Abstract

Threats to child protection

When sun raises to lit to all living being with pleasant, Medias are triggering in to the ears of readers and listeners with brutal deeds of the “Being” to other human being. Especially against the coming gen of the world, the future of the world who is cruelly harassed by the individual may from the family or around his home, society by making him/her as a drum to all.

The most worsen news that makes fear in people and children is child kidnapping for the organ trade or making them beggar in the streets for filling the stomach of mafia troops by worsening their bodies to get the public sympathy and collection. It is the main activity happens all over the India. As an alert, clubs and social organizations made warning boards to beggars not enter their area for begging or for anything else.

These were the threats the child protection, selfish thoughts of father or mother or step father or step mother led their child’s life in to danger like brutal harassment from them without giving any consideration to the child as a human being it may end in child’s death or murder, not to become an irritation for their future life and to hide their secrets if they are known to him\her.

Key words:-

·                    Sexual abuse

·                    Child marriage

·                    Trafficking of children

Introduction

Child protection

"There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace."

Kofi Annan

“Within the child lies the fate of the future.”

“One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.”

Maria Montessori

“Child” the word itself gets the attention of whole world with their most compassionate heart because child deserves the compassion and kindness of the world to become as a shining star by giving happy and pleasure to those eyes.

Child hood is the period between birth and adult hood .as per the census of Indian surveys any person or individual whose age is below 14is the child, in common we consider child as not in age manner but in their maturity.

At the international level, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child on 20 November, 1959. Prior to this, in1948, the United Nations General Assembly had adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR contains three specific references about Children and their rights are:-

·        Article 25:- states that

         “Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance”,

           And adds that

         “All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social

          Protection”.

·        Article 26:- Deals with the right to education, provision is made to ensure that “Parents Have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to   their Children”.

 

child protection refer to preventing and responding to violence, exploitation and abuse against children – including commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour and child marriage.

Child protection programs also target children who are uniquely vulnerable to these abuses; such as when living without parental care, in conflict with the law and in armed conflict. Violations of the child’s right to protection take place in every country and are massive, under-recognized and under-reported barriers to child survival and development, in addition to being human rights violations. Children subjected to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect are at risk of death, poor physical and mental health, HIV/Aids infection, educational problems, displacement, homelessness, vagrancy and poor parenting skills later in life.

 

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012

·         The Act defines a child as any person below the age of 18 years and provides protection to all children under the age of 18 years from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography.

·         This is the first time that an Act has listed aspects of touch as well as non touch behavior (eg: - photographing a child in an obscene manner) under the ambit of sexual offences.

·         The Act incorporates child friendly procedures for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and trial of offences

·         The attempt to commit an offence under the Act has also been made liable for punishment up to half the punishment prescribed for the commission of the offence.

·         The Act also provides for punishment for abetment of the offence, which is the same as for the commission of the offence. This would cover trafficking of children for sexual purposes.

·         For the more heinous offences of Penetrative Sexual Assault, Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault, Sexual Assault and Aggravated Sexual Assault, the burden of proof is shifted on the accused.

·         The media has been barred from disclosing the identity of the child without the permission of the Special Court.

Threats to child protection

As a child, he should be under the covering axis of care of his parents and society, both parents and society had variety of role, in protecting children from the offences and devil activities by them or on them from vulture eyes, searching for their prey to tear it into pieces, but an irony is seen in the society’s responsibility as they forget their equitableness. As they grow hopes and expectation on him from the part of his parents sincere minds. But alas to say some “beings”(similar to us in body structure) not “Human being” are trying to exploit the children for their selfish activities, in short they are cutting or chopping the banyan tree which would be an shelter and everything for the coming  generations if they are let it be grow, if not then in soil.

Lion part of the children became a public drum; anyone can thump on it, as it is constant and non movable or under defendable like that children are weak about adult. Injecting of fear and threatening would make them (children) shut their mouth which can be majorly caught with the help of physicians of mind.

Sexual abuse

Operation predator, the item of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who places a high priority on enforcing laws that combat the sexual exploitation of children. Through the Operation Predator the agency's flagship initiative targeting child sex predators, ICE has made more than 8,000 criminal arrests in 2003.

As per their proofs and evidence, each year millions of children fall prey to sexual predators. They estimate that one-in-five girls and one-in-10 boys in the United States will be sexually exploited before they reach adulthood. These young victims are left with permanent psychological, physical and emotional scars.

How wide the web of these abuses raises all over the world. With a simple operation (operation predator) more than 8000 criminals were caught in, related to sexual abuses on child. It’s about U.S, then how about our country having open opportunities to exploit the coming gen. for that a team or a racket or an outfit takes their oath to track children by targeting on them. Then individually with sweet, frank and fluent words they came near to them. Try to catch their hopes and desires in life. If the child is at the age of 13-15, he will be in thirst to get the whole idea of what he heard from his friends and natives. By knowing this the being try to seduce him by giving juices, mobile, or offering him much gifts, if he come with him and obey him in his deeds.

Unfortunately little minds should bend aside them to full fill their own needs, desires and longings, if they (the child or children) do as they asks them to do without reporting anyone surely he will be in the trap of dishonor and owner false prestige, there every purity of the child hood will lose.

Alas to say there onwards he should be the prey of many man eating predators. Once he trapped in them, he mandatorily to do what they ask him to do. First time will be in the form of request and begging or with the sentiments. Gradually it will reach in to the level of compelling and commanding, once my teacher told us an experience of her student who was under the trap of a racket, then she told us that the boy who was coming to the school every day from his home and with his friends till the bus stop of his school, suddenly he disappears, it was noticed by his friends and teachers because of his excess in absent. There teachers asked him privately, secrets revealed that his in the trap of a sex rackets who are continuously calling him to work for their sexual needs, and their threatening on the first experience with them by disclosing everything to society then it will be a defame and dishonor  for him and his family. By putting all these worries in front of his teachers he burst out of crying to help him from those black hands that trapped him. He got freedom from them by giving much money to them, god knows whether he had the freedom or not.

Mainly in the case of third gender (Trans gender), they are regarded as the most worsen human being in the world. Why they are regarded so? Not only them but one who had prior experience of any mode of sexual abuse on the childhood that will haunt them till they were covered in the soil.      

Child abuse in India is often a hidden phenomenon especially when it happens in the home or by family members. Focus with regards to abuse has generally been in the more public domain such as child labour, prostitution, marriage, etc. Intra-family abuse or abuse that takes place in institutions such as schools or government homes has received minimal attention. This may be due to the structure of family in India and the role children have in this structure. Children in India are often highly dependent on their parents and elders; they continue to have submissive and obedient roles towards their parents even after they have moved out of their parental home. This belief that parents and family are the sole caretaker of the child has proved to have negative effects on child protection laws and strategies.

 Numbers of cases of child abuse in the home are hard to attain because most of these crimes go unreported. They are getting viral through the child’s friends or teacher when they ask them (children) what the reasons for your depression are or upset or too worried or why not you are doing your home work. For these questions child may wept and pour every worries and his sadness in front of the teacher that his mother is harassing him when his father angry with her, or his mother has passed away now he had the step mother who never care him as a child also. Like that from both sides from father and mother continues harassment are coming above them all threatening if it is disclosed to the world. Then they will be like a thirsty dog which show it’s thirsty but none kindness receives for other. So they are in need for post which can hang his worries.

Societal abuses that are a result of poverty such as malnutrition, lack of education, poor health, neglect, etc are recognized in various forms by the Indian legal system. But India does not have a law that protects children against abuse in the home. Mal-treatment of care givers has the potential to emotionally and mentally harm children to a very different degree. Studies in intra-familial child abuse in the US have shown correlation to delinquency, crime, teenage pregnancy, and other psychosocial problems.

Commonly media also became a threatening to the child protection every victim or its family fears the media which would be viral in to every nook and corner of the world. So that they try to hide the news as possible as they can. If media got any atom they will make it an elephant and within days elephant become mammoth like that they will eat victim’s meat in public like killing without killing. This may led in to the paralyze ion of victim and his family. Thus there lies fall of family which begins from the sexual exploitation of a child then into media….,   

Child marriage

The practice of child marriage in India was another part of sexual abuse on children. Because if a girl is ready for reproduction. Her family will be discussing about her marriage. In fact she will be in pleasant of child hood and never reached the level to distinguish what is true and false. Then after her marriage and years later she reaches herself tied in the threads of beliefs, religion and custom, having social acceptance in house of strange man who is trying her treat her, who submits everything before her feet, but he can’t submit anything before her that holds her satisfaction.

Society never looks through the part of her, and then if she had run from him who used her as birthing machine, to other one who loves her, she too loves her, then society will regard her as worse thing who breaches the chain of societies acceptance.

        The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 states that a male has not reached majority until he is twenty-one years of age and a female has not reached majority until she is eighteen years of age. Is sounds are raised or not during the enforcement of this act. Now a day’s excess pressure of society, community, custom, belief on mandatory child marriage is in decrease. It may be the power of law or it, may be the self consciousness of the society by giving proper education to girls and giving much important to them in every part of the society.     

Trafficking of children

Trafficking of children is a form of human trafficking and is defined as the "recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, and/or receipt" of a child for the purpose of slavery, forced labor and exploitation. This definition is substantially wider than the same document's definition of "trafficking in persons". Children may also be trafficked for the purpose of adoption.

Though statistics regarding the magnitude of child trafficking are difficult to obtain, the International Labour Organization estimates that 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. The trafficking of children has been internationally recognized as a serious crime that exists in every region of the world and which often has human rights implications.  

Kidnapping

Kidnapping the new emerging trend in Kerala then India. It got high popularity through the social media and thunder of panic breezes through the minds if each and every parents in sending their beloved son and daughter to school, play ground even into the yard of the house also. Because news gives much panics o them. Once in Kannur, 3 year old Diya Fatima was playing in her yard, disappeared, parents stood on the peak of panic, with in the distance of 85 meter is flowing, to avoid possible doubts that also subjected to search for Diya. But alas to say yet she never returned.

www.trackthechild.gov.in is a portal that provides the clear data records of both missing and found children list with details. The portal says, about 77, 684 children are missing since last five years. Through this portal 2, 02,877 children out o 2,80,561 children are found and returned them back to their family.

      And in Kerala 739 children missing cases were reported, as per the details in portal 657 children also found back but the remaining 82 remains as the tear of state. In counting 82 is very little in number but think about 82 families who weep for their beloveds return.

To where these missing children disappeared. Is they are in heaven or in the hell of this material world. We see too many poor children having serious injuries on their face, handicapped, and blind, lame in the street coming to us to beg for the money. Behind them all a mafia is playing, they (children) may be the missing children that never returned. Because if they were caught in trap of them, his shape and everything will change even his mother also cannot understand. It is done to get the public sympathy and to hide the face from his parents.

In fact the money they collected from the people by the sympathy on them will be collected by the mafia head and at last they didn’t get anything even to fill their thirst and hungry. “Slum dog millionaire” shows the real view of slum area and the situations of kidnapped children and their livings.

The most emerging trade in India and all over the world which would benefit hike of value for the traders without any cost is child trade. Kidnapped children are mostly traded into out of the state for begging and other exploitations. Sometimes children are given child needed one for adopting him/her as their son but the cost for him would reach in peak. If the adopter is wealthy that’s his lucky to live wealthy if not surely he would sent into the black holes of poverty and exploitations may be better for him to die to get comfortable sleep.

Once baby selling racket has been busted in Hyderabad, in which a child trafficking gang identified girls while still in the womb and found buyers for them, putting a price on their head even before they are born. By demanding Rs. 80,000, claiming he needs to pay Rs. 50,000 to the auxiliary nurse and midwife to fudge government records that baby had died and the rest for what he called hospital expenses. And to pay the nurse Rs. 50,000 so that she can write in the government records that baby died.

Child labour

Child labour is the practice of engaging children or a child in an activity which provide wage for them or in an economic activity, on a part- or full-time basis. The practice deprives children of their childhood, and is harmful to their physical and mental (mind) development. Poverty, lack of good schools and the growth of the informal economy are considered to be the key causes of child labour in India. Children are forced themselves to the labour, because sometimes he may be orphan or his parents having not enough wage to continue their life with important needs not for extra and accessibility to factories that can produce the maximum amount of goods for the lowest possible price. Most children who had many self needs to full fill also will enter to the low wage which would be enough for them.

The 1998 national census of India estimated the total number of child labour, aged 4 to 15, to be at 12.6 million, out of a total child population of 253 million in the 5 to 14 age group. However, in 2009–10 a nationwide survey found the prevalence of child labour had reduced to 4.98 million children (or less than 2% of the children in the 5 to 14 age group). The 2011 national census of India found the total number of child labourers, aged 5–14, to be at 4.35 million,  and the total child population to be 259.64 million in that age group. The child labour problem is not unique to India; worldwide, about 217 million children work, many full-time.

As per the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, amended in 2016 ("CLPR Act"), a "Child" is defined as any person below the age of 14 and the CLPR Act prohibits employment of a Child in any employment including as a domestic help. It is a cognizable criminal offence to employ a Child for any work. Children between age of 14 and 18 are defined as "Adolescent" and the law allows Adolescent to be employed except in the listed hazardous occupation and processes which include mining, inflammable substance and explosives related work and any other hazardous process as per the Factories Act, 1948.

Bonded child labour

 Bonded child labour is a system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which the child, or usually child's parent enter into an agreement, oral or written, with a creditor. The child performs work as in-kind repayment of credit. In 2005 ILO reported, debt-bondage in India emerged during the colonial period, as a means of obtaining reliable cheap labour, with loan and land-lease relationships implemented during that era of Indian history. This are regionally called Hali, or Halwaha, or Jeura systems; and was named by the colonial administration as the indentured labour system. These systems included bonded child labour. Over time, claims the ILO report, this traditional forms of long-duration relationships have declined

In 1977, India passed legislation that prohibits solicitation or use of bonded labour by anyone, of anyone including children. A report by the Special Reporter to India's National Human Rights Commission, reported the discovery of 53 child labourers in 1996 in the state of Tamil Nadu during a surprise inspection. Each child or the parent had taken an advance of Rs. 10, 0000 to 25, 0000. The children were made to work for 12 to 14 hours a day and received only Rs. 2 to 3 per day as wages.

• 10.13 million child labourers between 5-14 years in India (2011 Census data)
• Child labour in 2011 has decreased by around 20% from 2001 Census Figures
• There are 22.87 million working children in India between 15-18 years.
• As per 2011 Census, 1 in 11 children are working in India (5-18 years)
• 80% of the child labour in India is concentrated in rural areas
• 168 million children are estimated to be engaged in Child Labour around the world (ILO, 2012) that means every 17th working child in the world is in India.

Conclusion

Child protection becomes head ache to government and to the society child sexual abuse, exploitation, child marriage and child labour everything should be raised from the society, for the sake of coming gen and its purity and dignity. A whole awareness is needed for the country (citizen). For the child protection our honorable government has brought many prevention remedies for it, they all are relatively limited because if these exploitations and abuses are not know to the world or not reported all these remedies are waste.

“Being a human” should be the motto for the world. And want to know the words of almighty “show compassion to others then one who is in the sky show compassion to you”.