Our Work in South Asia
Trafficking into forced prostitution victimises more children in India than anywhere else in the world. Though trafficking is explicitly prohibited in the Indian constitution as well as other aspects of Indian law, enforcement has been weak due to the limitations of the country’s overburdened judicial system. The result is massive trafficking of children and women, both within India and across its borders.
South Asia is home also to the world’s largest population of slaves. The substantive laws in India outlawing forced labour are especially clear. However, slavery and forced labour remain deeply entrenched systemic problems. The primary factor that allows slavery to persist is a fractured public justice system lacking the capacity to extend the protections of the law to exploited slaves. Other factors that can increase vulnerability to slavery for victims include the disempowering social structures of dowry, poor credit access and inadequate social security. The forced labour system is present in many industries, but whether it is in a brick kiln, rice mill, salt mine or another industry, perpetrators who violate Indian laws to compel the labour of others infringe upon citizens’ most fundamental rights.
Muthu’s Story
Muthu* was eight years old when he was sent to work in a brick kiln by his family. His work at the kiln was both gruelling and dangerous: his task was to mix the clay – which often contained hidden shards of glass – by working it into a soft paste with his bare feet. For this work, Muthu received just a few pence per day for food; he was not allowed to leave the kiln or take time off, and was subject to the physical abuse of the mill owner. Muthu remained trapped in slavery for 15 years, working endless hours through sickness and injury.
Muthu was released from slavery when IJM and local government officials acted to free the labourers held in the brick kiln. Upon their release, Muthu, his wife – whom he had married in the kiln – and his young son were given official certificates from the government verifying their status as emancipated slaves and entitling them to government assistance. With the money provided to him by the government upon his release, Muthu opened his own brick kiln. Today, he employs several family members, along with several members of the community and pays them all fair wages.
