16 abducted baby girls rescued from brothels in MP
Suchandana Gupta, TNN | Mar 18, 2011, 12.44am IST
BHOPAL: Sixteen innocent girls, who should have been in nursery school learning their first alphabets, were rescued by the police from brothels lining the highways in Mandsaur.
Over the past five days, the police in Mandsaur district rescued the girls aged between two and seven years who were abducted from their homes and sold at prices ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 60,000 to flesh traders of the 'Bachhra' tribe. The little girls were being held in captivity so they could join the traditional occupation of the Bachhras as soon as they entered puberty.
Bachhras are one of the most backward tribes of the country residing in the districts adjoining Rajasthan on the western areas of the state. While their men don't work, the women are made to earn for the community through prostitution. Bachhras are known specially for child prostitution, with families making their first daughters into prostitutes.
The state government has spent hundreds of crores for the rehabilitation of the tribe but with little effect. Recently, the Mandsaur district police set up an Anti Human Trafficking Cell to curb crime and prostitution on the national highways.
It was in one of these anti-immoral traffic raids earlier this week that the police chanced upon some little girls who did not look like they were part of the Bachhra families. Thereafter, the police heard the horrific stories of abduction and imprisonment from the children. "It was generally known to us that women of the Bachhra tribe involved themselves in prostitution for a living. But what is alarming is that female infants from adjoining districts are being kidnapped so they may join the flesh trade and earn for the tribe," additional SP Pankaj Shrivastava said
Friday, March 18, 2011
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The hero of heroes
Anuradha Koiralas heart beats for the Nepalese girls and women who are forced into the flesh trade. Her sole aim in life is to put an end to this abusive practice and empower the victims. Chethana Dinesh catches up with the feisty lady who was named 2010 CNN Hero of the Year for her efforts in re..
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Indian cities need special courts to fight sex trafficking
Indian cities need special courts to fight sex trafficking
Reuters | 02:43 PM,Mar 08,2011
By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - India's cities and major tourist destinations need specialised courts to deal with the growing numbers of women and girls who are being trafficked as prostitutes in the region, according to a senior judge. South Asia is the second largest venue for human trafficking in the world, after East Asia, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Swati Chauhan, the Mumbai-based magistrate of India's only court dealing with cases under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA), said more such courts are essential as they focused more on the victim than on the perpetrator. "The ITPA is a benevolent and victim-friendly legislation and its purpose is not only to punish the accused, but to prevent re-trafficking of women through a special court which oversees the rehabilitation of victims," Chauhan told TrustLaw. "I am the judge in only court in India which hears all the cases of trafficking under the ITPA in Mumbai. I feel that such courts are needed in Delhi, Goa, Pune and Kolkata," she said. Over 150,000 people are known to be trafficked within the region every year - mostly for sex work, but also for labour, forced marriages and as part of the organ trade, according to UNODC officials. Actual numbers are likely to be higher as much of the trade is underground, they said. SOURCE, TRANSIT AND DESTINATION According to activists, human trafficking is one of the fastest growing transnational organised crimes in South Asia. Traffickers often take advantage of impoverished communities, luring girls and young women and girls with promises of jobs as maids or nannies in wealthy households in the cities. But, activists say, the reality is very different. Girls sent to India's towns and cities often end up as involuntary sex workers, sometimes detained in a room by their employers and forced into unprotected sex with multiple partners. India's bustling business capital Mumbai is a popular source, transit and destination station for traffic in women and girls, according to Chauhan. "We find a lot of girls from Bangladesh and Nepal. They end up in Mumbai and they are in the brothels -- detained sometimes -- forced into prostitution work," she said. "Girls who are lucky to be rescued by police and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in Mumbai are brought before me and it is my job to understand their situation and work out the best form of rehabilitation for them to ensure that they do not go back into sex work." REHABILITATION Chauhan's court was established in 2008 after the city's high court found there was a backlog of 1,500 trafficking cases and ordered that a special place be established to hear such cases. All girls rescued from brothels in Mumbai are now brought before Chauhan, who works with a group of experts, including representatives from NGOs, on how best to ensure the victim is not re-trafficked. Sometimes the girls are taken out of parental custody, if the parents are deemed unsuitable, and placed in shelters run by NGOs. They are offered various forms of vocational training, such as catering or beauty therapy, for one year, and then given employment with the court monitoring the entire rehabilitation program from start to finish. However, Chauhan said, in many cases the girls already have become "hardcore" sex workers, accepted it as their fate and it is often difficult to persuade them that there are other choices. "Sometimes the girls say that they are doing the prostitution work voluntarily, that they do it will their will. But the real story is not so. They have accepted it as their destiny because of no option," she said. "The court tries to show these girls that there are other options that are far less harmful." (TrustLaw is a global centre for free legal assistance and anti-corruption news run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. For more TrustLaw stories, visit www.trust.org/trustlaw
Reuters | 02:43 PM,Mar 08,2011
By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - India's cities and major tourist destinations need specialised courts to deal with the growing numbers of women and girls who are being trafficked as prostitutes in the region, according to a senior judge. South Asia is the second largest venue for human trafficking in the world, after East Asia, according to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Swati Chauhan, the Mumbai-based magistrate of India's only court dealing with cases under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA), said more such courts are essential as they focused more on the victim than on the perpetrator. "The ITPA is a benevolent and victim-friendly legislation and its purpose is not only to punish the accused, but to prevent re-trafficking of women through a special court which oversees the rehabilitation of victims," Chauhan told TrustLaw. "I am the judge in only court in India which hears all the cases of trafficking under the ITPA in Mumbai. I feel that such courts are needed in Delhi, Goa, Pune and Kolkata," she said. Over 150,000 people are known to be trafficked within the region every year - mostly for sex work, but also for labour, forced marriages and as part of the organ trade, according to UNODC officials. Actual numbers are likely to be higher as much of the trade is underground, they said. SOURCE, TRANSIT AND DESTINATION According to activists, human trafficking is one of the fastest growing transnational organised crimes in South Asia. Traffickers often take advantage of impoverished communities, luring girls and young women and girls with promises of jobs as maids or nannies in wealthy households in the cities. But, activists say, the reality is very different. Girls sent to India's towns and cities often end up as involuntary sex workers, sometimes detained in a room by their employers and forced into unprotected sex with multiple partners. India's bustling business capital Mumbai is a popular source, transit and destination station for traffic in women and girls, according to Chauhan. "We find a lot of girls from Bangladesh and Nepal. They end up in Mumbai and they are in the brothels -- detained sometimes -- forced into prostitution work," she said. "Girls who are lucky to be rescued by police and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in Mumbai are brought before me and it is my job to understand their situation and work out the best form of rehabilitation for them to ensure that they do not go back into sex work." REHABILITATION Chauhan's court was established in 2008 after the city's high court found there was a backlog of 1,500 trafficking cases and ordered that a special place be established to hear such cases. All girls rescued from brothels in Mumbai are now brought before Chauhan, who works with a group of experts, including representatives from NGOs, on how best to ensure the victim is not re-trafficked. Sometimes the girls are taken out of parental custody, if the parents are deemed unsuitable, and placed in shelters run by NGOs. They are offered various forms of vocational training, such as catering or beauty therapy, for one year, and then given employment with the court monitoring the entire rehabilitation program from start to finish. However, Chauhan said, in many cases the girls already have become "hardcore" sex workers, accepted it as their fate and it is often difficult to persuade them that there are other choices. "Sometimes the girls say that they are doing the prostitution work voluntarily, that they do it will their will. But the real story is not so. They have accepted it as their destiny because of no option," she said. "The court tries to show these girls that there are other options that are far less harmful." (TrustLaw is a global centre for free legal assistance and anti-corruption news run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. For more TrustLaw stories, visit www.trust.org/trustlaw
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