According to statistics provided by the Childline India Foundation, which operates the 1098 helpline for children, the number of calls from children seeking protection from child abuse has increased from about 19,000 in 2014-2015 to more than 23,000 calls in 2015-2016. Of this, nearly one-fourth of the calls (6,490) are from Tamil Nadu.
The northern region received the second highest number of calls registered: 14,338. There were 10,500 from East India and 8,549 from West India according to the 2015 -2016 data.
The second most important reason children called the helpline was seeking shelter. The southern region received 8,004 calls from children seeking shelter and 6,223 calls for restoration of children.
In the New Indian Express, a child's rights activist says the reasons for the large number of calls from the south is the comparatively higher urbanisation it has seen and a widespread awareness of the helpline. In South India, more people come forward taking responsibility for reporting the cases, unlike in other parts of the country.