Daughters of Darkness

South Asia is one of the regions most complicated by the globalization phenomenon. Rapid growth and enormous technological progress in past two decades has brought significant wealth and opened doors of opportunities in developing countries, but only to a select few in urban centers. In turn, it has also brought indescribable suffering and humiliation for much larger populations that live either in rural areas or worse, in under-served slums of mega cities within the same countries.

The Cost of living has sky rocketed. Constantly rising prices for fuel and staple food like rice and wheat is causing havoc across the continent. Triggered by natural calamities and resulting poverty, there has been an enormous increase in rural to urban migration in Southern Asia contributing to an astonishing number of vulnerable women and unprotected children in urban centers. Thousands of families have been uprooted from their communities and driven to streets to meet their basic needs for survival.

Over a quarter of Bombay’s population sleeps on streets next to open sewers or in cramped shantytowns. In Dhaka, the affects of poverty are so stark that, unable to feed their children, parents abandon them on railway stations and ferry terminals. Women give away their children to ‘uncles’ because they cannot pay a marriage dowry. Thousands of children are being sold or trafficked within and across national borders in South Asia. According to United Nations, more than one million children are subject to sexual exploitation in Asia alone.

“I am so sorry, I ate my daughter.” said Sangeeta Sani, a poor Tamang woman in a remote village in north-east of Katmandu. Confronted with extreme poverty, she encouraged Meena, one of her two daughters, to go to Katmandu to find work. Search for work took Meena from Katmandu to a brothel in Bombay where she contracted HIV. When Meena could no longer work, she returned home and died of AIDS two years later.

A minor girl child, daughter of a prostitute, amongst the clients in the back ground and a passer by prostitute in the foreground. Growing up in a brothel environment doesn’t leave children here with much options and usually turns them into young prostitutes.

Unfortunately, Meena’s story is not an isolated one. Caught in a vicious cycle perpetuated by lack of education and opportunities, thousands of children have been forced into prostitution all over South Asia. They are targeted for recruitment into the sex trade because they are poor and lack alternatives. Every year, accordingly to an ILO study, up to 12,000 Nepali women and children are trafficked to brothels in India alone. The situation of women in many other South Asian countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka are no different. Decades of war, violence and continued insecurity in Afghanistan have also forced thousands of women and children into the sex industry, both within and outside the country. According to a recent US State Department report, Afghan children are trafficked to Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and as far as Zimbabwe for commercial sexual exploitation.

Women or children are most vulnerable when they leave home for the first time, looking for an alternative to poverty. Brokers roam from village to village, selling dreams of lucrative life-changing jobs. Some believe they are hired as carpet weavers or garment workers in the city, until they wake up to the harsh reality and find themselves in a brothel. Not all children are forced into this hellish world. Some consciously choose to sell their bodies as the only way out of poverty.

A girl drags smoke from a cigarette, while other shouts at her. Emotions runs high amongst the women in Kandupatti brothel in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Marjina, migrated to Dhaka from her village with her five children after her husband died. Now she works in a small workshop by the river Buriganga that recycles used batteries. Four out of five of her children are girls. Wiping her tears away , Marjina said, “Regardless of how hard I or my children work, we accumulate debt every month. I don’t know what to do. I have nothing that I can sell to pay off my debts.”

Both smiling, a commercial sex worker kisses another on the cheek, an uncommon public display of affection in Bangladesh. Kandupatti Brothel, Dhaka.

Desperation drives poor to sell their children, especially girls. They are also forced into marriages to settle debts or disputes. Marriage can provide a socially acceptable means for parents to get rid of their children and at the same time, it becomes an easy medium for procurers to obtain girls for prostitution. Parents generally get nothing more than a mere promise that the person marrying or hiring the child will look after her. They may understand what the fate of their child is going to be, but, having no other option, often choose to keep quiet.

Salma Begum, a woman who works in a rice mill in a village in northern Bangladesh said, “We have no land, no cattle. My daughter Mumtaz (15 years old) is growing and we have already started to receive marriage proposals for her. We will marry her as soon as we can find a suitable person. We will have one less mouth to feed.”

Taking shelter from the rain under an awning, a young girl enjoying a rare moment of intimacy with one of her regular client on the roof of Kandupatti brothel in Dhaka.

Gruesome stories of trafficking and sexual exploitation of children leave people, even the most well meaning who may be in position to help, feeling helpless and numb. In absence of a clear strategy to help make a difference, reaction to such information is often one of denial. It is extremely important to create venues and opportunities for dialogues between victims and those who have the ability to help and provide opportunities for information exchange to generate understanding and find concrete solutions. It is crucial to bring the plight of victimized children to light, make efforts to raise awareness of this injustice and rally to create a political will to put systems in place, locally, regionally and internationally, that can lead to the protection of children from continued abuse and violence.