Babies 'dedicated' to temple prostitution

Imagine living in a society in which you are judged by your station in life, determined by your birth, rather than by your individual worth or accomplishments. As a father in the lowest rung of society, you can barely keep food on the table for your family.

Should your wife become ill after giving birth to another daughter -- who, unlike the son you had hoped for, will be an unbearable financial burden -- you have only one choice: dedicating your daughter to the goddess as a devadasis, a temple prostitute.

By this act, she is given a profession and a way to obtain food for her family. Perhaps the goddess will now show favor to your family, sparing your wife's life and filling her womb with the long-awaited boy child. Such a sacrifice is small compared to a family's alternative fate of starvation.

In India, the devadasi (day-vah-dah-see) system, a Hindu practice of temple prostitution, has existed more than 5,000 years, says David Dass, executive director of the India Gospel League. In the state of Karnataka where he and his wife live, starving families dedicate hundreds of girls each year to the goddess Yellamma. The children are forced to begin a life of prostitution at age 11 or 12. To read more, click here.