80% of trafficked children in India rescued between ages 13 and 18

The report noted that while Jaipur city emerged as the hotspot of child trafficking in the country, the other four top slots of the top 10 districts were found to be in the national capital Delhi.

New Delhi: As many as 80 per cent of children rescued from being trafficked fall between the age-group of 13 to 18 years.

Also, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were the top three states with the maximum number of children trafficked between 2016 and 2022, while national capital Delhi saw a huge 68 per cent rise in child trafficking from pre to post-Covid times.

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These are the findings of the “Child Trafficking in India” report, which has been compiled by Games24x7 and Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF), founded by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi.

It was released on Sunday, to mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on July 30.

The report noted that while Jaipur city emerged as the hotspot of child trafficking in the country, the other four top slots of the top 10 districts were found to be in the national capital Delhi.

It revealed that while the maximum number of children between 13 and 18 years were engaged by various industries, the cosmetic industry was found to have engaged children under the age group of 5 and 8 years.

According to the report, the industries that employ the maximum number of child labour are hotels and dhabas (15.6 per cent), followed by neighbourhood grocery stores and automobile or transport industry (13 per cent), and garments sector (11.18 per cent).

Also, while 80 per cent of the children rescued were adolescents in the age group 13 to 18 years, 13 per cent of the children were in the age group of 9 to 12 years and over 2 per cent were younger than 9 years.

The report highlighted a significant surge in child trafficking across various states, with Uttar Pradesh witnessing a startling increase in cases.

From 267 reported incidents in the pre-Covid phase (2016-2019), the number rose to 1,214 in the post-Covid phase (2021-2022) in the state.

Additionally, Karnataka showed an 18-fold increase from pre to post-pandemic figures, with reported incidents soaring from 6 to 110.

The data collected by the Games24x7’s data science team is based on KSCF and its partners’ intervention in child trafficking cases across 262 districts in 21 states in India between 2016 and 2022 and the data has been collated to give a clear picture of the current trends and patterns in child trafficking.

The results, as reflected in the research, can help governments and law enforcement agencies in formulating better strategies and understanding when dealing with such cases.

With the interventions of KSCF and its partners, a total of 13,549 children under the age of 18 were rescued between 2016 and 2022, a statement issued by the organisation said.

On the rising number of child trafficking cases in the country, Rear Admiral Rahul Kumar Shrawat, AVSM (Retd.), Managing director, KSCF, said: “Even as the numbers look grim and worrisome, there is no denying the fact that the way India has dealt with the child trafficking issue in the past decade has given much teeth and momentum to the cause.”

Emphasising that there is an urgent need to integrate tech-based interventions, Trivikraman Thampy, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Games24x7, said: “Earlier this year, we made a commitment to expand our alliance with KSCF beyond financial assistance and to leverage Games24x7’s unique position as a technology leader with capabilities in data science and analytics to create lasting solutions for child upliftment.”