Agenzia Fides

Jharkhand (Fides Service) - Every year approximately 4 million people are victims of human trafficking all over the world, over 1 million boys and girls are involved. The majority, about 90% are women and girls destined for the sex industry (prostitution, pornography, etc..), slavery or forced marriages. In the State of Jharkhand, in India, the situation is equally alarming, with so many girls forced to live in conditions of semi-slavery, or forced into prostitution. This is an area where most families live in extreme poverty, and this encourages the proliferation of mafia groups who take advantage of the vulnerability and innocence of youth, and lured by giving them the false hope of finding work in big cities . 74% of these girls leave school before finishing high school, and many of them try to escape domestic violence. Alarmed by the rising cases of trafficking and exploitation of the poorest children in the State of Jharkhand and, after a study conducted by the Department of Psychology of the Ranchi Women's College on women trafficking , the social services of Ranchi are committed so that those most vulnerable, particularly girls and women most in need, acquire a minimum of self-esteem, reduce their economic dependence and improve the standard of health care. Through this project, supported by the Spanish Catholic NGO Manos Unidas, an attempt to increase the level of awareness on the problem of human trafficking and to reduce the number of girls who leave school is being carried out. Currently about a thousand children and adolescents benefit from this program. More than 30 billion dollars is made from human trafficking each year. Over the past 30 years, more than 30 million women, girls and children have been victims of this serious phenomenon in Asia, with the sole purpose of sexual exploitation. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 01/08/2011)