Age Estimation of Rescued Female Commercial Sex Workers and Male Child Laborers in South India

Introduction: Children around the world are engaged in forms of work and were forced into prostitution every year. Material and methods: Physical examination, radiographs depicting skeletal and dental parameters have been used to estimate the biological age of 85 male child laborers and 19 female commercial sex workers. The radiographs analyzed by two separate forensic experts using skeletal and dental assessment methods. A statistical analysis was performed to analyze differences between reported and assessed ages. Result: 33(39%) out of 85 individuals had reported ages lower than the estimated biological ages. In 24 cases, the reported age was less than 14 years, but only 20 individuals were confirmed. It was observed that the 8 out of 19 individuals were identified minors (below 18 years). Conclusion: The results showed a significant difference between reported and assessed ages (p < 0.001); however, no statistical difference was shown between skeletal and dental age.