India
Children in India
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There are close to 437 million children in India of which 11.5% live in extreme poverty which is often the root cause of child exploitation. Nearly 1.2 million children in India are out of school and vulnerable to exploitation. Approximately 10.1 million children are engaged in child labour with a majority in hazardous labour in agriculture, mining and the informal sector. It is estimated that in India every eight minutes a child goes missing, often caught in forced sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation also takes place in child marriages and vulnerable communities often due to social stigma and gender discrimination. India has the largest number of early-married girls in the world. India has the second-highest number of internet users in the world. The number of child sexual abuse material has increased by 250-300% in India from 2022-2023. In India, the Ministry of Women and Child Development oversees child protection through laws like the POCSO Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Child Labour Amendment Act. However, effective implementation is hindered by a lack of strong enforcement mechanisms. |
In the wake of the challenges posed by the global pandemic,our focus on empowering children as agents of change became even more critical. We recognised the need to adapt and evolve, particularly in terms of capacity building for our staff and energising youth changemakers. One of the significant highlights of the past years was our concerted efforts in forging partnerships. We leveraged these collaborations to implement effective strategies, draw upon academic expertise, and develop long-term strategic initiatives.
Latest News
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Our Work in India
We protect children and prevent child labour in the mica mines through child and community-led interventions, enabling children and their families to access social protection schemes, lobbying and advocacy. We take children out of waste collection and enrol them in schools, providing livelihood support for their mothers.
We empower early-married girls to fight for their rights. We address exploitation in socio-economically disadvantaged Devadasi communities where young girls are forced into sexual exploitation.
We prevent and stop online child sexual exploitation through youth advocacy and awareness programmes. We ensure comprehensive child protection in urban slum-dwelling communities.
Our Approach
Our Projects in India
In India, we work in the states of Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
In 2023, we reached out to 14,194 children, took 3193 children out of child labour and prevented 58 child marriages. Together with the International Labour Organization, we worked towards the drafting of a policy to formalise mica mining as a means to mitigate child labour. We successfully advocated making ‘father’s name optional’ for children who were born out of sexual exploitation.
Our Projects
Ongoing
IMAGE: Empowering early married girls in India
Every year, 1.5 million girls in India marry before the age of 18. Many girls forced into early marriages rare…
Ongoing
Stop child labour in mica mining belt India
Mica is a raw material that is widely used in our daily products, such as cars, laptops and make-up. It has a…
Ongoing
Children Empowerment of the Devadasi System
In socio-economically disadvantaged Devadasi communities from North Karnataka, harmful norms force adolescent…
Ongoing
MISS-Collect
In India, 12% of children (aged between 5-14 years) are engaged in hazardous child labour activities, includin…
Ongoing
Comprehensive Child Protection in Slums of India
The project aims to work with the exploited and at-risk children from poor and marginalised families living in…
Our Lead Implementing Partner
Funding partners
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and…
Mercedes Benz
Mercedes-Benz commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German luxury and commerc…
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BZ) is committed to a fair and sustainable world.
RVO Netherlands
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) helps entrepreneurs and organisations to invest, develop and expand th…
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a nonprofit using the power of entertainment to drive positive change toward our vision of a j…
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Embassy of the Netherlands represents the Dutch government in a foreign country and serves as the primary…