Dasgupta and Forte | 1

Hanna Dasgupta and Michaila Forte

Professor Kirsten Foot
Honors 232: Final Paper
8 June 2016
NGO Efforts to Combat Child Labor Trafficking in India
Introduction:

In this paper we will discuss the effectiveness of the efforts of non-governmental organizations for raising
awareness against labor exploitation of children in India. Child labor is a highly prevalent form of
exploitation in India, with an estimated 45 million children working in hazardous conditions (3).

About Trafficking in India:

According to the 2015 U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, India is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children. Both internal and external trafficking
exists and the trafficked populations are subjected to both forced labor and sex trafficking (2). The TIP
Report categorizes India as a Tier 2 Country, which means India “does not fully comply with the TVPA’s
minimum standards but [is] making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those
standards” (2). Specifically, forced child labor constitutes India’s largest trafficking problem.

About Child Labor Exploitation in India:

According to the Office on Trafficking in Persons (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services), child labor is a form of work that is likely to be hazardous to the health and/or physical, mental,
spiritual, moral or social development of children and can interfere with their education (1). With over 45
million child laborers, India is one of the biggest sources of child exploitation. Among these 45 million,
24 percent are in urban centers and the rest are in rural areas (3).

Economists Gerry Rodgers and Guy Standing have classified child labor in India into four categories:
domestic, non-domestic, bonded, and wage laborers (7). Domestic workers include maids and
house-servants and non-domestic workers include field or factory workers. The subsectors of child labor
are quite gendered as well, with mainly females occupying domestic work positions and mainly males
taking part in non-domestic work (7).

There are several reasons for child labor exploitation in India. Poverty tops this list, as it forces children
out of financially impractical paths like schooling and professional work and into direct, immediate
sources of income like factory labor and agriculture. Other reasons include family expectations and
traditions, children escaping abusive households, lack of good schools and day care in the hometown, lack
of other services like healthcare in the home town, the general public opinion that does not condemn child
labor enough, and uncaring attitudes of employers, among several others (4).

Thousands of unregulated work placement agencies reportedly lure children into forced labor, including
domestic servitude, under false promises of employment (2). Children are often forced into debt bondage,
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which is when traffickers or recruiters unlawfully exploit an initial debt the worker assumed as part of the
terms of employment (5), and forced to work in industries such as brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and
embroidery factories. They are made to work up to 16 hours a day in return for subsistence food and very
little or no money. These children are often sexually exploited by their owners and beaten or tortured in
cases of non-compliance (6). In addition to bonded labor, children are subjected to forced labor as factory
workers, domestic servants, beggars, and agricultural workers. Begging ring leaders sometimes maim
children to earn more money (6). Child trafficking within India continues to rise due to increased mobility
and growth in industries utilizing forced labor.

The Role of the NGO:

The field of anti trafficking efforts is large and involves a lot of different sectors. ​A non-governmental
organization (NGO) is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or
international level (9). In India, NGOs have played a major role in protecting child rights at the national
level. ​A large proportion of anti trafficking NGOs have reported they engage in anti-trafficking efforts by
raising awareness about human trafficking (8).

Some of the actions that NGOs can take to raise awareness are General Informing, Info/Research
Dissemination, Conferences, Media Artifacts, Campaigning, Offline Groups, and others (8). In this report
we will be focusing specifically on Social Media Awareness, News and Conferences, Education
Programs, and Public Events.

Actions:

I. Social Media Awareness

An effective way of engaging potentially

influential people in technology-driven first
world countries of is by utilizing social media.
Some ways of doing this are by creating popular
catchphrase hashtags, launching photo
campaigns, and involving people through vocal
and written pledges.

The Tronie Foundation launched a widely

successful hashtag campaign in April 2016 in
which people took a picture of their hands
forming a heart and posted it on various social
media campaigns with the hashtag #igivehope.
Another hashtag campaign run by Tronie was
the #AdoptTheSeal campaign which encouraged
businesses to display a Freedom Seal, which is a visual marker of “freedom” from human trafficking. The
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campaign forced consumers to consider their spending choices and helped consumers identify
organizations that did not engage in trafficking (10).

The Child Rights and You (CRY) Foundation hosts an annual photojournalism campaign with the hashtag
#openyoureyes. Those interested could submit pledges and audio messages to decision-makers along with
recommendations on ending child labor. The submissions are later compiled together by child rights
experts and organizations to display at various conferences as well as online, where uninvolved parties
can browse through submissions and learn more about human trafficking (11).

Due to the quick and immediately impactful spreading of information online, utilizing social media as a
means to raise awareness can be highly effective. The more creative a foundation is with its campaign, the
more likely the campaign is to garner awareness and participation. For example, the “ALS Ice Bucket
Challenge” which worked to raise awareness regarding Lou Gehrig’s Disease resulted in over 2.4 million
tagged videos circulating on Facebook.

II. News and Conferences

The International Labor Organization (ILO) meets once a year in June in Geneva for the International
Labor Conference. The purpose of the conference is to decide on labor standards, discuss important labor
issues, and elect the governing body. One of the projects discussed during the conference is International
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), which started in 1992 with the overall goal of the
ordered elimination of child labor (India was the first country to join the program). Through this project,
the ILO works to research causes for child labor, identifies effective intervention methods at the
community level, and also runs a mass awareness movement to create social mobilization that aims at
elimination of child labor (13).

Aside from conferences, involvement in the news and media can help raise awareness. For example, Rani
Hong (founder of The Tronie Foundation) attended a speech by Pope Francis in the United Nations
General Assembly on September 25, 2015. During Pope Francis’ speech, he discussed children who are
depraved of education and basic necessities. Hong’s reaction video to seeing Pope Francis’ discussion
was televised in local Washington news networks such as King 5, which helped inform the public about
Hong and her anti trafficking organization (10).

III. Education Programs

The lack of education is one of the greatest reasons why children are more vulnerable to being trafficked
and exploited. According to an international organization called Free the Children (which works mainly to
educate children of poverty in India), there are four million more girls than boys who cannot get an
education in India (17). This gender disparity is alarming because without an education, girls are
extremely inhibited and limited in their choice of lifestyle. Essentially, they must be married away at
young ages or find alternative means of living (i.e. forced labor or prostitution). Additionally, Free the
Children reports that over 40 years, equitable access to quality education can help a country raise its gross
domestic product per capita by 23% (17). Thus, availability of education is the key to lifting India out of
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poverty and making it a smaller target for trafficking. By looking at a country’s specific weaknesses and
targeting these root causes of trafficking, an NGO is much more likely to cause an impact with their
anti-trafficking efforts. The following are a couple of NGO’s who have shown exemplary dedication to
education efforts in India:

Care India​: Care India has implemented a Girls’ Education Program that collaborates with
government-run schools to help girls complete their primary educations, foster their leadership skills, and
offer alternative education opportunities for women and girls who have never been enrolled or have
dropped out early from school (14). By equipping girls with knowledge and self-confidence while they
are still young, NGOs can help better prepare them to avoid succumbing to situations of trafficking and
find safer, healthier means of financial stability.

Prajwala​: Prajwala, like Care India, is an NGO based in Hyderabad, India, whose primary focus is general
education for students in conditions of extreme poverty who are most vulnerable to trafficking. Its first
education center opened in 1996 and the organization has now expanded to seven centers with over 7,000
students enrolled in total. The centers function as educational environments which not only foster the
overall development of the children, but also equip them with the necessary psychosocial and scholastic
skills to ensure a future that breaks the cycles of poverty and social exclusion. After completing the
Prajwala education program, students are transitioned into regular government-run schools so that they
can pursue a higher education and normal life free of poverty and risk of child labor exploitation (16).

Love 146​: Love 146 is a U.S.-based international anti-trafficking NGO that has also incorporated an
education program in their efforts. Unlike Care India and Prajwala India which focuses on generally
educating young girls, Love 146’s program is designed to introduce the realities of human trafficking and
educate children on how to keep themselves safe from an early age. In 2014, Love 146 created a program
called “Not a #Number”, which is a five-lesson human trafficking and child sexual exploitation
curriculum that teaches children how to recognize recruitment tactics, understand vulnerabilities, and
develop skills to safely navigate potential and existing exploitative situations. It also teaches children how
to identify healthy support systems, and learn how to access community resources when situations occur
that increase their vulnerability or if exploitation is already underway (15). Love 146’s focused
anti-trafficking approach to early childhood education is key to equipping children with the power to
identify and avoid dangerous situations of trafficking.

The Concerned for Working Children (CWC)​: CWC is focused specifically on developing education
programs in Karnataka (southwest India). The organization’s education program, called “Namma Nalanda
Vidyapeetha”, combines mainstream academic education with vocational and life skills training. This
program is uniquely effective because it tailors education to the students and their lives such that they
may most benefit from the program. Vocational training is provided to those of 14 to 18 years of age and
allows them to develop skills such as weaving, construction, and tailoring, so that they can work
independently at an appropriate age. Younger children (4 to 14 years old) are given a traditional formal
school curriculum and can also opt to take vocational courses if they choose. CWC’s extensive research
regarding the correlations between child education and vulnerability to trafficking, and their collaboration
with different levels of government allows them to implement their programs effectively in Karnataka.
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IV. Public Events

Public campaigning events are great tool used by many NGOs to​ raise public awareness, lobby
governments and mobilize citizens. In India, NGOs use campaigning to raise awareness and funds for
their efforts to combat human trafficking. Campaigning can reach a large number of people with minimal
cost to the foundation so it’s very efficient and effective. NGOs often use personal survivor stories to
spark pathos reactions from viewers. The ​following are a couple of NGOs who have produced several
noteworthy campaigns for their efforts to stop child labor in India:

The Tronie Foundation:​ Tronie initiated a program where ​children, accompanied by their mothers, visited
India in early July as part of a 'Youth Leadership Development' program initiated by the Tronie
Foundation and sponsored by Datron World Communications in the United States of America. ​ ​The aim
of the trip was to enable the team to interact with children who have been through difficult circumstances
such as trafficking and child labor, share their learning with other youth and spark off a dialogue around
the subject (18).

CRY India:​ The CRY India Foundation ​aims to restore children's rights​ by raising awareness and
educated vulnerable populations. In 2014, they launched a public campaign called CRY Unlearn which
focused on restoring children’s basic rights, that includes protection from exploitation and abuse, and
creating a society where children can live with dignity. Their mission ​is to remove children from the
clutches of child labor and put them back into schools and ​unlearn​ the skills which robbed them of their
childhood (12).

The International Initiative to End Child Labor:​ The IIECL is a US based NGO that works internationally
to end child labor. Their international campaigns include the “Children in the Fields” campaign that began
in 1998, which focuses on ending hazardous child labor in agriculture. Another campaign is working to
bring about awareness is designed to coincide with the International Labor Organization (ILO) “World
Day Against Child Labor.” IIECL promotes raising awareness about child labor in sectors, such as
domestic workers or street children, and provides incentives to individuals and organizations around the
world to help facilitate grassroots activities to raise awareness and generate momentum to bring about
actions that lead to the end of child labor (19).

Recommendations:

As reflected by our research, various NGOs, both in India and elsewhere, are working to contribute to the
anti-trafficking process. There are several obstacles to their work, including a fundamental lack of
education in poor parts of India, the economic demand for cheap labor and the ready availability of child
labor in India, and the sheer necessity for quick and accessible labor that is created out of immense
poverty. Although the existing NGOs are certainly contributing to anti-trafficking efforts, they could
benefit by focusing their efforts on very pinpointed issues, they could collaborate with other diverse
NGOs to share their expertise on their specific fields, and they should conduct extensive research so as to
more effectively target their populations and create positive change in the realm of child labor.
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While conducting research, we noticed that several NGOs had overwhelming goals that focused on
poverty or child labor in general and wanted to address each issue related to human trafficking. This
broad focus approach can cause the NGO to progress slowly and ineffectively as it cannot direct its focus
toward any one issue. Alternatively, if each NGO focuses on one very specific issue, such as “Preventing
child labor by providing primary school classes for children under the age of twelve”, it could more easily
focus its resources (money, teachers, volunteers, government officials, etc.) in order to successfully
implement this goal. Other examples of specified work are: marketing based non-profit organizations that
can lend their social power and expertise in creating campaigns to raise awareness to various NGOs, an
NGO composed of educators (at the local level and otherwise) which could assign teachers to specific
villages and schools, or an NGO that provides middle-aged women with basic education and/or vocational
skills so they can take care of their children and would not feel pressured to send their child to work in
fields or factories. To enforce this specificity, the process for NGO creation could be more rigorous and
require more details and a clear, precise mission in each application (rather than the broad and unclear
“end human trafficking” type of mission statements that currently exist). This enforcement of specificity
would also make it easier to track the progress of each NGO and eliminate organizations that are
fraudulent.

If NGOs are able to make their work this precise, it will be much easier for them to collaborate with other
organizations and government sectors. Each NGO could contribute their expertise and resources to one
specific issue in a particular location and create the most effective change, rather than a particular location
only being attended to by one broad NGO with not enough resources or time to even make any change at
all.

In terms of raising awareness, we recommend that NGOs put more of their resources into researching the
types of awareness their communities need. After conducting campaigns, NGOs need to identify which
types of awareness and anti-trafficking efforts are most effective. Without this research, their work can be
a waste of time and resources if they continue to use awareness tools that they believe to be effective but
really do not enact any change.

Another recommendation for social awareness is to use well known public figures to advocate for
increased anti child labor efforts. In our research, we noticed that the campaigns that brought in famous
actors got the most attention locally and worldwide. Utilizing the power of celebrities helps increase
attention and awareness in the younger generations and create an early conversation about trafficking.

Overall, we believe that each NGO should have some sort of focus on education. After researching the
issue of child labor in India, we have concluded that the lack of education (and resulting poverty) is the
single greatest push toward child labor. Incorporating more education about human trafficking into the
early stages of India’s education system would be invaluable to the fight against child labor. This is an
enormous task, but if encouraged by each and every NGO, it would raise awareness about the importance
of education and cement the idea at an early age that no one should be bought or sold.
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Works Cited:
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Accessed June 08, 2016. <http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2015/>
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International Labour Office, 1981. Print.
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