Missing children in India may have been forced into commercial sex.

[Guest guest]

A fourth of the 266,847 missing children in India may have been

forced into commercial sex.

New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) Almost a fourth of the 266,847 children who

went missing in India between 1996 and 2004 remain untraced and

experts believe they may have been forced into commercial sex.

Human traffickers are increasingly targeting young girls, who are

preferred by many men in the belief that sex with them is safe

because they are less likely to have contracted sexually transmitted

diseases, said a report made available to IANS on Human Rights Day.

" The Action Research on Trafficking in Women and Children 2002-03 "

also found that notions such as sex with virgins could cure HIV/AIDS

fuelled the demand for young girls in the flesh trade.

" The mistaken notion that sex with virgin girls cures HIV and that

governments of many developing countries, with a view to encouraging

tourism, turn a blind eye to this problem " are the other factors

identified in the report as driving people to commit the " worst "

human rights crime.

The report, jointly sponsored by the National Human Rights Commission

(NHRC), UNIFEM and Institute of Social Sciences, also established a

clear link between missing people and trafficked children to arrive

at the estimated number of children fed into the flesh trade every

year.

It found that of the 266,847 children reported missing between 1996-

2004, as many as 66,024 were still untraced and hinted that they

might have been forced into commercial sex.

" It is a fact that out of the large number of women and children

reported missing every year, many never return. Many a time, during

rescue operations in red light areas, many children and women who are

rescued turn out to be those who were earlier reported missing

elsewhere, " it said.

Among 510 trafficked children interviewed for the study, 39.6 percent

said they were trafficked by their own relatives.

The study, which also included traffickers as respondents, quoted

them as saying that a maximum amount of Rs.20,000 was paid to procure

virgin girls.

A huge majority (92.8 percent) of the traffickers interviewed said

the parents or guardians received payment for the girls.

Even clients visiting brothels (39.2 percent of those interviewed)

admitted that their preference was for young girls, with the highest

preference being for virgin girls, said the report urging law

enforcement agencies and health workers to take note.

Besides for sexual exploitation, the trafficked children were also

used for illegal adoptions, illegal organ transplants and false

marriages. A majority of them hailed from poor families.

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