University students educating sex workers' children in KolkataBy Soma

Kolkata, July 30: Over hundred college students from West Bengal's Jadavpur University have taken the responsibility of educating children of the sex workers in Kolkata. The students are conducting special education classes in the various red-light areas that include Sonagachi, Tollygunj, Kalighat and others under the State-run voluntary students' programme, the National Social Service (NSS).The students have formed teams of two persons each. They then approach sex workers and persuade them to send their children to attend evening classes conducted by them.Bappa Mullick, the Director with Jadavpur University's Youth Welfare Department, said: "Students go there (red-light areas) regularly from Monday to Saturday. They teach the under-privileged kids and also the sex workers' children in the red light areas. The special classes are open for anyone from the nearby area."Students are also imparting the children training in skills like stitching; embroidery and painting to enable them earn their livelihood. Monica Banerjee, one of the student-teachers, said: "The students are mainly from red-light-area. Our aim is to train and teach them so that they can have a respectable source of income. Also they would be accepted in the mainstream society because of this."Sex workers' children, especially girls, take these classes very sincerely. Most of them view it as the best medium to join the mainstream society. Salina Khatun, the daughter of a sex-worker, said: "I am learning embroidery and stitching here. I am learning this so that I can earn my living through a respectable means. We want to be independent and stand on our own feet but we don't want to go in a wrong profession." Violence, lack of access to healthcare, and HIV infections are causing concern to sex-workers in the country. In 2005, as per there were at least 40,000 sex workers in Kolkata alone as per official estimates.Prostitution is outlawed in the country but the country has over two million sex-workers, most of them living on the fringes of society.The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 [2] makes trafficking and sexual exploitation of persons for commercial purpose a punishable offence. The Act was passed on the lines of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, signed by India on May 9, 1950.Although the Act was amended twice (1978 and 1986), it did not prove to be an effective deterrent to trafficking or sexual exploitation for commercial purposes.The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2006 aims to punish traffickers and provide for stringent punishment to offenders. Of all States, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are considered "high supply" sex workers zones in the country.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/161417.php/University-students-educating-sex-workers-children-in-Kolkata

28 Jul 2007,

In the flesh trade for extra bucks

PUNE: Flashing costly clothes, mobile phones and having fun is increasingly driving college students, especially girls, into the flesh trade. Every year the city police register about 180 cases against prostitutes, but in the last two years, the police have filed four cases under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, 1956, against female students. Police inspector Bhanupratap Barge, who filed two cases in February and March this year, said that on February 10, the police raided a hotel situated on the Katraj-Dehu road bypass and detained eight girls and two men. Out of the female detainees, one was a small-town, second-year medical student. On March 3, the police detained six girls out of which two were college students from Mumbai. Last year, the social security cell of the city police arrested two girls at Paud road on a tip-off for allegedly running a sex racket. The girls were students in a city college and were fond of good clothes and cellphones. They took up prostitution to earn money for costly items and eating at fancy hotels. The cell also arrested four girls at Hinjewadi on the Katraj-Dehu road bypass last year. Two of them were students. Barge said that these cases have shocked the city police. Students, both male and female, are even offering their services through the Orkut community webpages and escort services. An escort service provider, who identified himself as Menon, told TOI that female students were in demand from customers. “Sometimes, people even ask for their ID-cards before hiring them,” he added. Menon claims there are two college-going girls in his escort service. When asked why these girls have joined, he said they hailed from Uttar Pradesh and could not afford to pay for the hostel, food and transport facilities with their monthly allowances. He told TOI that on each outing the girls get around Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000.

Date:26/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/26/stories/2007072656511300.htm

India sensitive to human trafficking, says Renuka
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Reacting to the annual U.S. State Department report on human trafficking warning India of possible sanctions if it failed to act swiftly on the “world’s largest human trafficking and bonded labour problems,” the Government on Wednesday said it did not appreciate “being watched over its shoulder.”Extradition policy
Talking to reporters here, Minister of State for Women and Child Development (Independent charge) Renuka Chowdhury said no one should question the Government’s commitment in dealing with the issues of human trafficking.
“We are equally sensitive to the issues and yes, there are some peculiar problems in the region which are being rectified. But, we do not like being watched over our shoulder.”
Giving details of a conference on ‘Micro-finance and Women Economic Empowerment in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Region’ to be held here on Thursday and Friday, Ms. Chowdhury said the issue of human trafficking would be taken up on the first day of the conference and the rescue, rehabilitation, and repatriation of the victims discussed.
She said the Government was also looking at the extradition policy for traffickers and adopting the best practices of other SAARC countries.
According to the Minister, she had written to all State Governments to provide figures on missing children and child labour to set up a quick response system.
She said the Government was now working towards compulsory registration of pregnancy and births.

Rehabilitation for women victims of trafficking

Date:20/07/2007

Andhra Pradesh

#4,000 women affected by the scourge in Anantapur
#They will be trained in the area of their choice for self employment
#Healthcare and special rehabilitation will be given to HIV positive women

ANANTAPUR: The district administration has decided to bring woman, affected by trafficking, back to the mainstream by providing them rehabilitation as per their interests. They will be provided self-employment opportunities and their living standards uplifted.
At a review meeting on ‘Women affected by trafficking’ held here on Wednesday Collector N. Sridhar said mere financial assistance would not help the victims. They would require rehabilitation.
According to unofficial estimates, there were some 4,000 women affected by trafficking in the district. Steps would be taken to rehabilitate all of them and bring them back to the mainstream of life.
They would be given training required for their chosen self-employment and also extending financial assistance.Action against guilty
The affected women would be formed into groups and an officer would be given the responsibility to elicit their opinions, problems and experiences and offer rehabilitation as per their desire.
The brokers playing key role in forcing the women into trafficking would be identified and punished. Healthcare and special rehabilitation would be offered to the HIV positive women.
A helpline would also be opened in the Woman and Child Welfare Department office. Women in trouble would be extended immediate help if information was given to the helpline, he stated.

Child marriages, trafficking on the rise in West Bengal

19/07/2007

A rising awareness against dowry is fuelling the incidence
KOLKATA: A survey conducted across several districts in West Bengal has indicated that a rising awareness against dowry is fuelling the incidence of child marriage and trafficking.
The survey was conducted by Women’s Studies Research Centre (WSRC); the Department of Sociology, Burdwan University; and Centre for Women’s Studies, University of North Bengal, supported by the West Bengal Government’s Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
“We found that the traffickers approach the villagers in the guise of grooms without any dowry demand and lure them into marrying off even minor girls,” said Ishita Mukhopadhyay, Director, WSRC, Calcutta University. “The girls are then sold and sent to other places like Mumbai, Dubai or Kashmir,” she added.
“The problem is compounded by the fact that West Bengal lies on the vulnerable international trafficking route, a fact acknowledged by the United Nations, with Kolkata itself becoming a significant source and destination for traffickers,” Dr. Mukhopadyay said.
“The elderly women in the villages acknowledge that child marriages were not so prevalent earlier.” She said that once married, even minor girls were treated as women and they did not enjoy child rights any more.The data quoted in the report (sourced from the 2001Census and the National Family Health Survey) shows a high incidence of child marriage in the State — 39.16 per cent compared to the national average of 32.10 per cent. “Though the Social Welfare Department has been organising awareness campaigns at the block and anganwadi levels, it is hard to eradicate the problem,” the department’s Principal Secretary S.N. Haque said.
While the Government’s focus is on economic empowerment of women through vocational training, and providing financial incentives to prevent girls from dropping out of high school, Dr. Mukhopadhyay felt that police action was needed to reign in traffickers. “There are, after all, hardly any trafficking cases that are registered with the police,” she said

Six rescued from brothels

Six rescued from brothels

By IE
Friday July 13, 03:16 AM
Minor girls were lured to the city with promises of jobs For 16-year-old Mehrunisa Begum (name changed), the midnight knock at Kamathipura's 13 street on Wednesday was a knock of freedom. Mehrunisa was rescued by the Nagpada police during a raid on brothels.
Mehrunisa, a minor from Assam, was conned by a man who brought her to Mumbai promising "a job in Mumbai's flourishing beauty parlour business". She was, however, shocked to find herself in the sleazy lanes of Kamathipura. Mehrunisa was pushed into prostitution and raped repeatedly by many men, according to the police.
The police say after men forced themselves upon her a couple of instances, Mehrunisa just resigned to her fate.
"A customer traced her family in Assam," said Bapurao Pandule, the investigating officer of the case registered in Nagpada police station. After this, her brother was called to Mumbai. The police, along with an NGO, planned the entire raid after they collected inputs on the brothels and minors being pushed into the flesh trade. During the raid, which lasted for around two hours, the police rescued six minors, including Mehrunisa, who will now be sent back to their villages like Rupitarvali, Jalpaiguri and Naogaon.
"All of them were brought to the city with promises of recruitment in fancy beauty parlours with a hefty salary," said Pandule.
The police said that workers from the NGO were very co-operative and ensured that the girls gave correct inputs on their village and background. Unlike other raids, the police personnel ensured that they handled the women well as they offered them help in going back to their hometowns. Hunt is on for the men who lured them to Mumbai after promising them jobs. The owners of the brothels were charged under relevant sections of the Immoral Trafficking Act.

UAE, first convictions under human trafficking law

July 11, 2007
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -
Two Indian nationals were jailed for 15 years in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for human trafficking, the first convictions under legislation aimed at cleaning up the Gulf state's human rights record, the Gulf News reported Wednesday. A court in the emirate of Dubai, one of seven that makes up the UAE, imposed the sentence on an Indian housemaid and driver for forcing an Indonesian woman into prostitution, the English-language daily reported. The UAE introduced last year stiff new penalties reaching life sentences to combat human trafficking in the region, a problem highlighted by the US and some international rights watchdogs. Saudi Arabia remains on a US blacklist of countries trafficking in people that was released last month. Other states in the region, such as Bahrain and Kuwait, were added to the list and were largely accused of mistreating foreign workers, which they heavily rely on

Girls rescued from brothels get married

Saturday March 24 2007
HYDERABAD: The girls rescued from brothels by the CID recently were married to local men at Astha Nivas, a rescue home, at Falaknuma on Friday.
‘‘We haven’t even dreamt of leading a normal life. Thanks to the CID that has rescued us from the brothels and given us a new life,’’ one of the girls who got married told this website's newspaper.
AP Chief Justice GS Singhvi, DIG CID) Ratan and SP (CID) Mahesh Bhagwat were among those present on the occasion.‘‘It is an excellent work done by the CID and the Prajwala.
The lives of the rescued girls have changed and they are free birds now,’’ GS Singhvi said.
‘‘We will continue the rescue operation in the State to prevent human trafficking,’’ Mahesh Bhagwat said.

Orkut site creates more controversy

Orkut site creates more controversy
Jatin Gandhi and Jairaj Singh
New Delhi, October 20, 2006
First Published: 00:00 IST(13/1/2007)
Trouble is spewing under the eyes of the authorities but no one is willing to act. Orkut – the social networking site that created controversy with its hate India communities – abounds with over 100 communities that solicit sex and prostitution.
The Information Technology (IT) ministry is already grappling with the issue of anti-India communities. “We will be filing our affidavit within the stipulated period as directed by the Maharashtra High Court,” says Dhirender Singh, Secretary, Ministry of IT. Singh adds that soliciting will also be dealt with. “We will look at what exactly is the contravention of law in this,” he adds.
A simple search on Google’s site Orkut lists many such communities – from ‘Call Girls’ to ‘Sex in Mumbai than Delhi’ – the site carry profiles of men and women across the country bearing emails and phone numbers, some even initiated by open messages (scraps), for interested parties to contact.
HT correspondents posed as potential customers and sent emails to some members in the ‘Call Girls’ communities that have over 5,000 members soliciting sex from Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bhopal. “Are you a virgin?” replied one. “I’ll mail you back with my price and place,” went one reply.
Orkut is hugely popular with young Indians. Other popular social networking sites include Hi5, Myspace, Friendster and Yahoo groups. Orkut alone offers a space for open messages that can be accessed by any one of its members, making soliciting that much easier.
With over 100 kinky communities, there are some that offer numbers of pimps and prostitutes. In ‘Call Girls of Delhi,’ a certain Aman has left his number and promises women from all regions. When called, he answers the phone and speaks agreeably but is not ready to reveal much over the phone.
Call one Sachin, whose profile lists him as ‘a pimp and a gigolo’ and he strikes a deal for a bisexual encounter for a price that has to be negotiated. On the phone with HT on Saturday, he said: “I’m willing to have sex but for a price we have to decide; call me in half an hour and we’ll fix up.”
Delhi police officials admit that they are aware of the goings on in these online communities but have never booked any one. Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act prohibits transmission of obscenity in electronic form including the Internet. Soliciting for prostitution is a crime under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA). Yet the police rarely marry the two and prosecute defaulters.
Different departments pass the buck and prostitution through the net escapes the law. “Saying that one is available for sex for a price is not obscenity or soliciting under the IT Act,” says Prabhakar, Deputy Commissioner of the Delhi Police’s Cyber Crimes cell.
“If the messages on such communities are followed through by the police and the transaction is completed, then the person can be booked for prostitution,” adds Prabhakar. The police, however, have not followed this. The Cyber Crimes cell says it restricts itself to cyber crimes and it is for other departments to follow these kinds of leads. The other departments do not. They ask for a complaint first.
“While obscenity is banned, soliciting on the net that does not use obscene language or pictures is not,” says Rajan Bhagat, PRO Delhi Police.
Orkut is filled with indecent pictures and abusive language. But the police say they require a complaint to act. Cyber security analyst Subimal Bhattacharjee disagrees. “Under Section 80 of the Act, the police and other execution agencies can themselves take cognisance of such offences,” he says. “If the police feels a certain website needs to be blocked that can be done too, by reporting the mater to the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) under the IT ministry,” Bhattacharjee says.

Date:29/06/2007

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/29/stories/2007062959370500.htm
Hyderabad Two convicted for trafficking
Staff Reporter

#NGO helps girl in pursuing the case
#Housemaid forced into prostitution
#Officials of CID supervise probe

HYDERABAD : A local court here has convicted two persons – Shankar, 26, and his associate Sridevi, 20, in a child trafficking case. This was the first time in the State that the accused in a trafficking case received conviction.
Jail term
While Shankar was sentenced to undergo seven-year rigorous imprisonment, Sridevi was handed down a five-year jail term.
The victim, a 16-year-old girl from Yakutpura, used to work in a house at Chilkalguda as maid. Shankar cast his eyes on the girl when she went to Secunderabad railway station a year ago. He lured her to a secluded place offering some work and sexually assaulted her.
Later, he and his associate Sridevi forced the girl into prostitution. The girl became pregnant. The girl, with the help of a voluntary organisation Prajwala, approached the Gopalapuram police station Inspector Mohd. Ismail who registered a case under Sections 366A (procuring of minor girl) and 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
Officials of the Crime Investigation Department supervised investigation into the case and provided shelter to the girl in a safe place since she had threat to her life from the accused during trial of the case.
=======================================
This is in reference to Crime Number 297 of 2006 U/S 366A, 376 IPC & sec. 3, 4, 5 of ITPA of Gopalpuram police station of Hyderabad City , complainant Dr. Sunitha Krishnan of Prajwala, Hyderabad. Hon’ble 5th Addl.MSJ Court Nampalli has pronounced Judgment on 26/06/2007.
Punishment details
Accused 2- Mental Shanker @ Manjunath @ Sanker S/o Subbaraya Achari, aged 26 yearsn/o Bodhgiri cross roads near Bangalore, Karnataka- Occupation -Trafficker- Punishment- 7 Years Rigorous Imprisonment & Rs. 2000 fine under section 376 IPC, 2 Years R.I. & Rs. 2000 fine U/s 4 ITPA & 5 years R.I. & Rs. 2000 fine U/S 5 ITPA. Accused 1- Sridevi @ Swapna w/o Mehboob Pathan, aged 20 years n/o Uppal, Hyderabad,- Punishment -1 Year R.I. U/s 4 ITPA, 5 years R.I. & Rs. 200 fine U/S 5 ITPA.

Investigating officer- Inspector Md.Ismail (presently SHO of Charminar P.S.)

Victim girl- Tina R/o Hyderabad (identity withheld) age 16-17 Years As the victim was pregnant at the time of rescue and there was a lot of threats to her life with the joint efforts of the police and very specially the CID the victim was sheltered in a safe place.

Commendable work by Dr. Sunitha of Prajwala, Inspector Md.Ismail the then SHO of Gopalpuram P.S. , victim Tina, Mrs Varalaxmi & Sheshu Reddy the Public Prosecutors A special mention of court constable Mr Subba Rao who was a great source of support in ensuring victim witness protection, Director of Prosecution of A.P. and the support from CID, Andhra Pradesh & UNODC S16 Project coordinator Dr. P.M. Nair