Every second child in the western states of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh has been subjected to one or more forms of sexual abuse, a report compiled by NGO Plan India states.
The report on "Children in Difficult Circumstances" also says that Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Jharkhand and West Bengal accounted for a whopping 61 percent of total human trafficking crimes.
An average 48 percent of children who went missing in these states remained untraced.
In the northern states, child marriage remains a grave concern. In Rajasthan, 57.6 percent of women in the age group of 20-24 years were married before the age of 18, the highest in the country.
In Uttar Pradesh, the child marriage figures are at a staggering 54.9 per cent, followed by 28 per cent in Haryana.
Uttar Pradesh also has the highest number of child labourers with a massive 1.8 million against the country's total of 4.3 million.
The findings are the result of consultations held over three months with over 2,000 civil society organisations including government departments working with children living in difficult circumstances.
The consultations were conducted in 28 states and four Union Territories with participation of 1500 representatives.
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