A child – friendly nation that guarantees the rights and protection of all children.

CHILDLINE 1098 is a phone number that spells hope for millions of children across India. It is a 24-hour a day, 365 days a year, free, emergency phone service for children in need of aid and assistance. We not only respond to the emergency needs of children but also link them to relevant services for their long-term care and rehabilitation

The vision of the CHILDLINE is A child – friendly nation that guarantees the rights and protection of all children.

Childline works for the protection of the rights of all children in general. But its special focus is on all children in need of care and protection, especially the more vulnerable sections, which include:

  • Street children and youth living alone on the streets
  • Child labourers working in the unorganised and organized sectors
  • Domestic help, especially girl domestics
  • Children affected by physical / sexual / emotional abuse in family, schools or institutions.
  • Children who need emotional support and guidance
  • Children of commercial sex workers
  • Child victims of the flesh trade
  • Victims of child trafficking
  • Children abandoned by parents or guardians
  • Missing children
  • Runaway children
  • Children who are victims of substance abuse
  • Differently-abled children
  • Children in conflict with the law
  • Children in institutions
  • Mentally challenged children
  • HIV/ AIDS infected children
  • Children affected by conflict and disaster
  • Child political refugees
  • Children whose families are in crisis

The Vision that Moulded CHILD-LINE

A child – friendly nation that guarantees the rights and protection of all children.

CHILDLINE in action

The activities of CHILDLINE include

  • The CHILDLINE team receives & responds to the calls
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Direct assistance: medical, shelter, protection from abuse, repatriation, death, missing children, intensive counselling
  • On phone: Emotional support and guidance, information and referral to services for the caller, information about CHILDLINE, silent calls
  • Long-term rehabilitation
  • After the emergency needs of the child have been addressed, CHILDLINE explores options with the child to study, learn a trade, go back home, etc. Based on the decision of the child, CHILDLINE links the child to an appropriate organization in the city.

At CHILDLINE, we follow an action process which starts at the first call and continues till the child in need of care and protection is safely rehabilitated. To put it simply, our work includes several stages which are:

  • Call 1098 – Any child or a concerned adult can dial the CHILDLINE 1098 toll – free helpline, which operates night and day.
  • Rescue in 60 minutes – Once CHILDLINE has enough details about child or children in distress, the CHILDLINE team rushes to help children within 60 minutes to bring children out of an emergency situation.
  • Intervention – Once CHILDLINE intervenes to help the child, it works with multiple stakeholders such as police authorities, child protection boards, social workers and counselors. Children’s consent and participation is an important component of this process from response to intervention.
  • Rehabilitation and Follow Up – After the interventions, to ensure the child’s continued safety, CHILDLINE proceeds to find long-term rehabilitation for the child. For this, the CHILDLINE team does constantly follow-ups with the child – meeting the family or visiting the shelter if a child has been assigned to stay in one.