UNICEF Warns of Growing Child Trafficking Problem in South A

 

By Anjana Pasricha

The United Nations is urging governments in South Asia to intensify¹ efforts to tackle the growing problem of child sexual exploitation. UNICEF says the problem has worsened since South Asian governments joined a global drive to stop trafficking in children in 2001.

The number of women and children being trafficked and sold into the sex trade or domestic service in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and India is on the rise.

UNICEF's regional director for South Asia, Sadiq Rasheed, calls it "one of the blights² of South Asia."

"The situation as we see it … is one of increased trafficking, increased abuse and increased commercial sexual exploitation. I would characterize the situation as one of nothing less than modern-day slavery." (Mr. Rasheed says.)

UNICEF is holding a three-day meeting this week in Sri Lanka to review the progress of a global campaign to stop child trafficking, which began three years ago. The United Nations agency says that instead of improving, the situation is becoming more serious.

It says conflicts in places such as Afghanistan and Nepal have aggravated³ the problem, as tens of thousands of displaced young people are lured⁴ or pushed into the sex trade when they go in search of safety and work.

Most of the trafficking happens within the region. It is estimated that at least half a million Bangladeshi women and children have been trafficked to India and Pakistan in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese children and women are working in Indian cities.

Mr. Rasheed says criminals who entice⁵ young boys and girls into the sex market have widened their network to meet the demand of what he calls a "rapacious⁶ market." He says the region's widespread poverty worsens the situation.

"Most of these girls and boys come from communities, which are very poor, communities in which girls and boys see very little opportunity for progress and for a better life they could look for. They come from communities, also, which have shown instances of abuse within the family."

UNICEF is urging governments to work harder to enforce laws, and step-up border collaboration⁷. Mr. Rasheed says countries must also address the problems that promote trafficking - poverty, lack of education and skills among young people and the widespread discrimination faced by girls in the region.

"This is an issue, which cannot be swept under the carpet. Governments have to come clean here, in the sense, they have to admit that there is a problem here and deal with it."

More than one-third of the estimated 1.2 million women and children trafficked each year come from Asia.

Anjana Pasricha, VOA news, New Delhi.
注释：
Intensify 加强
Bangladesh 孟加拉国
Nepal 尼泊尔
aggravate 使恶化，加重
entice 诱惑
rapacious 贪婪的，掠夺的
collaboration 协作，通敌

1 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

2 blights   

使凋萎( blight的第三人称单数 )； 使颓丧； 损害； 妨害

参考例句：

• The crops suffered from frequent blights. 农作物经常遭受病虫害。
• New England was accustomed to didacticism in its literature, and unmitigated didacticism blights the novel. 新英格兰习惯于在文学里说教，可是一味说教，小说就要完蛋。

3 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

4 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

5 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

6 rapacious   

adj.贪婪的，强夺的

参考例句：

• He had a rapacious appetite for bird's nest soup.他吃燕窝汤吃个没够。
• Rapacious soldiers looted the houses in the defeated city.贪婪的士兵洗劫了被打败的城市。

7 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。