Bangladesh's child population (under 18), comprising 45% of the total population are virtually unnoticed. They are vast untapped wealth that could be turned into effective manpower. Born mostly of poor parents, the male children supplement the meager income of the parents, while most female children in urban areas work as domestic help.

A big number of them fall into the clutches of child traffickers and end up in red light areas in the country or outside.

Many child domestic help live and work in conditions that are oppressive, exploitative, abusive and worse than adults would accept for the same work. The poignant part is that as they belong to the informal labour sector, thus they are excluded from legal protection, which makes them even more vulnerable. Most horrifyingly, around 22 to 50% of the 2.5 million people forced into labour after being trafficked are children.