India at a glance
The Republic of India is a South Asian country made up of 29 states, with New Delhi as its capital. It shares borders with six countries: Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. India has a great diversity of customs, traditions and languages, Hindi being the most widely spoken. With a current population of 1.21 billion, it is the second most populous country and the seventh largest in the world. It is a vast country and one of the leading developing nations. Although the country has shown remarkable economic growth, averaging 7.3% over the last five years, it continues to face challenges similar to those of the other BRICS countries: high growth rates accompanied by persistent poverty and inequality. This inequality is reflected in the low level of human development among the most marginalised groups, including lower castes, tribal and rural populations, women, transgender people, people living with HIV and migrants. Despite India’s significant progress in reducing poverty, expanding access to education and managing HIV, the results remain uneven. Indian children still face some of the harshest conditions in the world, with high rates of malnutrition (stunting), child labour, forced begging and childhood illnesses such as diarrhoeal diseases.
Status of children’s rights
There are 472 million children under the age of 18 in India, representing 39% of the country’s total population. A significant share (29%) of them are children aged 0 to 6. In addition, 73% of children in India live in rural areas and often have limited access to basic needs such as nutrition, health care, education and protection. The high proportion of children living in rural areas often has negative consequences for their access to fundamental rights. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (Act of 2005, amended in 2006) has had some impact on promoting children’s rights in India, particularly with regard to eliminating child labour and protecting young people. The Commission’s mandate is “to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes and administrative mechanisms are in consonance with the child rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”, adopted in 1989. Promoting children’s rights is clearly a government priority in India, enshrined in the Constitution and protected by legislation. Nevertheless, children in India continue to face obstacles to enjoying these rights, particularly with regard to access to education, forced labour and child marriage. Since children make up 39% of a population of 1.21 billion, it is imperative that their rights be respected.
- Population: 1.2 billion
- Pop. aged 0–14: 28.9%
- Life expectancy: 66.4 years
- Under-5 mortality rate: 38‰
Child-sensitive social protection
Social protection is essential to prevent and reduce child and family poverty, to tackle inequality and to realise children’s rights. It is also vital that social protection programmes address children’s vulnerabilities by maximising positive effects and minimising potential harm. Child-sensitive social protection offers an opportunity to tackle chronic poverty, social exclusion and external shocks that can affect children irreversibly. This is particularly important for children living in rural areas, who often face greater vulnerabilities made worse by their living conditions. As only 27% of Indian children live in urban areas and an overwhelming 73% live in rural areas, it is important to widen children’s access to social protection programmes. Accordingly, child-sensitive social protection (CSSP) programmes in India are supported by Save the Children, UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Welfare. The aim is to promote and realise children’s rights by ensuring that social protection measures lead to meaningful investment in children.
Meeting children’s needs
Right to health
Access to health care is a key indicator of respect for children’s rights. In India, nearly one million children die before the age of five, around 39 deaths per 1,000 live births. Women and children are the most likely to be disadvantaged in accessing health services such as maternal and newborn care. Only 1 in 3 Indian women receives regular antenatal care. In rural areas, barely 37% of births are attended by skilled health personnel. India has more than 204 million undernourished people, and Indian children remain the hardest hit. Children in India often face a high prevalence of stunting, with rates reaching 39%. In response, the government has launched a large awareness campaign to educate the population on the importance of a varied and balanced diet.
Children also face other challenges, including a high incidence of HIV infection (3,700 new infections among children) and a lack of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. The latter results from the unequal distribution of comprehensive health services for women and children across rural states.
Right to education
Access to education remains a major and highly problematic barrier to realising children’s rights in India. India still has the largest number of illiterate people in the world, with 287 million adults, the largest such population globally and 37% of the world total. Although India’s literacy rate rose by 15% between 1991 and 2006, subsequent population growth has kept the total number of illiterate people high. Despite India’s efforts to devote 10.5% of its total public spending to education, its decentralised system means that rich states can spend far more on education than poor ones. For example, a wealthy state such as Kerala spent $685 per person per year on education, while a poorer state such as Bihar spent only $100. This unequal distribution of education further marginalises children, especially those living in rural areas.
Discrimination linked to the caste system, as well as discrimination against women, also persists, marginalising millions of young Indians within the education system. Even so, the Indian government is seeking solutions so that all Indians, young and old, can benefit from high-quality education and illiteracy can be overcome. Despite persistent problems, India can be proud of the considerable progress it has made in its education system.
Since 2009, Humanium has worked with local partners in India to put children’s rights into practice, opening residential special training centres for former child labourers, promoting “child-friendly villages” and running various projects supporting higher education. These projects aim to end child labour through education, improve life in entire villages in rural areas and provide financial support so that young people from disadvantaged families can pursue higher education.
Right to life
The Indian Constitution of 1950 affirms that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” and that “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty…”. Despite this fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution, children’s life, survival and development remain matters of concern in India.
Thousands of children lose their lives every day, not only because of poverty but also because female infanticide is practised with impunity. The main threat to Indian children’s right to life stems from female infanticide, a cultural practice that persists. In fact, every day thousands of Indian baby girls die before they are even born, or lose their lives because they are not wanted or accepted by their families. Several factors contribute to female infanticide, including the dowry system, which makes daughters “an unaffordable economic burden”.
To deal with this problem, many Indian families resort to sex-selective abortion of female foetuses (foeticide). More alarming still, when the birth of the child cannot be avoided, families kill the babies by drowning, poisoning, suffocation or deliberate neglect leading to the child’s death.
The reality is even more frightening: worldwide, 117 million girls are demographically “missing” because of sex-selective abortions, and in India 9 abortions of female foetuses take place every minute. Moreover, because of sex-selective abortions, India ranks fourth among the countries with the most unbalanced sex ratio, with 112 males for every 100 females.
Right to protection and freedom of expression
In India, a child has the right to be protected from neglect, exploitation and abuse, at home and elsewhere. Children have the right to protection from abuse, exploitation, violence, neglect, commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour and harmful traditional practices, to name but a few. Yet according to a government study conducted in 2007, more than 69% of children aged 5 to 18 are victims of abuse. Many of them face humiliation and violence every day.
More than half of the abuse inflicted on children is committed by people close to the child who are in a position of trust and authority. In Indian families, parents have absolute authority over their children. This strict discipline is also found at school: one study found that 65% of schoolchildren had suffered corporal punishment from teaching staff.
One factor contributing to the neglect of children stems from cultural values that give little weight or room to children’s words and opinions. As a result, no Indian legislation specifically mentions this right, and education focuses on the respect children owe to adults.
To fully realise children’s right to protection, a different attitude towards children and their needs is required. It is also necessary to invest in educating and training caregivers and educators on children’s fundamental right to protection, and to prosecute those who neglect it.
Although Article 2 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the right not to be discriminated against, including on the basis of sexual orientation, the LGBTQ+ community has historically been a target of discrimination in India. This was mainly due to a 157-year-old colonial-era law (Section 377) that criminalised certain sexual acts with a penalty of 10 years in prison. This law not only deprived LGBTQ+ children of their fundamental rights but also exposed them to harassment, isolation and violence.
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of India ruled that same-sex relations are no longer a criminal offence, overturning a 2013 judgment that had upheld the law known as Section 377. The Court ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a fundamental violation of rights. It further stated that “the State has no right to control the private lives of members of the LGBT community, and denying the right to sexual orientation is the same as denying the right to privacy”. In India, this decision is a huge victory for the LGBTQ+ community and, worldwide, an inspiration showing that change is possible in countries that still criminalise homosexuality.
Right to identity
Another important factor in realising children’s rights is giving effect to their right to identity and registration. India has one of the highest rates of unregistered children in the world. Only 41% of births are registered. There is a large gap between urban and rural areas: 59% of urban children under five are registered, compared with only 35% in rural areas. This creates serious difficulties for these children, as they cannot benefit from child-sensitive social protection services and programmes and thus remain invisible to society.
Risk factors → Country-specific challenges
Poverty and access to water
Since 1991, India has experienced strong economic growth. This often spectacular development offers new hope for human rights and social development. However, given India’s large population, many people continue to live in deep poverty. The country is marked by strong inequalities between regions and population groups. Children are the hardest hit by poverty and social inequality. A major factor contributing to this poverty is the lack of safe drinking water. Water is needed for drinking and farming, and is essential to stop the spread of diseases caused by inadequate sanitation. These diseases often lead to fatal childhood illnesses.
Even though 96% of the urban population has access to safe drinking water, 73% of Indian children live in rural areas, where access to safe water remains a considerable problem: 20% of the rural population does not always have access to drinking water. As a result, children living in these areas are the most exposed to water-related health problems.
In addition, children suffering from a lack of water lose the chance to grow up in a healthy environment, because neither their homes nor their schools meet minimum hygiene standards. Tackling poverty, the unequal distribution of water and other social inequalities is crucial to realising children’s rights.
Child labour
In recent years, India has stepped up its efforts through programmes to combat child labour. The main factors contributing to the problem are lack of food, extreme poverty and social and economic circumstances. Other contributing factors include a lack of awareness of the harmful effects of child labour and a lack of access to quality education and basic vocational training.
A recent analysis of the country’s census data shows that child labour has fallen overall by only 2.2% per year over the last 10 years. It also revealed that child labour has increased by more than 50% in urban areas.
Children under the age of 14 often work full days cutting paving stones, stitching shoes and footballs, rolling cigarettes and incense sticks, embroidering clothes, making handicrafts, packaging and sticking on labels, to name just a few examples. Child labour is often the result of adult unemployment or low parental wages, which force children to contribute to household income.
Children forced to work instead of going to school are denied the chance to develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and psychologically. India has one of the youngest populations in the world, yet more than 42.7 million children are out of school.
Child abuse
Child sexual abuse is a grim and widespread reality in India that harms children’s health and well-being. Statistics show that every 15 minutes a child is sexually abused. According to research, child sex offenders can be divided into two groups. The first group represents around 60% of officially known offenders and shows no disorder of sexual preference, but sexually abuses children for various reasons. The other group consists of those with a disorder of sexual preference, namely paedophilia.
Individual factors such as low socio-economic status, the death of a parent or husband, and being born to a sex worker are pathways into the sex trade. Early experience of sexual abuse has also been documented as a risk factor for re-victimisation and for entry into sex work. Lack of adequate family support, a family or personal history of mental illness and exposure to sexual images within the family were some of the other potential risk factors.
In addition, poor sanitation and low safety for women have also been found to be community-level factors that increase the risk of sexual abuse. The health consequences of child sexual abuse can be grouped into mental, physical, behavioural and interpersonal health. Children who are victims of sexual abuse are at high risk of psychiatric disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorders, suicidal behaviour and depression.
Child marriage
In India, the percentage of girls married before the age of 16, and before 18, fell over the 20-year period from 1992 to 2012. The average age at marriage is 16.6 years. There is evidence suggesting that child labour may in itself increase the risk of child marriage. Furthermore, girls married as children were less likely to have been enrolled in secondary school. At the age of 15, only 40% of girls married as children were still in school, compared with 86% of girls not married by the age of 18.