Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

PURPOSE: In north India, by most low estimates, thousands of children are forced into compulsory labor. This presentation highlights some of the stark realities that underpin child trafficking today in north India, and some recommendations for ending it. The focus of this research is on girls and boys under 18 who were trafficked from villages in Bihar into compulsory servitude in Uttar Pradesh including: commercial sexual exploitation, carpet weaving and finishing, brick kilns, stone quarries, domestic service, sari weaving and finishing, and agriculture. METHODS: The research involved interviews with 155 individuals and representatives of organizations who had first-hand experience with trafficked children. The team of U.S. and Indian researchers employed purposive sampling to select interview respondents, based on their involvement in being trafficked, trafficking children, losing a child or their role relative to traffickers, enforcing laws, administering justice, or rescuing and rehabilitating trafficked children. Because the interview respondents had different areas of expertise and different experiences, the researchers conducted interviews with two foci. Interviews with District Magistrates, executive magistrates, police, Labour Department officials, NGOs and attorneys focused on the obstacles to enforcement, especially the need for specific training and for inter-departmental cooperation in investigating and responding to reports of trafficking. These interviews included discussions of cases the participants had handled and why they did or did not result in successful prosecutions. Interviews with parents, guardians and relatives of missing or trafficked children, trafficked children themselves, village level officials, panchayat representatives, and community members focused on what assistance might make it more likely for participants to report on the presence of traffickers or of employers using child slaves. The researchers coded and analyzed the interview transcripts according to key themes using the qualitative data analysis software QSR*NUDIST 6. RESULTS: The research found specific obstacles in current laws, law enforcement practices, and collaboration among governmental and non-governmental agencies that affect child slavery. While children are the immediate victims of child trafficking, their mothers are also exploited. Traffickers exploit gender inequalities that displace women, deny women economic self-sufficiency, separate women from the means of governance, deny women control over reproduction, and deny education for girl children. Overall, the findings indicate that to combat child trafficking effectively, India must improve the social, legal, and economic status of women and children in north India. IMPLICATIONS: Through assessing the many factors supporting child trafficking, this research offers practical recommendations based on qualitative research data. The findings give hope of constructive changes that could work toward the elimination of trafficking in children for sexual servitude and bonded labor. Our research was specific to north India, but the findings indicate questions and lessons valuable in other parts of the world.