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| Fighting the shadow pandemic and protecting our children | | |
Sunandini Arun
The nation is grappling with the second wave of Covid -19 and the brunt is on the common man. The scarcity of hospital beds, oxygen supplies, medicines, and treatment has led to a grim situation. Everyone is trying their best to help the ones in distress. A huge number has resorted to social media platforms with immediate appeals, posts, stories, tweets, forward messages, etc connecting citizens in various cities for any kind of supply required for Covid 19 patients or helping the vulnerable families in need. The effort indeed is commendable but the question arises about the misinformation which remains rampant on such platforms.
“A six-month-old girl is orphaned as both the parents are dead due to covid 19. If anyone wants to adopt her, please contact 9823******. Please, help the child as there is no one to support and give her a new life”, said one of the Instagram stories. It was pointed out immediately and the story was taken down but similar such stories are flooding the internet space. The horrific side of the pandemic has left many children orphaned and vulnerable. It is evident from the past instances that infectious disease outbreak results in multi-layered negative outcomes for children such as being orphaned, stigmatization, discrimination, loss of livelihood of families, school dropouts, indulgence in child labour, domestic work, trafficking, sexual abuse, early marriages, early pregnancies, etc. UNICEF in 2015 estimated that more than 16,000 children lost their parents or primary caregivers during the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic. The risk for children is heightened during such pandemics as the closure of schools not only bars them from receiving an education but also precludes them from nourishment and a form of shelter. There are primarily two categories of children in this regard. The first category is those who are forced to be on the streets looking for food, shelter, income, etc subjecting them to a high risk of infection, exploitation, and trafficking. These children belonging to poor families are a direct target for the traffickers. They make false promises of augmented incomes, better living conditions, financial support before preying on the victims. Many heart wrenching stories of children being sold off for money have surfaced during the covid era.
Another category of children who remain at risk are those who are in their safe space. Since the schools are closed the trend for online education and socialization is on the rise. Many of them have resorted to online mode with enhanced unattended internet exposure, an ocean of unfiltered information, and the risk of online predators. These predators contact the children on various social media platforms and initiate the online grooming process for further exploitation. Once the child falls into the trap it can lead to either online sexual abuse or luring the child to land in the hands of traffickers by themselves. Thus, the children remain unsafe on both fronts. The vulnerability of children in both online and offline spaces becomes an opportunity for the trafficking business.
The restrictions and lockdowns reinforce the modus operandi of the traffickers. There is isolation and restriction in the movement of the victims already in their trap. This also drastically reduces the chances of their identification and removal from such exploitative conditions. The orphaned and vulnerable children are their new targets and such emotional appeals for adoption online could be an example of their operations. Some good Samaritans want to help and give these stories a shout-out on social media platforms, unknowingly promoting an activity that is illegal and detrimental in India. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2015, provides specific guidelines for the adoption of a child. The sale and purchase or offering or receiving of a child outside the ambit of the act is a punishable offence. So, does that mean these stories are fake? The answer is they could be or not. There is no doubt that thousands of children are left vulnerable but this is the time when the shadow pandemic emerges, the pandemic in the name of Human Trafficking. The vulnerabilities can be exploited with the overwhelming workload on the law enforcement officials, government administration and the clandestine nature of the crime can become difficult to tackle.
Keeping in consideration these backdrops, the Ministry for Women and Child Development has reached out to Ministry for Health and Family welfare to secure those children who lost their parents to the pandemic. They have suggested adding a column in the medical form seeking details of a trustworthy friend or relative to whom the child can be handed over in case of unforeseen circumstances. The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Ms. Smriti Irani took social media platforms to update about the process to be followed in case any such appeals are made for children in distress.
So, what is the procedure to be followed? In case of such overwhelming appeals or if you find any child in need of care and protection, you call a toll-free number 1098(Childline), a service of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, or you can contact your nearest Child Welfare Committee and give the information or you can contact your nearest police station or inform the police by dialing the number 100. A similar procedure is to be followed if any such suspicious activity is noted about the online predators. The parents should be vigilant when the children are using the internet space. Children should not be left unattended and should be educated in this regard. Recently an order was passed vide no. 46-MD of 2021 dated 05/05/2021 by the Office of the Mission Director, ICPS, Government of J&K, releasing a list of nodal officers appointed in 20 districts of UT of J&K for receiving any distress calls from children in need of care and protection due to COVID 19 situation. The order consists of the names and phone numbers of the appointed Nodal Officers for their respective districts. If the citizens of the UT of J&K have access to the list which was widely circulated on social media then designated personnel can also be contacted. The situation is overwhelming and new challenges are emerging every day. We as citizens need to aware and alert before using social media platforms. Our children should be the priority and their safety should be our primary concern. The government should be vigilant and immediate SOPs should be released for responding to the children in need of care and protection, their stigmatization and discrimination, protectable livelihoods, health facility and continued access to education. The world is grappling with a pandemic and we at home can easily handle this shadow pandemic only with correct information and alertness. So, BE AWARE BEFORE YOU SHARE! |
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