The Need To Rescue Children From The Cesspool Of Child Labour, Abuse And Exploitation

Deprived of school, friends and family, hundreds and thousands of children are robbed of their childhood and forced to work in non-descript dungeons across the country. Some are even forced to risk their lives in rat-hole mines to collect mica for a pittance. According to the 2011 Census, around 10.1 million children are employed as labourers. Globally, this is the predicament of at least 152 million children. And the raging pandemic has only made matters worse.

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A report by UN agencies in 2020 said that millions of children worldwide are likely to be pushed to work due to job losses and rising poverty as a result of COVID-19 and lockdowns.

At the forefront of protecting child rights, the Satyarthi Movement alone has rescued over 1 lakh children from clutches of labour for the last 40 years. Children who had no one to turn to and report the inhuman torture, mental trauma and physical and even sexual abuse they were subjected to.

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A Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation study on the impact of lockdown on rural households, especially children, conducted among 53 non-government organisations (NGOs) and rural households in five states last year revealed that 89 per cent of NGOs feared an increase in trafficking. 93 per cent of NGOs anticipated an increase in child labour. 76 per cent of NGOs highlighted the possibility of child trafficking for sexual exploitation. 20 per cent of respondent families considered withdrawing children from school due to financial crisis.

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Taking note of the increased vulnerability of children, the National Human Rights Commission recently also issued advisory outlining steps to identify, release and rehabilitate bonded labourers, especially child labourers during COVID-19.

Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi spearheaded the Global March Against Child Labour which culminated with children marching into the United Nations Assembly Hall in June 1998, resulting in the adoption of ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour including forced labour, trafficking and child prostitution.

Children have to be rescued from the cesspool of child labour, abuse and exploitation without wasting any minute.

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