Kolkata (West Bengal): Despite having knocked on several doors of West Bengal and Centre, children of sex workers are being denied rights in most of the red light areas in West Bengal.
Basically, they are being deprived of their right to education and health. A report prepared on the children of sex workers in several brothels in the state revealed the fact of deprivation of rights.
The report will be submitted to the United Nations soon. Before that, the draft report will be released in the youth festival at Darjipara Park in Sonagachi in the second week of March.
'Amra Padatik', an organisation of children of sex workers, will present the report. State Women Protection Child and Family Welfare Minister Shashi Panja, Rashbehari MLA Debashish Kumar and several public representatives are expected to attend the festival. Along with the presentation of the draft report, various cultural programs will be organised for three days.
As many as 300 child sex workers from 21 red light areas including North Bengal, Kolkata, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Asansol, Durgapur, among 56 red light areas in the state have been kept under observation for the past four years. There is a report on their various problems and daily life.
Program Coordinator Moushumi Chowdhury Dam said, "The children of sex workers in the red light area are being deprived of their rights, especially the right to health and education. Their mothers live in a small house. There they also do their business. Naturally, at that time, small children stay outside."
"At that time, they suffer psychological trauma and are subjected to various kinds of harassment. On the other hand, they are also having problems in their studies. They are being discriminated against in school. In a school in Kidderpore, two or three children of sex workers were insulted by the school teacher himself. The school teacher targeted them for stealing a student's book. The classmates taunted," added Dam.
"As a result, they are forced to hide their identity. Most of the time they don't want to go to school, playground. In general, children of the sex workers are deprived of most of the opportunities that kids from normal homes get," said Dam.
Mahashweta Mukherjee, Advocacy Officer of Durbar Women's Coordination Society, said, "It is not just a problem for children. Sex worker mothers also face various problems. The law is being violated. The administration or the government has been told about it several times. However, there is no solution. After submitting the report, if the United Nation (UN) does anything. I'm looking forward to that."
