Charity campaign launch to battle child trafficking
A GLASGOW-based charity is bidding to help the thousands of children in India being trafficked for cheap labour, forced marriage, the sex trade and organ harvesting.
The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) has launched an appeal highlighting the plight of youngsters in desperate need of help.
SCIAF has started a new project in India, working with Caritas India to raise awareness of human trafficking and how families in poor communities can avoid falling prey to it.
SCIAF’s Communications Manager Val Morgan, who travelled to India recently to see the project.
He said: “Child trafficking is destroying lives.
“Every child has the right to love, safety, an education and a future of hope. We can all do something to help these vulnerable children.”
According to figures released by the European Parliament last year, more than 20 million people living today have been trafficked.
In India alone, around 20,000 people were trafficked last year, including 10,000 children.
Rama Thapa, a case worker in India for Childline, said: “Last year there was a girl called Monica – she was 14-years-old.
“We just had one phone number which the girl had called from and said ‘Rescue me’.
“The girl was from a slum area in Delhi. Her father was a street vendor.
“Monica was brought to a village and to a man’s house. Kiren sold her to the man for £415. They were then married, but it wasn’t a proper marriage.
“Monica was the third girl to be married to this man. The two previous girls had been sold on to other men for sex. The police in these cases just want to wash their hands of them. The man has not been prosecuted.”
During his trip to India, Val met staff from different organisations working with SCIAF on the child trafficking project, including Caritas India and Childline 1908, Night and Day, as well as vulnerable children and families.
Val added: “Human traffickers of- ten deceive desperately poor families into believing that if their child goes with them they’ll receive an education, be given well paid work and have a better future.
“Sadly, the traffickers and their agents are often known to the child or their family, so they trust them and don’t realise the danger they’re in until it’s too late.
“The human cost of this callous trade cannot be understated.”
Many poor communities affected by the problem are unaware of the fact that they or their loved ones have been sold, sometimes even years after it has happened.
To support SCIAF’s work with poor and vulnerable communities in India and around the world, see www.sciaf.org.uk/donate or call 0141 354 5555.