40% of sex workers are minors
Manmeet Mann
[ Wednesday, August 15, 2001 01:54:58 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
chandigarh: on june 16, 2000, a prostitution racket was busted at the grain
market at kharar. more than 50 girls were held, many of them chandigarh-based.
they were waiting to be taken on 'contract' by middlemen. according to reports
girls below the age of 18 were in 'hot demand' and were paid upto rs 100 to 200
per hour per customer. the incident served as a wake up call for the police,
which had been nurturing the image that this form of child exploitation was
non-existent in the area. police authorities, however, say that since chandigarh
has no specific red light area, it is difficult to track the extent of
exploitation. a recent study conducted by the institute of development and
communication (idc) in conjunction with the punjab state human rights commission
has endorsed figures offered by the central social welfare board earlier this
year that 40 per cent commercial sex workers in the city and its periphery are
below 18 years of age -- 15 per cent of them between 11 to 15. the term 'child
prostitution' is in itself a misnomer since it implies the consent of the child.
the study makes two shocking revelations: (a) that male children also get
sexually abused and (b) most girls are inducted into the practice between the
ages of 11 and 15.
while a majority of the child-prostitutes are from economically backward
classes, family background also plays an important role. statistics show that
37.5 per cent of the victims either joined the trade due to economic constraints
or were forced into it by family members. 13 per cent were induced into it by
their mothers. girls whose mothers were in the trade had little chance of
escaping it. field studies by the idc showed that only a small percentage of the
child sex workers were 'content' with their situation. for most guilt, fear and
apprehension were the predominant emotion. in most cases child sex workers
feared the police, social exploitation and sexual harassment. the younger ones
said they lived under constant threat since rebelling against the practice meant
physical punishment comprising beatings and starvation. although the state has
laws to check the practice its exponents are shrewd enough to dodge the
authorities by diguising it as domestic help or workers in offices and shops.
despite its relatively tight security, the chandigarh administration is unable
to do much to prevent the practice. and as the population increases so does this
form of cruelty towards little girls.
[Times Of India, Wednesday, August 15, 2001]