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Children sold to the circuses
In the latter half of 2002 we sent research
teams to the 30 major Indian circuses to establish the scale
and nature of the problem.
At great personal danger, teams identified
232 children under the age of 14, 82% of them girls and nearly
all Nepalese. Most of the children had been trafficked at
the age of 8 or 9 (although some had been as young as 5).
They told how their village communities had been preyed upon
by professional agents who had tricked their impoverished
and illiterate parents into handing them over to the circus
for just a few dollars.
Thumbprints on documents that the naïve parents
could not read condemned their children to an 18 hours per
day, seven days per week routine for the next 10 to 15 years.
Inadvertently they were also handing over
their children to a life of malnourishment, harsh training
schedules and vicious beatings by the circus staff. Frequently
the girls would also be sexually assaulted.
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We immediately got to work to free the children.
Attempts to persuade the circuses to become child-free had only
modest results.
Frustrated at the lack of progress we sent bold
rescue teams to confront the circus owners and use all legal means
on the ground to secure freedom. This high risk process led to the
release of over 200 trafficking victims during the period 2003 -
2006.
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Reunification
and Rehabilitation
The youngest children who return from the circuses
can mostly - and safely - be reunited with their parents and
join school at an appropriate age.
We prevent re-trafficking by helping address
the poverty that led to these children being trafficked in
the first place by providing educational scholarships. We
also invest funds in improving the environment at the under-resourced
government schools which the children attend.
For the older girls who might lack the academic
ability or interest in joining formal education we provide
skills training that leads to work. Notable amongst this has
been the manufacture of suede leather designer bags that are
now selling in the UK and USA through Hatti
Trading and
The Emancipation Network
respectively.
In late 2006 other girls began producing
striking mosaics either as
ethical gifts or for future sale through a new
company, Himalayan Mosaics Ltd.
These initiatives require huge resources but are the only
way to restore self-esteem and offer financial independence
for girls who are often rejected by their families and society.
For others who do wish to have a proper education
but feel understandably awkward about joining classes with
five or six year olds we offer three year residential intensive
tuition courses in Bhairahawa that will fast track them into
being able to join class 8 (14 year olds).
This gives them a chance to obtain the important
School Leaver's Certificate (SLC) within a further three years
that dramatically improves their employment prospects or can
pave the way towards higher education.
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Psychological
support
Training and education alone is not enough as we
have to work hard to repair the psychological damage that untreated
would militate against leading a normal life and personal development.
Most of the children and teenagers who return from
the circus suffer some degree of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD). We help them to process their experiences and attempt to
find a place for what has happened to them. We do this through obtaining
the services of overseas professionals who volunteer to support
the girls and advise local staff.
A senior EBF female staff member embarked upon formal
counseling training in 2007. This underpins the girls' support group,
The Nawa Jagaran Club, that we established in 2003 that offers fellowship
and modest financial support to returnees.
Residential
care
For those children and teenagers who cannot return
to families we offer full time residential care. Approximately 30
young former circus children are accommodated at our EBF refuge
in Godawari, just outside Kathmandu.
These are children who have no known homes or who
are at risk of being re-trafficked because of poor family background.
We also look after up to 20 girls at our EBF hostel in Hetauda who
receive non-formal education and training prior to starting our
income generation or further educational programmes.
Advocacy
against agents and circuses
Our local and national advocacy against the agents
and circuses has been backed up with direct action against the agents
themselves.
In May 2006 we were involved in putting two leading
agents Thuli Didi and Dani Gurung behind bars for 20 years. We pursued
and supported the legal case against a backdrop of death threats
to local staff and witnesses. Their sentencing was a landmark decision
as it was the first time that agents had been jailed for trafficking
to circuses.
We successfully pressed another case in September
2006 that saw another major agent jailed for 11 years. By the start
of 2007 eleven agents were in prison either following conviction
or pending court action.
The
media
Media coverage for this work has been excellent.
Nationally we have had important coverage in the main newspapers
including The Nepali Times in
2004 and in
2007 and on television and radio.
Internationally we have had coverage in Spotlight
magazine in
India, The Daily Express in UK,
The Washington Times,
international Marie
Claire magazine, Channel 4 News in the UK and
on the BBC.
We were also privileged to have Sir
Ben Kingsley present a
BBC Radio Appeal on behalf of the circus
children.
When we started this project in 2002, agents were
operating with impunity in the prime trafficking area, Makwanpur
district. Now none will risk entering these village areas, fearing
arrest - or worse. Instead agents have moved their operation further
east and we are extending our work to counter their activities and
close down this child trafficking route permanently. We have laid
the foundations and put the structures in place through the Circus
Children Project that will allow us to achieve the long-term holistic
aims of the PACT Programme.
To donate specifically towards our PACT Programme please click on
the button below.
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