Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

NGO and Governmental interventions with children in living in red light districts of India have mostly focused on their “rescue’ and rehabilitation. Services for these children have been contextualized within the dominant notions of what constitutes ideal childhoods”. Children’s experiences of growing up have received very little attention from practitioners and policy makers. This study looks at childhoods as socially constructed phenomena. It uses a historical perspective to understand how the young adults (whose mothers are/were sex workers) understood their childhoods. Using a phenomenological approach it looks are childhoods including physical spaces, schooling and social spaces as constructed by the young adults. The study also brings out significant findings and recommendations for practitioners working with children in difficult circumstances.