Actress from Slumdog Millionaire Up for Sale

Nine-year old Indian actress Rubina Ali who played the youngest version of Latika, the female lead, in the film Slumdog Millionaire is reportedly for sale by her father.

In a bid to escape India's real-life slums, Rafiq Qureshi put angel-faced darling of the Oscars Rubina up for adoption, demanding millions of rupees worth £200,000.

Her uncle told undercover reporters, "Obviously if you wanted to adopt we could discuss this, but her parents would also expect some proper compensation in return." In another phone call, father Rafiq coolly confirmed: "Whatever you have discussed with Rajan, I agree with. Whatever money is agreed by Rajan, I will accept.

"We can discuss everything about this deal when we meet. There's a lot of interest in Rubina, she's become very famous."

Without querying the background, intentions, or even the names of Rubina's prospective new parents, Rafiq arranged to meet us.

And as soon as we said the wealthy family lived in the United Arab Emirates Rafiq suggested: "We would love to come there.

"I have never been there but I have seen it in Indian films. It looks a great place."

Trafficking of poor Indian children to the Middle East, where they are forced to risk their lives as camel jockeys or subjected to sexual abuse, is common in the Mumbai slums.

It is common all over South Asia.

A brother sold both his sisters because he could not pay his debts. His younger sister was only nine years old. He was not aware of the darkness in which he was pushing his sisters and today he does not know where they are and what happened to them. More than one lakh Nepali girls are working in prostitution houses. They are bought from Kathmandu and sold in Mumbai.

Poverty is not the only cause that forces girls to become prostitutes. An eleven-year-old girl was raped by four men who were 35 years of age and above. To solve the matter, one of them offered to marry her. As a result of trafficking, many girls eventually land up in prostitution houses.

Girls once bought are taken to Delhi where they are taught how to dress up and apply make up. Television and radio have a huge impact on naïve girls. They too want to wear nice clothes and lead the glamorous lives that the people in television are living. Therefore to fulfil their dreams they are talked into taking up prostitution.

But trafficking of young girls is certainly not limited to Asia. Atlanta is a global hub for human trafficking, and is the capital of sex trafficking in the United States. Instead of traveling to Thailand to have sex with a child, many men simply come to Atlanta. They are picked up at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport by a pimp who takes them to have sex with a child slave. They are then dropped back at the airport and fly back home to have dinner with their family the same night.

To learn more about human trafficking, here and abroad, visit HumanTrafficking.org.

Save Funding for Girls who have been Prostituted

From the Interfaith Children's Movement:

During this year's Georgia legislative session, one of ICM's proudest accomplishments was helping win inclusion of $560,000 for a Regional Assessment Center for prostituted adolescent girls. The center opened in June with 12 beds and already has a waiting list. On average, one girl a week is referred for help.

Now the $560,000 you helped secure for the Regional Assessment Center is frozen. Without action the program will run out of funds in 3 months.

Because of the state budget shortfall, the Regional Assessment Center is one of the programs being recommended for elimination.

In September the Governor will decide what state program cuts become final. We have a small window of opportunity to raise concerns about cutting 100% of 2009 funds for this critical program.

We need services and programs for children who have been prostituted, because metro-Atlanta has become a national hub for the prostitution of adolescent girls, with the trafficking of girls from across the state and across the nation becoming an ever-increasing problem. Right now, child-victims are sent to Youth Detention Centers (YDC) because enough appropriate services do not exist.

The Regional Assessment Center needs your help.

1. Write or call Governor Perdue to restore funding for the Regional Assessment Center.
2. Call, write, e-mail or visit with your senator and representative in the Georgia General Assembly.
3. Write or call the members of the Joint Committee on Child Sexual Exploitation.

Information on making these contacts can be found here.

More information on the sexual exploitation of children in Atlanta can be found here.

Children hurting children

On January 3rd, a group of teenagers (ranging from 15 to 19 years of age) was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas for allegedly running a forced prostitution ring.

According to Lieutenant Ken Dean, the gang members targeted runaways and girls in otherwise unstable homes. If the girls refused to cooperate, they were beaten and sexually assaulted. The gang would also threaten the girls' families. Detectives have found five victims ranging from 12 to 16 years of age, but they suspect there are more.

"The age of the victims and suspects is the surprising part of it," Dean said."To have such young individuals in a somewhat organized business, a forced prostitution ring, is somewhat alarming and such a horrendous crime against the 12- to 16-year-old girls."

This tragic story further illustrates the trend of violence against women growing younger and younger. In November, The Big Picture brought you the story of two boys ages 8 and 9 who were charged with raping an 11 year old girl. We also talked to you about the growing epidemic of forced pregnancy as an abusive tactic used by teen boys.

In March 2006, Liz Claiborne Inc. commissioned a study on violence within teen dating relationships. The results, reported by The National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, are not encouraging.

The results show that alarming numbers of teens experience and accept abusive behavior in dating relationships. Many teens also feel physically and sexually threatened.

-1 in 5 teens who have been in a serious relationship report being hit, slapped or pushed by a partner.

-1 in 3 girls who have been in a serious relationship say they've been concerned about being physically hurt by their partner.

-1 in 4 teens who have been in a serious relationship say their boyfriend or girlfriend has tried to prevent them from spending time with friends or family; the same number have been pressured to only spend time with their partner.

-Nearly 1 in 4 girls who have been in a relationship (23%) reported going further sexually than they wanted as a result of pressure.

These revelations concerning violent behaviors illuminates the urgency of our message. If not for ourselves, then for our children, society must take a clear stand that domestic violence will not be tolerated.

TV Show Seeking to Exploit Battered Women

We received the following email this morning:

Recently the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence has become aware of a new television show that appears to be seeking to exploit battered women.

Last month GCADV received a fax on letterhead from the Jerry Springer Show endorsing The Steve Wilkos Show, a nationally syndicated television show. In the letter, Mr. Wilkos described himself as a passionate former police officer and military man cares about tough issues such as domestic violence. He stated that he intended to highlight the issues of battered women during DV Awareness Month. He also asked for us to refer to him women interested in telling their stories on national television. The fact that this came on Jerry Springer’s letterhead caused GCADV to elect not to distribute the appeal.

This week, the Steve Wilkos Show sent another appeal (attached). The show now wants to find battered women who have made the decision to leave their batterer. They want to film the entire act of leaving and they want to “confront” the batterer. Producers, allegedly lead one shelter program to believe that during the “escape” the children would be left behind, although this is not evident in the advertisement.

You can get a hint of the Springer-like atmosphere of the show by going to his website and watching a short clip. In his myspace page, it is apparent that Mr Wilkos intends to build his new show around the misfortunes of others and make himself look like a rescuer.

GCADV believes this show can be dangerous for battered women.

In the event you are notified by the Steve Wilkos Show, we encourage you to refuse to discuss helping them find victims (of any sort). We also believe it will be effective for all programs to become pro-active and get as many people as possible to call NBC Universal. The number is 312-321-5936. Ask for Associate Producer April Altenritter. The FAX is 312-321-5363. The Assistant is Tanya at 312-321-5373. Please express disgust over using victims for commercial gain. To be effective, it will take a lot of calls.

If you have any questions or concerns that we can answer or research, please do not hesitate to call GCADV at 404-209-0280.