Indian gov't plans code of conduct for ‘safe’ tourism
Ranjeet S. Jamwal
The Statesman
Publication Date: 04-02-2010
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In view of the increasing incidences of rape, sexual offences, sexual abuse of children, particularly street-children, the Indian tourism ministry has finalised a 'code of conduct' for the industry to prevent any form of exploitation of children.
Apart from preventing sexual exploitation of children and women, the 'code of conduct for safe and honourable tourism' also aims to protect India’s culture, values and heritage.
As 70 per cent of sex workers in the country are children, the code has specific guidelines for hotels, tour operators and airlines for preventing sexual exploitation of children by guests.
It has been finalised after consulting all stakeholders in the tourism sector, including state governments. According to sources in the tourism ministry, the code of conduct will be implemented once it gets the approval of the tourism minister Miss Selja. The most likely date for its implementation is March 8 (International Women’s Day).
When the code of conduct comes into effect, suppliers of tourism services will have to take measures to protect children against sexual exploitation in the business. As per the code of conduct, hotels, tour operators and airlines will have to train their staff to identify and report a possible exploitative activity to authorities. It also forbids tourists from seeking out children for sex via chat rooms and discussion groups. Hotels would also be asked not to ‘help’ tourists get access to children for sex or employ minors in their industry.
Child sex tourism is believed to be prevalent in many states of the country. Studies have shown that in the name of pilgrim, heritage and coastal tourism, sexual exploitation of children is quite widespread in Maharastra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa.
Apart from major cities and places for sightseeing, pilgrim centres like Tirupati, Guruvayoor and Puri are growing hubs for sex tourism. Study reports say foreign tourists engage in paedophilia and sex with minors through short-term marriages.
Last month, the Supreme Court had asked the government to come out with foolproof measures to curb ‘sex tourism’ in the country and register cases of rape against those pushing children into prostitution rackets or having sex with them. It directed that sexual assault on children must be registered as rape.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Centre’s code push to wipe off child sex tourism stain
Centre’s code push to wipe off child sex tourism stain
New Delhi, Feb 2, DHNS:
Deeply disturbed and concerned with the widely growing perception that India is emerging as a prime sex tourism destination, the Centre has taken the first big step towards checking an anomaly by putting together a code of conduct for the tourism industry.
What has made the government and the tourism industry sit up and take note of a trend in which foreign tourists visit tourism hubs like Goa, Kerala as well as pilgrimage-rich stateslike Tamil Nadu and Orissa to seek more than the sun and the culture.
The code of conduct is a virtual admission by the government that the problem exists. The code of conduct, which is likely to become effective on March 8 – observed as International Women’s Day – after approval from Tourism Minister Kumari Selja, has come following several recent exposes involving foreigners indulging in child sex, paedophilia and pornography.
The code of conduct for service providers in the tourism sector for “Safe and Honorable Tourism” has been finalised after consulting all stakeholders, including state governments.
“It had become an urgent necessity to come up with such a code as India has been identified as a source, transit and destination point in the international circuit, and a large number of children are also trafficked within the country,” the sources stressed.
Tourism Ministry sources said the government decided to act following warnings from experts that the menace had assumed dangerous proportions not just in tourist havens but also in pligrimage centres in Tamil Nadu and Orissa.
Humane view
The government is also taking a humane view and would not want condemning impoverished children to the explotation of sex tourism. “The code aims to protect children and women, culture, values and the coutnry’s heritage to ensure long-term sustainable and responsible tourism in India,” the sources said.
Among the organisations involved in evolving the code are PATA India, Save the Children India, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Equitable Tourism Option (EQUATIONS), NEST India Foundation and the National Commission for Women was also consulted in this regard.
”Under the code, hotels will have to report any suspicious behaviour by any staff or customer to the local police. If any material pertaining to child pornography is found on the computer of any employee or customer, it will also have to be reported to the local police,” the sources said.
Tour operators will have to train personnel to be alert against any possibility of sexual exploitation of children.
“Airlines operating within and to India will have to commit themselves to pursue, with every possible means, public awareness about the issue through in-flight magazines, ticket jackets, internet links, and videos on long-haul flights,” the sources said.
The code will be applicable to all directors, employees, suppliers, contractors and patrons of hotels, airlines, tour operators and institutions connected with the industry. It will require hotels to even prevent guests from visiting child pornography sites using the Internet, and seeking to contact children for sexual purposes via chat rooms or discussion groups.
The code has been necessitated, the sources said, in the light of growth in high-spending foreign tourists and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)’s projection that India will be among the nations having the fastest-growing tourism industry over the next 10-15 years.
The government move follows the 2008 World Congress against the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents held in Rio, Brazil, in which countries were asked to draft special laws to prevent children from being used in the tourism industry.
New Delhi, Feb 2, DHNS:
Deeply disturbed and concerned with the widely growing perception that India is emerging as a prime sex tourism destination, the Centre has taken the first big step towards checking an anomaly by putting together a code of conduct for the tourism industry.
What has made the government and the tourism industry sit up and take note of a trend in which foreign tourists visit tourism hubs like Goa, Kerala as well as pilgrimage-rich stateslike Tamil Nadu and Orissa to seek more than the sun and the culture.
The code of conduct is a virtual admission by the government that the problem exists. The code of conduct, which is likely to become effective on March 8 – observed as International Women’s Day – after approval from Tourism Minister Kumari Selja, has come following several recent exposes involving foreigners indulging in child sex, paedophilia and pornography.
The code of conduct for service providers in the tourism sector for “Safe and Honorable Tourism” has been finalised after consulting all stakeholders, including state governments.
“It had become an urgent necessity to come up with such a code as India has been identified as a source, transit and destination point in the international circuit, and a large number of children are also trafficked within the country,” the sources stressed.
Tourism Ministry sources said the government decided to act following warnings from experts that the menace had assumed dangerous proportions not just in tourist havens but also in pligrimage centres in Tamil Nadu and Orissa.
Humane view
The government is also taking a humane view and would not want condemning impoverished children to the explotation of sex tourism. “The code aims to protect children and women, culture, values and the coutnry’s heritage to ensure long-term sustainable and responsible tourism in India,” the sources said.
Among the organisations involved in evolving the code are PATA India, Save the Children India, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Equitable Tourism Option (EQUATIONS), NEST India Foundation and the National Commission for Women was also consulted in this regard.
”Under the code, hotels will have to report any suspicious behaviour by any staff or customer to the local police. If any material pertaining to child pornography is found on the computer of any employee or customer, it will also have to be reported to the local police,” the sources said.
Tour operators will have to train personnel to be alert against any possibility of sexual exploitation of children.
“Airlines operating within and to India will have to commit themselves to pursue, with every possible means, public awareness about the issue through in-flight magazines, ticket jackets, internet links, and videos on long-haul flights,” the sources said.
The code will be applicable to all directors, employees, suppliers, contractors and patrons of hotels, airlines, tour operators and institutions connected with the industry. It will require hotels to even prevent guests from visiting child pornography sites using the Internet, and seeking to contact children for sexual purposes via chat rooms or discussion groups.
The code has been necessitated, the sources said, in the light of growth in high-spending foreign tourists and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)’s projection that India will be among the nations having the fastest-growing tourism industry over the next 10-15 years.
The government move follows the 2008 World Congress against the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents held in Rio, Brazil, in which countries were asked to draft special laws to prevent children from being used in the tourism industry.
Police bust gang trafficking in girls
THE HINDU
Date:03/02/2010
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Andhra Pradesh - Rajahmundry
Police bust gang trafficking in girls
Staff Reporter
Minor shifted to hospital for tests
Rajahmundry: Police cracked two important cases on Tuesday at a time. In once case, they arrested members of a gang involved in trafficking of girls. In another case they arrested two persons who were allegedly taking 75 packets of ganja along with them in a car. The two cases were dealt with by D. Janaki, Sub-Divisional Police Officer and her team.
In a media conference, the DSP said that Boddeti Seetha Mahalakshmi and her brother Boddeti Ganesh were engaged in tailoring in Narayanapuram area from 2007. They kidnapped a minor girl and Ganesh allegedly molested her and then sold the girl with the help of his sister to Nani-Raju brother gang in Hyderabad. In 2008, Malakpeta police raided the brothel and sent back the minor girl to Swadhara Home in Rajahmundry. Recently, the girl went back to her grandmother’s house and Seetha Mahalakshmi and Ganesh chased her and tried to engage her in prostitution. However, she escaped from their clutches and reached One-Town police station.
Sub-Inspector M.G. Ramakrishna took her to DSP and the DSP and SI raided the house of Seetha Mahalakshmi and Ganesh on Tuesday morning and arrested them. The minor girl was shifted to Government Hospital for medical tests. The police booked cases under different sections under IPC and POA Acts.
Date:03/02/2010
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Andhra Pradesh - Rajahmundry
Police bust gang trafficking in girls
Staff Reporter
Minor shifted to hospital for tests
Rajahmundry: Police cracked two important cases on Tuesday at a time. In once case, they arrested members of a gang involved in trafficking of girls. In another case they arrested two persons who were allegedly taking 75 packets of ganja along with them in a car. The two cases were dealt with by D. Janaki, Sub-Divisional Police Officer and her team.
In a media conference, the DSP said that Boddeti Seetha Mahalakshmi and her brother Boddeti Ganesh were engaged in tailoring in Narayanapuram area from 2007. They kidnapped a minor girl and Ganesh allegedly molested her and then sold the girl with the help of his sister to Nani-Raju brother gang in Hyderabad. In 2008, Malakpeta police raided the brothel and sent back the minor girl to Swadhara Home in Rajahmundry. Recently, the girl went back to her grandmother’s house and Seetha Mahalakshmi and Ganesh chased her and tried to engage her in prostitution. However, she escaped from their clutches and reached One-Town police station.
Sub-Inspector M.G. Ramakrishna took her to DSP and the DSP and SI raided the house of Seetha Mahalakshmi and Ganesh on Tuesday morning and arrested them. The minor girl was shifted to Government Hospital for medical tests. The police booked cases under different sections under IPC and POA Acts.
Monday, February 01, 2010
International trafficking India as destination
The new white flesh trade
Mihir Srivastava
January 21, 2010
Lola, 22, is a tall girl with high, thin eyebrows on a slender face. Her features are sharp but her eyes are uninterested, fixed at a painting on the wall of the coffee shop, as she tries hard to explain, in broken English, why she is in India. Clad in a too-tight pink sweatshirt, faded cream shorts and shiny red boots, her right hand bearing a cocktail ring which she keeps twisting nervously, her blue nail varnish chipped, she seems a far cry from her alluring nocturnal avatar as one of the Capital's high-priced prostitutes. She speaks of how she came to work here two-and-a-half months ago. Her boyfriend TC, not Tom Cruise, she clarifies, momentarily showing signs of life, joined her last month. Both are clear about what they want from their lives--enough money to buy a house in Tashkent, their hometown in Uzbekistan.
The cost of fantasy
CIS girls now dominate the high-end sex market offering sexual pleasure as leisure
SERVICES TIME IN HOURS RATE IN RUPEES/per head
One trip (sexual intercourse) Two 8,000
Two trips Two 10,000
Two trips Four 15,000
Unlimited trips Eight or overnight 25,000
Orgy (at least one girl per person) Eight or overnight 25,000
Escort service (travel outstation with the client, all expenses are met) Per day 25,000
Play hostess at a stag party Four hours 15,000
Posing as nude model for photography and sketching One hour 5,000
Payment is in advance/all credit cards accepted, cash is preferred. The websites guarantee confidentiality.
One of five siblings who grew up in poverty, Lola's mother is dead and her father was abusive. For her it's just another job. There are no regrets. "It was TC who did all the running around for me, got my papers done and put me on a flight to Delhi," she says.
Lola is not alone. She is part of a growing army of fair-skinned prostitutes, about 3,000 of them in the Capital and about the same number in the other parts of the country. They are from Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Chechnya and Kyrgyzstan, all of which are part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Replacing the earlier favourites, imports from Nepal, and charging 40 per cent more than Indian prostitutes, they are changing the rules of the game, feeding on the Indian fascination for white skin and the greater openness with which they can promote their sexual favours, through classified advertisements in newspapers and professionally-designed websites.
That the fascination for white skin is transnational is evident from the string of recent arrests. Last year, on December 10, a Delhi-based hotel manager, Shanker Mishra, was arrested in Rajkot along with an Uzbek prostitute in her late 20s, Ragini, a native of Tashkent. Initial investigations revealed that Mishra would provide women to cash-rich traders and garment exporters in Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Indore.
A little earlier, on October 30, another sex racket was busted in Mahipalpur, Delhi, where three women of CIS origin, Aslefya, 23, Sonya, 25, and Roma, 27, were arrested following a scuffle between a few pimps and locals in front of a guesthouse, 365 Inn.
In July, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police arrested two CIS prostitutes when a decoy customer was sent to strike a deal with them. The pimp, Goldy, came with the two foreign women in a car. They were here on a six-month tourist visa and had been in the Gulf before coming to India; with their stay here governed by a Rs 1.5 lakh contract for each girl for one month. The women will be deported soon.
But it's quite likely they will be back, admits Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Mumbai, Rakesh Maria. "The prostitution racket involving CIS women is very well organised. The Indian pimps are in close touch with their counterparts in Dubai and CIS countries," he says. It's the culmination of events that began with the collapse of the Soviet Union and gained momentum with the entry of young CIS women into Dubai, transforming it into a major centre of prostitution.
According to an article in The New Yorker in 2008, an "almost perfect recipe: mass immigration, mass transience, a tremendous concentration of money and anonymity, and a robust demand for labour". But a crackdown in Dubai in December 2007 when 240 people were arrested and in May last year when 2,713 prostitutes were detained as well as the deportation of 228 Uzbek women from Thailand recently, ensured that many women moved south, a process hastened by the meltdown.
Inside the new trade
Getting a light-skinned prostitute is rather easy. All one has to do is call one of the numbers flashed in the two dozen-odd difficult-to-ignore massage advertisements in the classified pages of leading dailies. The sales pitch starts as soon as the ad is mentioned. Then there's the Net, where a search for 'escort service' with the city name yields pages of results.
Most of the women come as tourists from the impoverished republics of the former Soviet Union, particularly Uzbekistan. Some are coerced while others get into this business voluntarily.
The so-called 'aunties', CIS women who have been illegally living in India for several years, act as the interface between the women and local pimps. The aunties are local agents of a mafia back home and share up to 50 per cent of the profits.
Most prostitutes are not paid; they serve 'aunties' under informal contracts that pay off loans taken back home by their families in return for services provided here. The contracts run for three to six months, during which up to a third of a prostitute's earnings go repay family loans.
Lured by big money, some women come back as 'freelancers'. They then stay with an Indian pimp, who sometimes helps them get a visa. They also pay these women a daily fee which is usually between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. Most women reinvest their earnings to make a profit; exporting leather garments is a favoured avenue.
The pimps also make money by organising rooms for clients. Five-star hotels, farmhouses and guesthouses are hotspots, with smaller establishments bending rules to ensure anonymity. Official addresses are avoided.
Some women aren't prostitutes and others aren't just that. As part of dancing troupes, they are called 'belly dancers' or 'item girls' and serve as hostesses and showgirls at parties.
Lax visa rules make for a thriving sex trade. Joint Commissioner of Police,Crime,Mumbai, Rakesh Maria says, "The pimps in India, Dubai and CIS countries work in close coordination." A secret report of the NSA had expressed concern over foreigners buying land illegally. Others have established guesthouses and restaurants.
Only half a dozen arrests were made last year; there were no convictions. According to the law, soliciting or encouraging the exchange of sexual services for money is a sex crime and not prostitution. Sometimes these women are deported, but most of them come back.
The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1978, is toothless. Most arrested women get bail as soliciting is difficult to prove. This prompted the Supreme Court last month to ask the government to legalise prostitution, on a PIL filed by an NGO called the Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
"The odds were against staying in Dubai," says Nagina, a 27-year-old Muslim from Samarkand who was in Dubai till a month ago. She escaped the police but many of her friends are in jail for illegally entering the country on false passports. She doesn't like to go to a bar to meet a client as "it is against my religion". But prostitution? "They need our services and we provide it," she says. Or take Roma, a 25-year-old from Karshi, Uzbekistan, who ran away from a violent father when she was 17. She was sucked into prostitution and sent to Dubai where her travel documents were confiscated. She is now a veteran with seven years of experience and this is her third stay in India. She lives in a three-storey flat in Delhi, atop a spiral staircase. It's a big living room with bare orange walls, a dressing table with lights and a smorgasbord of cosmetics. As she settles down in a couch to talk, the only sign of her profession is a roommate who lies huddled in the bedroom next door, sleeping in mid-afternoon, working off the effects of a late night. As she flicks the ash from her cigarette, Roma says, "Only the best survive. The pressure to do well is so high. I learned English and have been to the US and Europe. I am okay with this life."
Two of the three prostitutes arrested in the Capital in October last year.As the hunting ground shifts from Dubai, the CIS women, often referred to as "night butterflies", find India easier to work in. The classified advertisements in newspapers are easy to spot, printed by the dozens every day, five lines each costing Rs 1,800, giving mobile numbers, the option of paying by credit card and dropping cryptic hints of "body massage" assuring "full satisfaction". Translate what that means: accompanying clients on long drives, having sex with them during the lunch hour in pimp hideouts around commercial hubs or in designated safehouses, and playing host at 'stag' parties where they serve alcohol and food skimpily dressed. All this for prices ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 30,000 depending on the duration.
It's difficult to miss them, whether it is five-star hotel lobbies, elite clubs or farmhouses. They come here on tourist visas for three to six months and stay with 'aunties', women from CIS countries, who act as mediators between agents in home countries and pimps in India. The women are paid on a daily basis.
In Delhi, for example, over 150 Indian pimps host them and some of them have four to five CIS women on their payroll. The pimps pocket the money from clients, as payment for their upkeep as well as promotion. Call at any of the numbers advertised in the newspapers and they are quite blunt. "She will do all you want," says the male voice at the other end. "Trained handling" means the client will relive his "wildest fantasies". And when they say "full satisfaction guaranteed", they mean "the girl will do whatever the clients wants, in the way they want, with great ability". Some even promise to refresh clients with world class 'blwoiob' (blowjob) 'ser'(vice), the misspelling deliberate to avoid trouble.
Some get poetic, luring clients with phrases such as "indulge yourself in the most electrifying experience of your lifetime with our bewitching masseuses" or proclaiming that carnal pleasures can be sublime, "where mind and soul entwine together in heights of pleasure". So says a classified ad aimed at older customers. The idea is all are welcome, from the cash-rich entrepreneur to the high performing salesman, who gets sex as a bonus.
There is an even easier option, the Internet. Google 'escort service' and the name of the city where you intend to access the services, and voila, the choices pop up faster than Roger Federer's serves. Professionally designed websites offer a host of services and a detailed rate list. Again, all it requires is a call to the given number, the time of requirement, and the specific service.
"Whether for pleasure trips, business occasions, corporate events, functions or dinner dates", "especially handpicked to provide the highest level of service possible with professionalism, integrity and discretion assured at all times for the discerning gentlemen," declares one website. Clients can book their services from anywhere in the world, can even outsource the planning of a fun-filled holiday to them. Payment is to be made in advance and clients are given the convenient option of paying by credit card.
A pimp strikes a deal in a shady corner.Declares one website, "For gentlemen who would want to move beyond the confines of the hourly session, I offer these exclusive getaway packages," to the scenic towns of Nainital and Shimla in summers and to regal Jaipur and Agra in winters. Yet another tells its prospective customers, "My favourite pastime in the field of the adult industry, always has been related to couples, including lesbian or bisexual female couples and groups of people."
Their skin colour is their biggest selling point. "Sex with light-skinned women is aspirational," says Pramada Menon, a Delhi-based gender activist. The CIS women agree. "Indians are so conscious of their colour and ours," says Sarah, 27, from Tashkent, who has been here now for five months on a tourist visa. So much so that Indian women find it difficult to counter the 'white cult' that is taking over the premium flesh trade. Indian women have to be hard-sold. So if it's an Indian woman, the advertisement reads: she is a 'Punjabi' (read intense and fair), 'model' (slim and beautiful), 'airhostess' (suave and smart), 'hygienic' (clean), 'broadminded' and 'sober'. Broadminded assures clients that the women will play out their fantasies, while 'sober' indicates that they will be professional about it.
"East European girls have a different look and they are exotic for Indians as much as Delhi girls are unusual for Americans," that's a recorded voice playing on Vivek's phone--he operates in an upmartket neighbourhood of the Capital and has four CIS women on his roster. "Most of our clients have gained money recently and want new girls every time," he adds.
CIS women also offer anonymity. "For our older, wealthier and regular customers, it is not about sex but courtship," says Feruza, 32, an Uzbek woman. "They want somebody to give them an honest hearing and like the way we pamper them. Language is an issue but we can talk them into relaxation. They like that they are in command and that actually helps them surrender to us," she says. Ask Nitin, who runs a computer hardware business at a commercial complex in Delhi. He is in his mid-30s and is married with children. For him, the once-a-week sexcapade is an addiction he cannot do without.
"These women have an element of professional detachment. They are here for a few months and you don't know whether you will ever see them again. They are not interested in you beyond the task well done," he says, comparing them with their Indian counterparts. "But the Indians want your number. They give theirs, want to know what I do and how much I earn. Then they go on about how they belong to a good family too but have been forced into prostitution by some compelling circumstances. That is so irritating."
Shrugs Shruti, a 19-year-old college girl who doubles as a call girl and is on the roster of two pimps in Delhi, "If Indian men are looking for white women for their novelty, white men are interested in us. They give us generous tips." But why do white women attract so many repeat customers? "We cannot do things that white women do with Indian men," says Shruti huffily.
CIS women dress well, wear immaculate make-up and carry the best accessories. They also play nice enough to have some men in their thrall. Roma gives the example of a 35-year-old married businessman, who offered to marry her. When she refused, he would insist only on her, paying extra for her services. "Aunty wanted me to meet him more often as money was coming thick and fast, but I stopped because he was getting emotional about the whole affair," she says, adding on second thoughts, "but it is not a bad idea to get married after all."
The 'aunties' are the key to the business. Usually heavily-built, manicured, made-up, chain-smokers, they pronounce their verdict with the authority borne of years of handling pimps, visa agents and police officials. "I tell my girls to come back if the clients get rough. They can call me any time even when they are with the clients. If they don't like something, they can stop right there," says one aunty. Four of them have formidable reputations. They have their areas of domination but their areas of operation overlap.
White women with their partners enjoying a meal after a hard day's work in Delhi.With names like Svetlana, Diana, Nafisa and Sweta, these aunties have never been prostitutes themselves but are cashing in on their strong Indian connections. The fathers of two aunties were diplomats stationed in India 20 years ago; another has a KGB background. For them, it's not a racket but a business. Says an aunty, dressed in a long black skirt, a thick bead necklace nestling in the V of a cleavage-popping white T-shirt, "More then 20,000 girls have come and gone from India in several lots over the past two years. Most were from CIS countries and have done well for themselves." The numbers are lower than in the UAE and Dubai, she adds.
These aunties are careful and so are the women. Unlike their Indian counterparts, they always carry a pack of flavoured condoms. Cleanliness is an issue and they insist that clients take a shower before going to bed with them. They have a dress code for bed too: red and black lingerie from the best brands. Sometimes the aunties insist on sending Indian prostitutes first. Only when she gives an all-clear signal is the client allowed to sleep with a white woman.
In order not to attract undue attention, only two girls are lodged in one flat each in areas close to busy neighbourhoods. They wear Fabindia clothes by day, have a fetish for leather garments at night and sport dark eyeliner at all times. "That's our fashion statement," says Bessica, 27. The mother of two has been in India for four months after her jobless husband persuaded her to come here. "I was in the UAE and Dubai before I came to India. The girls of my generation do feel the pangs. We are spiritually dead," she says.
Most of the women come directly to aunties to pay off loans their family took back home. "It is according to an informal contract between the family and the agent back home where the girls are required to stay overseas for three to six months to pay off their debt by making themselves available for prostitution," says Mashhura, 28, who belongs to Buxoro in Uzbekistan. Some come back to make money for themselves and get in touch with Indian pimps like Vivek who maintains four such 'freelancers' and pays each Rs 10,000 per day for their period of stay. They sometimes end up working 12 hours a day, meeting six different clients, as pimps make Rs 35,000 a day, which includes the police cut, their stay and other expenses.
Rajiv, 30, a pimp in Delhi, has six such women in his list. He calls prospective clients to his home and gives them one of his rooms. His wife, a tall woman in a salwar-kameez, who listens to him negotiating from behind the curtain of the living room and often walks out to tell the client sternly, "the price is fixed."
The number of CIS-origin prostitutes in India is growing. Four hundred prostitutes are expected to arrive in the Capital during the Commonwealth Games to be held later in the year. "We know there will be great demand for women then and special arrangements are being made, like renting safehouses. Some Indian pimps are even buying flats," says Avita, 30, who came here with her cousin from Tashkent.
Insiders also say that some girls are brought to India as part of dance troupes. These women perform group dances in revealing clothes, mostly at private parties. According to Rishikant, a 32-year-old activist who works for the NGO, Shakti Vahini, and has rescued more than 1,000 girls in the last decade from prostitution, "Their number has increased significantly in the last one-and-a-half years." He explains that the police are aware of the problem but can do little as senior officers are involved.
India's anti-trafficking law, the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act (SITA), 1978, aims at combating the commercialisation of the flesh trade (brothels, prostitution rings and pimping). Prostitution is not illegal. But in practice, SITA is not commonly used; instead the Indian Penal Code is deployed to charge sex workers with crimes such as public indecency or public nuisance, punishable with imprisonment up to six months or fine or both. If the sex worker is a minor, the client may get a sentence of seven to 10 years. But, given the overt manner in which the flesh trade operates, it cannot happen without the support of the police. Former police officer Kiran Bedi calls it the "collective failure of the whole criminal judicial system."
Failure or not, the women don't mind. "We get to travel, stay in new places and make friends. Yes, the money is good. But I like it here as well," says Kate, 27, who was presented as a model to an exporter in Delhi with whom she would be travelling to Goa. She arrived in India about a month-and-a-half ago and has already been with 50 men. As she leaves, dressed in tight jeans and a brown psychedelic top under a black leather jacket, a white taxi waiting outside to take her to her 51st client, she shrugs her shoulders.
"I was deported from Israel last year. The next few days will be tricky. It's Republic Day and security is tight.'' It's one of the perils of her profession. But one she carries off as easily as the Christian Louboutin high heels she bought online last year. It's price she extracts for the pleasure she provides.
Brothel to boudoir
The changing nature of the premium sex market
The flesh trade in India has become a big money-spinner with about 30 lakh girls (the population of Pune) involved, according to a recent government-commissioned study. Most women forced into prostitution due to abject poverty are from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They live in sub-human conditions in congested brothels in areas such as G.B. Road in Delhi or Kamatipura in Mumbai. Till 2000, the women for the so-called 'premium category' were trafficked illegally across the border from Nepal and Myanmar for Rs 1,000 a night. Things started to change when the fruits of globalisation reached younger urban Indian men thanks to the robust growth in the outsourcing industry and the advent of multinational companies that paid fat salaries. On the home turf too, voluntarism replaced coercion thanks to the easy, and big, money to be made here. The flesh trade soon became an organised business; pimps became 'agents' who would now move around in flashy cars, unlike in the past where the contact person was a taxi driver or paan shop owner. Pimps no longer meet clients, preferring to send women in chauffeur-driven cars with full payment to be paid in advance before they step out of the car. The services are paid for by the hour, and not night.
"It is not just about quality sex but it is about a quality experience that is more about companionship," says 26-year-old Rishab, single and an executive in a Gurgaon-based multinational company. "They are out not to hide but to flaunt," he says, adding that he considers being in the company of light-skinned women an indicator of his success.
Mihir Srivastava
January 21, 2010
Lola, 22, is a tall girl with high, thin eyebrows on a slender face. Her features are sharp but her eyes are uninterested, fixed at a painting on the wall of the coffee shop, as she tries hard to explain, in broken English, why she is in India. Clad in a too-tight pink sweatshirt, faded cream shorts and shiny red boots, her right hand bearing a cocktail ring which she keeps twisting nervously, her blue nail varnish chipped, she seems a far cry from her alluring nocturnal avatar as one of the Capital's high-priced prostitutes. She speaks of how she came to work here two-and-a-half months ago. Her boyfriend TC, not Tom Cruise, she clarifies, momentarily showing signs of life, joined her last month. Both are clear about what they want from their lives--enough money to buy a house in Tashkent, their hometown in Uzbekistan.
The cost of fantasy
CIS girls now dominate the high-end sex market offering sexual pleasure as leisure
SERVICES TIME IN HOURS RATE IN RUPEES/per head
One trip (sexual intercourse) Two 8,000
Two trips Two 10,000
Two trips Four 15,000
Unlimited trips Eight or overnight 25,000
Orgy (at least one girl per person) Eight or overnight 25,000
Escort service (travel outstation with the client, all expenses are met) Per day 25,000
Play hostess at a stag party Four hours 15,000
Posing as nude model for photography and sketching One hour 5,000
Payment is in advance/all credit cards accepted, cash is preferred. The websites guarantee confidentiality.
One of five siblings who grew up in poverty, Lola's mother is dead and her father was abusive. For her it's just another job. There are no regrets. "It was TC who did all the running around for me, got my papers done and put me on a flight to Delhi," she says.
Lola is not alone. She is part of a growing army of fair-skinned prostitutes, about 3,000 of them in the Capital and about the same number in the other parts of the country. They are from Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Chechnya and Kyrgyzstan, all of which are part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Replacing the earlier favourites, imports from Nepal, and charging 40 per cent more than Indian prostitutes, they are changing the rules of the game, feeding on the Indian fascination for white skin and the greater openness with which they can promote their sexual favours, through classified advertisements in newspapers and professionally-designed websites.
That the fascination for white skin is transnational is evident from the string of recent arrests. Last year, on December 10, a Delhi-based hotel manager, Shanker Mishra, was arrested in Rajkot along with an Uzbek prostitute in her late 20s, Ragini, a native of Tashkent. Initial investigations revealed that Mishra would provide women to cash-rich traders and garment exporters in Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Indore.
A little earlier, on October 30, another sex racket was busted in Mahipalpur, Delhi, where three women of CIS origin, Aslefya, 23, Sonya, 25, and Roma, 27, were arrested following a scuffle between a few pimps and locals in front of a guesthouse, 365 Inn.
In July, the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police arrested two CIS prostitutes when a decoy customer was sent to strike a deal with them. The pimp, Goldy, came with the two foreign women in a car. They were here on a six-month tourist visa and had been in the Gulf before coming to India; with their stay here governed by a Rs 1.5 lakh contract for each girl for one month. The women will be deported soon.
But it's quite likely they will be back, admits Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Mumbai, Rakesh Maria. "The prostitution racket involving CIS women is very well organised. The Indian pimps are in close touch with their counterparts in Dubai and CIS countries," he says. It's the culmination of events that began with the collapse of the Soviet Union and gained momentum with the entry of young CIS women into Dubai, transforming it into a major centre of prostitution.
According to an article in The New Yorker in 2008, an "almost perfect recipe: mass immigration, mass transience, a tremendous concentration of money and anonymity, and a robust demand for labour". But a crackdown in Dubai in December 2007 when 240 people were arrested and in May last year when 2,713 prostitutes were detained as well as the deportation of 228 Uzbek women from Thailand recently, ensured that many women moved south, a process hastened by the meltdown.
Inside the new trade
Getting a light-skinned prostitute is rather easy. All one has to do is call one of the numbers flashed in the two dozen-odd difficult-to-ignore massage advertisements in the classified pages of leading dailies. The sales pitch starts as soon as the ad is mentioned. Then there's the Net, where a search for 'escort service' with the city name yields pages of results.
Most of the women come as tourists from the impoverished republics of the former Soviet Union, particularly Uzbekistan. Some are coerced while others get into this business voluntarily.
The so-called 'aunties', CIS women who have been illegally living in India for several years, act as the interface between the women and local pimps. The aunties are local agents of a mafia back home and share up to 50 per cent of the profits.
Most prostitutes are not paid; they serve 'aunties' under informal contracts that pay off loans taken back home by their families in return for services provided here. The contracts run for three to six months, during which up to a third of a prostitute's earnings go repay family loans.
Lured by big money, some women come back as 'freelancers'. They then stay with an Indian pimp, who sometimes helps them get a visa. They also pay these women a daily fee which is usually between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. Most women reinvest their earnings to make a profit; exporting leather garments is a favoured avenue.
The pimps also make money by organising rooms for clients. Five-star hotels, farmhouses and guesthouses are hotspots, with smaller establishments bending rules to ensure anonymity. Official addresses are avoided.
Some women aren't prostitutes and others aren't just that. As part of dancing troupes, they are called 'belly dancers' or 'item girls' and serve as hostesses and showgirls at parties.
Lax visa rules make for a thriving sex trade. Joint Commissioner of Police,Crime,Mumbai, Rakesh Maria says, "The pimps in India, Dubai and CIS countries work in close coordination." A secret report of the NSA had expressed concern over foreigners buying land illegally. Others have established guesthouses and restaurants.
Only half a dozen arrests were made last year; there were no convictions. According to the law, soliciting or encouraging the exchange of sexual services for money is a sex crime and not prostitution. Sometimes these women are deported, but most of them come back.
The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act, 1978, is toothless. Most arrested women get bail as soliciting is difficult to prove. This prompted the Supreme Court last month to ask the government to legalise prostitution, on a PIL filed by an NGO called the Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
"The odds were against staying in Dubai," says Nagina, a 27-year-old Muslim from Samarkand who was in Dubai till a month ago. She escaped the police but many of her friends are in jail for illegally entering the country on false passports. She doesn't like to go to a bar to meet a client as "it is against my religion". But prostitution? "They need our services and we provide it," she says. Or take Roma, a 25-year-old from Karshi, Uzbekistan, who ran away from a violent father when she was 17. She was sucked into prostitution and sent to Dubai where her travel documents were confiscated. She is now a veteran with seven years of experience and this is her third stay in India. She lives in a three-storey flat in Delhi, atop a spiral staircase. It's a big living room with bare orange walls, a dressing table with lights and a smorgasbord of cosmetics. As she settles down in a couch to talk, the only sign of her profession is a roommate who lies huddled in the bedroom next door, sleeping in mid-afternoon, working off the effects of a late night. As she flicks the ash from her cigarette, Roma says, "Only the best survive. The pressure to do well is so high. I learned English and have been to the US and Europe. I am okay with this life."
Two of the three prostitutes arrested in the Capital in October last year.As the hunting ground shifts from Dubai, the CIS women, often referred to as "night butterflies", find India easier to work in. The classified advertisements in newspapers are easy to spot, printed by the dozens every day, five lines each costing Rs 1,800, giving mobile numbers, the option of paying by credit card and dropping cryptic hints of "body massage" assuring "full satisfaction". Translate what that means: accompanying clients on long drives, having sex with them during the lunch hour in pimp hideouts around commercial hubs or in designated safehouses, and playing host at 'stag' parties where they serve alcohol and food skimpily dressed. All this for prices ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 30,000 depending on the duration.
It's difficult to miss them, whether it is five-star hotel lobbies, elite clubs or farmhouses. They come here on tourist visas for three to six months and stay with 'aunties', women from CIS countries, who act as mediators between agents in home countries and pimps in India. The women are paid on a daily basis.
In Delhi, for example, over 150 Indian pimps host them and some of them have four to five CIS women on their payroll. The pimps pocket the money from clients, as payment for their upkeep as well as promotion. Call at any of the numbers advertised in the newspapers and they are quite blunt. "She will do all you want," says the male voice at the other end. "Trained handling" means the client will relive his "wildest fantasies". And when they say "full satisfaction guaranteed", they mean "the girl will do whatever the clients wants, in the way they want, with great ability". Some even promise to refresh clients with world class 'blwoiob' (blowjob) 'ser'(vice), the misspelling deliberate to avoid trouble.
Some get poetic, luring clients with phrases such as "indulge yourself in the most electrifying experience of your lifetime with our bewitching masseuses" or proclaiming that carnal pleasures can be sublime, "where mind and soul entwine together in heights of pleasure". So says a classified ad aimed at older customers. The idea is all are welcome, from the cash-rich entrepreneur to the high performing salesman, who gets sex as a bonus.
There is an even easier option, the Internet. Google 'escort service' and the name of the city where you intend to access the services, and voila, the choices pop up faster than Roger Federer's serves. Professionally designed websites offer a host of services and a detailed rate list. Again, all it requires is a call to the given number, the time of requirement, and the specific service.
"Whether for pleasure trips, business occasions, corporate events, functions or dinner dates", "especially handpicked to provide the highest level of service possible with professionalism, integrity and discretion assured at all times for the discerning gentlemen," declares one website. Clients can book their services from anywhere in the world, can even outsource the planning of a fun-filled holiday to them. Payment is to be made in advance and clients are given the convenient option of paying by credit card.
A pimp strikes a deal in a shady corner.Declares one website, "For gentlemen who would want to move beyond the confines of the hourly session, I offer these exclusive getaway packages," to the scenic towns of Nainital and Shimla in summers and to regal Jaipur and Agra in winters. Yet another tells its prospective customers, "My favourite pastime in the field of the adult industry, always has been related to couples, including lesbian or bisexual female couples and groups of people."
Their skin colour is their biggest selling point. "Sex with light-skinned women is aspirational," says Pramada Menon, a Delhi-based gender activist. The CIS women agree. "Indians are so conscious of their colour and ours," says Sarah, 27, from Tashkent, who has been here now for five months on a tourist visa. So much so that Indian women find it difficult to counter the 'white cult' that is taking over the premium flesh trade. Indian women have to be hard-sold. So if it's an Indian woman, the advertisement reads: she is a 'Punjabi' (read intense and fair), 'model' (slim and beautiful), 'airhostess' (suave and smart), 'hygienic' (clean), 'broadminded' and 'sober'. Broadminded assures clients that the women will play out their fantasies, while 'sober' indicates that they will be professional about it.
"East European girls have a different look and they are exotic for Indians as much as Delhi girls are unusual for Americans," that's a recorded voice playing on Vivek's phone--he operates in an upmartket neighbourhood of the Capital and has four CIS women on his roster. "Most of our clients have gained money recently and want new girls every time," he adds.
CIS women also offer anonymity. "For our older, wealthier and regular customers, it is not about sex but courtship," says Feruza, 32, an Uzbek woman. "They want somebody to give them an honest hearing and like the way we pamper them. Language is an issue but we can talk them into relaxation. They like that they are in command and that actually helps them surrender to us," she says. Ask Nitin, who runs a computer hardware business at a commercial complex in Delhi. He is in his mid-30s and is married with children. For him, the once-a-week sexcapade is an addiction he cannot do without.
"These women have an element of professional detachment. They are here for a few months and you don't know whether you will ever see them again. They are not interested in you beyond the task well done," he says, comparing them with their Indian counterparts. "But the Indians want your number. They give theirs, want to know what I do and how much I earn. Then they go on about how they belong to a good family too but have been forced into prostitution by some compelling circumstances. That is so irritating."
Shrugs Shruti, a 19-year-old college girl who doubles as a call girl and is on the roster of two pimps in Delhi, "If Indian men are looking for white women for their novelty, white men are interested in us. They give us generous tips." But why do white women attract so many repeat customers? "We cannot do things that white women do with Indian men," says Shruti huffily.
CIS women dress well, wear immaculate make-up and carry the best accessories. They also play nice enough to have some men in their thrall. Roma gives the example of a 35-year-old married businessman, who offered to marry her. When she refused, he would insist only on her, paying extra for her services. "Aunty wanted me to meet him more often as money was coming thick and fast, but I stopped because he was getting emotional about the whole affair," she says, adding on second thoughts, "but it is not a bad idea to get married after all."
The 'aunties' are the key to the business. Usually heavily-built, manicured, made-up, chain-smokers, they pronounce their verdict with the authority borne of years of handling pimps, visa agents and police officials. "I tell my girls to come back if the clients get rough. They can call me any time even when they are with the clients. If they don't like something, they can stop right there," says one aunty. Four of them have formidable reputations. They have their areas of domination but their areas of operation overlap.
White women with their partners enjoying a meal after a hard day's work in Delhi.With names like Svetlana, Diana, Nafisa and Sweta, these aunties have never been prostitutes themselves but are cashing in on their strong Indian connections. The fathers of two aunties were diplomats stationed in India 20 years ago; another has a KGB background. For them, it's not a racket but a business. Says an aunty, dressed in a long black skirt, a thick bead necklace nestling in the V of a cleavage-popping white T-shirt, "More then 20,000 girls have come and gone from India in several lots over the past two years. Most were from CIS countries and have done well for themselves." The numbers are lower than in the UAE and Dubai, she adds.
These aunties are careful and so are the women. Unlike their Indian counterparts, they always carry a pack of flavoured condoms. Cleanliness is an issue and they insist that clients take a shower before going to bed with them. They have a dress code for bed too: red and black lingerie from the best brands. Sometimes the aunties insist on sending Indian prostitutes first. Only when she gives an all-clear signal is the client allowed to sleep with a white woman.
In order not to attract undue attention, only two girls are lodged in one flat each in areas close to busy neighbourhoods. They wear Fabindia clothes by day, have a fetish for leather garments at night and sport dark eyeliner at all times. "That's our fashion statement," says Bessica, 27. The mother of two has been in India for four months after her jobless husband persuaded her to come here. "I was in the UAE and Dubai before I came to India. The girls of my generation do feel the pangs. We are spiritually dead," she says.
Most of the women come directly to aunties to pay off loans their family took back home. "It is according to an informal contract between the family and the agent back home where the girls are required to stay overseas for three to six months to pay off their debt by making themselves available for prostitution," says Mashhura, 28, who belongs to Buxoro in Uzbekistan. Some come back to make money for themselves and get in touch with Indian pimps like Vivek who maintains four such 'freelancers' and pays each Rs 10,000 per day for their period of stay. They sometimes end up working 12 hours a day, meeting six different clients, as pimps make Rs 35,000 a day, which includes the police cut, their stay and other expenses.
Rajiv, 30, a pimp in Delhi, has six such women in his list. He calls prospective clients to his home and gives them one of his rooms. His wife, a tall woman in a salwar-kameez, who listens to him negotiating from behind the curtain of the living room and often walks out to tell the client sternly, "the price is fixed."
The number of CIS-origin prostitutes in India is growing. Four hundred prostitutes are expected to arrive in the Capital during the Commonwealth Games to be held later in the year. "We know there will be great demand for women then and special arrangements are being made, like renting safehouses. Some Indian pimps are even buying flats," says Avita, 30, who came here with her cousin from Tashkent.
Insiders also say that some girls are brought to India as part of dance troupes. These women perform group dances in revealing clothes, mostly at private parties. According to Rishikant, a 32-year-old activist who works for the NGO, Shakti Vahini, and has rescued more than 1,000 girls in the last decade from prostitution, "Their number has increased significantly in the last one-and-a-half years." He explains that the police are aware of the problem but can do little as senior officers are involved.
India's anti-trafficking law, the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls (Amendment) Act (SITA), 1978, aims at combating the commercialisation of the flesh trade (brothels, prostitution rings and pimping). Prostitution is not illegal. But in practice, SITA is not commonly used; instead the Indian Penal Code is deployed to charge sex workers with crimes such as public indecency or public nuisance, punishable with imprisonment up to six months or fine or both. If the sex worker is a minor, the client may get a sentence of seven to 10 years. But, given the overt manner in which the flesh trade operates, it cannot happen without the support of the police. Former police officer Kiran Bedi calls it the "collective failure of the whole criminal judicial system."
Failure or not, the women don't mind. "We get to travel, stay in new places and make friends. Yes, the money is good. But I like it here as well," says Kate, 27, who was presented as a model to an exporter in Delhi with whom she would be travelling to Goa. She arrived in India about a month-and-a-half ago and has already been with 50 men. As she leaves, dressed in tight jeans and a brown psychedelic top under a black leather jacket, a white taxi waiting outside to take her to her 51st client, she shrugs her shoulders.
"I was deported from Israel last year. The next few days will be tricky. It's Republic Day and security is tight.'' It's one of the perils of her profession. But one she carries off as easily as the Christian Louboutin high heels she bought online last year. It's price she extracts for the pleasure she provides.
Brothel to boudoir
The changing nature of the premium sex market
The flesh trade in India has become a big money-spinner with about 30 lakh girls (the population of Pune) involved, according to a recent government-commissioned study. Most women forced into prostitution due to abject poverty are from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They live in sub-human conditions in congested brothels in areas such as G.B. Road in Delhi or Kamatipura in Mumbai. Till 2000, the women for the so-called 'premium category' were trafficked illegally across the border from Nepal and Myanmar for Rs 1,000 a night. Things started to change when the fruits of globalisation reached younger urban Indian men thanks to the robust growth in the outsourcing industry and the advent of multinational companies that paid fat salaries. On the home turf too, voluntarism replaced coercion thanks to the easy, and big, money to be made here. The flesh trade soon became an organised business; pimps became 'agents' who would now move around in flashy cars, unlike in the past where the contact person was a taxi driver or paan shop owner. Pimps no longer meet clients, preferring to send women in chauffeur-driven cars with full payment to be paid in advance before they step out of the car. The services are paid for by the hour, and not night.
"It is not just about quality sex but it is about a quality experience that is more about companionship," says 26-year-old Rishab, single and an executive in a Gurgaon-based multinational company. "They are out not to hide but to flaunt," he says, adding that he considers being in the company of light-skinned women an indicator of his success.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
75 Manipur Children rescued from traffickers
Imphal, Jan 19 : At least 75 children including 24 girls were rescued in the year 2009 while being trafficked outside Manipur, according to sources.
The year 2009 witnessed several children and girls being rescued by NGOs or by the police while being transported to cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi.
Jubita Hajarimayum, secretary of Ereima Gender Empowerment Resource Centre asserted that the development in Manipur could be brought only when the issues relating tochildren and women are solved.
According to reports, 25 children hailing from Kaibi village in Senapati district were rescued by Kolkata police from an Andhra Pradesh-bound train in June last year. Six girls from Churanchandpur district were rescued, also in June last year from an inter-State bus and the girls were reportedly being taken to Delhi. About 15 girls were rescued last year by Child Line, Imphal while they were being trafficked to Chennai.
A total of about 110 girls including minor girls were rescued in January 2008, according to available records. The minor girls who were rescued were either found in illegal homes or intercepted while being trafficked to other States of the country or outside the country.
Significantly, the victims belonged to poor families who are ignorant and the traffickers take advantage of their innocence and lure them by promising them free education outside the State.
Besides, Manipur is not lagging behind in the matter of crimes against women as well.
In one such incident, a woman was murdered by her husband in Thoubal district on December 2 last. The murderer identified as H Ibomcha strangulated his wife to death. Several rape cases had also had taken place in the State during 2009, some of which are unregistered with police
The year 2009 witnessed several children and girls being rescued by NGOs or by the police while being transported to cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi.
Jubita Hajarimayum, secretary of Ereima Gender Empowerment Resource Centre asserted that the development in Manipur could be brought only when the issues relating tochildren and women are solved.
According to reports, 25 children hailing from Kaibi village in Senapati district were rescued by Kolkata police from an Andhra Pradesh-bound train in June last year. Six girls from Churanchandpur district were rescued, also in June last year from an inter-State bus and the girls were reportedly being taken to Delhi. About 15 girls were rescued last year by Child Line, Imphal while they were being trafficked to Chennai.
A total of about 110 girls including minor girls were rescued in January 2008, according to available records. The minor girls who were rescued were either found in illegal homes or intercepted while being trafficked to other States of the country or outside the country.
Significantly, the victims belonged to poor families who are ignorant and the traffickers take advantage of their innocence and lure them by promising them free education outside the State.
Besides, Manipur is not lagging behind in the matter of crimes against women as well.
In one such incident, a woman was murdered by her husband in Thoubal district on December 2 last. The murderer identified as H Ibomcha strangulated his wife to death. Several rape cases had also had taken place in the State during 2009, some of which are unregistered with police
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Child trafficking in a civilised country like India unaceptable: SC
TNN, 16 January 2010,
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday firmly told the Centre that the scourge of child trafficking and its extent in a civilised country like India was just not acceptable and the government had to strengthen mechanism to curb it.
Examining the issue in the light of submissions made by Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Pattnaik said: "In a civilized country you cannot have the problem of this magnitude. We need to identify the places where it happens and strengthen implementation mechanism."
Submitting a report titled `The Indian Child: India's Eternal Hope and Future', Subramanium suggested that the Goa Childrens Act, 2003, could serve as a model legislation.
"Not only does it define child trafficking but also seeks to provide punishment for abuse and assault of children through child trafficking for different purposes such as labour, sale of body parts, organs, adoption, sexual offences of pedophilia, child prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism," he said. He even set out the need for having a rescue plan for children caught in prostitution and trade.
Though the Bench appreciated the report, it was not oblivious of the problems on the ground. "Our real problem is implementation. We do not lack material. The whole problem emanates from poverty. In a number of cases, you rescue these children and put them in remand homes. When their parents are informed they are not ready to take them back as they cannot afford them two square meals or because of the social stigma." it said.
"You must have adequate remand homes with infrastructure and proper hygiene conditions. There must be a programme for sending these children to school and schools must be told to admit these children. You need to first chalk out this programme on priority basis," it suggested.
Appearing for petitioner NGO `Bachpan Bachao Andolan", senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said the government for years have been sitting on an NHRC report suggesting an alarming figure of 44,000 children reported missing annually of which only 11,000 get traced.
In this regard, the Bench asked Gonsalves along with several other NGOs like Prajwala, Sankalp and National Legal Services Authority to make suggestions within a week and present a comprehensive report. Advocate Aparna Bhatt representing NGO Prajwala informed the court that by involving NGOs in rehabilitation work, the victims of trafficking have benefited. As a model case, she cited Andhra Pradesh where victims of trafficking are given land. The matter was posted for hearing on January 22.
TNN, 16 January 2010,
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday firmly told the Centre that the scourge of child trafficking and its extent in a civilised country like India was just not acceptable and the government had to strengthen mechanism to curb it.
Examining the issue in the light of submissions made by Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Pattnaik said: "In a civilized country you cannot have the problem of this magnitude. We need to identify the places where it happens and strengthen implementation mechanism."
Submitting a report titled `The Indian Child: India's Eternal Hope and Future', Subramanium suggested that the Goa Childrens Act, 2003, could serve as a model legislation.
"Not only does it define child trafficking but also seeks to provide punishment for abuse and assault of children through child trafficking for different purposes such as labour, sale of body parts, organs, adoption, sexual offences of pedophilia, child prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism," he said. He even set out the need for having a rescue plan for children caught in prostitution and trade.
Though the Bench appreciated the report, it was not oblivious of the problems on the ground. "Our real problem is implementation. We do not lack material. The whole problem emanates from poverty. In a number of cases, you rescue these children and put them in remand homes. When their parents are informed they are not ready to take them back as they cannot afford them two square meals or because of the social stigma." it said.
"You must have adequate remand homes with infrastructure and proper hygiene conditions. There must be a programme for sending these children to school and schools must be told to admit these children. You need to first chalk out this programme on priority basis," it suggested.
Appearing for petitioner NGO `Bachpan Bachao Andolan", senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said the government for years have been sitting on an NHRC report suggesting an alarming figure of 44,000 children reported missing annually of which only 11,000 get traced.
In this regard, the Bench asked Gonsalves along with several other NGOs like Prajwala, Sankalp and National Legal Services Authority to make suggestions within a week and present a comprehensive report. Advocate Aparna Bhatt representing NGO Prajwala informed the court that by involving NGOs in rehabilitation work, the victims of trafficking have benefited. As a model case, she cited Andhra Pradesh where victims of trafficking are given land. The matter was posted for hearing on January 22.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Child Rights forum at Vijaywada
THE HINDU
Date:10/01/2010 URL:
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Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada
Cultural show marks Children’s Mela
Staff Reporter
Street children rehabilitated by voluntary bodies celebrate birth anniversary of Manihara
— PHOTO: RAJU. V
VIJAYAWADA: As many as 2,000 children, who were mostly street children rehabilitated by different voluntary organisations, gathered in Fr. Devaiah auditorium of Andhra Loyola College here on Saturday to participate in several events held during the day on the occasion of birth anniversary of N.S. Manihara, the founder of SKCV Children’s Trust.
The Children’s Mela-2010, as it was called, witnessed cultural performances and competitions in games and sports in sub-junior, junior and senior categories. Prizes were presented to the winners in each category.
Dance-drama
The day began with a dance-drama by the children of SKCV Home on the life of the late Manihara. They depicted how Manihara reached India and set up the organisation for the welfare of deprived children.
A few more skits on child labour were performed on the occasion.
Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu, speaking as chief guest, underscored the need for more service organisations joining hands for the welfare of street children. He commended the Forum For Child Rights for brining all service organisations working for the children under one umbrella and providing help to the children in need.
Mayor M.V. Ratna Bindu, who presided over the meeting, recalled the services rendered by Manihara for the streetchildren. She said there was a need to eradicate child labour completely from the city and the support of every citizen was needed to achieve this task.
Police Commissioner (in-charge) Mahesh M. Bhagwat highlighted the importance of three ‘P’s – protection, prevention and prosecution – in implementation of child rights. He observed that trafficking in women and children was going on a large scale in Krishna and Godavari districts, as compared to other districts, but steps were being taken to protect every child.
Deputy Commissioner of Labour Yousuf Sheik, Forum treasurer B.S. Koteswara Rao, former treasurer of the TANA foundation K. Sambasiva Rao, Deputy Mayor S.P. Gritton and others were present.
Krishna district Collector Peeyush Kumar, who was the chief guest at the valedictory session, presented prizes to the winners of various competitions. Lauding the services of the non-governmental organisations, he assured support form the district administration for eradication of practice of child labour. General Manager of the Vijayawada Telecom District John Chrisostham, vice-president of the Forum for Child Rights N. Bhakti Manihara and others were present.
Date:10/01/2010 URL:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada
Cultural show marks Children’s Mela
Staff Reporter
Street children rehabilitated by voluntary bodies celebrate birth anniversary of Manihara
— PHOTO: RAJU. V
VIJAYAWADA: As many as 2,000 children, who were mostly street children rehabilitated by different voluntary organisations, gathered in Fr. Devaiah auditorium of Andhra Loyola College here on Saturday to participate in several events held during the day on the occasion of birth anniversary of N.S. Manihara, the founder of SKCV Children’s Trust.
The Children’s Mela-2010, as it was called, witnessed cultural performances and competitions in games and sports in sub-junior, junior and senior categories. Prizes were presented to the winners in each category.
Dance-drama
The day began with a dance-drama by the children of SKCV Home on the life of the late Manihara. They depicted how Manihara reached India and set up the organisation for the welfare of deprived children.
A few more skits on child labour were performed on the occasion.
Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu, speaking as chief guest, underscored the need for more service organisations joining hands for the welfare of street children. He commended the Forum For Child Rights for brining all service organisations working for the children under one umbrella and providing help to the children in need.
Mayor M.V. Ratna Bindu, who presided over the meeting, recalled the services rendered by Manihara for the streetchildren. She said there was a need to eradicate child labour completely from the city and the support of every citizen was needed to achieve this task.
Police Commissioner (in-charge) Mahesh M. Bhagwat highlighted the importance of three ‘P’s – protection, prevention and prosecution – in implementation of child rights. He observed that trafficking in women and children was going on a large scale in Krishna and Godavari districts, as compared to other districts, but steps were being taken to protect every child.
Deputy Commissioner of Labour Yousuf Sheik, Forum treasurer B.S. Koteswara Rao, former treasurer of the TANA foundation K. Sambasiva Rao, Deputy Mayor S.P. Gritton and others were present.
Krishna district Collector Peeyush Kumar, who was the chief guest at the valedictory session, presented prizes to the winners of various competitions. Lauding the services of the non-governmental organisations, he assured support form the district administration for eradication of practice of child labour. General Manager of the Vijayawada Telecom District John Chrisostham, vice-president of the Forum for Child Rights N. Bhakti Manihara and others were present.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Abducted girl called up parents for help
Abducted girl called up parents for help
By: Prawesh Lama Date: 2009-12-18 Place: Delhi
The police have spoken to the accused over phone, yet both the victim and the culprit remain at large
This is a story about a teenage girl who led her parents as well as the police to the people who trafficked her from Siliguri in West Bengal to Delhi.
Ironically, the police have been able to trace the culprits but the 16-year-old is yet to be reunited with her family. The brave teenager called up her parents from Bihar that her abductors were driving her to Delhi in a car with the registration number DL 4C AG 5809.
Scavengers: Sundar Singh (extreme right) with wife Sandhya and driver.
The West Bengal police registered a case on December 2 on the complaint of the girl's parents. Based on the leads given by the girl, the West Bengal police traced the driver of the black Santro car who confirmed that three girls were brought from Siliguri and delivered to Sundar Singh, a resident of Shakarpur in east Delhi.
During the course of investigation, it was established that Sundar Singh -- who runs an automobile business in Delhi -- traffics girls from Siliguri, Darjeeling and New Jalpaiguri and brings them to New Delhi.
He owns a house in Siliguri too which was damaged by locals after his cover was blown following the police complaint by the abducted girls' parents. Interestingly, several photographs of young girls were recovered from Singh's house.
The victim's relatives also visited Shakarpur police station after which the Station House Officer sent the beat officer to Singh's shop, Sundar Motors, at Car Bazar, Main Road, Shakarpur. Sundar in fact has married twice and his first wife told the beat officer that he rarely visits her and stayed at some unknown place in east Delhi with his second wife Sandhya.
Sandhya too has been arrested in similar cases earlier. Following the police raid at his house, Sundar called up the victim's relatives and threatened them not to approach the police again but during one of his calls the family managed to make the beat officer overhear it. When the policeman talked to him on the mobile phone number 9732915486. Singh pleaded with him that he would hand over the girl at Shakarpur police station, however, a fortnight has passed and Singh is still absconding.
Karma Dorjee Yolmo, officer in charge of Jaldhaka police station in West Bengal, raided Sandhya's house in New Ashok Nagar last week. However, she had already vacated the house.
"We could not arrest her, we have to produce the driver and others before the court. We have told our Delhi counterparts that an east Delhi resident is the prime suspect in the case. It is also suspected that the girls whose photographs were recovered from Singh's Siliguri house might have been trafficked too. We hope to arrest him and rescue the girls as soon as possible," Yolmo told MiD DAY.
A senior police official posted at Shakarpur police station said the mobile phone from which Singh called up is being tracked. "We are on Singh's tail and he will be arrested soon."
Importation of Girls
(Sec. 366-B IPC), (Incidence...61)A decrease of 9% has been observed in such cases as 61 cases were reported during 2007 as compared to 67 cases in the previous year (2006).
Only Bihar (56) and West Bengal (5) have reported such cases accounting for 91.8% and 8.2% respectively of total such cases at the national level.
Procuration of Minor Girls
(Sec. 366A IPC), (Incidence...253)253 cases were reported in 2007 as compared to 231 such cases in 2006, accounting for 9.5% increase over 2006.
West Bengal has reported 54 such cases indicating a share of 21.3% at national level followed by Andhra Pradesh (37) and Bihar (36). An increasing trend was observed in these cases during the last three years.
Figures: National Crime Records Bureau
Selling of Girls for Prostitution
(Sec. 372 IPC), (Incidence...69)69 cases of 'Selling of Girls for Prostitution' were reported in the country during 2007 against 123 such cases in 2006, thereby indicating a decline of 43.9% over 2006. West Bengal has accounted for 79.7% (55 cases out of 69 cases) of the total such cases reported in the country.
Reported Incidents of crime
(Incidence...4,087)A total of 4,087 incidents of crimes under various provisions of laws relating to human trafficking were reported in the country during 2007 as compared to 5,096 during 2006 recording a decrease of 19.8% during 2007. 5,850 cases relating to human trafficking were reported during 2003 as compared to 6,175 and 6,402 cases reported in 2004 and 2005.
By: Prawesh Lama Date: 2009-12-18 Place: Delhi
The police have spoken to the accused over phone, yet both the victim and the culprit remain at large
This is a story about a teenage girl who led her parents as well as the police to the people who trafficked her from Siliguri in West Bengal to Delhi.
Ironically, the police have been able to trace the culprits but the 16-year-old is yet to be reunited with her family. The brave teenager called up her parents from Bihar that her abductors were driving her to Delhi in a car with the registration number DL 4C AG 5809.
Scavengers: Sundar Singh (extreme right) with wife Sandhya and driver.
The West Bengal police registered a case on December 2 on the complaint of the girl's parents. Based on the leads given by the girl, the West Bengal police traced the driver of the black Santro car who confirmed that three girls were brought from Siliguri and delivered to Sundar Singh, a resident of Shakarpur in east Delhi.
During the course of investigation, it was established that Sundar Singh -- who runs an automobile business in Delhi -- traffics girls from Siliguri, Darjeeling and New Jalpaiguri and brings them to New Delhi.
He owns a house in Siliguri too which was damaged by locals after his cover was blown following the police complaint by the abducted girls' parents. Interestingly, several photographs of young girls were recovered from Singh's house.
The victim's relatives also visited Shakarpur police station after which the Station House Officer sent the beat officer to Singh's shop, Sundar Motors, at Car Bazar, Main Road, Shakarpur. Sundar in fact has married twice and his first wife told the beat officer that he rarely visits her and stayed at some unknown place in east Delhi with his second wife Sandhya.
Sandhya too has been arrested in similar cases earlier. Following the police raid at his house, Sundar called up the victim's relatives and threatened them not to approach the police again but during one of his calls the family managed to make the beat officer overhear it. When the policeman talked to him on the mobile phone number 9732915486. Singh pleaded with him that he would hand over the girl at Shakarpur police station, however, a fortnight has passed and Singh is still absconding.
Karma Dorjee Yolmo, officer in charge of Jaldhaka police station in West Bengal, raided Sandhya's house in New Ashok Nagar last week. However, she had already vacated the house.
"We could not arrest her, we have to produce the driver and others before the court. We have told our Delhi counterparts that an east Delhi resident is the prime suspect in the case. It is also suspected that the girls whose photographs were recovered from Singh's Siliguri house might have been trafficked too. We hope to arrest him and rescue the girls as soon as possible," Yolmo told MiD DAY.
A senior police official posted at Shakarpur police station said the mobile phone from which Singh called up is being tracked. "We are on Singh's tail and he will be arrested soon."
Importation of Girls
(Sec. 366-B IPC), (Incidence...61)A decrease of 9% has been observed in such cases as 61 cases were reported during 2007 as compared to 67 cases in the previous year (2006).
Only Bihar (56) and West Bengal (5) have reported such cases accounting for 91.8% and 8.2% respectively of total such cases at the national level.
Procuration of Minor Girls
(Sec. 366A IPC), (Incidence...253)253 cases were reported in 2007 as compared to 231 such cases in 2006, accounting for 9.5% increase over 2006.
West Bengal has reported 54 such cases indicating a share of 21.3% at national level followed by Andhra Pradesh (37) and Bihar (36). An increasing trend was observed in these cases during the last three years.
Figures: National Crime Records Bureau
Selling of Girls for Prostitution
(Sec. 372 IPC), (Incidence...69)69 cases of 'Selling of Girls for Prostitution' were reported in the country during 2007 against 123 such cases in 2006, thereby indicating a decline of 43.9% over 2006. West Bengal has accounted for 79.7% (55 cases out of 69 cases) of the total such cases reported in the country.
Reported Incidents of crime
(Incidence...4,087)A total of 4,087 incidents of crimes under various provisions of laws relating to human trafficking were reported in the country during 2007 as compared to 5,096 during 2006 recording a decrease of 19.8% during 2007. 5,850 cases relating to human trafficking were reported during 2003 as compared to 6,175 and 6,402 cases reported in 2004 and 2005.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Set up anti-trafficking cell in every district: Chidambaram
Set up anti-trafficking cell in every district: Chidambaram
December 2nd, 2009 - 11:25 pm ICT by IANS -
New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday urged all states in the country to set up anti-human trafficking cells in every district.
“Only nine districts have anti-human trafficking cells. This is out of over 600 districts of the country. So, we have barely scratched the surface of the problem. I would like to urge states to set up anti-human trafficking cells in all districts, network them and coordinate with the home ministry,” said Chidambram.
“This would take time and money, but more than that it requires will,” he added.
He was speaking after releasing a book “Human trafficking - dimensions, challenges and responses” written by a former Central Bureau of Investigation official P.M. Nair.
Nair has handled many cases, including former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, international arms drop in Purulia as well as a number of human right violations and many inter-state and international organised crimes.
“Most countries are slow to wake up to the gravity of the crime….one can’t shift blame from one country to another because women and children are bought and sold within the country.”
“The scale of human trafficking in India is not clear, but it is a fair assumption that it is on a very large scale,” Chidambaram said.
“It is the most grievous and pernicious of crimes. The victims are mostly women and children. There are a variety of reasons for human trafficking but mostly it is sex trade. It is a crime against humanity,” he added.
The home minister said: “He (Nair) has put together a large amount of literature (during his work). This book would prove to be a valuable reference book for people interested in the field of anti-human trafficking, law enforcement officers, NGOs and jurists.”
Priced at Rs.600, the proceeds of the sale of the book will go to the victims of human trafficking.
Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/set-up-anti-trafficking-cell-in-every-district-chidambaram_100283423.html#ixzz0YaHSC7BY
December 2nd, 2009 - 11:25 pm ICT by IANS -
New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday urged all states in the country to set up anti-human trafficking cells in every district.
“Only nine districts have anti-human trafficking cells. This is out of over 600 districts of the country. So, we have barely scratched the surface of the problem. I would like to urge states to set up anti-human trafficking cells in all districts, network them and coordinate with the home ministry,” said Chidambram.
“This would take time and money, but more than that it requires will,” he added.
He was speaking after releasing a book “Human trafficking - dimensions, challenges and responses” written by a former Central Bureau of Investigation official P.M. Nair.
Nair has handled many cases, including former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, international arms drop in Purulia as well as a number of human right violations and many inter-state and international organised crimes.
“Most countries are slow to wake up to the gravity of the crime….one can’t shift blame from one country to another because women and children are bought and sold within the country.”
“The scale of human trafficking in India is not clear, but it is a fair assumption that it is on a very large scale,” Chidambaram said.
“It is the most grievous and pernicious of crimes. The victims are mostly women and children. There are a variety of reasons for human trafficking but mostly it is sex trade. It is a crime against humanity,” he added.
The home minister said: “He (Nair) has put together a large amount of literature (during his work). This book would prove to be a valuable reference book for people interested in the field of anti-human trafficking, law enforcement officers, NGOs and jurists.”
Priced at Rs.600, the proceeds of the sale of the book will go to the victims of human trafficking.
Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/set-up-anti-trafficking-cell-in-every-district-chidambaram_100283423.html#ixzz0YaHSC7BY
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Housewife gets 7 yrs in jail for pushing minors into flesh trade
Housewife gets 7 yrs in jail for pushing minors into flesh trade
Nitasha Natu, TNN 2 December 2009,
MUMBAI: A 33-year-old married woman from Kandivli has been sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for pushing minor girls into prostitution. Bharti alias Itee Bodaee was nabbed along with her accomplice, Firoz Siddiqui (32), in May 2009. The duo was booked under the stringent PITA (Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act).
A native of Kolkata, Bodaee worked as a bar dancer for 5 years. But after the state ban on dance bars, she started bringing minor girls from her hometown to Mumbai on the pretext that they would be employed as domestic helps. Bodaee charged the clients anything between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.
"An NGO called Oasis India tipped off our officers about Bodaee's activities. On May 28, our team raided a footpath near the Kandivli level-crossing and caught Bodaee and Siddiqui," said inspector Subhash Vele. . The officers also rescued four girls, three of them minors. The girls told the investigators that Bodaee had been keeping them captive for the past six months.
On November 30, sessions judge SD Bhate sentenced Bodaee to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and levied a fine of Rs 1,500. If she fails to pay up the fine, she will have to serve another three months' rigorous imprisonment
Nitasha Natu, TNN 2 December 2009,
MUMBAI: A 33-year-old married woman from Kandivli has been sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for pushing minor girls into prostitution. Bharti alias Itee Bodaee was nabbed along with her accomplice, Firoz Siddiqui (32), in May 2009. The duo was booked under the stringent PITA (Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act).
A native of Kolkata, Bodaee worked as a bar dancer for 5 years. But after the state ban on dance bars, she started bringing minor girls from her hometown to Mumbai on the pretext that they would be employed as domestic helps. Bodaee charged the clients anything between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.
"An NGO called Oasis India tipped off our officers about Bodaee's activities. On May 28, our team raided a footpath near the Kandivli level-crossing and caught Bodaee and Siddiqui," said inspector Subhash Vele. . The officers also rescued four girls, three of them minors. The girls told the investigators that Bodaee had been keeping them captive for the past six months.
On November 30, sessions judge SD Bhate sentenced Bodaee to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and levied a fine of Rs 1,500. If she fails to pay up the fine, she will have to serve another three months' rigorous imprisonment
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
17 girls rescued from Mumbai
17 girls rescued from Mumbai
TNN 1 December 2009,
HYDERABAD: Fifteen girls from the state, including 12 from East Godavari, two each from Vijayawada, West Godavari and one from Visakhapatnam were rescued from the clutches of human traffickers by West Godavari police and CID with active help from Mumbai Police Enforcement.
The CID also rescued two minor girls hailing from West Bengal during the operation. Deputy inspector general of police, Eluru range, Mahesh M Bhagwat, said eight traffickers were arrested in the raid. The incident came to light when a complainant, Illa Anjiyya of Gavaravaram of Koyyalagudeum (WG district) lodged a complaint with Koyyalagudem police station on Nov 19 stating that his 19-year-old daughter and a 24-year-old housewife were taken away by B Sayamma of the same village on the promise of providing jobs in a hostel for a salary of Rs 2,500 per month along with accommodation.
Based on the complaint, a criminal case was registered at Koyyalagudem PS under various sections of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act-1956 and an investigation was taken up, the DIG said. A special team visited Mumbai on November 26 and contacted the local officers to conduct searches.
The team visited a prostitution den being run by one Kunkipudi Devi at Dayanand building, Pula Street, in Mumbai and rescued the victims
TNN 1 December 2009,
HYDERABAD: Fifteen girls from the state, including 12 from East Godavari, two each from Vijayawada, West Godavari and one from Visakhapatnam were rescued from the clutches of human traffickers by West Godavari police and CID with active help from Mumbai Police Enforcement.
The CID also rescued two minor girls hailing from West Bengal during the operation. Deputy inspector general of police, Eluru range, Mahesh M Bhagwat, said eight traffickers were arrested in the raid. The incident came to light when a complainant, Illa Anjiyya of Gavaravaram of Koyyalagudeum (WG district) lodged a complaint with Koyyalagudem police station on Nov 19 stating that his 19-year-old daughter and a 24-year-old housewife were taken away by B Sayamma of the same village on the promise of providing jobs in a hostel for a salary of Rs 2,500 per month along with accommodation.
Based on the complaint, a criminal case was registered at Koyyalagudem PS under various sections of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act-1956 and an investigation was taken up, the DIG said. A special team visited Mumbai on November 26 and contacted the local officers to conduct searches.
The team visited a prostitution den being run by one Kunkipudi Devi at Dayanand building, Pula Street, in Mumbai and rescued the victims
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Half the Districts in India are Affected by Human Trafficking
Half the Districts in India are Affected by Human Trafficking
According to a report of the National Commission for Women, (NCW) at least half of the 612 districts in the country are affected by trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation.
The NCW report says that in 378 districts, there are 1,794 identified places of origin from where females are trafficked and 1,016 areas where commercial sexual activities take place.
The NCW says that the promise of a job is the biggest way of deception and accounts for over 50 per cent of trafficking cases.
The states in southern and eastern India ae the most vulnerable as far as trafficking is concerned, say the report.
The report also found out that almost all the districts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are affected by this problem.
Tamil Nadu with 93.33 per cent of its districts are affected, is leading the tally of the states affected by human trafficking followed by Orissa with 86.66 per cent and Bihar 86.48 per cent.
The report further added that 2.4 per cent of the total female population in age group of 15-35 years in the country are affected by commercial sexual exploitation.
According to the report there are over 28 lakh commercial sex workers in the country. And over 43 percent women enter to this flesh trade in their minor ages.
The report expressed concern over the entry of minors in flesh trade from the regions where incidence of poverty and hunger are comparatively high
Reasons like violence against women, high rate of unemployment and lack of options contribute to the vulnerability of trafficking of adults, the report says.
The report says that gender discrimination and gender specific violence and crimes perpetuate the vulnerability of women and children and act as one of the reasons behind trafficking.
The report also says that more than 22 per cent women are trafficked and forced into flesh trade by family members.
Around 8 per cent women are trafficked by husbands or in-laws and friends or neighbours lure 18 per cent. More than 51 per cent women in commercial sex were trafficked either by family members or in-laws, the report says.
The report reveals that about 22 per cent of traffickers are not prosecuted due to their political backing.
According to a report of the National Commission for Women, (NCW) at least half of the 612 districts in the country are affected by trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation.
The NCW report says that in 378 districts, there are 1,794 identified places of origin from where females are trafficked and 1,016 areas where commercial sexual activities take place.
The NCW says that the promise of a job is the biggest way of deception and accounts for over 50 per cent of trafficking cases.
The states in southern and eastern India ae the most vulnerable as far as trafficking is concerned, say the report.
The report also found out that almost all the districts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are affected by this problem.
Tamil Nadu with 93.33 per cent of its districts are affected, is leading the tally of the states affected by human trafficking followed by Orissa with 86.66 per cent and Bihar 86.48 per cent.
The report further added that 2.4 per cent of the total female population in age group of 15-35 years in the country are affected by commercial sexual exploitation.
According to the report there are over 28 lakh commercial sex workers in the country. And over 43 percent women enter to this flesh trade in their minor ages.
The report expressed concern over the entry of minors in flesh trade from the regions where incidence of poverty and hunger are comparatively high
Reasons like violence against women, high rate of unemployment and lack of options contribute to the vulnerability of trafficking of adults, the report says.
The report says that gender discrimination and gender specific violence and crimes perpetuate the vulnerability of women and children and act as one of the reasons behind trafficking.
The report also says that more than 22 per cent women are trafficked and forced into flesh trade by family members.
Around 8 per cent women are trafficked by husbands or in-laws and friends or neighbours lure 18 per cent. More than 51 per cent women in commercial sex were trafficked either by family members or in-laws, the report says.
The report reveals that about 22 per cent of traffickers are not prosecuted due to their political backing.
Red light district swaps sin for skyscrapers in Mumbai
Red light district swaps sin for skyscrapers
Clara Lewis, TOI Crest 28 November 2009, 03:47pm IST
Mumbai
Brothel Kamathipura
Many brothels are now video parlours and shops selling CDs
Till about four years ago, garishly painted women in glittering attire were a common sight on Cursetji Shuklaji Street, a busy road in Mumbai's notorious red light district, Kamathipura. Once known as Safed Gully (White Lane) on account of the European prostitutes that it housed during the British Raj, Shuklaji Street was the place where, for years on end, one could find sex workers plying their trade. These days however, they're out there not to solicit but to await the private taxis that ferry them to dance bars in the suburbs.
From 50,000 sex workers in 1992 (a statistic recorded by the BMC as part of its AIDS documentation ) to a mere 1,600 today, Kamathipura and the adjoining Foras Road are a mere shadow of their former selves. The street-facing brothels have given way to little shops vending CDs and mobile phones; there's also a clutch of video parlours where boisterous youngsters throng to catch the latest Telugu blockbuster.
Gentrification is slowly descending on Kamathipura , like it has on many of Mumbai's distinctive boroughs. The one-storey , ground-hugging structures are making way for dizzy skyscrapers - two, of 35 storeys, have come up on Shuklaji Street, while another two, 47 storeys each, are nearing completion. Salim Balwa, director D B Realty, the company that's busy making over the area, is planning several more projects here. "The space crunch in Mumbai has meant that you go looking for land where no development has happened," he says. All the towers overlook Kamathipura.
Balwa, who's developed 10 lakh square feet in the area and is in the process of acquiring another 3.5 lakh, is sure that he's on to a good thing. "All said and done, the place is centrally located, and it is better than living in far-off Mira Road," he says. The present residents, most of whom live in houses that are about 100 sq ft in size, will get 300 sq ft after redevelopment, says Balwa. And, of course, there will be a more-than-neat profit for him.
It was the twin factors of AIDS and the Maharashtra government's redevelopment policy that played a major role in getting sex workers to move out of the oldest profession in the world and subsequently out of Kamathipura. The AIDS scare led to the first serious government intervention in the area's prostitution dens: Dr Jairaj Thanekar, Chief Executive Health Officer, BMC, who worked in Kamathipura for 15 years to implement the AIDS intervention programme, says the corporation played a key role in reducing the number of prostitutes . "From organising raids on the Yellappa markets down south - the main source of girls for Kamathipura - to raiding the brothels, we made it difficult for prostitution to function," he says. "From 1999 onwards, the number of sex workers started dwindling."
When the BMC intervened, the rate of transmission of HIV was a shocking four per cent. By then a large number of sex workers had died. "Brothel owners, faced with sex workers who kept falling ill, moved them out to other brothels in Mulund, Bhandup and Ghatkopar, but procuring new girls was also becoming difficult," says Thanekar. This and other factors - a reluctance among landlords, newly aware of AIDS, to lease out their premises to prostitution, spiralling rents, police raids, and the emergence of a new generation of financiers who got into more lucrative ventures - hastened the downward spiral of prostitution in Kamathipura.
The reconstruction wave of dilapidated buildings completed the process. "Several people were bought out by the builders," says a brothel owner. "Gangubai Chawl on 11th Kamathipura Lane was among the first to be torn down and reconstructed into a six-storey building by a private developer. Normal households moved in." The stigma attached to Kamathipura began to dwindle somewhat , and the newly reconstructed prostitution dens began to be put to other uses - for the last four years, businessmen have been renting out the infamous rooms to small manufacturing units. Mohammed Israr, a 22-year-old native of Bihar, who assembles travel bags for a local manufacturer, has rented 600 sq feet in a one-storey structure in Kamathipura. He pays a stiff monthly rent of Rs 12,000 for the space, but says that it's worth the money, given the central location.
Abdul Sattar, a local pan-beedi stall owner on Lane 13, has been in the business for the last 15 years. "Earlier, sex workers' clients frequented my stall," he says. "There were a lot of goons and hangers-on around. Now, proper businessmen come here. It's a welcome change, as people working in the vicinity are no longer looked down upon. There was a time when we were ashamed to tell our relatives that we lived and worked in Kamathipura . But not any more." Adds Sadiq Ismail, who owns a consumer goods shop on 12th Kamathipura Lane, "I live in a house above my shop with my wife, three sons and a daughter. There is nothing shameful about living here any more."
Street named desire
Kamathipura is Mumbai's oldest and Asia's largest red light district. It got its name from the Kamathis (workers) of Andhra Pradesh. They worked as labourers on construction sites. The neighbourhood also had Chinese residents who worked as dockhands and ran restaurants. Kamathipura was formerly Lal Bazaar, an area set aside by the British for their troops' sexual pleasures. By the end of the 19th century, Lal Bazaar was known as a "tolerated area" as prostitution was illegal. At the time, Bombay and to a lesser extent Calcutta were the most important cities in an expanding prostitution network.
Cursetji Shuklaji Street in Kamathipura was called Safed Gully as it was home to European prostitutes. The brothels here were classified into first, second and third class. In 1916, the British set up the Venereal Disease Clinic, the first of its kind in Bombay. The BMC took over the clinic in 1925.
Pleasure Island
The purest form of Afghan afeem (opium) was available only at Bachchuseth ki Wadi on Foras Road, a place famous for its kothewalis and mujras. Free-flowing liquor, the aroma of kebabs, the scent of mogra gajras and the resonance of ghungroos, musical instruments and melodious voices made it the most famous entertainment zone in Mumbai. In the 1970s and early '80s Bachchu Wadi was the haunt of Mumbai's underworld, with such kingpins as Haji Mastan, Karim Lala, and Dawood Ibrahim frequenting it. The kothewalis, trained in Hindustani music, were much sought after. "The place would come alive after sunset, and there was music and laughter till the wee hours of the morning," reminisces Abdul Rauf Sheikh, a pan-stall owner. But after R R Patil became home minister in 2003, policemen started forcibly shutting down the kothasat 12.30 am. Sheikh says that girls from Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh now rent out their rooms while they themselves work in beer bars in the city and suburbs. Shah Bano, a one-time singer and dancer at one of the kothasin Bachchu Wadi, now lives in Mira Road, dropping by once a week to meet her children who still live there. The children, however, have shunned the kothatradition and do odd jobs for a living.
Salim Balwa, director, D B Realty, is all set to change the face of Bachchu Wadi and Kamathipura in turn. Bachchu Wadi is to be his first redevelopment project in the area. The wadi has 280 tenants - of these 100 are kothewaliswho regularly hold mujraswhile the other 180 are normal households. For Balwa, the major stumbling block was that the two groups did not want to live in the same building. "So , over the course of several meetings it was decided that the 100 tenants who hold mujras would be given a separate building with a separate entrance and lift. And the rest would be in a different building. Once my door is closed, how does it matter who does what?"
Clara Lewis, TOI Crest 28 November 2009, 03:47pm IST
Mumbai
Brothel Kamathipura
Many brothels are now video parlours and shops selling CDs
Till about four years ago, garishly painted women in glittering attire were a common sight on Cursetji Shuklaji Street, a busy road in Mumbai's notorious red light district, Kamathipura. Once known as Safed Gully (White Lane) on account of the European prostitutes that it housed during the British Raj, Shuklaji Street was the place where, for years on end, one could find sex workers plying their trade. These days however, they're out there not to solicit but to await the private taxis that ferry them to dance bars in the suburbs.
From 50,000 sex workers in 1992 (a statistic recorded by the BMC as part of its AIDS documentation ) to a mere 1,600 today, Kamathipura and the adjoining Foras Road are a mere shadow of their former selves. The street-facing brothels have given way to little shops vending CDs and mobile phones; there's also a clutch of video parlours where boisterous youngsters throng to catch the latest Telugu blockbuster.
Gentrification is slowly descending on Kamathipura , like it has on many of Mumbai's distinctive boroughs. The one-storey , ground-hugging structures are making way for dizzy skyscrapers - two, of 35 storeys, have come up on Shuklaji Street, while another two, 47 storeys each, are nearing completion. Salim Balwa, director D B Realty, the company that's busy making over the area, is planning several more projects here. "The space crunch in Mumbai has meant that you go looking for land where no development has happened," he says. All the towers overlook Kamathipura.
Balwa, who's developed 10 lakh square feet in the area and is in the process of acquiring another 3.5 lakh, is sure that he's on to a good thing. "All said and done, the place is centrally located, and it is better than living in far-off Mira Road," he says. The present residents, most of whom live in houses that are about 100 sq ft in size, will get 300 sq ft after redevelopment, says Balwa. And, of course, there will be a more-than-neat profit for him.
It was the twin factors of AIDS and the Maharashtra government's redevelopment policy that played a major role in getting sex workers to move out of the oldest profession in the world and subsequently out of Kamathipura. The AIDS scare led to the first serious government intervention in the area's prostitution dens: Dr Jairaj Thanekar, Chief Executive Health Officer, BMC, who worked in Kamathipura for 15 years to implement the AIDS intervention programme, says the corporation played a key role in reducing the number of prostitutes . "From organising raids on the Yellappa markets down south - the main source of girls for Kamathipura - to raiding the brothels, we made it difficult for prostitution to function," he says. "From 1999 onwards, the number of sex workers started dwindling."
When the BMC intervened, the rate of transmission of HIV was a shocking four per cent. By then a large number of sex workers had died. "Brothel owners, faced with sex workers who kept falling ill, moved them out to other brothels in Mulund, Bhandup and Ghatkopar, but procuring new girls was also becoming difficult," says Thanekar. This and other factors - a reluctance among landlords, newly aware of AIDS, to lease out their premises to prostitution, spiralling rents, police raids, and the emergence of a new generation of financiers who got into more lucrative ventures - hastened the downward spiral of prostitution in Kamathipura.
The reconstruction wave of dilapidated buildings completed the process. "Several people were bought out by the builders," says a brothel owner. "Gangubai Chawl on 11th Kamathipura Lane was among the first to be torn down and reconstructed into a six-storey building by a private developer. Normal households moved in." The stigma attached to Kamathipura began to dwindle somewhat , and the newly reconstructed prostitution dens began to be put to other uses - for the last four years, businessmen have been renting out the infamous rooms to small manufacturing units. Mohammed Israr, a 22-year-old native of Bihar, who assembles travel bags for a local manufacturer, has rented 600 sq feet in a one-storey structure in Kamathipura. He pays a stiff monthly rent of Rs 12,000 for the space, but says that it's worth the money, given the central location.
Abdul Sattar, a local pan-beedi stall owner on Lane 13, has been in the business for the last 15 years. "Earlier, sex workers' clients frequented my stall," he says. "There were a lot of goons and hangers-on around. Now, proper businessmen come here. It's a welcome change, as people working in the vicinity are no longer looked down upon. There was a time when we were ashamed to tell our relatives that we lived and worked in Kamathipura . But not any more." Adds Sadiq Ismail, who owns a consumer goods shop on 12th Kamathipura Lane, "I live in a house above my shop with my wife, three sons and a daughter. There is nothing shameful about living here any more."
Street named desire
Kamathipura is Mumbai's oldest and Asia's largest red light district. It got its name from the Kamathis (workers) of Andhra Pradesh. They worked as labourers on construction sites. The neighbourhood also had Chinese residents who worked as dockhands and ran restaurants. Kamathipura was formerly Lal Bazaar, an area set aside by the British for their troops' sexual pleasures. By the end of the 19th century, Lal Bazaar was known as a "tolerated area" as prostitution was illegal. At the time, Bombay and to a lesser extent Calcutta were the most important cities in an expanding prostitution network.
Cursetji Shuklaji Street in Kamathipura was called Safed Gully as it was home to European prostitutes. The brothels here were classified into first, second and third class. In 1916, the British set up the Venereal Disease Clinic, the first of its kind in Bombay. The BMC took over the clinic in 1925.
Pleasure Island
The purest form of Afghan afeem (opium) was available only at Bachchuseth ki Wadi on Foras Road, a place famous for its kothewalis and mujras. Free-flowing liquor, the aroma of kebabs, the scent of mogra gajras and the resonance of ghungroos, musical instruments and melodious voices made it the most famous entertainment zone in Mumbai. In the 1970s and early '80s Bachchu Wadi was the haunt of Mumbai's underworld, with such kingpins as Haji Mastan, Karim Lala, and Dawood Ibrahim frequenting it. The kothewalis, trained in Hindustani music, were much sought after. "The place would come alive after sunset, and there was music and laughter till the wee hours of the morning," reminisces Abdul Rauf Sheikh, a pan-stall owner. But after R R Patil became home minister in 2003, policemen started forcibly shutting down the kothasat 12.30 am. Sheikh says that girls from Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh now rent out their rooms while they themselves work in beer bars in the city and suburbs. Shah Bano, a one-time singer and dancer at one of the kothasin Bachchu Wadi, now lives in Mira Road, dropping by once a week to meet her children who still live there. The children, however, have shunned the kothatradition and do odd jobs for a living.
Salim Balwa, director, D B Realty, is all set to change the face of Bachchu Wadi and Kamathipura in turn. Bachchu Wadi is to be his first redevelopment project in the area. The wadi has 280 tenants - of these 100 are kothewaliswho regularly hold mujraswhile the other 180 are normal households. For Balwa, the major stumbling block was that the two groups did not want to live in the same building. "So , over the course of several meetings it was decided that the 100 tenants who hold mujras would be given a separate building with a separate entrance and lift. And the rest would be in a different building. Once my door is closed, how does it matter who does what?"
Friday, November 06, 2009
Trafficking prevention in West Godavari Dist. of A.P.
THE HINDU
Date:06/11/2009
Andhra Pradesh - Eluru
3 towns gain notoriety for women trafficking
Staff Reporter
ELURU: Three towns -- Tanuku, Tadepalligudem and Kovvuru -- in West Godavari district earned notoriety for women trafficking, according to Superintendent of Police B. Balakrishna. Several victims were rescued from trafficking in these three towns during a series of raids by the police, the SP said at a meeting on women trafficking here on Thursday. He said 56 traffickers were arrested and 23 victims were sent to rescue homes for rehabilitation in the last two months.
Mr. Balakrishna said police were contemplating implication of the relatives of victims in cases relating to trafficking for reportedly abetting their kith and kin into the trade. In some cases, it was the parents and relatives who were selling their minor girls.
Date:06/11/2009
Andhra Pradesh - Eluru
3 towns gain notoriety for women trafficking
Staff Reporter
ELURU: Three towns -- Tanuku, Tadepalligudem and Kovvuru -- in West Godavari district earned notoriety for women trafficking, according to Superintendent of Police B. Balakrishna. Several victims were rescued from trafficking in these three towns during a series of raids by the police, the SP said at a meeting on women trafficking here on Thursday. He said 56 traffickers were arrested and 23 victims were sent to rescue homes for rehabilitation in the last two months.
Mr. Balakrishna said police were contemplating implication of the relatives of victims in cases relating to trafficking for reportedly abetting their kith and kin into the trade. In some cases, it was the parents and relatives who were selling their minor girls.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Half the Districts in India are Affected by Human Trafficking
Half the Districts in India are Affected by Human Trafficking
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
According to a report of the National Commission for Women, (NCW) at least half of the 612 districts in the country are affected by trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation.
The NCW report says that in 378 districts, there are 1,794 identified places of origin from where females are trafficked and 1,016 areas where commercial sexual activities take place.
The NCW says that the promise of a job is the biggest way of deception and accounts for over 50 per cent of trafficking cases.
The states in southern and eastern India ae the most vulnerable as far as trafficking is concerned, say the report.
The report also found out that almost all the districts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are affected by this problem.
Tamil Nadu with 93.33 per cent of its districts are affected, is leading the tally of the states affected by human trafficking followed by Orissa with 86.66 per cent and Bihar 86.48 per cent.
The report further added that 2.4 per cent of the total female population in age group of 15-35 years in the country are affected by commercial sexual exploitation.
According to the report there are over 28 lakh commercial sex workers in the country. And over 43 percent women enter to this flesh trade in their minor ages.
The report expressed concern over the entry of minors in flesh trade from the regions where incidence of poverty and hunger are comparatively high
Reasons like violence against women, high rate of unemployment and lack of options contribute to the vulnerability of trafficking of adults, the report says.
The report says that gender discrimination and gender specific violence and crimes perpetuate the vulnerability of women and children and act as one of the reasons behind trafficking.
The report also says that more than 22 per cent women are trafficked and forced into flesh trade by family members.
Around 8 per cent women are trafficked by husbands or in-laws and friends or neighbours lure 18 per cent. More than 51 per cent women in commercial sex were trafficked either by family members or in-laws, the report says.
The report reveals that about 22 per cent of traffickers are not prosecuted due to their political backing
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
According to a report of the National Commission for Women, (NCW) at least half of the 612 districts in the country are affected by trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation.
The NCW report says that in 378 districts, there are 1,794 identified places of origin from where females are trafficked and 1,016 areas where commercial sexual activities take place.
The NCW says that the promise of a job is the biggest way of deception and accounts for over 50 per cent of trafficking cases.
The states in southern and eastern India ae the most vulnerable as far as trafficking is concerned, say the report.
The report also found out that almost all the districts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are affected by this problem.
Tamil Nadu with 93.33 per cent of its districts are affected, is leading the tally of the states affected by human trafficking followed by Orissa with 86.66 per cent and Bihar 86.48 per cent.
The report further added that 2.4 per cent of the total female population in age group of 15-35 years in the country are affected by commercial sexual exploitation.
According to the report there are over 28 lakh commercial sex workers in the country. And over 43 percent women enter to this flesh trade in their minor ages.
The report expressed concern over the entry of minors in flesh trade from the regions where incidence of poverty and hunger are comparatively high
Reasons like violence against women, high rate of unemployment and lack of options contribute to the vulnerability of trafficking of adults, the report says.
The report says that gender discrimination and gender specific violence and crimes perpetuate the vulnerability of women and children and act as one of the reasons behind trafficking.
The report also says that more than 22 per cent women are trafficked and forced into flesh trade by family members.
Around 8 per cent women are trafficked by husbands or in-laws and friends or neighbours lure 18 per cent. More than 51 per cent women in commercial sex were trafficked either by family members or in-laws, the report says.
The report reveals that about 22 per cent of traffickers are not prosecuted due to their political backing
Minors in circus human trafficking
Minors in circus human trafficking
Himalayan News Service
2009-10-05 2:17 PM
Print This News
KATHMANDU; The Supreme Court (SC) has treated the recruitment of minors in circus as seriously as human trafficking.
Stating that the recruitment of minors in hazardous circus jobs is a violation of children’s fundamental rights and is against the Person Trafficking (Control) Act, 1976, the apex court has termed it a criminal offence requiring prohibition.
The SC also cited a news report published in The Himalayan Times on September 6, which said 12,000 children and women were trafficked into India annually, as well as a report published in The Times of India on August 22.
“Neither the parents nor the society has authority to violate the rights of children by exposing them to hazardous jobs,” a division bench of Justices Bala Ram KC and Rajendra Prasad Koirala said in their full text of judgment made public today.
The bench turned down the appeal filed by traffickers, who sold three children to an Indian circus for IRs 2,000 each.
The bench also upheld punishment slapped by lower courts to traffickers Bir Bahadur Shrestha, Radhika Lama, Thuli Maharjan alias Thuli Didi, Dhan Bahadur Gurung and his second wife. Challenging the Hetauda Appellate Court verdict that upheld the one by Hetauda District Court, the defendants had moved the apex court two years ago.
The traffickers had sold three minors — Sunima Lama, Roshana Lama and Devi Bista — to an Indian circus in 1998. The trio was rescued after a few weeks. Interestingly, their parents were found to have signed contracts for their kids’ deployment there.
The bench also observed that the guardians do not have rights to sign any such
contract.
Underlining the need for a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty or Judicial Cooperation Treaty between Nepal and India to curb crimes, the SC directed the government to initiate process to seek the help of the Indian government in this regard.
The court also stressed on the need to create awareness among schoolchildren on trafficking and to adopt Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal Justice System while conducting trials on cases related to child rights.
Himalayan News Service
2009-10-05 2:17 PM
Print This News
KATHMANDU; The Supreme Court (SC) has treated the recruitment of minors in circus as seriously as human trafficking.
Stating that the recruitment of minors in hazardous circus jobs is a violation of children’s fundamental rights and is against the Person Trafficking (Control) Act, 1976, the apex court has termed it a criminal offence requiring prohibition.
The SC also cited a news report published in The Himalayan Times on September 6, which said 12,000 children and women were trafficked into India annually, as well as a report published in The Times of India on August 22.
“Neither the parents nor the society has authority to violate the rights of children by exposing them to hazardous jobs,” a division bench of Justices Bala Ram KC and Rajendra Prasad Koirala said in their full text of judgment made public today.
The bench turned down the appeal filed by traffickers, who sold three children to an Indian circus for IRs 2,000 each.
The bench also upheld punishment slapped by lower courts to traffickers Bir Bahadur Shrestha, Radhika Lama, Thuli Maharjan alias Thuli Didi, Dhan Bahadur Gurung and his second wife. Challenging the Hetauda Appellate Court verdict that upheld the one by Hetauda District Court, the defendants had moved the apex court two years ago.
The traffickers had sold three minors — Sunima Lama, Roshana Lama and Devi Bista — to an Indian circus in 1998. The trio was rescued after a few weeks. Interestingly, their parents were found to have signed contracts for their kids’ deployment there.
The bench also observed that the guardians do not have rights to sign any such
contract.
Underlining the need for a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty or Judicial Cooperation Treaty between Nepal and India to curb crimes, the SC directed the government to initiate process to seek the help of the Indian government in this regard.
The court also stressed on the need to create awareness among schoolchildren on trafficking and to adopt Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal Justice System while conducting trials on cases related to child rights.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Drive against Human Trafficking and Crime against Women to be intensified: Ajay Maken
Drive against Human Trafficking and Crime against Women to be intensified: Ajay Maken
MHA issues Advisories in this regard to States/UTs --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Maken today said that the Government of India in close co-ordination with the various State and UT Governments had intensified measures against Human Trafficking and Crime against women. Shri Maken also informed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) along with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), will be organizing a workshop for training of trainers of all stake holders against Human Trafficking by the end of this year. The Conference will be inaugurated by the Home Minister, Shri P Chidambaram, he said. After this workshop, the MHA also intends to organize similar workshops for stake holders from SAARC countries in line with Government of India’s offer of conducting training programmes for Capacity building for implementation of the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children, he elaborated.
In this regard the Ministry had convened a meeting of the Nodal Officers for Human Trafficking of various States and UTs on August 28, 2009 and had pushed forward the agenda of co-ordinated and intensive efforts against trafficking, Shri Maken informed.
While the meeting resolved to strengthen the respective Nodal Officers and Offices at the Centre and in the States, it also deliberated upon certain common operating procedures and practices, following which MHA has issued the following two advisories to the State Governments and UT administrations to issue suitable directions to all concerned to check crime against women and Human Trafficking;
1. Advisory regarding Measures needed to curb Crime against Women issued on September 4, 2009.
2. Advisory on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in India issued on September 9, 2009.
Main Points of advisory on checking crime against women
The advisory has detailed measures that are needed to curb crime against this vulnerable section of the society. The States and UTs have also been asked to convey the status on the measures to the Centre within a month. The Government of India have been advising the State Governments from time to time regarding the steps that need to be taken to afford a greater measure of protection to the women and in particular to prevent incidence of crimes against them. Through the advisories, the State Governments were also requested to undertake a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the machinery in tackling the problem of women and to take appropriate measures aimed at increasing the responsiveness of the law and order machinery.
Some State Governments, no doubt, have taken some measures in this regard. However, the inputs regarding crime against women available with this Ministry indicate that these measures need to be strengthened further. Despite several steps being taken by the State Governments, picture still is very grim and disappointing. Complaints are still being received regarding non-registration of FIRs and unsympathetic attitude of police personnel towards rape victims and victims of violence.
The National Commission for Women has been undertaking visits to various States to review the status of women and has been making available findings of their inquiry to the concerned State Governments as well as to the MHA. The reports of the inquiries conducted by the Commission in specific incidents indicate that the level of sensitiveness and care with which crime against women should be handled is not up to the desired level.
The Government of India is deeply concerned with these trends and ground situation and has re-emphasized that urgent action should be taken on the following:-
i. Vigorously enforce the existing legislation relating to Crime against Women and Children, i.e., Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 and Violence against Women (Prevention) Act, 2005, Section 67 of the IT Act, 2000, the display of lascivious photographs/films on computer through internet, etc.
ii. Government must ensure proper enforcement of law and convictions in women related crimes. Enforcement agencies should be instructed in unambiguous terms that enforcement of the rights of the weaker and vulnerable sections including women and children should not be downplayed for fear of further disturbances or retribution and adequate preparation should be made to face any such eventuality.
iii. The administration and police should play a more proactive role in detection and investigation of crime against women and ensuring that there is no under reporting.
iv. Increasing the overall representation of women in police forces. The representation of women in police at all levels should be increased through affirmative action so that they constitute about 33% of the police.
v. Sensitizing the law enforcement machinery towards crime against women by way of well structured training programmes, meetings and seminars etc., for police personnel at all levels as well as other functionaries of the criminal justice system.
vi. Government must take concrete steps to increase awareness in the administration and among the police in particular, regarding crime against women, and take steps not only to tackle such crimes but also deal sensitively with the ensuing trauma.
vii. For improving general awareness on legislations, mechanisms in place for safety and protection of women, the concerned department of the State Government must, inter-alia, take following steps:
a. Create awareness through print and electronic media;
b. Develop a community monitoring system to check cases of violence, abuse and exploitation and take necessary steps to curb the same;
c. Involving the Community at large in creating and spreading such awareness; and
d. Organize legal literacy and legal awareness camps.
viii. Explore the possibility of associating NGOs working in the area of combating crime against women. Citizens groups and NGOs should be encouraged to increase awareness about gender issues in society and help bring to light violence against women and also assist the police in the investigation of crime against women. Close coordination between the police and the NGOs dealing with the interests of women may be ensured.
ix. There should be no delay whatsoever in registration of FIR in all cases of crime against women.
x. All out efforts should be made to apprehend all the accused named in the FIR immediately so as to generate confidence in the victims and their family members;
xi. Cases should be thoroughly investigated and charge sheets against the accused persons should be filed within three months from the date of occurrence, without compromising on the quality of investigation. Speedy investigation should be conducted in heinous crimes like rape. The medical examination of rape victims should be conducted without delay.
xii. Ensure proper supervisions at appropriate level of cases of crime against women from the recording of FIR to the disposal of the case by the competent court.
xiii. Help-line numbers of the crime against women cells - should be exhibited prominently in hospitals/schools/colleges premises, and in other suitable places.
xiv. Set up exclusive ‘Crime Against Women and Children’ desk in each police station and the Special Women police cells in the police stations and all women police thana as needed.
xv. Concerned departments of the State Governments could handle rape victims at all stages from filing a complaint in a police station to undergoing forensic examination and in providing all possible assistance including counseling, legal assistance and rehabilitation. Preferably these victims may be handled by women so as to provide a certain comfort level to the rape victims.
xvi. The specialized Sexual Assault Treatment Units could be developed in government hospitals having a large maternity section.
xvii. The Health department of the State Govts., should set up ‘Rape Crisis Centres’ (RCCs) and specialized ‘Sexual Assault Treatment Units’ (SATUs), at appropriate places. RCCs could act as an interface between the victims and other agencies involved.
xviii. The administration should also focus on rehabilitation of the victims and provide all required support. The police should consider empanelling professional counselors and the counseling should not be done by the police.
xix. For improving the safety conditions on road, the concerned departments of the State Government must take suitable steps to:
a. Increase the number of beat constables, especially on the sensitive roads;
b. Increase the number of police help booth/kiosks, especially in remote and lonely stretches;
c. Increase police patrolling, especially during the night;
d. Increase the number of women police officers in the mobile police vans;
e. Set-up telephone booths for easy access to police;
f. Install people friendly street lights on all roads, lonely stretches and alleys; and
g. Ensure street lights are properly and efficiently working on all roads, lonely stretches and alleys.
xx. The local police should arrange for patrolling in the affected areas and more especially in the locality of the weaker sections of the society. Periodic visits by DM & SP will create a sense of safety and security among these sections of the people.
xxi. Special steps to be taken for security of women working in night shifts of call centers.
xxii. Crime prone areas should be identified and a mechanism be put in place to monitor infractions in schools/colleges for ensuring safety and security of female students. Women police officers in adequate number fully equipped with policing infrastructure may be posted in such areas.
xxiii. Action should be taken at the State level to set up of Fast Track Courts and Family Courts.
xxiv. Dowry related cases must be adjudicated expeditiously to avoid further harassment of the women.
xxv. Appointment Dowry Prohibition Officers and notify the Rules under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
xxvi. All police stations may be advised to display the name and other details of Protection Officers of the area appointed under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
xxvii. Police personnel should be trained adequately in special laws dealing with atrocities against women. Enforcement aspect should be emphasized adequately so as to streamline it.
xxviii. Special steps may also be taken by the police in collaboration with the Health and Family Welfare Department of the State to prevent female foeticide.
xxix. Special steps should also be taken to curb the ‘Violation of Women’s Rights by so called Honour Killings, to prevent forced marriage in some northern States, and other forms of Violence’.
xxx. Ensure follow up of reports of cases of atrocities against women received from various sources, including NCW & SCW, with concerned authorities in the State Governments.
The advisories issued by MHA, inter-alia, include gender sensitization of the police personnel, adopting appropriate measures for swift and salutary punishment to public servants found guilty of custodial violence against women, minimizing delays in investigations of murder, rape and torture of women and improving its quality, setting up a ‘crime against women cell’ in districts where they do not exist, providing adequate counseling centers and shelter homes for women who have been victimized etc.
Main points of advisory on preventing and combating human trafficking in India
The key points include implementation of legal provisions in the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956; Juvenile Justice Act 2000; Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006; capacity building of the State machinery; prevention of trafficking; investigation and prosecution and rescue and rehabilitation measures. The states and UTs have also been asked to convey to the Centre the present status within one month. The key points have been worked out in collaboration with the related Ministries of Women & Child Development, Labour & Employment and Health & Family Welfare.
To facilitate matters in this regard, MHA has already established an Anti Trafficking Cell (ATC) which deals with the following major subject matters:
a. All matters pertaining to the criminal aspect of trafficking in human beings especially of women and children, which is the fastest growing organized crime and an area of concern.
b. To act as the Nodal cell for dealing with the criminal aspect of Human Trafficking in India, hold regular meetings of all States and UTs, communicating various decisions and follow up on action taken by the State Governments.
c. To interface with other Ministries like Women & Child Development, Social Justice &Empowerment, External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs, Labour & Employment, Law, and NCRB regarding the criminal aspect of human trafficking.
The Anti Trafficking Nodal Cell of MHA has developed an MIS proforma for the monitoring of the action taken by various State Governments regarding the criminal aspect of human trafficking as well as crime against women. The State Governments are required to send quarterly information.
MHA issues Advisories in this regard to States/UTs --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ajay Maken today said that the Government of India in close co-ordination with the various State and UT Governments had intensified measures against Human Trafficking and Crime against women. Shri Maken also informed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) along with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), will be organizing a workshop for training of trainers of all stake holders against Human Trafficking by the end of this year. The Conference will be inaugurated by the Home Minister, Shri P Chidambaram, he said. After this workshop, the MHA also intends to organize similar workshops for stake holders from SAARC countries in line with Government of India’s offer of conducting training programmes for Capacity building for implementation of the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children, he elaborated.
In this regard the Ministry had convened a meeting of the Nodal Officers for Human Trafficking of various States and UTs on August 28, 2009 and had pushed forward the agenda of co-ordinated and intensive efforts against trafficking, Shri Maken informed.
While the meeting resolved to strengthen the respective Nodal Officers and Offices at the Centre and in the States, it also deliberated upon certain common operating procedures and practices, following which MHA has issued the following two advisories to the State Governments and UT administrations to issue suitable directions to all concerned to check crime against women and Human Trafficking;
1. Advisory regarding Measures needed to curb Crime against Women issued on September 4, 2009.
2. Advisory on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in India issued on September 9, 2009.
Main Points of advisory on checking crime against women
The advisory has detailed measures that are needed to curb crime against this vulnerable section of the society. The States and UTs have also been asked to convey the status on the measures to the Centre within a month. The Government of India have been advising the State Governments from time to time regarding the steps that need to be taken to afford a greater measure of protection to the women and in particular to prevent incidence of crimes against them. Through the advisories, the State Governments were also requested to undertake a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the machinery in tackling the problem of women and to take appropriate measures aimed at increasing the responsiveness of the law and order machinery.
Some State Governments, no doubt, have taken some measures in this regard. However, the inputs regarding crime against women available with this Ministry indicate that these measures need to be strengthened further. Despite several steps being taken by the State Governments, picture still is very grim and disappointing. Complaints are still being received regarding non-registration of FIRs and unsympathetic attitude of police personnel towards rape victims and victims of violence.
The National Commission for Women has been undertaking visits to various States to review the status of women and has been making available findings of their inquiry to the concerned State Governments as well as to the MHA. The reports of the inquiries conducted by the Commission in specific incidents indicate that the level of sensitiveness and care with which crime against women should be handled is not up to the desired level.
The Government of India is deeply concerned with these trends and ground situation and has re-emphasized that urgent action should be taken on the following:-
i. Vigorously enforce the existing legislation relating to Crime against Women and Children, i.e., Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 and Violence against Women (Prevention) Act, 2005, Section 67 of the IT Act, 2000, the display of lascivious photographs/films on computer through internet, etc.
ii. Government must ensure proper enforcement of law and convictions in women related crimes. Enforcement agencies should be instructed in unambiguous terms that enforcement of the rights of the weaker and vulnerable sections including women and children should not be downplayed for fear of further disturbances or retribution and adequate preparation should be made to face any such eventuality.
iii. The administration and police should play a more proactive role in detection and investigation of crime against women and ensuring that there is no under reporting.
iv. Increasing the overall representation of women in police forces. The representation of women in police at all levels should be increased through affirmative action so that they constitute about 33% of the police.
v. Sensitizing the law enforcement machinery towards crime against women by way of well structured training programmes, meetings and seminars etc., for police personnel at all levels as well as other functionaries of the criminal justice system.
vi. Government must take concrete steps to increase awareness in the administration and among the police in particular, regarding crime against women, and take steps not only to tackle such crimes but also deal sensitively with the ensuing trauma.
vii. For improving general awareness on legislations, mechanisms in place for safety and protection of women, the concerned department of the State Government must, inter-alia, take following steps:
a. Create awareness through print and electronic media;
b. Develop a community monitoring system to check cases of violence, abuse and exploitation and take necessary steps to curb the same;
c. Involving the Community at large in creating and spreading such awareness; and
d. Organize legal literacy and legal awareness camps.
viii. Explore the possibility of associating NGOs working in the area of combating crime against women. Citizens groups and NGOs should be encouraged to increase awareness about gender issues in society and help bring to light violence against women and also assist the police in the investigation of crime against women. Close coordination between the police and the NGOs dealing with the interests of women may be ensured.
ix. There should be no delay whatsoever in registration of FIR in all cases of crime against women.
x. All out efforts should be made to apprehend all the accused named in the FIR immediately so as to generate confidence in the victims and their family members;
xi. Cases should be thoroughly investigated and charge sheets against the accused persons should be filed within three months from the date of occurrence, without compromising on the quality of investigation. Speedy investigation should be conducted in heinous crimes like rape. The medical examination of rape victims should be conducted without delay.
xii. Ensure proper supervisions at appropriate level of cases of crime against women from the recording of FIR to the disposal of the case by the competent court.
xiii. Help-line numbers of the crime against women cells - should be exhibited prominently in hospitals/schools/colleges premises, and in other suitable places.
xiv. Set up exclusive ‘Crime Against Women and Children’ desk in each police station and the Special Women police cells in the police stations and all women police thana as needed.
xv. Concerned departments of the State Governments could handle rape victims at all stages from filing a complaint in a police station to undergoing forensic examination and in providing all possible assistance including counseling, legal assistance and rehabilitation. Preferably these victims may be handled by women so as to provide a certain comfort level to the rape victims.
xvi. The specialized Sexual Assault Treatment Units could be developed in government hospitals having a large maternity section.
xvii. The Health department of the State Govts., should set up ‘Rape Crisis Centres’ (RCCs) and specialized ‘Sexual Assault Treatment Units’ (SATUs), at appropriate places. RCCs could act as an interface between the victims and other agencies involved.
xviii. The administration should also focus on rehabilitation of the victims and provide all required support. The police should consider empanelling professional counselors and the counseling should not be done by the police.
xix. For improving the safety conditions on road, the concerned departments of the State Government must take suitable steps to:
a. Increase the number of beat constables, especially on the sensitive roads;
b. Increase the number of police help booth/kiosks, especially in remote and lonely stretches;
c. Increase police patrolling, especially during the night;
d. Increase the number of women police officers in the mobile police vans;
e. Set-up telephone booths for easy access to police;
f. Install people friendly street lights on all roads, lonely stretches and alleys; and
g. Ensure street lights are properly and efficiently working on all roads, lonely stretches and alleys.
xx. The local police should arrange for patrolling in the affected areas and more especially in the locality of the weaker sections of the society. Periodic visits by DM & SP will create a sense of safety and security among these sections of the people.
xxi. Special steps to be taken for security of women working in night shifts of call centers.
xxii. Crime prone areas should be identified and a mechanism be put in place to monitor infractions in schools/colleges for ensuring safety and security of female students. Women police officers in adequate number fully equipped with policing infrastructure may be posted in such areas.
xxiii. Action should be taken at the State level to set up of Fast Track Courts and Family Courts.
xxiv. Dowry related cases must be adjudicated expeditiously to avoid further harassment of the women.
xxv. Appointment Dowry Prohibition Officers and notify the Rules under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
xxvi. All police stations may be advised to display the name and other details of Protection Officers of the area appointed under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
xxvii. Police personnel should be trained adequately in special laws dealing with atrocities against women. Enforcement aspect should be emphasized adequately so as to streamline it.
xxviii. Special steps may also be taken by the police in collaboration with the Health and Family Welfare Department of the State to prevent female foeticide.
xxix. Special steps should also be taken to curb the ‘Violation of Women’s Rights by so called Honour Killings, to prevent forced marriage in some northern States, and other forms of Violence’.
xxx. Ensure follow up of reports of cases of atrocities against women received from various sources, including NCW & SCW, with concerned authorities in the State Governments.
The advisories issued by MHA, inter-alia, include gender sensitization of the police personnel, adopting appropriate measures for swift and salutary punishment to public servants found guilty of custodial violence against women, minimizing delays in investigations of murder, rape and torture of women and improving its quality, setting up a ‘crime against women cell’ in districts where they do not exist, providing adequate counseling centers and shelter homes for women who have been victimized etc.
Main points of advisory on preventing and combating human trafficking in India
The key points include implementation of legal provisions in the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956; Juvenile Justice Act 2000; Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006; capacity building of the State machinery; prevention of trafficking; investigation and prosecution and rescue and rehabilitation measures. The states and UTs have also been asked to convey to the Centre the present status within one month. The key points have been worked out in collaboration with the related Ministries of Women & Child Development, Labour & Employment and Health & Family Welfare.
To facilitate matters in this regard, MHA has already established an Anti Trafficking Cell (ATC) which deals with the following major subject matters:
a. All matters pertaining to the criminal aspect of trafficking in human beings especially of women and children, which is the fastest growing organized crime and an area of concern.
b. To act as the Nodal cell for dealing with the criminal aspect of Human Trafficking in India, hold regular meetings of all States and UTs, communicating various decisions and follow up on action taken by the State Governments.
c. To interface with other Ministries like Women & Child Development, Social Justice &Empowerment, External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs, Labour & Employment, Law, and NCRB regarding the criminal aspect of human trafficking.
The Anti Trafficking Nodal Cell of MHA has developed an MIS proforma for the monitoring of the action taken by various State Governments regarding the criminal aspect of human trafficking as well as crime against women. The State Governments are required to send quarterly information.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Ordinance 2009.
Chandigarh, Sep 16 (PTI) To curb the fraudulent activities of people involved in organised human trafficking and to check the activities of unregistered travel agents, the Punjab government today approved the promulgation of Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Ordinance 2009.
The state has seen many cases in recent years where people were duped on the pretext of sending them to foreign countries.
The state has seen many cases in recent years where people were duped on the pretext of sending them to foreign countries.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Human traffickers exploit economic crisis, redoubled prevention efforts urgently needed, warns high-level conference at OSCE
VIENNA, 14 September 2009 - The impact of the global economic crisis in severely reducing legitimate employment opportunities and increasing the vulnerability of millions of people to sexual and labour exploitation is the focus of an OSCE-organized conference that opened in Vienna today.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a video address opening the two-day conference, urged OSCE participating States to redouble prevention efforts.
"New economic pressures are likely to aggravate the problem further, so this conference comes at a time of renewed urgency. It is an opportunity to place a renewed focus on prevention and the root causes of trafficking," said Clinton. "Together we must implement a comprehensive approach that both confronts criminals and cares for survivors."
The 9th Alliance Against Trafficking in Persons Conference, focusing on "Prevention of Modern-Slavery", brings together more than 250 experts from governments, international organizations and civil society to discuss the business of trafficking in the context of the economic crisis, which has increased both supply and demand.
"Widespread unemployment, a drastic decline in opportunities and a loss in remittances from labour migrants result in desperate situations both in countries of origin and of destination, where people have few viable alternatives and are prone to take more risks," said Eva Biaudet, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
"In the context of our global economic crisis, empirical evidence on the extent of trafficking and the effectiveness of our efforts is more necessary than ever. We must prevent the root causes of trafficking such as unemployment, all forms of discrimination, corrupt practices and the demand for commercial sex and exploitative labour, before trafficking occurs, but also to prevent re-trafficking by having strong protections in place."
Conference participants will also discuss current best practices using a human rights approach, including the media's role in preventing trafficking. Investigative journalists, documentary filmmakers and photographers will take part in a panel discussion on the media's role and responsibility in covering human trafficking
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a video address opening the two-day conference, urged OSCE participating States to redouble prevention efforts.
"New economic pressures are likely to aggravate the problem further, so this conference comes at a time of renewed urgency. It is an opportunity to place a renewed focus on prevention and the root causes of trafficking," said Clinton. "Together we must implement a comprehensive approach that both confronts criminals and cares for survivors."
The 9th Alliance Against Trafficking in Persons Conference, focusing on "Prevention of Modern-Slavery", brings together more than 250 experts from governments, international organizations and civil society to discuss the business of trafficking in the context of the economic crisis, which has increased both supply and demand.
"Widespread unemployment, a drastic decline in opportunities and a loss in remittances from labour migrants result in desperate situations both in countries of origin and of destination, where people have few viable alternatives and are prone to take more risks," said Eva Biaudet, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
"In the context of our global economic crisis, empirical evidence on the extent of trafficking and the effectiveness of our efforts is more necessary than ever. We must prevent the root causes of trafficking such as unemployment, all forms of discrimination, corrupt practices and the demand for commercial sex and exploitative labour, before trafficking occurs, but also to prevent re-trafficking by having strong protections in place."
Conference participants will also discuss current best practices using a human rights approach, including the media's role in preventing trafficking. Investigative journalists, documentary filmmakers and photographers will take part in a panel discussion on the media's role and responsibility in covering human trafficking
Friday, September 11, 2009
Govt urged to enforce laws to protect women
By Express News Service
11 Sep 2009 03:16:00 AM IST
Govt urged to enforce laws to protect women
HYDERABAD: The AP Women Network, an organisation formed by women social activists working to end violence against women in the State, has urged the government to enforce the Domestic Violence Act 2005 and the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act 1956 to protect the rights of women and prevent attacks on them.
Talking with reporters here today, APWN convener C Bhanuja said the government had failed to rehabilite women and help them reunite with their families. Several victims were rescued from flesh trade centres in Pune, Bhiwandi and Mumbai by APWN. Unless the government provided proper facilities to the rescued victims the APWN would not cooperate with the officials concerned in conducting rescue operations, she said.
The APWN has urged the government to provide counselling and skill development programmes to the victims at Swadhar Homes, to strengthen them mentally and make them employable, which can certainly prevent them from going back to the oldest profession. G Sucharitha, a member of APWN, said the government was to provide Rs 10,000 as rehabilitation fund as per rules but failed to release the money immediately.
They were taking long time _ six months to one year - in releasing the fund, she noted.
They appealed to the government to strengthen the rehabilitation and reintegration mechanism to successfully bring them to normal life from `hell-holes’.
They called for better coordination among the women development and child welfare department, police, NGOs and lawyers. They also urged the government to take stringent action against human traffickers.
Kota Sivakumari, another member, charged the government with failure to enforce the Domestic Violence Act effectively.
Though numerous attacks on women were being reported by the media every day, only 3,565 cases were booked under the Domestic Violence Act in the last four years, she wondered and urged the government to provide a special budget, protection officer and employees to the enforce the Act effectively
11 Sep 2009 03:16:00 AM IST
Govt urged to enforce laws to protect women
HYDERABAD: The AP Women Network, an organisation formed by women social activists working to end violence against women in the State, has urged the government to enforce the Domestic Violence Act 2005 and the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act 1956 to protect the rights of women and prevent attacks on them.
Talking with reporters here today, APWN convener C Bhanuja said the government had failed to rehabilite women and help them reunite with their families. Several victims were rescued from flesh trade centres in Pune, Bhiwandi and Mumbai by APWN. Unless the government provided proper facilities to the rescued victims the APWN would not cooperate with the officials concerned in conducting rescue operations, she said.
The APWN has urged the government to provide counselling and skill development programmes to the victims at Swadhar Homes, to strengthen them mentally and make them employable, which can certainly prevent them from going back to the oldest profession. G Sucharitha, a member of APWN, said the government was to provide Rs 10,000 as rehabilitation fund as per rules but failed to release the money immediately.
They were taking long time _ six months to one year - in releasing the fund, she noted.
They appealed to the government to strengthen the rehabilitation and reintegration mechanism to successfully bring them to normal life from `hell-holes’.
They called for better coordination among the women development and child welfare department, police, NGOs and lawyers. They also urged the government to take stringent action against human traffickers.
Kota Sivakumari, another member, charged the government with failure to enforce the Domestic Violence Act effectively.
Though numerous attacks on women were being reported by the media every day, only 3,565 cases were booked under the Domestic Violence Act in the last four years, she wondered and urged the government to provide a special budget, protection officer and employees to the enforce the Act effectively
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