Why Women and Children - Wherever the Need

Why we work primarily with women and children in India:

46 percent of Indian children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition,

compared to 35 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and 8 percent in China. (1)

One in three malnourished children in the world live in India. (1)

300 million people in India live on less than a dollar a day. India has the largest

number of abject poor of any country in the world. (2)

12 million child workers are in India, representing 30 percent of the world’s

child workforce. (3)

One out of every five child deaths in the world occurs in India. Two and a

half million Indian children die each year. (4)

3 million prostitutes in India and 40 percent of them are children. (5)

53 percent of all Indian children are sexually abused. (6)

And primarily because of the dowry system, which requires the bride’s family to pay a huge ransom to the groom’s family, bankrupting poor and middle class families alike, females are being aborted or killed shortly after birth in staggering numbers. The sex ratio across India now stands at 927 girls for every 1000 boys and in some states the ratio is below 800 girls for every 1000 boys age 0 to 6 years.(7)

Factor in the sad phenomena of tens of thousands of bankrupt farmers who commit suicide each year leaving behind a destitute family and you can understand why Indian orphanages are filled to overflow with girl children.

References:

1. Times of India, Jeremy Page

2. “Continental Divide”, Newsweek, Nov. 21, 2005

3. “Labour Pains”, Hindustan Times, Oct. 11, 2006

4. “2.5 million children die, says report,” The Hindu, Dec. 26, 2005.

5. “Sexual slavery taints India’s rapid growth”, Associated Press

6. “Over 53% children face sexual abuse: Survey”, The Times of India, April 10, 2007

7. “Shocking slide in child sex ratio,” Sunday Times of India, Dec. 10, 2006

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