China's Children
Where children aren't cherished and wanted, they're abused. A disturbing story out of China about waves of child snatching. LA Times Link. Excerpts:
The reasons for the terrible growth industry in child trafficking are as varied as they are disturbing. In a country that earns millions of dollars a year from foreign adoptions, some children end up abroad. Others remain in the country, especially in rural China, where having a son is still seen as a must for inheritance, carrying on the family line and tending relatives' graves. But girls are also in demand in areas where men significantly outnumber women, as wives, caregivers for older relatives and for families that already have boys.
In the worst cases, activists and nongovernmental groups say, some are forced to work as prostitutes, maids or in begging rings.
China often balks at releasing embarrassing statistics, including the number of its youngest citizens abducted in front of schools, on streets and in busy markets. But experts say the problem is growing despite repeated efforts by the government to crack down on traffickers. China has disclosed that it rescued 3,488 abducted children in 2004, according to the official New China News Agency. Experts say those children are only a fraction of those lost. As the Cheng case suggests, many are not even recorded. . . .
Several other factors drive demand. Buying a boy and "legalizing" the adoption with bribes are often far easier than going through China's formal adoption system.
"The adoption law really needs to be reviewed," said Huang Jinxia of Save the Children China, who oversees pilot programs in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces in the south to educate teachers and students about abduction risks. "With the legal route blocked, many people say, 'Why not buy a child?' "
In addition, going through the black market is often less onerous than paying penalties for a second child under China's one-child policy. . . .
Those who snatch the kids can expect to get $36 to $60, according to confessions of those caught, still a substantial sum in a country where the average income is about $100 a month. Middlemen can sell them for $400 or more, with the end buyer paying upward of $1,200 for "substandard goods," or girls, and $2,000 for "quality goods," or boys.
