tour Articles

Juvenile prostitution is rising in northeast

Northeast of India, with the passing of years is becoming a tourist hub, thanks to its marvelous and enthralling natural beauty. But you, if being a tourist visit this amazing present of the Almighty, can come across another grim picture of the region. It is the gruesome saga of child prostitution that is expanding its wings by leaps and bounds.

This horrific revelation came out in the recent days by the painstaking effort of a Guwahati-based non-governmental organization. The NGO was instrumental in conducting a detailed investigation of this grievous reality and according to them almost 20 per cent of teenagers, between 11-17 years, of the north east of India are compelled to take up prostitution as a way of living.

The study was named as 'Rise in Child Prostitution in the north-east' and took place under the auspices of the Global Organization for Life Development. To their assertion there was a definite rise in the flesh trade by five per cent from the very previous year. Now the question remains what is the real reason? To the assessment of the NGO the increasing chronicle of poverty and displacement of populace had been the real cause. What is more the violent movements, continuing for several decades at a stretch, have aggravated this situation.

It is to be noted that the study was made in three months and the field workers of the organization during this tenure interviewed 350 child sex workers all over the region. The investigation concluded that the scions of the poor families were entering into the sex rackets to save their wretched families from the eventual destruction.

What is more all these hapless children were tortured inhumanly and "they are initially raped and flogged almost to death to take up the profession." These child sex workers, to the report, were from Assam, followed by Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Even some of them are trafficked to brothels in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.

The situation is indeed grim and only a proper governmental initiative can save these innocent children from this heartbreaking realism. However, none seems to be willing.