CHILD HELP LINE

 

CHILD HELP

Child

We’re here for you.

No matter what your troubles are, we will help you.

All you need to do is call us on 1098. If you find it easier you can ask for help here (click here).

Let us know what’s troubling you.

• Is someone hurting you?
• Are you being forced to work?
• Are you being sent far away from home?
• Are you feeling sick and nobody is there to care for you?
• Are you scared because you do not have a place to stay?
• Are you having trouble with the police or some authority like your school teacher?

We are here to help you no matter what your problems are.

All you need to do is:

• 

1. Dial 1098 or get in touch with us online (click here)
2. Provide the details to CHILDLINE India Foundation team and they will come to help you (your name and identity will be kept confidential)

Child Labour

The International Labour Organisation defines child labour as any work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, their dignity and one that is harmful to the physical and mental development of the child. It includes work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous to children. Work that interferes with a child’s ability to attend and participate in school fully by obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to try to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work is also child labour. It is both a cause and consequence of poverty. In India, a “Child” as defined by the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act of 2016 as a person who has not completed 14 years of age.

India sadly is home to the largest number of child labourers in the world. A growing phenomenon is children being used as domestic workers in urban areas. The conditions in which children work are completely unregulated and they are often made to work without food, with very low wages, resembling slavery. There are cases of physical, sexual and emotional abuse of child domestic workers. A Ministry of Labour notification has made child domestic work as well as employment of children in dhabas, tea stalls and restaurants “hazardous” occupations.Case Study

10 year old boy rescued from stall in front of a school

A case was registered on Child HELPLINE 1098 in which a caller informed that a boy was engaged in is doing child labour at a stall in front of a school. The caller had said that the child is a minor, around 10-11 years old. Then CHILDLINE team Ambala sent a letter to the Child Welfare Committee for further investigation. After few days, a committee was made to rescue the child. CHILDLINE team, District Child Protection Unit and Labour Department were the part of committee. The team raided that stall and rescued the 10 year old child, Aman. A medical examination of the child was done at the Civil Hospital in Ambala City and the child was presented before the Child Welfare Committee. The CWC ordered temporary shelter of the child in an Open Shelter Home at Ambala Cantonment until his parents were not found. Later the CHILDLINE team dropped the child to the Open Shelter Home. The next day, Aman’s family came to the CWC office and after checking their ID Proofs and document; the child was handed over to his parents. They were advised that Aman has to study, not of work. The CHILDLINE team told the parents to let him study and make his own future.

Abuse and Violence

Physical abuse means violence against children. It is any way of intentionally causing physical harm to a child such as slapping, hitting with an object, punching, kicking, shaking, throwing, biting and burning or scalding. Physical abuse is also when a child is neglected, meaning the caregivers don’t provide for basic needs of the child, like food or safety. It can also include poisoning or attempting to drown a child and causing a child to become unwell.Case Study

A safe shelter for a girl facing abuse by the relative

An 8-year old girl and her sibling had lost her mother and their father was not willing to take responsibility of his own children and used to send them to his relative’s places. Once he sent both children to their maternal aunt’s home. During an outreach of CHILDLINE team, the team was informed that the girl was very sick and appeared traumatised. She was admitted to the local hospital. The girl was diagnosed with malnutrition and weakness by doctors. They also noticed some burn marks on her private parts during examination. The team felt that the girl wanted to share something but was reluctant and fearful. The CHILDLINE team approached the local police station, Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the DCPO for intervention. But despite the efforts, both siblings refused to speak. CHILDLINE team wrote to CWC to provide a chance to counsel the girl child and then a CHILDLINE team counsellor spent a few days with her. After a few sessions focussing on building the girl’s confidence, she gradually began to confide and finally shared her trauma. She revealed that her maternal aunt used to burn various parts of her body, especially private parts, with a matchstick. She used to threaten the siblings that she would kill them if they will inform this to anyone. CHILDLINE team shared the details with the CWC and took the girl to the local police station to lodge an FIR against her maternal aunt. Police took immediate action and arrested the aunt. The siblings were placed in a Children’s Home by the CWC. Both children are learning to live a fearless life.

Sexual Abuse

The World Health Organisation has defined child sexual abuse as the involvement of a child in sexual activity as he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent, or that violates the laws or social taboos of society. It includes different sexual activities like fondling, inviting a child to touch or be touched sexually, intercourse, exhibitionism, involving a child in prostitution or pornography, or online child luring by cyber-predators.Case Study

Victim of sexual abuse provided with shelter and care

Manju, a seventeen-year old girl was staying with her unwell mother at her maternal uncle’s house. As per the child, she had been sexually exploited and tortured by her uncle. Though Manju shared the matter with her mother, she was told to not disclose further. Unfortunately, her mother died soon and then within a period of one year her uncle died too. She then came to stay with her elder sister. Manju was a student of class VII but due to continuous ill health, she discontinued school from January 2018. It was during this period that she visited a doctor and came to know that she is seven months pregnant. Police was informed and case under POCSO Act 2019 was registered. An unmarried girl being pregnant is a big social stigma in India and so when the matter came to light, her sister did not want to keep Manju in her house. The CHILDLINE team received the case from the local police station. The team met the child and visited her family. It was decided that arranging a safe shelter for the child was the immediate need. Accordingly, the case was presented before Child Welfare Committee (CWC) by CHILDLINE team. As per the CWC order, CHILDLINE team arranged for a safe shelter to provide her enough care until her delivery. The child is presently staying at shelter home, where proper medical attention is provided to her.

Child Trafficking

According to UNICEF a child victim of trafficking is any person under 18 who is recruited, transported, transferred, harboured or received for the purpose of exploitation, either within or outside a country. Female children are trafficked for marriage, sex-work, criminal activity, adoption and organ trade whereas male children are trafficked mainly for labour and exploited as beggars. Sometimes, trafficked children are also recruited into armed groups or for criminal activity.Case Study

A girl child saved from being trafficked

Meena, 14-year old had been trafficked from Gurugram to Itawain Uttar Pradesh. CHILDLINE team Aligarh received a call from Gabhana Police Station that a girl child was found. Project Coordinator and CHILDLINE team member reached the spot and met the child. On interrogation, it was revealed that a man named Kallan, who works nearby her home and was known to her parents had brought her there to show her a temple. But he had some other intentions as after their temple visit, he took her to an Ashram where they stayed a night and in the morning boarded a bus. The girl questioned the man but was scolded and made to stay silent. As the bus passed by Gabhana area, the man misbehaved with the child and she started crying. This alerted the bus driver and other passengerswho asked the girl and stopped the bus at Gabhana Police Station. They handed over the child and the man to the police. Gabhana Police arrested the man, called CHILDLINE team and handed over the childto the team for care and protection. CHILDLINE team Aligarh then searched for the child’s address and informed the concerned Police Station of Badshapur in Gurugram. It was found that child‘s father had already filed a missing person FIR. Then CHILDLINE team co-ordinated with Badshapur Police and contacted the Gabhana Police. The Badshapur Police arrived with the parents to Aligarh. They arrested the man and took him under their custody. CHILDLINE team presented the child and her parents to Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Aligarh. For the best interest of child, the CWC restored the child to her parents and transferred her case to Gurugram CWC for further trial and investigation.

Missing

Countless number of children go missing every year. The category of missing children include a number of possible reasons such as abduction or kidnapping of children by family members and by non-family members, run-away children or those forced to run away by family and surrounding circumstances, children who are in a difficult or aggressive environment, trafficked children or lost children. Missing children often end up on the streets in poverty.Case Study

Lost child found at railway platform

CHILDLINE team received a call from a Railway Police Force (RPF) PSI, who informed them about a missing child and asked for help. On the same day CHILDLINE team reached RPF Valsad, where they were informed that they found the child alone in an Ahmedabad passenger train. On enquiry, the child informed them that he was travelling with his uncle to Ajmer from Surat station, but his uncle had left him in the train. When asked for his Surataddress, he gave an address of Kadodra Char Rasta, Bhavani. CHILDLINE team Valsad immediately informed CHILDLINE team Surat to locate the address given by the child. CHILDLINE team Valsad along with RPF Valsad started the documentationprocess and presented the child to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The child was shifted to Children Home Dharasana with RPF protection on orders of the CWC. CHILDLINE team Valsad also got involved in locating the child’s home. Further coaxing resulted in the child sharing his brother’s contact detail with the superintendent of the Children Home. The CHILDLINE team called the number on the same day that they received it from the superintendent and informed his brother of the situation. They were also able to get their father’s contact number and address. The child’s father was contacted. The father expressed his inability to come to Valsad and requested that the child be handed over to his brother. This information was shared with the CWC. The brother took custody of the child after his documents were verified.

Child Health1. Physical Health and Nutrition:

India has one of the poorest health records in the world. Every third child in India is malnourished and the infant and child mortality rate of the country is still very high. The infant mortality rate is 63 deaths for every 1000 live births and of these 47% of the deaths occur within the first week after birth.

When it comes to food based schemes, rampant discrimination in these schemes and the society in general, leads to starvation deaths among women and children of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. According to research studies, Muslim children have the highest rate of stunting and second highest rate of being underweight. There is little access to health facilities for children with disabilities or HIV/AIDS and there are almost no services or programmes for children with mental health issues. India also has the highest TB prevalence in the world, every three out of four children have anaemia, and polio eradication is actually backsliding rather than improving.

Due to varying social sector budgets across the country, health indicators differ greatly. According to UNICEF India, over two million children die every year from preventable diseases. Measles is the largest cause of death among children which can be prevented by a vaccine. Tetanus, a serious disease in newborns remains a major problem Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Assam.Case Study

Saviour of a child’s life

A call was received from a local Civic Hospital informing that a 2 days old girl was suffering from stomach infection and needed immediate surgical intervention. The infant’s parents were uneducated and being from the economically weaker section, they could not capable to bear the cost involved with the surgery. CHILDLINE team co-ordinator met with the family and the concerned doctor to understand the case in detail and it was suggested by the doctor to move the infant to a better hospital. CHILDLINE team initiated the transfer of the baby to a tertiary hospital in the region as well as the cost for the treatment was also covered. Surgery of the infant was performed the next day. The baby had to remain in the hospital for a longer time as it was later identified that it had lung infection and a second surgery was performed after a fortnight. After recovery, the infant was discharged from the hospital. All the hospital bills and medicine costs were arranged by CHILDLINE team. The parents were happy to see their baby recovered from illness and thanked CHILDLINE team calling it the ‘saviour of their child’s life.’

2. Emotional and Mental Health:

Emotional abuse is continuous emotional mistreatment of children that arise from a non-supportive environment. This includes restricting movement, discriminations, mockery, threats, criticism, constant blaming, making a child perform degrading acts and manipulating a child. Emotional abuse is also the persistent neglect or ignoring of a child and failing to encourage a child’s social development. All these actions have a damaging effect on a child’s mental health.Case Study

Rescue of girl facing strained relations and forced abuse

A 16-year-old girl was in a relationship with a local man. When her father died due to illness, the man took her to his house and they began living together. Her brothers attempted to bring her back home but she refused citing poverty as the reason. Her brothers then shed all ties with her as the man was from a different caste. Initially she was happy with the man but soon he and his mother started to exploit her mentally and physically. She was forced into prostitution and when she resisted, she was locked in a small room for many days. She became weak, malnourished and mentally distressed. Some local people informed CHILDLINE team about the case. CHILDLINE team along with Child Welfare Committee (CWC), DCPO and the local police station rescued the girl. She was admitted in a district hospital as her condition had become critical and she remained unconscious for days. After she recovered, CHILDLINE team counselled her and she filed a complaint against the man and his mother. CHILDLINE team briefed the Superintendent of Police about the case and he instructed the police to file an FIR. The man and his mother were arrested. Meanwhile, the girl was shifted to a bigger hospital due to her deteriorating condition. During the last follow-up, the girl was found to be out of danger and trying to resume a normal life.

Addiction

The incidence of drug abuse among children and adolescents is higher than the general population. This is notably because youth is a time for experimentation and identity forming. Many street children use cheap drugs to cope with the daily cycles of sexual, physical and mental abuse or as recreation to escape a life of poverty. Heroin, Opium, Alcohol, Cannabis and Propoxyphene are the five most common drugs being abused by children in India. Children affected by substance abuse are considered as children in need of care and protection under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.Case Study

Substance abuse by a 14-year-old child

CHILDLINE team received a call which informed them about Raju, a 14-year-old destitute child living on the platform of Kharagpur railway station. Raju had left his home when he was seven and did not remember any details of his family other than that he was from Bihar. Raju earned his living by begging and sweeping trains. When CHILDLINE team met with him Raju was in a very bad shape. He suffered from malnutrition, was detected with tuberculosis and due to constantly inhaling ‘Dendrite’ (a popular glue inhaled by street children) he suffered from acute breathing problems. He was then referred to a hospital but the superintendent refused to give the child any free treatment. With the help of CHILDLINE team and other authorities Raju was treated for free. The boy was moved to a different hospital for a specialized treatment. Although recovered, Raju continued living and working on platform. CHILDLINE team linked him with a school for platform children where his case would be followed up in the long term.

Education related

In order to escape from poverty, earn livelihoods or make extra income many children in India forsake of their education and schooling. A large percentage of children never even attend school and if they do, they dropout or leave school early to work elsewhere. Due to these reasons, the literacy rate remains low and leaves many children vulnerable to social and economic exploitation.Case Study

Journey from child labour towards education for a brighter future

During an outreach, a CHILDLINE team member noticed two young boys working at a restaurant. The team member began conversing with the boys and found out that they were aged 15 and 16 years old and belonged to two different neighbouring villages. Both boys revealed that they go to school but also work on alternate days to get extra income. The CHILDLINE team co-ordinator counselled the boys and conveyed to them that their parents are working hard for them to study and not for them to labour. The coordinator advised the boys to focus on their education and study hard. The CHILDLINE team member made them understand that if they study hard, they would a get a well paying job four to five years down the line. Further, their employer was given CHILDLINE India Foundation pamphlets and informed about its services. The team members also made the employer aware about the offence of child labour and told him not to employ children. The vendor ensured that he would not employ children and would inform CHILDLINE India Foundation if some other person does. The CHILDLINE team co-ordinator visited the shop again but the boys were not found. Then the CHILDLINE team co-ordinator went to homes of both the boys and informed about services provided by them. The parents of one of the boy informed the CHILDLINE team co-ordinator that the child is in 9th standard and want him to be a police officer one day. The coordinator advised the child to focus on studies and fulfil his parent’s dream. When the coordinator met with the second boy’s mother, she requested the CHILDLINE member to visit the boy’s school and request his teacher to contact her in case the boy did not attend school. The CHILDLINE co-ordinator along with both boys visited their schools and met with their teachers. The teachers were requested to inform the homes of both boys if they don’t attend school. The teachers were informed about CHILDLINE India Foundation services and were requested to take care of the boys as well.

Child marriage

In India, child marriage has been practiced since ancient times where young children and teenagers are married off much before their physical and mental maturity. There are many reasons why some parents consent to child marriage and some of the reasons could be economic necessity, male protection for their daughters, child bearing, or oppressive traditional values and norms. According to UNICEF, child marriage is defined as a marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 and refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with a partner as if married.

In India, under The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 – a child has been defined as “a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age.” This act also declares that any marriage solemnised between children below the legal age limit is null and void. The act also provides punishments for various offences for allowing or conducting child marriages between minors or marrying minors with adults. Despite this, child marriage is still widespread across the nation. States like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh still have average age of marriage below the legal age of eighteen for females. States where child marriage is most prevalent are also those who have high population. Child marriage in India has grave implications for population control as adolescent brides are likely to have high fertility and a number of unwanted pregnancies.

Read More – Handbook on the Prohibition of Child Marriage ActCase Study

Timely intervention by CHILDLINE team managed to cancel the child marriage

CHILDLINE team received a call from a 16 years old girl from Mandya district in Karnataka informing that her family was marrying her off against her wishes. The girl was not willing to get married, so as a final hope to get out of marriage, she called CHILDLINE India Foundation 1098. After receiving information about the case, the CHILDLINE team visited the girl’s home along with the DCPU staff and the police. The team made her family aware about the adverse consequences of child marriage on the child’s mental and physical health and also about the law that it is illegal to marry a girl before 18 years of age. After a lot of discussion with the parents, they finally agreed to cancel the marriage at the moment. Later the CHILDLINE team presented the girl and her parents to Child Welfare Committee (CWC) with the case details and a written statement was taken from parents stating that they will not marry off their girl child until she reaches the age of marriage. But the child was not willing to stay with her parents, so she was provided shelter at government girls home. Timely intervention by CHILDLINE team managed to cancel the child marriage with the help of Police, DPCU and CWC.