India
Vulnerable Children in India
Labor, trafficking, and online abuse
India is the fifth largest economy in the world, but socio-economic disparities are widespread. This results in children being vulnerable to child labour, sexual exploitation in child marriage, sex work and trafficking. The country is home to the second largest number of internet users across the globe, and children’s vulnerability to sexual extortion and child sexual abuse material is growing at an exponential rate.
We protect children and prevent exploitation through child and community-led efforts. We lobby and advocate for systemic changes that address the root causes of exploitation. We empower children to ascertain their rights.
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Thangaperumal Ponpandi
Country Director IndiaIn the wake of the challenges posed by the global pandemic,our focus on empowering children as agents of change became even more critical. We recognised the need to adapt and evolve, particularly in terms of capacity building for our staff and energising youth changemakers.
Children in India
There are close to 437 million children in India of which 11.5% live in extreme poverty which is often the root cause of child exploitation.
Nearly 1.2 million children in India are out of school and vulnerable to exploitation. Approximately 10.1 million children are engaged in child labour with a majority in hazardous labour in agriculture, mining and the informal sector.
It is estimated that in India every eight minutes a child goes missing, often caught in forced sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation also takes place in child marriages and vulnerable communities often due to social stigma and gender discrimination. India has the largest number of early-married girls in the world.
India has the second-highest number of internet users in the world. The number of child sexual abuse material has increased by 250-300% in India from 2022-2023.
In India, the Ministry of Women and Child Development oversees child protection through laws like the POCSO Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Child Labour Amendment Act. However, effective implementation is hindered by a lack of strong enforcement mechanisms.
Our Work in India
We protect children and prevent child labour in the mica mines through child and community-led interventions, enabling children and their families to access social protection schemes, lobbying and advocacy. We take children out of waste collection and enrol them in schools, providing livelihood support for their mothers.
We empower early-married girls to fight for their rights. We address exploitation in socio-economically disadvantaged Devadasi communities where young girls are forced into sexual exploitation.
We prevent and stop online child sexual exploitation through youth advocacy and awareness programmes. We ensure comprehensive child protection in urban slum-dwelling communities.
Our Approach
In 2023, we reached out to 14,194 children, took 3193 children out of child labour and prevented 58 child marriages. Together with the International Labour Organization, we worked towards the drafting of a policy to formalise mica mining as a means to mitigate child labour. We successfully advocated making ‘father’s name optional’ for children who were born out of sexual exploitation.
Children as Change Agents
Across our projects, we empower children and youth as advocates and changemakers who later lead positive change in their communities.
Lobby and advocacy
We actively lobby and advocate for policy changes, stronger implementation of laws and develop mechanisms to strengthen systems
Socio-economic empowerment
We ensure children’s access to education and health care and empower families to increase their income through livelihood support and microfinance facilities coupled with linking them to social security
Child-led awareness and initiatives
We actively facilitate awareness campaigns led by children along with child-led research initiatives.
Capacity Building
We build capacities of stakeholders ranging from children and youth, government authorities, law enforcement agencies, the private sector, parents and community members.
Our Projects in India
In India, we work in the states of Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
Our partners
Our Lead Implementing Partner
Funding partners
International Labour Organization
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Mercedes Benz
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BZ) is committed to a fair and sustainable world.
RVO Netherlands
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Comic Relief
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Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
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