It might not come as a surprise that street-dwelling children in Kolkata are involved in sex work to fulfill their financial needs. But what is surprising is that those services are availed by rich school-going teenagers. These are findings of a research conducted by two Jadavpur University professors in Kolkata.
Professor Bishnupada Nanda, who is one of the authors of the study, recalled how homeless children have admitted that rich teenagers “jumped on them at night like animals.”
The research was conducted on 150 children between the age group of 9-14 years. The findings reveal that these young victims know are well aware of the risk that they may get infected or even get others infected with HIV, they do not use condoms. They also say that they manage to convince the ‘clients’ not to use condoms too.
Only for the singular motive of taking revenge. “Why should we die alone,” is what they feel.
Not just girls, but boys too are sexually exploited. They are also used for making homosexual porn films.
This is not the first time such a revelation has been made. In 2010 as well, a survey conducted by National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) in Kolkata on sexual abuse, HIV and sexually transmitted infection among street children also had similar results.
Street children across the country are often detained illegally, beaten and tortured. There is inadequacy and non-implementation of legal safeguards when it comes to the rights of street children in India.
