are involved in different labour
sectors in India. Most prominent is the carpet industry. CWIN estimates
that there are 5,000-7,000 children working in Bhadohi and Mirzapur
in Benaras, districts bordering Nepal. (CWA,
Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), "Nepal-India Cross Border Child
Labour Migration", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 13, Nos. 2 &
3, April - September 1997)
* An estimated
1,000 to 1,500 Indian children are smuggled out every year to Saudi
Arabia for begging during the Haj season. From Murshidabad alone,
some 400 children accompanied by their chachas leave every year,
and not all of them return home again. ("How
to earn big bucks: Rent a child to Chacha", The Asian Age, 16 March
1997, cited in Child Workers in Asia, April-September 1997)
* Between 2,000
and 5,000 children are sent across the border to India for prostitution
every year. (ECPAT, Kota Neelima, "Young Sex Workers are Costly Commodity", Bulletin, July 1996)
*
Of the 5,000-7,000 Nepalese girls trafficked into India yearly,
the average age over the past decade has fallen from 14-16-year
old to 10-14-year olds. (CATW-Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific,
1996)
* 15,000 Nepalese
women and 19,000 children are kidnapped, lured, trafficked and sold
into different cities of India. (Lawyers
for Human Rights and Legal Action, The Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996)
* Every year
5,000 to 7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked to India. An estimated
40,000 to 45,000 of these girls are in Bombay brothels and also
nearly an equal number of them are in Calcutta.
(Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Action,
The Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996)
* Nepalese
social workers estimate the number of Nepalese girls and women working
in Indian brothels at about 200,000, and believe that between 5,000
and 7,000 new Nepalese end up in Indian brothels every year.
(Human
Rights Watch/Asia, Rape and Profit, June 1995)
* 4,800 Bangladeshi
girls were trafficked to Pakistan and India.
(Nishanthi
Priyangika, "Child labour on the increase in Bangladesh", World
Socialist Web Site, 3/11/1999, citing UNICEF Report 1994)
LOCAL
STATISTICS
* Half of 100,000
girl prostitutes between 10-14 in Bombay are from Nepal and are kept
in brothels against their will. (Penelope
Saunders, "Sexual Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Children",
29 October 1998)
* There are 5 child
trading rings in and around Murshidabad in West Bengal, who operate
by trafficking children to Mecca, says local police.
(Swati Bhattacharjee, "New Measures
Needed to Tackle Child Trafficking", Child Newsline, May 1997)
* 10,000 Bangladeshi
children are in brothels in Bombay and Goa, India.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing "Human smuggling from Bangladesh at alarming level",
Reuters, 26 May 1997, citing Trafficking Watch Bangladesh)
*10-12,000 Bangladeshi
children are thought to be employed in the brothels of Bombay and
West Bengal. (An
Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child,
submission to the UN CRC, 1997, citing UNICEF, The Progress of the
Nations, 1995)
*
About 45,000 Nepalese girls are in the brothels of Bombay and 40,000
in Calcutta. (CATW
Fact Book, citing UBINIG, Trafficking in Women and Children: The
Cases of Bangladesh, 1995, citing women's groups in Nepal)
* In Calcutta, in various studies conducted by the All India Institute
of Hygiene and Public Health in 1993 estimate that 20% of the 5,000
sex workers in the Sonagachi red light area are Nepalese. (Human
Rights Watch/Asia, Rape and Profit, June 1995)
* 2,000 Indian
children have been trafficked to Mecca over the last 3 years.
("Child
Smuggling Racket Continues to Thrive")
*
In Bombay, India, at least half of the city's 100,000 prostitutes
are believed to be Nepalese girls.
(ILO-IPEC,
Usha D. Acharya, Country Report: Nepal, October 1998)
*
The number of Nepalese girls and women engaged in prostitution in Calcutta
exceeds 27,000, in Delhi it is more than 21,000, in Gorakhpur it is 4,700,
and in Banaras it is 3,480. (ILO-IPEC,
Usha D. Acharya, Country Report: Nepal, October 1998)
ADULT STATISTICS
* 200,000 to over 250,000 Nepalese women and girls are already in Indian
brothels. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood", Outlook, 1998)
* 20%-30% of commercial sex workers in India have been trafficked
from Nepal. (World
Vision, David Westwood, Child Trafficking in Asia, 1998)
* The Indian Social Welfare Board estimates that there are 500,000 foreign
prostitutes in India of which 1% are from Bangladesh. And 2.7% of
prostitutes in Calcutta alone are from Bangladesh. (CATW
Fact Book, citing CEDAW Report: Bangladesh, 1 April 1997)
* 30,000 Bangladeshi women are in the brothels of Calcutta, India. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Human Smuggling from Bangladesh at alarming level",
Reuters, 26 May 1997)
* 2.5% of prostitutes in India are Nepalese, and 2.7% are Bangladeshi. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Devadasi System Continues to Legitimise Prostitution:
The Devadasi Tradition and Prostitution", Times of India, 4 December
1997)
* Approximately 50,000, or half of the women in prostitution in Bombay,
are trafficked from Nepal. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Robert I. Freidman, "India's Shame: Sexual Slavery
and Political Corruption are Leading to an AIDS Catastrophe", The
Nation, 8 April 1996)
* In 1994, 2,000 Bangladeshi women were prostituted in 6 cities in India.
(CATW-Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific,
1996)
*
160,000 Nepalese women are held in India's brothels. (CATW
Fact Book, citing SANLAAP India, Indrani Sinha, "Paper on Globalization
& Human Rights")
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* India is a source,
transit, and destination country for trafficked persons. Internal trafficking
of Indian women and children is widespread. India is a destination country
for Nepali and Bangladeshi women and girls for forced labour and prostitution.
(US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
* To a lesser extent, India is a country of origin for women and children
trafficked to other countries in Asia, the Middle East, and the West. India
serves as a transit point for Bangladeshi girls and women trafficked for
sexual exploitation in Pakistan and boys trafficked to the Gulf States
to work as camel jockeys. (US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
* Nepalese girls as
young as 11, 12, 13 years old have been trafficked into India to work as
prostitutes. (Will
Dunham, "U.S. grapples with 'modern-day slavery'", 1 September 2000, reprinted
in Stop Trafficking Archive, September 2000)
* There is extensive
trafficking of children from Bangladesh, primarily to India, Pakistan,
and destinations within the country are also largely for the purposes of
forced prostitution. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* South Africa is a transit point for a large trafficking network operating
between developing countries and Europe, United States, and Canada.
Migrants from foreign countries, particularly China, India, the Middle
East, former Eastern Bloc countries and other African countries, are
lured to South Africa.(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Women trafficked out from Thailand to Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Australia,
India, Malaysia and Middle East.(CATW
Fact Book, citing European Conference on Trafficking in Women, Trafficking
of Women to the European Union, June 1996)
* India and Pakistan are the main destinations for children under the age
of 16 years who are trafficked in South Asia.(CATW
Fact Book, citing Masako Iijima, "S. Asia urged to unite against child
prostitution", Reuters, 19 June 1998)
*The trafficking of girls from Nepal into India for the purpose of prostitution
is probably the busiest 'slave traffic' of its kind anywhere in the
world.(CATW
Fact Book, citing Tim McGirk, "Nepal's Lost Daughters", 27 January
1997)
* 76 children, mainly girls and some physically handicapped returned
from Jedda. They were sent to beg during the Haj. Within a month
of the return of this group, 47 boys were trafficked for begging.(CWA,
SANLAAP (A Woman's Rights Centre), "Children Sent to the Middle
East to Beg", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 13, Nos. 2 &
3, April - September 1997)
* Notorious in their own right for appalling working conditions,
Nepalese carpet factories, where 50% of the workers are estimated
to be children, are common sites of sexual exploitation by employers,
as well as recruitment centres for Indian brothels.(UNICEF,
State of the World's Children, 1997)
* There could be a few hundred thousand Bangladeshi girls in various houses
of prostitution in India.(CWA, Brother Jarlath de Souza, "Trafficking in Children: Bangladesh", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 12, No. 3, July - September 1996)
* A number of girls are trafficked into India from Nepal and Bangladesh.(US
Dept of Labor, Prostitution of Children, 1996)
* Reports indicate trafficking of children into Pakistan from Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.(US Dept of Labor, Prostitution
of Children, 1996)
* In cross border trafficking, India is a sending, receiving and transit
nation. Receiving children from Bangladesh and Nepal and sending women
and children to Middle Eastern nations is a daily occurrence.(CATW
Fact Book, citing SANLAAP India, Indrani Sinha, "Paper on Globalisation
and Human Rights")
* Women and
children from India are sent to nations of the Middle East daily.(CATW
Fact Book, citing SANLAAP India, Indrani Sinha, "Paper on Globalization
& Human Rights")
* Districts bordering
Maharashtra and Karnataka, known as the 'devadasi belt', have trafficking
structures operating at various levels. Many are devadasis dedicated
into prostitution for the goddess Yellamma. In one Karnataka brothel,
all 15 girls are devadasis. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Meena Menon, "The Unknown Faces")
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* Over 1 million
girls and women are believed to be forced into the sex industry
within the country at any given time. Women's rights organisations
and NGO's estimate that more than 12,000 and perhaps as many as
50,000 women and children are trafficked into the country annually
from neighbouring states for the sex trade. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* According
to an ILO estimate, 15% of the country's estimated 2.3 million prostitutes
are children. The traffic is controlled largely by organised crime.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* It is estimated
that Nepalese children constitute 20% (40,000) of the estimated
200,000 Nepalese prostitutes in India. Girls as young as seven years
are trafficked from economically depressed neighborhoods in Nepal
and Bangladesh, to the major prostitution centres of Mumbai, Calcutta,
and Delhi. In Mumbai, an estimated 90% of sex workers started when
they were under 18 years of age; half are from Nepal. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* Prostitution is widespread, with an estimated 2.3 million prostitutes
in the country, some 575,000 of whom are children. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* According to ILO estimates,
15% of the country's estimated 2.3 million prostitutes are children.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Recent studies indicate
that of the estimated 9,000,000 prostitutes working in India, some 30% or
2,700,000 are children. A further 10% reported that they had started their
'career' in prostitution before they were 18 years of age. A large number
of these children are trafficked from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
(ECPAT
International, A Step Forward, 1999)
* One quarter of prostitutes
are minors. (CATW, The Fact Book on Global Sexual Exploitation, 1999)
* 25-30% of prostitutes
are children. An estimated number of child prostitutes is 400,000.
(ILO-IPEC,
Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC Activities, 1999)
* There is a growing
pattern of trafficking in child prostitutes from Nepal. According to one
estimate, 5,000 to 7,000 children, mostly between the ages of 10 and 18,
are drawn into this traffic annually. NGOs in the region estimate that some
6,000 to 10,000 girls are trafficked annually from Nepal to Indian brothels
and a similar number are trafficked from Bangladesh.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Women's rights organisations
and NGOs estimate that more than 12,000 and perhaps as many as 50,000 women
and children are trafficked into the country annually from neighbouring
states for the sex trade. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* 30% of India's 1 million
prostitutes are girls below the age of 16 years.
(SPARC, The State of Pakistan's Children,
1999, citing "Child Prostitution Increasing in Indo-Pak", The Frontier Post,
25 November 1998)
* A survey by the Central
Social Welfare Board of India indicated that the population of Nepalese
women and child victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Indian brothels
would be between 70,000 to 100,000 of which 30% were below 18 years.
(ILO-IPEC, Usha D. Acharya, Country Report:
Nepal, October 1998)
* Over 100,000 child
prostitutes are estimated to be in India's major cities.
(June Kane, Sold for Sex, Aren Ashgate Publising Limited Gower House, 1998)
* Over the last decade,
200,000 Bangladeshi girls were lured under false circumstances and sold
into the sex industry in nations including Pakistan, India and the Middle
East. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Tabibul Islam, "Rape of Minors Worry Parents", IPS, 8
April 1998)
* Every year between
5,000 and 7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into the red-light districts
in Indian cities. Many of the girls are barely 9 or 10 years old.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood', Outlook, 1998)
* 27,000 Bangladeshi
women and children have been forced into prostitution in Indian brothels.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing "Women Forced into Indian Brothels", CWCS, June 1998)
* 200,000 Nepalese girls
under 16 years are in prostitution. (Penelope
Saunders, "Sexual Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Children", 29 October
1998)
* 40,000 Nepalese girls
under 16 in Indian brothels are forced into prostitution.
(Penelope Saunders, "Sexual Trafficking and
Forced Prostitution of Children", 29 October 1998)
* 20% of the child prostitutes
in India come from Bangladesh and Nepal. (BNWLA,
Salma Ali, Country Report on Trafficking in Children and their Exploitation
in Prostitution, October 1998, citing a research publication by Dr. K.K.
Mukherjee of India)
* 300,000-500,000 children
are engaged in prostitution. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Rahul Bedi, "Bid to Protect Children as Sex Tourism Spreads",
Daily Telegraph (London), 23 August 1997)
* 15% of prostitutes
in India are under the age of 18 years. (ECPAT, "Innocence Sacrificed on Tourism Altar", Bulletin, October 1996)
* A 1996 survey published
in India Today magazine estimated there are between 40,000 and 50,000 child
prostitutes in the country, activists now say that figure might have jumped
to about 250,000. ("Children
For Sale", Asia Week, 1 March 1996)
* Conservative
estimates say some 300,000 children are involved in the sex industry.
(ECPAT, "Six Foreigners Charged in India Child Sex Case", The Nation, 18 October 1996, reprinted in ECPAT Bulletin, October 1996)
* Between 2,000 and 5,000
children are sent across the border to India for prostitution every
year. (ECPAT, Kota Neelima, "Young Sex Workers are Costly Commodity", Bulletin, July 1996)
* An estimated 400 sex
workers came from Bangladesh every month and about 5,000 came from
Nepal every year. (Kota
Neelima, "Young sex workers are a costly commodity", ECPAT
Bulletin, July 1996, citing Indrani Sinha of SANLAAP India)
* 500,000 girls work
as sex workers. (UNICEF
)
* The average age of
the Nepalese girls entering an Indian brothel is said to be 10-14 years,
some 5,000 to 7,000 of them being trafficked between Nepal and India annually.
(UNICEF
India, Richard Young, "Understanding Underlying Factors", Child Workers
in Asia, January-June 1996)
* Every year 5,000 to
7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked to India. An estimated 40,000 to 45,000
of these girls are in Bombay brothels and also nearly an equal number of
them are in Calcutta. (Lawyers
for Human Rights and Legal Action, The Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996)
* Nepalese social workers
estimate the number of Nepalese girls and women working in Indian brothels
at about 200,000, and believe that between 5,000 and 7,000 new Nepalese
end up in Indian brothels every year. (Human
Rights Watch/Asia, Rape and Profit, June 1995)
*
There were an estimated 400,000-500,000 child prostitutes in 1991.
(Human
Rights Watch)
LOCAL
STATISTICS
* Half of 100,000 girl prostitutes between 10-14 in Bombay are from
Nepal and kept in brothels against their will. (Penelope
Saunders, "Sexual Trafficking and Forced Prostitution of Children", 29
October 1998)
* In Bombay, India, at least half of the city's 100,000 prostitutes
are believed to be Nepalese girls. (ILO-IPEC, Usha D. Acharya,
Country Report: Nepal, October 1998)
* The number of Nepalese girls and women engaged in prostitution in
Calcutta exceeds 27,000, in Delhi it is more than 21,000, in Gorakhpur
it is 4,700, and in Banaras it is 3,480. (ILO-IPEC, Usha
D. Acharya, Country Report: Nepal, October 1998)
* 10,000 Bangladeshi children are in brothels in Bombay and Goa, India.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing "Human smuggling from Bangladesh at alarming level",
Reuters, 26 May 1997, citing Trafficking Watch Bangladesh)
* Approximately 20,000
or 20% of women in prostitution in Bombay are under 18 years of age.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Robert I. Freidman, "India's Shame: Sexual Slavery and
Political Corruption are Leading to an AIDS Catastrophe", The Nation, 8
April 1996)
* A NGO states that the number of children in flesh trade is increasing
by 8-10% every year ("The Young and the Damned", The Week,
4 August 1996, reprinted in ECPAT Bulletin, July 1996)
*10,000-12,000 Bangladeshi children are thought to be employed
in the brothels of Bombay and West Bengal. (An
Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child,
submission to the UN CRC, 1997, citing UNICEF, The Progress of the
Nations, 1995)
* About 45,000 Nepalese
girls are in the brothels of Bombay and 40,000 in Calcutta. | |
