Educate the children of sex workers

Parvez Babul

THE children of commercial sex workers in the brothel of Bangladesh are deprived from human rights and specially education. Because there are hundreds of children have been growing up in the brothel without proper care, education, food, shelter and basic needs. As a result, they are becoming bound to include their names as commercial sex workers. And being failure to be educated, doing any honorable job and rehabilitate their mothers, sisters, near and dear ones from the profession of sex work.

Recently, commercial sex workers organized a seminar and placed their demands to the government to fulfill. One of the demands was to provide education to their children. In fact, education is not an opportunity rather it’s a right to all children including the children of the sex workers; because they are human being too. United Nations has set a goal: ‘universal primary education’, one of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for all children to ensure education for all by 2015.

So, the government must ensure to practice the constitutional rights of all the children including the children of sex workers and ensure to enroll them in mainstream education so that they can complete higher studies. We know that no girl or woman becomes sex workers willingly; rather in most of the cases situation demands and especially for the cause of poverty, illiteracy, lack of awareness, betraying by the boy friends, lovers, husbands and relatives, trafficking and selling them in the brothel.

Taking the reasons in consideration, the government and voluntary organizations should take efforts for sustainable eradication of poverty, to educate all the children, prevent child labor, drop out and arrange vocational/ technical training for them to work in home and abroad. To make awareness to be aware about their human rights, to prevent trafficking of women and children, HIV/ AIDS, to solve many preventable problems and to have sustainable solutions–education, training and employment do not have any substitute. Education can help break the vicious cycle of so- called ‘bad luck’ of our girls and women, makes them able to take part in decision-making about their lives.

So, let us provide quality education to all the children to be self-reliant, empowered, quality teachers as well as leaders also to lead the trade union, political parties and run the country. And let them contribute in the development of the nation as human resource as same as the boys and men. They deserve these rights pursuant to our constitution. Parvez Babul is the associate editor of bdreport24.com and member of national girl child advocacy forum. Email: parvezbabul@gmail.com