India's Children - 2

Street Children
There are over 18 million children living on the streets in India. 50,000 of these children are forced into prostitution each year.

Children who live on the street are also coerced into working in the porn industry, or are forced into making other pornographic materials. Other children are involved in the sex tourism industry, where children as young as 5 years old are used for sexual gratification. This is very common along the southern and south-western regions of India . 3a

Female Infanticide and Mutilation
Terrifyingly, hundreds of baby girls are killed each year in India . The parents are driven to kill their offspring because of economic reasons, the social importance of males, and the backwardness of the society.

The practice of dowry is another major cause for female infanticide, as this further lowers the economic value of a female child.

Another barbaric practice is female genital mutilation. The clitoris is literally scraped off, so that the child “does not become wracked with sexual desire”. This horrendous act often leads to abscesses, infection, painful sex, and in a lot of cases, infertility. Contrary to what many people think, there is no religious sanction of this inhumane practice. 3b

Child Labour
An estimated 70 to 80 million children in India are forced into child labour each year. 15 million of those are put into bonded labour. Many of these children are denied the opportunity of going to school, so miss out on much needed education and learning.

There are twice as many girls than boys engaged in child labour. Many children of both sexes are put to work in agricultural and factory jobs.

These 70 to 80 million children are subsidizing India 's economy, while being denied their basic rights to health, education, and simple childhood leisure.

Some of the most popular industries Indian children are made to work in include textiles, beading, match making, fireworks, and gem and stone polishing. In fact, many of these industries have only survived due to child labourers, who are often paid as little as 30 cents a day. Not only does this affect children in a negative way, but it affects the community at large as well, because child labour depresses adult wages and keeps adults unemployed.

The majority of children working in industries such as carpet making, slate, and tea plantations come from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward castes and Muslim communities.

In addition to children being forced to work in sometimes dangerous and unhealthy conditions, they are also forced to work excruciatingly long hours. 4

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