Module 22

Children of Commercially Sexually Exploited Women

Component-I (A)

Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator Dr. Geeta Balakrishnan College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai Paper Coordinator, if any Dr. John Menachery Matru Sewa Sangh Institute of Social Work, Nagpur Content Writer/Author Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye Tirpude College of Social Work, Nagpur (CW) Content Reviewer (CR) Dr. Helen Joseph College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai Language Editor (LE) Mr. Elvis Thomas College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai

Component- 1 (B)

Items Description of Module Subject Name Social Work Education Paper Name Social Work with Children & Child Protection Module Name/Title Children of Commercially Sexually Exploited Women Module Id SW/SWCCP/22 Pre-requisites (Expected to Understanding of the issues related with commercial sex workers know before learning this Awareness about the living conditions of the areas where sex trade is module) practiced. Knowledge of the work requirements of the commercial sex workers, the time they can give to their children for care and support Understanding the risk factors involved with this trade, and the type and level of exposure these children have in relation to this business. Objectives (of this module) Upon completion of this module a student should be able to understand: Meaning of commercially sexually exploited women. Basic legislation dealing with commercial sex work in India. Special issues pertaining to children of CSEW:  Identity  housing and security  Health  education  Social and psychological Intervention and rehabilitation Role of organizations working for children of CSEW. Key words Sex worker, Commercially sexually exploited women, Brothel, Red light area, Issues regarding children of CSEW.

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye

Learning Outcome:

This module is titled “Children of Commercially Sexually Exploited Women”. It aims to provide the learner with some basic understanding about the following: a. Who is a Commercially Sexually Exploited Woman? b. Which are the basic legislations dealing with commercial sex trade in India? c. What are the special issues pertaining to children of CSEW, like: Identity issues, Social and psychological issues, Issues related to housing and security, Health issues, Issues related to education, and rehabilitation of children of CSEW. d. Issues related to drugs, sex and other types of abuse.

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye

Quadrant 1

1. Introduction:

The sex trade is growing in India. Women and girls are forced into this trade. One can fiund 10 to 12 year old girls on the streets of Red Light areas, in search of customers. There are girls aged 15 to 16 years with children who are also in the business. One study estimates that around 40% of sex workers are children in the red light areas, and most of them are children of commercial sex workers1. Women and girls involved in this trade get pregnant due to unsafe sex and ignorance about contraceptives and STD’s. Very often they are either forced or lured with extra money to have intercourse without condoms. Child birth may not be a pleasant experience for the girls and women due to the unpleasant circumstances. Commercial sex trade is carried on at various places like brothels, apartments, flats, hotels, bars and restaurants, parks, open places like barren land, riversides etc. Brothel keepers or pimps take custody of the children of these women; this gives them a bargaining chip to make the women work harder and longer hours. Difficult situations start for the children since the time of birth, there is no proper feeding time, lack of attention from the mother, poor and unhygienic living conditions, and use of drugs to make them a sleep. These children are exposed to sex, drugs at a very tender age. The exposure of the human body, fighting for customers, etc. is commonplace. Boys have to engage in the trade as a pimps and girls have to engage as service providers in an age when they are not even aware about their biological identity. Children grow in under these conditions and develop a lot of insecurities in relation to their identities and their existence. Through this module learner can develop the ability to analyse the situation and demands of their work conditions. Learners with understanding can develop the modalities for intervention if required.

2. Definition:

Sex Worker: is a person who sells her body for the satisfaction of sexual needs of another person. Commercially Sexually Exploited Women: women who are forced to do sex work, for the profit of others.

Children of Commercially sexually Exploited women: For this module we consider all the children whose mothers are engaged in the commercial sex trade by force; whether they are living with their mothers or not, whether they are born from marriage or not, and irrespective of their geographical location, whether they are living in the red light area or in another area which is not declare as a red light area. (for this module hereafter we use the term CSEW for Commercially Sexually Exploited Women)

1 http://www.admcf.org/projects/support-of-children-of-commercial-sex-workers-in-mumbai

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye

Brothel: “Brothel“ includes any house, room, conveyance or place, or any portion of any house, room, conveyance or place, which is used for purposes of sexual exploitation or abuse, for gain of another person, or for the mutual gain of two or more prostitutes.2 Red Light Area: Red Light Areas are ‘Neighbourhood or part of a neighbourhood where businesses connected to the sex trade are located’.3

3. Situational analysis of the children of CSEW:

The life of commercial sex workers is a matter of grave concern. Police keep red light areas under surveillance to prevent human trafficking. Raids are periodically conducted to rescue trafficked women who are locked up in brothels. Health of CSEW is another major area of concern. There are many voluntary organizations working with CSEW. The efforts of these organizations are usually aimed at efforts to improve the living condition of CSEW, providing basic facilities for them, organizing them to fight for their basic human rights and to provide medical help to them to deal with infections and diseases. Many HIV/AIDS prevention activities launched by the government revolve around CSEW. There are several CSEW whose children live with them in the red light areas. Children of commercial sex workers are highly vulnerable to all kinds of hazards. All of them come under the category of ‘Children in Need of Care and Protection’. Physical, emotional, social security and protection is the right of every person. The CSEW and their children are no exception to these basic rights. That they are born in a red light area is no fault of theirs. The children of commercial sex workers who live with their mothers in brothels and red light areas are one of the most vulnerable groups of children. They grow up exposed to the commercial sexual activities that happen around them, as they do not have a separate private place to live. They are forced to lead a life of neglect, abandonment and decadence which affects their morality and social values.

3.1. Following are some of the issues that concern children of CSEW:

3.1.1 Security: Physical, Social and psychological: Issues related to physical security such as accommodation, proneness to injuries, beating, sexual abuse etc. Children raised in red light areas, especially girls, are vulnerable to sexual abuse. Most CSEW live in small one room tenements or cubicles in brothels, which also doubles as their work place. Children roam the streets unattended and uncared for, they often get sick from the unsanitary conditions. Long hours of separation from parents coupled with emotional deprivation create fear in their young minds. Children are exposed to uninhibited adult sexual activities that go on around them. All these conditions lead to physical and psychological insecurity.

3.1.2. Physical, Psychological and Educational Development: Little attention has been paid to the physical, psychological and educational needs of these children who are victims of their circumstances right from birth. A study conducted by Pardesi Geeta and Bhattacharya, S.4 on Child rearing Practices among brothel based commercial sex workers discusses the range of issues from conception till adulthood. The study has revealed that lives of children of CSEW are vulnerable from birth itself. Most deliveries happen in the brothel, as there is no practice of delivery in hospitals. They do not receive any vaccination and breast feeding is practised only by a few mothers, as they have odd working hours; hence they are prone to communicable deceases. Lack of proper food and nutrition, and poor sanitation adversely affects their immunity and health.

2 The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 3 Bhattacharya, Ilona, 2010, Vulnerability of Children living in red light area of Kolkata, 4 Pardeshi Geeta & Bhattacharya S. Child Rearing Practices Amongst Brothel Based Commercial Sex Workers.

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye

Children are exposed to brutality, vulgarity, emotional depravity, abusive language and abusive behaviour and the use of intoxicants all the time. They witness their mothers being beaten up, humiliated, sexually abused and arrested by the police. Such an atmosphere seriously hampers healthy psychological growth and normal personality development.

Very little attention is paid to the education of children of CSEW. Many schools are unwilling to admit these children due to the stigma attached to their mothers’ occupation. Many a times, their mothers send them to school so that the mothers can attend to their clients unhindered. And such children do not get any educational support or have a supportive environment for studies back home. All these lead to a high dropout rate.

5.4.6. Exposure to Drugs, Alcohol and Sex Trade: Children are introduced to drugs and alcohol in early childhood. Many a times, their mothers themselves sedate them to keep them asleep during their sex work. As they grow up they watch their mothers using intoxicants and imbibe the habit. Some children are used for child pornography and involved in sex trade directly or indirectly to satisfy the sexual needs of the clients. The writer once visited the red light area at Pune and saw a nine year old boy looking for clients for his 48 year old mother, thus working as her agent while his mother was seated in a corner appreciating the boy’s communication skills in convincing customers. Thus, boys become involved in the sex trade, either directly or indirectly as pimps or as trafficking agents. Besides, youth from red light areas usually lack the qualifications and contacts necessary for securing jobs in any other sector. In case of girl children they are groomed to follow in their mother’s footsteps, having no other option, as they are trained from childhood to entertain clients by serving tea/ cold drinks/ alcohol, cigarettes etc, or by dancing in front of them.

3.1.4. Health Issues: Children of commercial sex workers have unattended health concerns since birth. They are not given preventive inoculation against childhood diseases. Most of them also run the risk of contracting skin diseases, sexually transmitted diseases and even HIV infection from their mother. Lack of nutritional food, improper health care and exposure to unhygienic surroundings, together make them highly vulnerable and cause multiple illnesses in them. As compared to boys, it is observed that girls seem to receive better attention towards health, because the brothel keepers see them as potential CSEW and prefer to invest in the upkeep of their bodies.

4. Efforts to minimize the problems of the children of CSEW.

There are two specific laws in the context of commercial sex work () in India. The first piece of legislation is ‘The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act’1986. This is an amendment of the ‘Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act (SITA), 1956. The second one is ‘The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2006’. Though the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act; did not ban sex work in India, many of the aspects related with this trade have been criminalised by this Act, like using any premises as a brothel, living on the earning of prostitution, keeping any person in custody for sex work, recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring, or receiving a person for the purpose of prostitution; Detaining a person in the premises where prostitution is carried on; Seduction of a person in custody. Under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, section 2(aa), a ‘child’ means a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years. It is true that there is no special legislative measure for providing protection to children of CSEW however some of the provisions of PITA can be used for safety of the children living with CSEW.

The recently introduced ‘Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) 2009’ has provided the following measures that would also target this population. The purpose of ICPS is to provide for children in difficult circumstances, as well as to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities of children living in various situations that lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children. The relevant target group of ICPS include: 1) Children in need of care and protection as defined in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (JJ.Act) 2000; and 2) Any

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye

other vulnerable child (including but not limited to) children of women in prostitution and children affected/infected with HIV/AIDS. Thus, institutional services can be provided in ‘Children’s Homes’ and ‘Shelter Homes’ for children of CSEW by categorizing them as ‘children in need of care and protection’. The Child Welfare Committees under the JJ Act can order separation of children of CSEW from their mothers, because such mothers are unfit to take care of their children, and rehabilitate them through appropriate care in ‘Children’s Homes’. Similarly, the services of ‘Night Shelters’ can also be made use of for children of CSEW who are forced to live on the streets.

In recent years, a number of voluntary organizations (commonly referred to as NGOs), have started working in red light areas to provide child support services. The aim of these ‘NGOs’ has been to intervene, by targeting children living in these areas, specific services that would help prevent second generation prostitution, and to create alternative life and livelihood options.

Some of the leading voluntary organizations in this regard are – Prerana, Mumbai; Navjeevan Kendra, Mumbai; Apane Aap, Delhi; Sanjeevan Shishu Adhar Gruha, Pune; Saheli Sangha, Pune; Snehalaya, Aurangabad; Vimalashram Garkhul, Nagpur, Balsadan, Nagpur etc. In addition, there are hundreds of other voluntary organizations working in the field. Surprisingly, government intervention in this sector has not been up to desired levels. Therefore, considering the special intervention potential of specialized voluntary organizations who are dealing with protection and rehabilitation of children of CSEW, it is felt that special schemes to provide financial aid to such voluntary organizations are required to strengthen their presence and to enhance their intervention capabilities.

4.1 Need-based Intervention

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ensures the right to protection, among other rights, which includes freedom from all forms of exploitation, abuse, inhuman or degrading treatment and neglect, and also the right to special protection in situations of emergency. Therefore, efforts are being made to guarantee these rights to the children of CSEW. Most such efforts are initiated by voluntary organizations. Intervention with regard to children of CSEW should be tailor-made and need-based, to make it effective. A few such intervention strategies are mentioned below:

4.2 Institutional Care

There are some CSEW who are aware of the implications of their children living with them. They are fully conscious of the fact that their children deserve a better future, and therefore want them to be taken care of in specialized institutions. They also appreciate the importance of formal education. Therefore, they are willing to allow their children to be taken away from them to be lodged in such facilities. They also expect visitation rights to meet their children periodically. The best strategy in such cases is to produce the child before the Child Welfare Committee with the consent of the mother for commitment to a ‘Children’s Home’ by categorizing them as ‘children in need of care and protection’. Both the child and mother would require anticipatory guidance and counselling to enable them to adjust to the intervention plan. This intervention can benefit both young and older children alike.

An example of Institutional Care: Vimalashram Garkhul, Nagpur is an organization providing institutional care to children of CSEW far away from their mothers’ working area. So far 10 to 15 children of CSEW have become graduates with the support of this organization, and some are even pursuing their PhD degrees. Some of the residents of this institution have started helping other children in their education, by starting a school in a village. These children are encouraged not to feel ashamed about their family background and to keep contact with their mothers. This model of intervention has proved to be a successful one.

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye

4.3 Day Care and Night Shelter for Children

CSEWs might be completely aware about the impact of their occupation and the environment they live in, on their children. The reasons they might not want to be separated from them are; they are emotionally very close to their children and hence, do not allow them to be taken away from them. At the same time, they are not able to provide them any safe place as they do not have proper dwelling facilities where children could be kept safely while they are at work. A few of the CSEW are also interested in their children continuing in the sex trade as a livelihood option; whether willingly or unwillingly children of CSEWs learn the tricks of the sex trade. Consequently, the children became vulnerable to abuse because they have to spend most of their time on the streets, even during the nights. To deal with this issue some of the NGO’s are providing day care and night shelters and food facilities to the children of CESW in a place which is close to where their mothers live/work. The mothers will be able to visit their children whenever they feel like, and will not have to worry about their children being taken away from them forever. Many CSEW are not open to the idea of “Institutional Care’ for their children. Few NGOs have started a bridge course for those wanting to attend school.

4.4 Counselling services for CSEW: It is an accepted fact that counselling can play an important role in motivating CSEW to accept healthy practices that will ensure their physical as well as emotional health. Along with HIV/AIDS counselling, the CSEW could also be motivated to accept social work intervention that will improve their quality of life as well as benefit the development of their children. In certain situations, this could be the first intervention strategy. It is a fact that those who are interested in keeping the children of CSEW within the sex trade many a times indulge in misinformation campaign so as to force CSEW to recall their children who are in ‘Institutional Care’, by telling them that their children will dislike them and will not have any emotional ties with them if they are in ‘Institutional Care’. Effective counselling is therefore also required to counter such misguidance.

4.5 Importance of Professionally trained persons: In all the three strategies of intervention discussed here, it is important to ensure that the strategies are being implemented by a team of professionally trained persons. Because, a casual or unprofessional approach solely out of sympathy would only be counterproductive. Intervention for rendering help to children of CSEW is not a onetime activity. It is a long drawn process that requires both commitment and professional skills. It also requires strategies such as advocacy, legal aid, networking and lobbying.

5. Case Studies (All names changed to maintain confidentiality):

Case Study 1: Shabana is 14 years old. She was rescued from a brothel in a police raid. When rescued, she was alone with a client in a tiny room. In her statement she denied her participation in the sex trade. She said that she was visiting the brothel for the first time, and was working there as a domestic help. When she came to know about the arrest of the brothel keeper she identified her as her mother. All her statements to the police were false as she was tutored to make false statements.

Subsequently, Shabana was sent to the rehabilitation centre after medical examination. On the second day after her rescue, the counsellor started talking to her. Shabana was not co-operative initially, but after 5-6 sittings she opened up and told her true story. She lost her father in her childhood and her mother was working as a maid. She was staying with her aunt to pursue her studies. Many people would visit her aunt’s house. Some were known, while most were unknown. It was a matter of mystery to her as to why so many people were visiting her aunt. She did not like the visitors, their appearance, and their way of looking at her. One day her aunt introduced a man who was nearly 50-55 years of age, and told her to go with him for a movie. She went with him very happily. During the film he molested her. She went through a horrible experience. Returning from the theatre, he took her to some unknown place and raped her. When she tried to resist he told that her aunt had sold her to him for Rs. 40,000. She cried and refused to eat. The man continued to rape her for 8 days. Then he took her to some other place and introduced her

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye

to new clients. When she refused, she was beaten up. He also tied her hands and hooked her up on the ceiling fan and turned it on. Finally, at the end of such horrible experiences she surrendered herself and started entertaining 8-10 clients per day. She succeeded in escaping somehow and met her mother. She soon realized that her mother too was aware of everything and was also involved in the sex trade. Shabana lost all hopes and decided to continue with sex work. She feels that she is dirty and now useless for any other work. She has lost her ability to have faith in anyone. Shabana has accepted the situation as her fate, and feels nothing about it. She is now waiting for her ‘madam’ to take her out on bail.

Case Study 2: Shankar is 13 years old. His mother is a commercial sex worker. He grew up in the red light area and now for a year, he has been staying in a centre run by an NGO working with the children of commercial sex workers. Although he is happy that he is at the Centre because many of his friends are with him, he misses his mother. He knew what his mother is doing but he does not feel bad about it. He says everyone has to sell something or the other; some sell their brains, some their skills and since his mother is illiterate, she has to sell her body. According to him, there is nothing immoral about it. Though a young boy of 13, he is determined. He does not want his mother to continue in this occupation because once he saw the police beating his mother and mishandling her while she was being arrested. He did not like that. He wants to study and earn money. He plans to become a lawyer so he can file cases against the police, madam, kaka (Pimp) and his aunt who used to abuse his mother. Now he is studying in class VIII.

Case Study 3: Pushpa is 9 years old. She was brought to the rehabilitation centre by the police. Her mother is a CSEW. One night, the police raided the brothel. Pushpa was sleeping under her mother’s bed at the time of the raid. She was aware about sex trade and that her mother was a CSW. She knew that if she continued living with her mother, she would definitely help her mother in her occupation. She feels that everyone does the same, and so there is nothing bad in it. She completely lacked basic life skills like; brushing teeth, changing and washing clothes, waking up early in the morning, and her language skills were poor and insufficient. Initially, she did not cooperate with the staff of the rehabilitation centre. It was very difficult for the attendants to handle her. It took many counselling sessions spread over a year, before she started cooperating with them. She feared that the Centre would separate her from her mother forever and sell her to someone, one day. She started learning basic language skills of reading, writing and speaking. She is very much interested in religious rituals and prayers. She has by now collected many pictures of gods and goddesses. In her daily prayers, she prays that she is able to meet her mother and father together, and asks God to give her a home far away from the area where she spent her horrible childhood.

Summary:

The introductory module, Quadrant 1, gives an overview of the issue of ‘Children of Commercially Sexually Exploited Women’ in India. It also provides some information on the legal position regarding . You also get an idea of some of the issues that concern children of CSEW and efforts to minimize the problems of the children of CSEW. Information on need-based Intervention for the rehabilitation of these vulnerable children is also provided here.

In Quadrant 2, you will see examples of issues that concern children of CSEW. Based on some case studies, these are enacted in animation so that you are able to understand this module better. You will also see some videos that provide insights into the issue.

Videos

Zana Briski & Ross Kauffman (2004), Born into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids (American documentary film about the children in , Kolkata’s red light district. The widely acclaimed film, written and directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, won a string of accolades including

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye

the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2005. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_ into_Brothels)

In Quadrant 3, you will find a glossary of important words and web links. You are encouraged to expand on this. In the end, Quadrant 4, gives an interactive form for self-evaluation. Do try it out at the end of the course to make a self-assessment of your own understanding of the module and the degree of learning.

References

Beard, 2010, Journal of the International AIDS Society. Bhattacharya, Ilona, 2010, Vulnerability of Children living in red light area of Kolkata, , Kolkata Das D. 1991, Giving the children of prostitutes their due. ICCW News Bulletin Websites Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work, 2006 Jayeshree A. K., Case histories of children of sex workers. Foundation for integrated research in Mental Health, www.thrani.com Govt of India, The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. Govt of India, The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2006.

Website Reference www.ecpat.net, this website is of US based organisation which is working globally. Students will understand the scope of the problem and can try to reach to the other organisations working on this issue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_India, this website provides information on the basic information on the problem areas of prostitution, one can understand by the statistics given and the problems they face similar problems have to face by their children also. http://wcd.nic.in/icpsmon/home1.aspx accessed on 2 July 2015, this website provides you the information on the scheme which is to protect the children especially care for vulnerable, and children of CESW are most vulnerable ones.

For further reading

a. Mukherji Santosh Kumar & Joardar Biswanath 1986. Prostitution in India, Inter-India Publications. b. Gathia Joseph Anthony 1999, Child prostitution in India, Center of concerns for child Labour, Concept publication India. c. Rozario M. Rita 2000. Broken Lives: Dalit Women and Girls in Prostitution in India, Ambedkar Resource Centre, Rural Education for Development Society. d. Web link- Navjeevan Mumbai Sex work outreach NGO.

SWE/SWCCP/CCSEW/M22 by Ms. Aruna Gajbhiye