Natural disasters like the 2008 floods in India leave children vulnerable to trafficking and many girls end up being "sold as brides", says a new report by a global child rights group.
"Post-disaster, human trafficking has become common in the region (South Asia) as increasing manmade conflicts and natural disasters leave the already poor even more vulnerable," says the study by global child rights group ECPAT International, supported by the Body Shop International.
The 2008 floods in Bihar - the worst in recent years - resulted in a "spurt in human trafficking from the region", said the report titled "Their Protection is in Our Hands: The State of Global Child Trafficking for Sexual Purposes".
Hundreds of children were "trafficked and forced to work as bricklayers, domestic servants", says the global study that was made available to the media here Wednesday.
Disasters lead to a breakdown of social institutions, making food securing and humanitarian supplies "difficult". This leaves women and children "vulnerable to kidnapping, sexual exploitation and trafficking", the report said.
"Many girls are sent to work in brothels or sold as brides in regions such as Punjab and Haryana where sex ratios are skewed in favour of men due to the practice of female foeticide and infanticide," the report said.
Children, mostly aged between seven and 14, are brought to India's urban centres and they end up as domestic workers or bricklayers or are employed in roadside eateries or small textile units embroidering expensive fabrics, the report said.
ECPAT - End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes - says it is working to encourage the world community to ensure that children everywhere enjoy their fundamental rights, free and secure from all forms of sexual exploitation.