The Indian Police have rescued some young girls, while conducting raids in the eastern city of Kolkata. They were reportedly forced into prostitution by criminals! The Police are of the opinion that criminals use the social media to exploit young girls. Indeed, the matter is worrisome…
In the past, sex workers in major Indian cities formed their own associations in order to keep their profession relatively free from crime. They did not allow minor girls to come to the Red Light Districts. However, the growing popularity of digital media makes it difficult for those associations to control criminal activities. As a result, the teenage girls become more vulnerable as targets!

According to the Police, 14-15-year-old girls are being cheated while looking for jobs, or by their friends! Continuous torture or imprisonment prompt them to accept prostitution as a profession. A senior Police Officer, who wished to remain anonymous, has said that criminals are using cell phones and digital technology at various levels… to contact those teenage girls, to attract them by making false assurances, etc. Criminals are also sending various information about teenage girls to customers via digital technology, apart from forcing those girls to commit sexual acts by blackmailing them, stating that their obscene photographs were liable to get distributed online, had they not come to terms with the situation…
However, one cannot blame the technological advancement for the increase in number of crimes against teenagers! The society has created such an atmosphere so that it becomes easier for the criminals to target young girls. In a conservative Indian society, parents often tend to impose bans on almost everything that create interests among their children, making those things strictly prohibited! Parents not only consider all questions about sexuality as offensive, but also advise their children not to make friendships with opposite sex! Therefore, a child cannot share her/his emotions with her/his parents in India. And, some of the perpetrators take advantage of this situation, victimising the teenagers.

So… children should be provided with ample Freedom! Else, the society cannot resist the criminals. Sex education and knowledge about social media from childhood should be a must! It’s important for children to know how criminals use the social media and how to take precautionary measures to ensure their own safety. Digital Security is an essential part of Digital Literacy. This is the right of all children. At the same time, children should be taught to feel confident about their bodies and dignity!
In some private schools, teachers have started sensitising pupils about the bad touch, and also advised them how to deal with it. Indeed, it’s an excellent initiative. One should remember that child-trafficking is such a profitable profession, it is really difficult to eliminate those criminals. The only way to fight the evil is to empower children with proper knowledge.

A child should be concerned about her/his own body, should be aware of her/his dignity, and should be beware of using the social media!

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das