Placing their hands on the shoulders of the person in front, dozens of teenage girls excitedly form a human train and chug around the sparsely furnished community hall in India’s southern city of Chennai.
Aged between 12 and 17, the girls - who are drawn from urban slums across the country - chatter, laugh and sing songs as the gathering gets underway. But within minutes a more sombre tone prevails as they settle cross-legged on the floor and begin to narrate the daily threats they face living in India’s slums.
Mandve is one of almost 50 girls - daughters of domestic workers or former child maids themselves - who gathered in Chennai this week as part of a nationwide campaign to help curb the abuse of children from low income urban homes.
Such children often live in densely packed slum areas, say activists, where they are at risk of physical and sexual violence, or exposure to alcohol, drugs and other crimes. The meagre income of their families, who are already teetering on the brink, often means a major expense such as medical fees for illness or a sudden debt can compel parents to make their children quit school and take up a job.
Led by the National Domestic Workers Movement, the campaign aims to help children of informal sector workers such as maids, nannies and drivers recognise threats, and equip them to better protect themselves.
Census data shows there were 4.35 million labourers aged between five and 14 in 2011 against 12.66 million a decade earlier - although activists say the figures are under-reported.
Most work in farming, toiling in cotton, sugarcane and rice paddy fields, or in the manufacturing sector, making products such as matchsticks, embroidering clothes or weaving carpets. Many children also work in the services sector - in restaurants and hotels or middle-class homes where they cook, clean and even take care of other children.
Organisers say the campaign provides a platform for children to confront sensitive issues ranging from child labour to sexual abuse and will empower them with information on the laws dedicated for their care and protection.
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