Child trafficking is an evil that compromises many childhoods, especially those children who belong to vulnerable communities and families. It is an appalling thought that children are 'bought and sold' as commodities in a high-value marketplace. According to the National Crime Records Bureau reports, one child disappears every eight minutes. In our country, children are trafficked for many reasons, including child labour, begging, and sexual exploitation. Children do not deserve to be treated as objects. Therefore, it becomes our prerogative to end this and criminalize any act that compromises the life of any child. Due to the nature of this issue, it's difficult to provide exact figures, but only to comprehend its intensity, it's crucial to note that according to a CBI report, approximately 1.2 million children involved in prostitution in India.
In response to child trafficking, The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act was amended in 1956 that prevented trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children. In 2003, India enforced the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which included three protocols: Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially children, and women. After that, the Constitution of India, Article 23, explicitly bans human trafficking. Supplementing this article, other acts have also been passed and are amended to address the challenge of child trafficking. For instance, The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986 (ITPA) is an amended edition of The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956 (SITA).
Countless actions against child trafficking have been taken at many levels in India. One one hand, The Central Government has introduced policies, schemes acts, and amendments to combat the issue of child trafficking. On the other hand, the State Government has also made efforts to implement these schemes and laws at the state level. However, there are gaps in-between the establishment of law and its implementation, which is largely taken care of by non-governmental organizations that work to address different aspects of this issue.
While Save the Children aligns itself to India's child protection policy in fighting the evil of child trafficking, it has been on the front line providing downtrodden children with an opportunity to redeem their lives through education, nutrition, protection, and provision of necessities in dire situations. They have played a key role in rescuing numerous children from abuse, abandonment, mistreatment, physical danger, and violence.
Would you want to participate in protecting these vulnerable children?
Join the fight against child trafficking!