Prevention of Sexual Exploitation of Children Amidst the Pandemic at Work

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which started as a public health emergency, has quickly snowballed into a full-blown social and economic crisis. With no end in sight, it’s a no-brainer that its effects will rage on for a long time.

The socioeconomic impact of the pandemic has been catastrophic for millions of children. According to UNICEF estimates, about 150 million additional children are living in multi-dimensional poverty without access to essential services which is a 15 % increase since the pandemic began in 2020. In the long term, children might be the biggest victims of the pandemic, as everything ranging from their education, safety to health will be significantly undermined by the consequences of the response to the global crisis.

To prevent the situation from becoming a humanitarian crisis of its own, many countries have ramped up or introduced new protection services for children. Some countries have even set up new child grant programs or increased the value of the existing ones in place. These aim to reduce the risk of children falling into poverty and establish permanence in the systems of social protection for vulnerable or potentially vulnerable children.

The UK’s National Crime Agency started a #OnlineSafetyAtHome campaign and even published some guidance for parents and care-givers on gov.uk website. It has also received £9.86 million in funds from the government to target the dark web in particular and ensure that vulnerable children are safeguarded effectively.

As India struggles to deal with the pandemic, the government and the authorities’ focus has been majorly on that, and, therefore prevention measures for the issue of sexual exploitation of children haven’t been actively worked upon. But despite that, NGOs and youth-run organizations have stepped up and have been actively trying to bring limelight to the issue. For instance, Sakshi, a Delhi-based NGO started a digital campaign #MakeHomeASafeSpace to highlight the importance of an alert, informed, and vigilant adult community, which strives to secure homes against potential sexual abuse of children. It has even started a program called The Rakshin Project wherein free online sessions and webinars are conducted, addressing – how to prevent, prohibit and redress child sexual abuse as well as gender-based violence, thereby empowering them to become Rakshins (protectors).

Recommended Solutions for India

Firstly, it is essential and imperative to create and raise awareness about child rights and child sexual abuse in the country. Instead of shying away and labeling it as a taboo, healthy discussions must be encouraged with an aim of educating and thereby empowering while at the same time clearing the misconceptions that exist concerning such issues.

Secondly, the government must ensure that laws such as Article 24 of the Indian Constitution and The Child Labor Act are enforced because the already existing economic situation of families and the further possibility of the onset of a recession would increase the vulnerability of children towards trafficking, exploitation, child labor, and slavery.

Thirdly, a Public-Private Partnership can be created between the Department of Family and Child Welfare and NGOs such as CRY for greater reach and wider publicity of helpline numbers among the masses.

Last but not the least, the need of the hour is that the government must give importance to mental health and make investments to build up infrastructure for it. Mental health issues in early years very often manifest as problematic behavioral patterns (including sexually abusing children, among other things) in adulthood. Investing in mental healthcare and ensuring its availability to all, would go a long way in curbing the number of offenders now as well as ensuring that the future population of children is not traumatized because of the experiences of the current one.

The article has been written by our Amol - Lakshya Subramanian.

We are proud to have you on board with us!