Child trafficking victims given sexual hormone for prostitution in India
India's national newspaper reported this morning that hundreds of children are trafficked to Amur, Rajasthan region from Delhi and other regions in India. According to the report, girls as young as six month old are trafficked into the villages, where they were given sexual hormone shots, oxytocin, to accelerate their sexual maturity to enter prostitution. Though the media team found many trafficked victims in different households, the Rajasthan police denied the allegation. But, when four girls trafficked from Delhi were rescued in Alwar, Rajasthan, earlier this month, the police reported a sex trafficking ring operation in Rajasthan region.
Oxytocin, a growth hormone for sexual arousal
Oxytocin is a hormone which increases feelings of love, trust and sexual arousal. It is also used by farmers and ranchers to grow vegetables and increase the amount of cow milk. Currently, oxytocin is not regulated by the government in India. Many unregistered local male practitioners and auxiliary nurse-midwives therefore freely give oxytocin shots to the birth giving mothers during home deliveries.[1] India Today suspects that the victims were given the oxytocin used for animals and vegetation.According to the report, though the village has no ranch, oxytocin is readily available for anyone in the village.
Tradition of Prostitution in Rajasthan
Rajasthan has a long tradition of prostitution. Women of Bedia caste in the region historically worked as dancers and prostitutes for feudal lords. When the feudal system was abolished, women remain in prostitution business for economic reasons. One woman testified that her ancestors initiated sex trade by placing their daughters for prostitution. According to her words, one man in the past developed the rules and regulations for sex trade, which legitimized the practice and caused it to be widely spread throughout the caste in the region. Adolescents girls "initiated into the family tradition of prostitution while their brothers became agents."[2] They have also been sold bigger cities in India and Middle eastern countries for prostitution in the past. Therefore, sex trafficking of young girls is neither new nor a strange concept to these villagers. One villager in fact confirmed to the India Today that "prostitution is a tradition in his community."
Ongoing child trafficking and prostitution
Researchers and advocates have recognized the problem with child prostitution and trafficking in the region a long time ago. In 1984, teenage girls from Rajasthan were trafficked out of the region for forced prostitution. They were assaulted and raped for multiple times until they submitted themselves to the traffickers. In 1999, one scholarly research reported that child prostitution has increased for 15 years. Still, an organization like Narvanavan Foundation gives the villagers a glimpse of hope. They actively have been working against sex trafficking of children in the region for a long time before anyone else has ever paid attention to these victims. Though it has been a long and slow process, the fruit of their efforts definitely show some progress. The organization has helped men to find jobs so that they will not force women into prostitution for economic reasons. They also educate children in order to change pimping and prostitution culture among the young generation. But, today's trafficking report reveals that further support is still very much in need. Perhaps now is the time for the rest of India and the world to stop turning a blind eye to these victims.
