Hi guys....
With Covid-19 bringing economic activities across nations to a halt, more and more people are being pushed into poverty. Job losses, business losses and farming losses, resulting in economic stress, are pushing many to the fringes of poverty. And as families are being rendered helpless, the worst sufferers are invariably the youngsters.
image source: google
"46 percent children suffer from multidimensional poverty," suggests a report shared recently by Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS). And within the face of the growing economic hardships of the people, triggered by Covid-19, the amount is probably going to increase within the coming months.
image source: google
From increased threats of recent slavery—domestic servitude, sex trafficking, and made labour, like begging—and reduced access to nutrition, basic healthcare facilities and education, to increased risk of emotional abuse and mental trauma, children today, especially those born into poverty, are at greater risk of exploitation.
image source: google
According to Unicef, "The economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic could push up to 86 million more children into household poverty by the top of 2020."
Save the youngsters and Unicef suggest that, "Immediate loss of income means families are less ready to afford the fundamentals , including food and water, less likely to access health care or education, and more in danger of kid marriage, violence, exploitation and abuse. When fiscal contraction occurs, the reach and quality of the services families depend upon also can be diminished."
And with more and more people becoming jobless, chances of families abandoning their children, or using them to earn money is increasing by the day. consistent with a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, "due to the pandemic, more children are being forced onto the streets to look for food and money, thus increasing their risk of exploitation."
And more concerning are the lurking threats of the various ways during which children, within the wake of Covid-19 are being forced into sexual exploitation. For one, families during this a part of the planet , unable to feed "extra mouths", often marry off their girls at an early age. Sometimes even in exchange for money. These little girls are subjected to marital rape by their husbands, and more often than not, suffer severe reproductive health damages thanks to the burden of early motherhood.
And if the women aren't so lucky, they're sold to traffickers by their husbands for money. Sometimes, in fact, predators marry young girls to be ready to sell them permanently money into sex slavery. While writing an in depth piece on this issue last year, I found that sometimes of desperation, the families themselves sell girls into prostitution. There are cases where young sex workers had claimed that that they had been sold to dalals by their own mothers.
Young boys face a special quite fate. they're sent away to figure within the informal sector to earn money for his or her families. and a few of those young boys are preyed upon by predators for trafficking as slaves and sometimes into male prostitution.
According to a 2014 report by The Scelles Foundation, 42 million worldwide were involved in sex slavery. Of them, about eight million were men—it isn't just women who are at the danger of being trafficked into sexual slavery. Male prostitution remains a less discussed issue, which is why when pertaining to sex slavery, the dialogues mostly centre around girls. But young boys do get raped and therefore the possibility of them being forced into prostitution can't be ignored.
And the children who are sent out of the house to earn their living as beggars accept the constant threat of being exploited by their ring leaders. These girls and boys aren't only taken advantage of by their employers but also are sometimes abused by the people giving them alms. i used to be once horrified once I saw a driver holding on to a semi-clothed girl's hand while giving her alms. The girl—not knowing that it's not right for somebody to the touch her without her permission—was just happy that she got a note! Next time on the road, take a careful look, and therefore the abuse of those children will become apparent.
But with Covid-19, you'd think the demand for prostitution would have taken successful , but you would be wrong. the danger remains: consistent with Mama Fatima Singhateh, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of youngsters , appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Covid-19 lockdown has resulted in people finding newer ways of availing prostitution services—through "delivery" or "drive-through". consistent with Singhateh, people's tendency to access illegal websites featuring kiddie porn has also increased— "Producing and accessing child sexual assault material and live-stream child sexual assault online has now become a simple alternative to groom and lure children into sexual activities and to trade images in online communities."
A report published by the Council on Foreign Relations echoes an equivalent fear— "While the present drop by global demand might temporarily disrupt exploitative circumstances, this effect is probably going short-lived and eclipsed by increased vulnerability. Within sex trafficking, for instance , the demand for commercial sex has dropped thanks to social distancing regulations. However, there's evidence that online sexual exploitation of youngsters is on the increase , indicating that perpetrators are adapting in response to the environment."
And this brings into the image a replacement set of prey: children from middle-income to higher-income families who have access to the web . These children, for whom the web is that the only means of staying connected with their friends and teachers, are in danger of being preyed upon by malicious traffickers.
And stuck reception , detached from the life they wont to live, these children—according to Kazi Amdadul Hoque, Director-Strategic Planning and Head of Climate Action, Friendship, a world NGO—face a special quite trauma. The fear of uncertainty, the fear of contagion and therefore the depression from the shortage of access to friends and outdoor activities make these children especially susceptible to predators.
we have to understand this pandemic situation and ensure the sefty of childern.
stay home & stay safe
About me....
I am omer farroq
student of University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
I am completing thesis about political system.
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