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By Neeta Lal Delhi enjoys India's highest per capita income and lowest percentage of people living below the poverty line. Yet Delhi ranks first among 35 other cities in crimes against children. A recent survey reveals the exploitation and abuse suffered by Delhi's 5 million working and street children
In the wake of horrific revelations by the National Study on Child Abuse, a 13-state survey by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, that every second Indian child is a victim of sexual abuse -- Delhi’s kids suffer an abuse rate of 83.12% -- comes another disquieting survey, this time focusing on the capital city’s street children. According to the survey -- conducted by Bal Sahyog, YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) and Indian Alliance of Child Rights -- Delhi’s 5 million-odd street children are victims of rampant abuse (emotional, sexual, physical) and exploitation, and suffer from a slew of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), drug abuse, social neglect and crime that triggers a deep sense of insecurity and emotional conflict within them. The survey, which drew inputs from over 1,000 street children across all pockets of Delhi, also shows that these marginalised children -- who belong to sex workers, underage and unwed mothers and SC/STs -- are not even registered with the municipal authorities, which precludes them from being beneficiaries in state/NGO-funded welfare schemes. “The problem is further compounded by the street kids’ families which keep shuttling, vagabond-like, from place to place, lacking a permanent residential address,” says an official at Bal Sahyog. “This not only complicates matters for the state but also for these underprivileged children who could benefit enormously from welfare schemes.” According to Plan India Executive Director, Bhagyashree Dengle, although there are fewer children living on the streets than those using them as a means to earn a livelihood, in both cases the children usually do not enjoy any form of protection, supervision or direction from responsible adults. While Delhi has never been a strong contender for the title ‘woman- or child-friendly city’, this latest survey unambiguously underscores the city’s apathy towards its street children. In fact, according to Delhi’s first Human Development Report, released in 2006 by the Delhi government, despite enjoying India’s highest per capita income -- Rs 47,000 (almost two-and-a-half times the national average) and lowest percentage of people living below the poverty line (8%, as against the national average of 26%), Delhi ranks first among 35 other cities in crimes against children. As a city, the capital accounts for 4.8% of crimes against children, as against the national average of 1%. The national average for child rape is 0.2%; in Delhi it is 2.1%. In this first-of-its-kind report, working and street children figure prominently among Delhi’s identified neglected communities. The report points out that due to lack of data on migrant/child labour, it is difficult to formulate adequate policies for the educational/health welfare of marginalised children. In order to help improve conditions for street children, the report formulates several ‘development goals’, a la the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. The last (Goal 9), for instance, aims to “make Delhi a child-friendly city”. It also promises to “ensure effective protection against child labour and exploitation; ensure that children live in unpolluted environments; ensure that all children up to the age of 14 attend school”. But though sundry legislations have always promised a better standard of living for Delhi’s street children on paper, they’re scarcely ever enforced. In any case, law enforcement in India is so notoriously weak that offenders manage to get away scot-free, or with minimal punitive action taken against them. “The most tangible efforts in the area of street children’s welfare come not from the state but concerned/sensitised citizens or NGOs,” says Ashok Aggarwal, a senior advocate and founder of Social Jurists, a civil rights organisation that works for the cause of marginalised children. To add to the already woeful scenario, a recent survey by the NGO CHETNA (Childhood Enhancement Through Training and Action) reveals that Delhi’s street children are hooked on to soft drugs like white fluids, aka ‘emollient spread’ on bread slices, and inhaling correction fluids and rubber adhesives used to repair tyres, as they can’t afford the hard drugs. In fact, demand for these life-threatening products is so great that the flourishing ‘white fluids’ business registers sales of a whopping Rs 50-60 lakh per day in the national capital. CHETNA volunteers discovered that abuse of white fluid was most prevalent in the age-group 8-18 years. Says the NGO’s Director, Sanjay Gupta: “Such drug abuse among street kids is rampant in Delhi. But since drugs used by street children do not come under ‘illicit’ drugs, the government is unable to take necessary action.”
Such state helplessness is indeed a pity as, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), India not only hosts the world’s largest population of children (375 million) -– a quarter of its populace -- but is home to over 18 million children who live and work on its urban streets. In Delhi alone, an estimated 5 million street children live and work off pavements. In this regard, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the only international human rights treaty that expressly gives NGOs a role in monitoring its implementation, under Article 45 a. The basic premise of the Convention is that children (defined as “all people below 18 years”) are born with fundamental freedoms and inherent rights. Hence, governments must enact legislations, create mechanisms and put into place a range of creative measures to ensure the protection and realisation of the rights of children. Each government must also report back on children’s rights in their country.
Unfortunately, despite such charters, millions of street children worldwide are victims of prostitution, pornography, trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation. Research also shows that abused/exploited children often become abused/exploited adolescents and adults, or abusers/exploiters themselves. Global surveys reveal that such abuse negatively impacts a child’s physical, emotional and mental wellbeing, leading to severe behavioural/psychiatric disorders. Suicidal tendencies and drug abuse are common long-term effects of abuse. A WHO survey highlights unambiguous behavioural and emotional patterns among abused children. To begin with, the child hardly speaks about the abusive incident. Even if he does, often no one takes him seriously. This triggers a sense of self-doubt/guilt in the child, exacerbating the feeling that there’s something wrong with him. It also results in low self-esteem, propelling the child into a guilt trap. “As the child matures, his compulsive behaviour reinforces this guilt. Several adult sexual problems trace their provenance to childhood abuse,” says Delhi-based psychologist Dr Sanjay Chugh. Despite the social, economic and psychological problems that street children have, there are only a dozen-odd Delhi NGOs working for their welfare. Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT), established in 1988, has been taking children off the streets and helping them with education and sustenance. Although the NGO began with three staff members and 25 children, the number of its support staff has swelled to 90. The Trust saw 3,350 children through its system in 2006 alone. SBT gathers poor, hapless children at six contact points around Delhi. The children are enrolled in its many customised education and future-building programmes. The Trust’s first priority is to help runaways return to their families. But, if this is not viable, SBT helps the children map out their own futures by providing education, healthcare and nutrition, skills-building, theatre and recreation programmes. SBT’s shelters/contact points offer street children healthcare and nutrition, basic literacy, counselling and vocational training. SBT is also one of five NGOs in Delhi to operate a 24-hour Childline service that it runs with the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment. Any citizen who finds a street child in need of help can call a specific number and be automatically connected to the NGO responsible for the area. SBT operates in central Delhi; Prayas is responsible for the same service in north Delhi; Don Bosco in the west; Butterfly in the south; and the Delhi Brotherhood Society in the east. Similarly, Plan India, which runs child welfare programmes in 61 countries and began its India operations in 1979, is among the largest international NGO initiatives in the country. Operating in 11 states, Plan India reaches out to vulnerable children in remote areas, facilitating development processes that result in increased security for the children, their families and their communities. Deepalaya, another child welfare NGO, works out of Delhi’s 45-odd slum pockets, some of which even run satellite schools. It is now setting up a formal school and is active in the fields of gender inequity and child labour. Deepalaya’s Restore Childhood project -- linking up street and working children -- has proved quite effective. Also on the anvil is Deepalaya Gram, a home-away-from-home for child labourers. Despite such successful outreach initiatives, however, street children in the capital continue to survive in the most inhuman conditions. In fact, NGO surveys consistently point out that only around one-third of Delhi’s street children live with their parents, while 17% sleep in night shelters. The children live in the most unhygienic conditions; over 70% defecate out in the open, while 50% do not have access to a municipal tap to bathe. Many are unable even to meet their basic food needs. Of the total number of child labourers in Delhi (many are defined as ‘street children’), 56% are employed illegally or in hazardous industries -- domestic work, roadside restaurants or dhabas, construction work, beedi-rolling, lock-making, embroidery and zari-weaving. More than half of them labour seven days a week, without holidays, often for a meagre Rs 50 a month! Many domestic child workers also complain that they are abused by their employers. “Clearly, we need to spend more on child protection,” says Kailash Shekhar, a Mumbai-based child rights activist. “Right now, our national spending in this area is a pathetic 0.03% of the total budget, which is ludicrous as nearly half our population comprises children.” This is in direct contrast to the directives of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which state that all its signatories (including India) must protect children from all forms of exploitation and abuse. In India, however, the issue of child abuse is still caught between legal and policy commitments towards children on the one hand, and the fallout of breathless globalisation on the other. Even as the issue is deadlocked, the government’s decision to set up the National Commission for Protection of Children’s Rights is a good sign. As are plans to present the Offences Against Children (Prevention) Bill in Parliament. But while fresh legislation is welcome, there’s also an urgent need to strengthen existing laws like the Juvenile Justice Act. Creating fresh outreach initiatives for street children, raising public awareness about child rights, and sensitising children themselves about their rights are steps in the right direction. Collectively these steps can help the government formulate policy and legislation to safeguard street children and promote their welfare through specific programmes. With recent surveys highlighting the sorry plight of Delhi’s street children, the government has been provided added impetus to adopt measures to ensure their welfare. In a country whose population is almost 40% children, such measures are long overdue. (Neeta Lal is an independent journalist based in Delhi) InfoChange News & Features, July 2007
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