India - Women in Ritual Slavery in Southern India:
In Southern India women are initiated as Davadasis. The name varies depending on the province. Davadsi consists of marrying girls to a deity. They are then assigned to sexual exploitation by the deity's priests or devotees.
In the 1980s the government outlawed Davadasis rituals. Though initiation rates are in decline, it continues clandestinely. A high proportion of Davadasis are recruited into the sex trade.
Davadasi is considered a form of slavery under the United Nations convention on slavery. It also qualifies under a series of gross human rights violations under various treaties, including the 1989 Convention on Rights of the Child.
For more information, please see the Anti-Slavery Report "India - Women in Ritual Slavery in Southern India: Devadasi, Jogini, & Mathamma in Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh"
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