Adv Dr Shalu Nigam
Despite the existence of child rights norms, today, the world is violating child rights and robbing young children of their childhood. Childhood is weaponised and exploited, depicting the decay of moral conscience.
The Epstein files revealed how a global network preyed on toddlers and young kids. They were trafficked, enslaved, and abused. Simultaneously, in the ongoing wars and aggression, children are being specifically targeted. Airstrikes and missile attacks are horrifically killing thousands of children. Many die from hunger and disease. The purpose is to terrorise communities.
In these situations, children are treated as pawns for power, control, and profit. They are being dehumanised for personal gains. Wealth and authority protect the guilty, while society looks away. This is not just a tragedy. It is worse than that. It is a moral failure. Children are the future. Making them deliberately suffer indicates the decay of humanity.
If humanity fails to act now, if it fails to protect the innocent, it will be a betrayal of the world’s promise to protect its future. The moral compass of humanity calls the world to take urgent action and stop this tyranny and oppression.
Where Has Humanity’s Conscience Gone?
Recent events, from global conflicts to revelations in the Epstein files, paint a troubling picture of humanity’s moral decay. Children are the most vulnerable members of society. Society is duty-bound to safeguard their innocence. However, today they are increasingly being targeted, exploited, and sacrificed at the altar of muscle, money, and military power. This dehumanisation shows a collapse of the ethical and moral framework of society.
In early 2026, the release of 3.5 million pages of Jeffrey Epstein’s files revealed a horrifying truth of preying on children’s vulnerability. Children as young as 11 and possibly toddlers were systematically exploited as commodities. Epstein and his associates groomed vulnerable kids and indulged in the crime of sexual slavery, trafficking, and enforced disappearance with impunity. They were leveraged for control, silenced through trauma, and trapped in the exploitative system fueled by wealth and power. The system deployed manipulation and depraved tactics to silence victims. The abusers and exploiters operate across borders without fear of the rule of law. UN experts warned that these acts may constitute crimes against humanity.
Simultaneously, in the war and conflict zones, children have been specifically targeted. They bear the brunt of hostilities among nations. In March 2026, a missile strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran killed hundreds of innocent children. Disguised as defenders of women’s rights, those in power, ironically, directly attacked the school where young girls aged 7 to 12 were studying.
Across Gaza, Lebanon, and other regions, airstrikes and missile attacks devastated young lives. To satisfy their greed, the war industry is producing destructive tools, and the powerful are using these to inflict pain and suffering upon innocent children.
The strategy of specifically targeting schools and hospitals is designed to destabilize societies and erase cultural identities. Thousands of children are denied food and essential aid, forcing them to suffer from diseases, malnutrition, and starvation. They are exposed to unbearable trauma. Girls bear the overwhelming majority of enforced abduction and sexual violence.
Whether in war or criminal exploitation, a similar pattern is followed. Children are treated as pawns to instill fear, enforce control, break collective morale, or achieve selfish goals. They are treated not as humans with rights but as instruments for gain. Their innocence is weaponized. Their silence bought, and their futures stolen. Power and greed override protection and justice, revealing a global failure to safeguard humanity’s most powerless beings. The abusers exploited the vulnerability of children either to terrorise, exploit, or gain military and financial advantage.Wealth and power shield perpetrators.
In all these situations, global human rights norms and the child rights norm are blatantly being violated. Children rely on adults for protection. But today, they are repeatedly sacrificed by the system that prioritises power over justice. The manipulation of trust, whether for political, military, or personal gain, highlights a moral and ethical failure of society. The promise to uphold children’s rights is being shredded into pieces. Society is complicit. It is silently witnessing children becoming targets.
These horrific situations raise significant questions: why are the young ones being exploited, abused, targeted, and harmed? What is the world doing to keep its promise to safeguard its future? Why is the global society silent when all the codes of humanity are being broken?
Every nation, community, institution, family, and individual must think and reflect on the answers to these questions. To reclaim humanity currently under siege by those in power, it is important to act and protect the voiceless.
Restoring the moral compass of humanity begins with recognizing this betrayal of the social and moral fibre of society. If humanity fails to rise, if it fails to act, if it fails to demand justice, it is complicit in the act of its own destruction.
Adv Dr Shalu Nigam is a lawyer, activist, and researcher working at the intersection of law, gender, human rights, and governance.
