Every year, thousands of children go missing in South Asia, the second-largest and fastest-growing region in the world for human trafficking after East Asia, as per the UN Office for Drugs & Crime.
Many children are sold into bonded labour as domestic servants or forced into sex work in brothels.
To stem the tide of this modern-day slavery, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held a conference on child protection.
Ministers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan and the Maldives agreed to adopt several measures to increase cooperation and jointly fight child exploitation.
Photo Credit: www.redressonline.com
With the rapid advance of technology and a fast-changing, globalized economy, new threats to children's safety are emerging everyday, said Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
To keep up with the times, one of the strategies adopted at the conference is to set up a toll-free helpline and online platform to report and track missing children.
Plus, the nations will strive to share best practices and develop regional solutions as well as common, uniform standards for addressing all forms of sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking as per a statement by India’s Ministry of Women & Child Development.
While exact figures for trafficking victims in the region are unavailable, in India alone, over 73,000 children went missing in 2014, according to government data. Activists say many of them are trafficked within India and to and from poorer neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh.
Along with the governments of the SAARC nations, many non-government organizations and concerned citizens have been working tirelessly to raise awareness and funds to help end the scourge.
The film Sold, based on the book by Patricia McCormick, is one such project that sheds light on the horrors of human trafficking. Through an Indiegogo campaign last year, filmmakers raised over $115,000 to get the film into as many theatres as possible in March 2016 in order to spread the message, support rescue efforts and rehabilitate victims.
ANOKHI MEDIA’s Founder and CEO Raj Girn had the opportunity to sit down with the Music Supervisor and Composer for the film, Sammy Chand, to talk about the pressing concerns it deals with.
Watch their in-depth conversation below.
Main Image Photo Credit: Randy Adams via Creative Commons
Dilshad Burman
Author
Dilshad Burman is an award winning TV host and Canadian media personality. Born in Mumbai, India, she was surrounded by its creative energy and grew up with a passion for music, film and television. While completing her Bachelor of Arts in English literature from The University of Mumbai, she i...
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