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All children are our children... can Goa disown these kids?
By Anita Haladi
Goa, a small state on the western coast of India has become
immensely popular the world over as a tourist destination.
Socio-economic indicators in government documents present a
view that Goa is one of the best in India in so far as human
development indicators are concerned. However, even cursory
observation would suggest that there are problems that are
ignored by the government and people due to factors that are
often dismissed as transitional and minimal.
In 1994, I was commissioned by an NGO (The Indian National
Social Action Forum), to research into the needs of
underprivileged children in the State. The underlying purpose
was to eventually bring together the community and the
government in finding solutions that would begin to build
what we termed as an adequate response to the needs of
underprivileged children in Goa.
My research was a journey towards understanding the
extent and dimensions of problems of children whose
basic rights as defined by the UNCRC are either
denied or under threat. My research involved
spending hours with children who are out of school,
working in the unorganized sector to support
themselves and their families.
These are children who have accompanied their
parents/relatives/agents of employers to Goa in search of
employment in order to escape poverty and hunger. As part of
the same study, we also reviewed institutional. mechanisms
that provided services to children with special needs(
facilities for education and health).
In the absence of any study or data, we also tried to
understand the problems of underprivileged children by
locating their concerns in the context of child labour, child
abuse and the commercial sexual exploitation of children, Our
study identified groups of vulnerable children and brought
out recommendations that could be used by the government and
the community to protect the rights of all children,
especially those whom we identified as "children at risk".
Since the 1970s, Goa has attracted a large number of
unskilled and semi-skilled workers from other states in India
largely to the non-availability of manual labor within the
state. Developmental activity initiated by the State and the
booming tourism sector, continue to create a demand for more
people who contribute significantly to its economy.
Today, one-third of Goa's population consists of
"migrants" (people who have made Goa their home).
The children of these workers are denied of an
opportunity to enroll in formal schools, are denied
basic health care and along with their parents lead
a marginalized existence that threatens their right
to a safe, loving and secure environment.
Children of women and families who are trafficked into Goa
for either labour or sexual exploitation. Children who are
trafficked into the state for either domestic work or other
forms of labour (including begging) or commercial sexual
exploitation, victims of abuse. Children affected by HIV/AIDS
or other terminal illnesses. Or children whose parents are
affected by HIV/AIDS or other forms of terminal illnesses,
children belonging to the SC/ST communities, children of
families who are living below the poverty line or who are
unemployed.
Children in private or government run homes or institutions,
children who are unable to enroll in school or who drop out.
Children affected by natural disasters like floods. Children
affected by displacement (due to demolitions or due to
developmental projects). Children with disabilities, girl
children, children affected by domestic violence and abuse.
Children who are abandoned by their families or who are
abandoned by those who bring them into the state, children of
prisoners, children whose parents are either alcoholics or
substance abusers. Children from broken homes, children who
belong to single parent families or are born to unwed
mothers, children living in areas affected by communal
riots.... All of these groups do exist in this state but
whose numbers and problems have escaped the attention of
statisticians or researchers and policy makers. They
constitute a significant number of children who are urgently
in need of protection.
We were able to submit to the government and to the people of
Goa a report of preliminary findings based on qualitative and
participatory research in March, 1995. The Government at the
time was quick to dismiss the findings as alarmist and
insignificant as these children (i.e. those identified as
child workers, children who were victims of abuse and those
who were in conflict with the law) were not from Goa!
Some of the major findings of the study were:
* A majority of child workers (both boys and girls)
belong to families that have migrated to the state in search
of employment due to extreme poverty and displacement. A
small percentage of children also consist of those who are
orphans or from broken homes and who have run away from home
and have come here in search of work. In addition to this,
there are agents who bring children and women into the state
to work as domestic labor.
* Children are mainly employed in the unorganized sector
where they are engaged in selling plastic bags, fish,
vegetables or fruit in the markets, rag-picking, off-loading
fish and vegetables from trucks that come to the main
markets, as domestic workers, at construction sites, in
garages, in shops as sales persons or helpers, in small
hotels and restaurants, as shoe-shiners, selling peanuts,
beer or handicrafts to tourists, as masseurs on the beach, as
sand-sifters along the coast where sand is loaded for the
construction business, on fishing trawlers, as gymnasts who
entertain passersby and tourists, in fish processing units,
as beggars, and in so many other kinds of work in order to
sustain themselves and their families.
* Though a small number of these children do go to
school, most of them do not consider schooling as feasible as
they find it very difficult to cope with the formal system of
education. A majority wishes to go to school but is denied
the opportunity as they do not "fit" into the system.
* The enrolment of girl children in formal schools is far
lesser than that of boys and they drop out earlier either due
to domestic responsibilities or because their families do not
consider it feasible to invest their limited resources in
educating them. Safety concerns are also important in
preventing girl children from accessing formal education.
* In addition to poor working and living conditions, these
children are vulnerable to abuse from their own family, the
police, the tourists, pedophiles, their employers and even
from the ethnic community that views them as outsiders and
hence a nuisance.
* These children have poor access to health care and a
significant number are malnourished and are prone to
alcoholism and substance abuse.
* Child workers often turn to substance abuse and alcohol as
a route to escape and endure the problems they encounter.
* Most of the children were unaware of health facilities and
were unsure about how to access these.
In a period of ten years after the study was brought out,
several NGOs have come up in Goa who have made child rights
their primary concern. Programmes initiated and managed by
these NGOs have gained acceptance from both the community as
well as from the government.
Since 1995, several groups have been working on prevention of
abuse with children in formal schools all over the state as
well as in open schools meant for out of school children.
Goa like the rest of India has a 24-hour toll free phone help
line service that reaches out to children in distress, groups
work on prevention of trafficking of minors into
prostitution, rehabilitation programmes for victims of
trafficking and abuse, conduct awareness programmes about
child rights in schools and with Parent Teacher Associations,
are working on advocacy programmes to counter declining sex
ratios in the state, law schools provide free legal aid and
counseling to victims and their families, organize protest
marches to highlight the need for speedy justice and are
working on creating preventive mechanisms to counter child
abuse.
The movement to protect and promote the rights of children in
Goa that had a modest beginning ten years ago has now become
a state-wide movement that may have been initiated by a few
but has managed to include scores of people from all walks of
life.
Some open schools are run entirely by groups of people who
teach children in slums, at railway stations, in unused
garages or in government schools with special efforts to
identify and reach out to children who are unable to access
educational facilities available in the state.
In this manner, we have been able to involve the community in
finding solutions that can address the needs of children who
are not only out of school but have been victims of
pedophiles, physical and emotional abuse. Working with the
local community has helped all of us to understand their
special needs and to accept that "All Children are Our
Children" and that the community as well as the Government
has a responsibility towards protecting and promoting their
rights!
The enactment of the Goa Children's Act, 2003 has been the
result of continued efforts of individuals and NGOs who have
been campaigning and advocating for the creation of a Goa
that is both informed and proactive in protecting the rights
of all children.
The Goa Children's Act envisages protecting all children from
all forms of exploitation. The Act recognizes that the rights
of children are non-negotiable and that Goa becomes a
child-friendly state.
Protection as well as promotion of children's rights is what
initiated the process of formulating and implementing a
legislation that has aimed not only to plug the loopholes in
existing legislations and policies, but has actually taken a
step forward by putting the onus of child protection on all
sectors of society. More importantly, it has also placed the
onus on the government to create the necessary mechanisms
that ensure child protection along with mechanisms to detect
and penalize violations of child rights.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
For child protection to become a reality, the government has
to put in place all the mechanisms listed in the Goa
Children's Act and also create additional mechanisms that
ensure that we truly become a child-friendly society. In
order to do this, we have to put in place the following:
* Collect disaggregated data on all groups of vulnerable
children in the state.
* Train and sensitize all levels of the law enforcement
mechanisms in the state of Goa -- about child rights and
child protection... make them internalize the responsibility
that we all share... i.e. to ensure that the rights of all
children are protected.
* Create mechanisms to ensure that all public places and
institutions that are entrusted with the care of children are
made aware of their role and responsibility in child
protection.
* Set up child committees at the village level and at the
municipal level in order to take the responsibility of child
protection to the community in a participatory manner.
* The Government should review the implementation of the
Goa Children's Act periodically and ensure that limitations
that are either real or perceived as barriers to its
effective implementations are corrected.
* Complete the process of registering all children's homes in
the state on a priority basis
* Create a broader role for the District Inspection Teams to
regularly monitor the functioning of all children's homes.
* Maintain a register of all children who are admitted to
children's homes and set up a monitoring mechanism that
ensures that these children are protected from all forms of
exploitation.
* Set up a regulatory body that monitors all adoptions in
the state.
* Enact a uniform law for adoptions in the state.
* Train and sensitize all those who take up the
responsibility of child protection in existing mechanisms
(child village committees, special officers under the GCA,
members of the Goa State Commission for Children, police who
work with the Women and Child protection Unit of the Goa
Police, members of the proposed Anti-trafficking cell,
members of the Child Welfare Committee and the Juvenile
Welfare Board, public prosecutors who are appointed to the
Children's Court, and, members of policy making bodies either
in government departments or those in charge of specific
ministries at the state level).
* Train and sensitize the tourism sector at all levels, the
Builders' Association, members of the parents-teachers'
associations, and the Head master Association across the
state about the provisions of the GCA and on how they could
effectively partner with the Government and other sectors to
ensure child protection.
* Put into place a monitoring mechanism at all entry points
into the state to rescue trafficked children.
* Set up an inter-governmental with neighboring states
mechanism that can effectively combat child trafficking and
also help in rescue and rehabilitation.
* Effectively implement the PNDT Act.
* Create a mechanism of registering all pre-school/child care
facilities in the state.
* Train all pre-school care-givers and educators including
the ICDS functionaries.
* Periodically assess the implementation of the Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan in order to broaden its outreach more effectively.
* Set up day care centers for children of single or
working parents which are staffed with trained persons
* Set up counseling centers at every educational institution.
* Strengthen the infrastructure and services at all state-run
institutions in order to make integration and rehabilitation
possible in a meaningful manner.
* Set up the Victims Assistance Unit as envisaged under the
GCA.
* Ensure that the provision of banning corporal punishment
and zero-rejection in schools becomes a reality
* Set up mechanisms to prevent and monitor cases of child
abuse across all educational institutions in the state.
* Translate the GCA into the local languages and make it
mandatory for all government departments as well as the PRIs
to disseminate information about its provisions.
* Set up an inter-departmental committee consisting of senior
government officers in charge of policy making to
periodically review and monitor the implementation of all
schemes meant for children and also to monitor the progress
in the implementation of the GCA.
* Set up a working committee of representatives of concerned
government departments, of NGOs, members of all individuals
appointed on various committees under the GCA in order to
review budgetary provisions for child welfare and child
protection so as to make recommendations for appropriate
budgetary support for child protection.
* Prepare a plan of Action for rescue and rehabilitation of
child workers before implementing the Notification to
implement the ban on child labour in domestic sector, hotels,
dhabas and recreational centers that is to be effective from
October 10, 2006. *****
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[This was a presentation made on September 26, 2006 at the
State Convention on Issues Concerning Women and Children,
organized by DWCD, Government of Goa]
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