One of the most popular posts on The DuckShoot Blog is the article about child exploitation in the Philippines. I also published an extract on my Blog of Blogs site and received this response from Dr Tomas Eric Nordlander. It is published in full here:
• 12-year old Laxmi* was lured by her classmates to travel to Kolkata (capital of West Bengal, a state in India) for a picnic and later sold in the train.
• 10-year old Sneha* accompanied her 16 year-old sister Surya* to the dream city Mumbai in search of a job. Surya works as a domestic help while Sneha is hired for zari / embroidery work.
• Ramesh*, a 15-year old rag-picker is missing. His neighbours say they saw him being chatting with a drug-addict.
* names changed to protect identity
Young children go missing from the small towns and villages in India. Some run-away on being lured by the dreams of the big city, while others are carried away to be sold for meager gains…
The birth of a child (read male) in India meant celebration. Sweets are distributed and the atmosphere is one of merriment. Neighbours and relatives greet the parents and the new born baby is showered with blessings and gifts. Children are considered as God’s gift to the family. While this is true and relevant in many parts of India and the world at large, a stark reality hits us when we read the newspapers and are informed about the alarming rate at which children go missing from their homes and the increasing number of child labourers found in every sector of employment.
A child is one of the worst marginalized sections in the societal spectrum. Children are found in most realms of institutions, and more so in places they are not supposed to be. Child soldiers, child sex workers, child labourers, bonded labourers, child brides, rag pickers, beggars, manual scavengers, domestic workers, camel jockeys in dangerous races etc.
The above is an extract from Aileen S. Marques essay “Innocence Interred!!!”. This essay was ranked among the top three essays in Human Rights Defence’s Essay competition 2008. If you would like to read more, visit: http://www.humanrightsdefence.org
Yours sincerely,
Dr Tomas Eric Nordlander
HumanRightsDefence
http://www.humanrightsdefence.org
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