Draft plan to check human trafficking

.Special Correspondent
Focus on protection, prosecution
NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Women (NCW) will spell out a draft integrated plan of action to prevent and combat trafficking in women and children that will call for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries to come together to deal with the issue.
Briefing reporters at the end of a two-day national consultation on preventing and combating human trafficking with special focus on children and women here over the weekend, NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said the plan of action would focus on prevention, protection, prosecution and providing necessary help to the victims.
She said the participants felt that prevention strategies should be based on existent ground realities and every State should draw up an action plan after mapping the vulnerable areas ‘at risk.’ Involvement of the corporate sector in prevention and rehabilitation and sensitisation of the community are some other salient features of the action plan, the draft of which would be submitted to the Union Women and Child Development Ministry by the month end before the Union Cabinet’s approval is sought.
Ms. Vyas said the draft plan would suggest involving Ministries such as the Panchayati Raj, Health and Family Welfare, Labour, Tourism, Railways, Road Transport, Education, Defence and even the External Affairs to prevent trafficking and ensure rehabilitation of those rescued since the issue had international manifestations. She suggested the setting up of short-term stay home facilities on the international borders from where trafficking was carried out.Protocols for repatriation
Stressing the need for identifying institutions that would provide safe custody to the victims, the plan of action would also suggest developing procedures, mechanisms and protocols for repatriation with the neighbouring countries, and sensitisation of the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.

Australian convicted of pedophilia in India

From correspondents in Goa
March 04, 2007 02:18am
AN Indian court today convicted an Australian man of pedophilia and said the offender was part of a massive sex racket involving children in the Arabian Sea resort of Goa.
Warner Wulf Ingo was convicted on various charges including sodomy, unnatural sex with minors, abduction and criminal conspiracy.
Goa sessions judge AD Salkar said the Australian would be sentenced on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old Ingo will be sentenced under a tough 2003 anti-pedophilia law that provides for imprisonment of up to 12 years and a fine of 200,000 rupees ($5700), court officials said.
Police said Ingo was an associate of a German, Freddy Peats, who operated a well-established sex racket in Goa until his arrest in 1991, which subsequently led to his conviction five years later.
Peats, convicted for supplying destitute children to wealthy European males in Goa, died in 2005 while serving a life sentence in an Indian prison.
“Ingo was one of the clients of Peats',” a senior police official said as the Australian was escorted to a local prisonhouse.
Goa police said they were also hunting for Eoghan Colm McBride, a New Zealander who in 2002 was given seven-year prison term for seeking services from Peats. He jumped bail while on parole.
“Both McBride and Ingo were regular clients of Peats, who ran the child prostitution racket from an ashram (hermitage) in Fatorda town in southern Goa,” the officer said.
Dominique Sabir, a Frenchman involved in the same child sex racket, was also arrested in 1996 but he, too, jumped bail and is listed as absconding.
Goa police chief BS Brar said he was relieved with Ingo's conviction.
“This is a good moment as in recent years we have become very stringent and we do not tolerate such activities in Goa anymore,” Chief Brar said.
About 20 per cent of 4.2 million tourists who travelled to Goa during the October 2005 to January 2006 peak season were foreigners, many of them Europeans.
There are no estimates on the number of paedophiles among them. But NGOs say foreigners are openly seen luring children with expensive gifts and money.
“We now have beach patrols, posters and warnings that Goa has no place for pedophiles,” Chief Brar said

National action plan to stop trafficking of women, children
New Delhi, Aug 04: Creating a database on trafficking of women and children and addressing culturally-sanctioned practices such as the 'Devdasi' system are part of a draft national integrated plan of action to fight the menace. The plan of action, drafted at a two-day meeting organised by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and National Commission for Women (NCW), involves setting up of a national database and web portal where details of convicted as also probable traffickers would be available. Every state would have its own action plan on trafficking and a nodal cell would be created in the ministry of home affairs to deal with the problem. The proposed action plan stresses on addressing traditionally sanctioned practices like the 'Devdasi' system. "Having a national policy is not enough. State-level plans are required and high-risk areas in every region, district and village need to be identified," NCW chairperson Girija Vyas told reporters here today at the end of the two-day consultation. She said the action plan talks about involving grass-root institutions such as panchayats and municipal bodies in curbing the menace. Vyas said there was a need to involve other ministries, such as health, child, panchayati raj, tourism, railways, road transport, defence, external affairs and education in anti-trafficking efforts. The action plan calls for involvement of the corporate sector for trafficking prevention activities. As for cross-border trafficking, the action plan emphasises the need for short-stay homes or transit centres for victims to be repatriated and developing procedures and protocols for repatriation with neighbouring countries. The action plan will be sent to the ministry of women and child development within a month, after which it will be taken up by the Union Cabinet.

LIGHT signs MoU with IOM on trafficking
Friday, August 03 2007 Hyderabad, Aug 3 (UNI) Lanco Institute of General Humanitarian Trust (LIGHT), a registered humanitarian and development trust formed by LANCO, today signed an MoU with International Organisation for Migration (IOM), for the provision of assistance to survivors of trafficking and other vulnerable people below poverty line.LIGHT Chairman L Rajagopal and IOM Director General Brunson McKinley had signed the MoU.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rajagopal said the agreement marks the beginning of a series of initiatives in the area of rehabilitation and empowerment of Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking (VOCSET) and other vulnerable groups like Mathammas, Joginis, Dalits through provision for their employment.The activities will start in Vijayawada as the initial partnership period with effect from today, till December 31, 2008

Shivraj Patil decries international focus on trafficking in India

Shivraj Patil decries international focus on trafficking in India

3 Aug 2007,
NEW DELHI: Critical of the international assessment of the extent of trafficking of women and children in India, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Thursday said the problem here was not bigger than that in other countries. "It has been necessary for us to say there is a problem (of trafficking) in India. But to think that it is bigger than in other countries is not correct," Patil said in his inaugural address at a national consultation on preventing and combating human trafficking here. "We have to take into consideration the number of human beings in India when talking about the extent of the problem. However, even one case is not acceptable to us," he said, noting the problem should be seen in the correct perspective. Patil's comments come in the backdrop of the US placing India in the Tier-2 list of countries where human trafficking is a matter of concern. The Minister, addressing the 'National Consultation on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking of Human Beings with Special Focus on Women and Children', said the problem of human trafficking in India has been discussed on a large scale at the international level. "Human trafficking takes place in India, but the scale (as per international community) is not correct," Patil said. "Many times, we have discussed the issue in the Ministry and with dignitaries coming from other countries," he said. He, however, added that India needs to pay more attention to the issue than it has been so far

Date:02/08/2007

New Delhi

An inside story of trafficking in women
Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Unmasking reality: National Commission for Women chairperson Girija Vyas (second from right) releasing the book titled ‘Confronting the Demand for Sex-trafficking: A Handbook for law enforcement’ in New Delhi on Wednesday
NEW DELHI: Exploitation of women is not limited to their trafficking for commercial sex market. The criminal justice system, which arrests more women than men, is an equally harrowing experience, claims a book on sex trafficking released in the Capital on Wednesday.
Authors Ruchira Gupta and Ruchi Sinha, in a handbook titled ‘Confronting the Demand for Sex Trafficking: A Handbook for Law Enforcement’ point out that while victims of sex trafficking are put though the criminal justice system, the perpetrators are allowed to go scot-free.
Making a case for more gender-sensitive law enforcement, the authors point out how the existing laws can be used to fix legal responsibility on those who buy trafficked people.
The book also cites examples of countries like Sweden, the Philippines and South Korea, which have addressed the demand for sex trafficking as an effective anti-trafficking measure.
“Demand for trafficked people -- from end-users to those who make profit from the trade -- has become the most immediate cause for expansion of the trafficking industry,” said Ms. Gupta, who is also founder-director of Apne Aap Women Worldwide.
Ms. Gupta, who has co-authored the book with Ms. Sinha, an assistant professor at the Centre of Criminology and Justice Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, explained: “Providing services and instituting preventive mechanisms has provided protection to vulnerable people but not detracted the traffickers.”
Calling for increased vigilance and new laws to prevent traffickers from sourcing women and children from Nepal to Mumbai and Kolkata, she said: “They simply shifted areas of operation to Bihar, West Bengal, the hill States of the Northeast and Jharkhand in India because a demand for trafficked women and children continued to exist.”
The handbook claims that the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956, which penalises women for soliciting in public places is used more frequently than the Section 5which penalises traffickers, highlighting that trafficking is not a victimless crime.
The book, which has contributions from several people and a foreword from UN Special Rapporteur for Human Trafficking Sigma Huda, claims that human trafficking is an organised and well-structured crime which is operated through a supply chain.
A panel discussion on the subject moderated by P. M. Nair(IPS)which included Girija Vyas, Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, and Gary Lewis, Representative Regional Office of South Asia United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, and the author Ms. Gupta followed the book release

Police told to see prostitutes as victims

Wed Aug 1, 2007 8:40PM IST
By Nita Bhalla
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Police must treat prostitutes as victims rather than criminals and crack down instead on clients and human traffickers who force women and children to sell their bodies, activists said on Wednesday.
Hundreds of thousands of women and girls in India are kidnapped, sold, coerced or trafficked for sex in a highly organised, yet illicit trade which is the world's third most lucrative after arms and drugs.
But activists say that while the children and young women are often trapped in slave-like situations, unable to free themselves from their pimps and brothel owners, police treat them as criminals while the real perpetrators get away.
"Hundreds of thousands of victims are invisible and are kept in captivity and have no access to any justice system whatsoever," said Ruchira Gupta, director of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, a local charity working against human trafficking.
"On the other hand, the perpetrators of this crime -- the profiteers and buyers that constitute the demand for human trafficking -- are visible and work with impunity."
In India, trafficking and profiting by selling a person for sex is illegal, but paying for sex with a prostitute is not unless she is under 18-years-old.
Almost 6,000 cases of trafficking were registered in 2005, but activists say the real number is much higher and on the rise.
Activists say that women are easy targets for police to arrest and round up in brothel raids and on street corners and police rarely investigate or arrest brothel owners or pimps.
Experts, speaking at the launch of a handbook to help police better enforce human trafficking laws, said police needed to understand the issue better.
"The real problem is not the absence of a legal infrastructure, but the importance of those that are empowered to impose the law to know what to do," said Gary Lewis, South Asia representative of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
According to the International Labour Organisation, 2.45 million people worldwide are exploited and treated like slaves every year, and another 1.2 million people are trafficked.
Lewis said that, according to some estimates, the global trade in human trafficking generated around $32 billion a year

Victims of trafficking await justice

Mohuya Chaudhuri
Senior Editor, Health and Technology
Friday, July,27 2007 (New Delhi)
It has been over a year now but justice continues to elude Khushi, Reshmi and Sati, (names changed), aged 7, 9 and 14.Viciously abused and even shot at by their employer, a well-to-do architect in Faridabad, Haryana, the three girls are now living in a shelter in Rai, close to Delhi.After three years of abject slavery, when they were forced to sleep naked on the bathroom floor on cold winter nights after a 20-hour grueling work-day and made to eat rice off the toilet bowl, life is slowly seeping back into the children.But even though there's no fear, the past simply refuses to fade away. Khushi, who will be eight soon, spends her time staring out of their grilled windows, the sunlight blinding her. She was abused the most, her vacant eyes reflect the intense trauma that still hovers around her like a shroud.Fortunately, her injuries are healing well. The bullet scar on her thigh is no longer raw and her tiny, weathered hands, which were rotting when she was rescued, are back in shape. But she no longer remembers anything. Her father, her village and the life she led before she was stolen by her uncle and sold into domestic labour through a placement agency.It was through a session of music that some of her roots began to emerge. After much cajoling, she began to sing and it was clear she was an adivasi. She sang beautifully and with each song, her confidence grew. After a moment of surprised silence that greeted her performance since few knew she could sing, she began to open up. She belonged to Chhattisgarh and now wanted to return home. She used to go to school and was her father's favourite. She misses him the most. Khushi rarely spoke, so this was the only opportunity to locate her family. But after some time, she turned away and the moment was lost. It would be some time before she trusted anyone again.Sati and Reshmi were peppy and full of life. They had somehow managed to put the incident behind them. Sati, with her beautiful face and long hair, had faced sexual harassment as well. But she had fought back, yelling and screaming, which warned neighbours that something was not quite right in the three-storied plush building.It was obvious her spirit helped her recover faster but the memory brought angry tears to her eyes.The time spent at the shelter had somewhat reawakened their childhood. They wanted new clothes - pink and red and were eager to watch films. Both of them sang popular Bangla songs that used to blare outside paan shops in their villages in Midnapore district in Bengal. They too had been picked up by traffickers and brought to Delhi. Girls like these go missing from villages across Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Assam and Andhra Pradesh routinely. Some put the figure at one million but those who work in the field say that is a conservative estimate. Intense poverty drives the business of trafficking. Children, after narcotics, have emerged the most lucrative commodity globally. Trafficking has also brought the world closer. There are no borders here. Bangladeshi children can be found in Saudi Arabia, Nepali girls in Mumbai's brothels and adolescents from Andhra in Delhi's red light districts. Hundreds of girls from Jharkhand run homes in the capital.All this, despite stringent laws. Law enforcers often say their hands are tied. The biggest reason for poor arrests and convictions is jurisdiction. Most trafficking cases get stuck because they need coordination between police forces of different states.But it isn't that simple. As seen in the Faridabad case, it is clear that the police force is still ignorant of laws related to trafficking but above all policemen were corrupt and were plaint to pressure. Big names with political connections get away scot-free. Despite breaking child labour laws, which clearly states that employing children below 14 is a crime, the architect in question was not arrested. The children were rescued in a raid, yet the accused walked away. At the police station, despite the presence of the media and NGOs, no case was registered. In fact, the media was intimidated. A few telephone calls and the police wilted. In cases related to children, the crime somehow diminishes in the eyes of the police. Clearly, the problem is more attitudinal than functional.The National Commission for Women, that took up the issue has written several times to police authorities, adding several more charges against the accused. But there has been no response so far.Minster of Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury says criminals who abuse children must not get away. Clearly, the time has come to set an example

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.
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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

Bangalore network

Gang held for prostitution, extortion
16 Jun, 2007 l 0302 hrs ISTl
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

BANGALORE: Deepu earned at least Rs 25,000 daily. While his gang of women solicited customers, his gang, all men, robbed them. They ran this racket for three years as no victim lodged a complaint. Deepu's large team of women and men from across the state and Andhra Pradesh kept his prostitution and extortion business ticking over. One of the accused, Girish, even has a Master's degree in social work. However, Deepu and his 16 associates landed in prison after the central division police laid a trap for them on Friday. Deepu accommodated these women at a house in Yelahanka, RMC Yard and his house in Vidyaranyapura. An old woman, who doubled as a helper and bouncer, took care of them. Each girl earned anything between Rs 24,000 and Rs 30,000 per month. The women would solicit a rich "customer" and get into his car. They'd then tip-off their male colleagues, who followed them in another car and rob the ‘customer'. The gang used to fool the customer by pretending to rob the woman too. After an informant alerted the police about the gang, the team led by DCP (Central) B N S Reddy and Cubbon Park police inspector Ravi Shankar planned the operation. A decoy was sent to one of their usual meeting places, a hotel in Malleswaram. There, of the eight persons, the police nabbed four persons, even as the other four sped away in a van. Ravi Shankar and his team chased them and stopped them at Sadashivanagar. Based on their information, the other nine were arrested. The police seized three cars, three two-wheelers, nine mobile phones and Rs 17,150 from them. Those arrested have been remanded to judicial custody. A case has been lodged against the accused at the Channapatna police station. The other accused are: Prakash (24), Devaraj (22), Nagaraju (27), Madhu (22), Raju (21), Anil (20), Salman (24), Zabiullah (26), Deepa (19), Deepika (19), Reshma (23), Manu (19), Bhavani (27), Ranjani (23) and Ravi (24

India defends trafficking record

India defends trafficking record
By Jyotsna Singh BBC News, Delhi
The Indian government has defended its efforts in tackling the problem of human trafficking a day after a US report criticised its record.
India was designated as a "Tier 2 watch list" country: it did not fully comply with minimum standards but was making significant efforts to do so.
The government says a lot is being done to tackle the problem, although more needs to be done.
It says efforts are underway to rescue and rehabilitate trafficking victims.
Sanctions possibility
"The world's largest democracy has the world's largest problem of human trafficking," said the US state department's specialist on trafficking issue, Mark Lagon.
The department has warned India would be downgraded to a "Tier 3" category unless it improved its track record.
That would mean that the US would withhold non-humanitarian, non-trade related foreign aid.
Correspondents say that "Tier 3" countries are also denied access to educational and cultural exchange programmes.
The state department estimates that around 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year, and that 80% of them are females used in the sex trade.
The annual report places India as a "Tier two" country for the fourth year in a row.
An official in India's Women and Child Development ministry, however, defended her department's efforts in tackling the problem.
'Unfair'
"We are doing our bit, but more needs to be done," said Deepa Jain Singh, secretary for the Women and Children's Development Ministry.
Non governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the area have supported the government's efforts.
"We don't agree that nothing has changed. Legislation has come in place to deal with the issue. It is a clear indication that the pressure on the government is working," Rishi Kant, from the anti-trafficking group, Shakti Vahini, told the BBC News website.
Other women's groups argued that it was unfair that India was being put on the US watch list over the issue, and not Bangladesh or Nepal.
Aid agencies estimate that around 5,000 to 7,000 women and girls are trafficked to India from Nepal and around 10,000 to 20,000 women and children from Bangladesh.
"Nepal, Bangladesh and India need to work together to stop such trafficking," United Nations Development Programme spokeswoman Archana Tamang told the BBC.
"Women and children are not being brought into India only, there is a lot of reverse trafficking taking place as well.
"It is really important for all the three nations to work together as a sub-regional group to remedy the situation," she said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6749983.stm

Trafficking remains India’s bane

Trafficking remains India’s bane
Ganesh Pandey
Posted online: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
New Delhi, June 11Despite efforts to check trafficking in persons, India has failed to improve its ranking again this year and has been placed in Tier II watch list for the fourth consecutive year since 2004. The ranking implies that India does not comply with minimum standards laid down by the US to combat human trafficking.
Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report is an assessment of steps taken by various countries to check human trafficking and is released annually by the US State Department. The report for 2007 will be released on June 12 in Washington.
Last year’s report had said India was a source, destination and transit country for men, women and children trafficked for the purpose of forced or bonded labour and commercial sexual exploitation. The report also said the Indian Government had failed to evolve a national law enforcement response to trafficking or failed to vigorously investigate or prosecute acts of trafficking in the country.
In response, the Indian Government took a number of steps to improve its position, including setting up of a special cell in the Ministry of Home Affairs, to look at the problem and device a policy framework for improving the implementation of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. The Bureau of Police Research And Development came out with a training manual on “Human Trafficking Handbook For Investigators” for use in police training in institutes. Besides, amendments in the Immoral Traffic Act are already under consideration and Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has already formulated a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.
The US has attacked India’s record on its record of enforcement and prosecution while praising the MWCD for its efforts and recognising that the legal basis for combating trafficking is elaborate and robust

Complete report on US Trafficking in Person 2007

INDIA (Tier 2 Watch List)

Video: U.S. issues world slavery list*

http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/

India is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. India's trafficking in persons problem is estimated to be in the millions. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) estimates that 90 percent of India's sex trafficking is internal. Women and girls are trafficked internally for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage. Children are subject to involuntary servitude as factory workers, domestic servants, beggars, and agriculture workers. Men, women, and children are held in debt bondage and face involuntary servitude working in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and embroidery factories. India is also a destination for women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Bangladeshi women reportedly are trafficked through India for sexual exploitation in Pakistan. Although Indians migrate willingly to the Gulf for work as domestic servants and low-skilled laborers, some later find themselves in situations of involuntary servitude, including extended working hours, non-payment of wages, restrictions on movement by withholding of passports or confinement to the workplace, and physical or sexual abuse. Bangladeshi and Nepali men and women are trafficked through India for involuntary servitude in the Middle East.

The Government of India does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking however; it is making significant efforts to do so. India is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a fourth consecutive year for its failure to show increasing efforts to tackle India's large and multidimensional problem. India's anti-trafficking laws, policies, and programs focused largely on trafficking for sexual exploitation and the Indian government did not recognize the country's huge population of bonded laborers, which NGOs estimate to range from 20 million to 65 million laborers, as a significant problem. Overall, the lack of any significant federal government action to address bonded labor, the reported complicity of law enforcement officials in trafficking and related criminal activity, and the critical need for an effective national-level law enforcement authority impede India's ability to effectively combat its trafficking in persons problem.

In September 2006, the central government responded to the need for a central anti-trafficking law enforcement effort by establishing a two-person federal "nodal cell," responsible for collecting and analyzing data of state-level law enforcement efforts, identifying problem areas and analyzing the circumstances creating these areas, monitoring action taken by state governments, and organizing meetings with state-level "nodal" anti-trafficking police officers. However, this nodal cell does not have the authority to investigate and initiate prosecutions of trafficking crimes across the country, as recommended by India's Human Rights Commission and Indian NGOs.

This year, three state governments established, with substantial U.S. Government and UNODC assistance, the first state-level anti-trafficking police units in the country, which has led to an increase in rescues of sex trafficking victims and arrests of traffickers. The central government passed a law in October 2006 banning the employment of children in domestic work and the hospitality industry. In a July 2006 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Maharashtra government could proceed with its plan to seal brothels under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA).

Despite India's huge bonded labor problem, there were no substantial efforts this year to investigate, prosecute, or convict those who exploit bonded labor. Nor did the Indian government take significant measures to prosecute or punish government officials involved in trafficking-related corruption, though it arrested three government officers complicit in trafficking. The government should increase prosecutions and punishments for trafficking offenses, including bonded labor, forced child labor, deceptive recruitment of Indians trafficked abroad, and sex trafficking.

Prosecution

Efforts throughout India to investigate and punish trafficking crimes during the past year were uneven and largely inadequate. The government reported only 27 convictions for trafficking offenses throughout the entire country for 2006. While the government took measures to increase law enforcement against sex trafficking and forced child labor, efforts to combat bonded labor and trafficking-related corruption remained inadequate. The government prohibits some forms of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation through the ITPA. Prescribed penalties under the ITPA - ranging from seven years' to life imprisonment - are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for other grave crimes. A parliamentary committee has completed its review of amendments to the ITPA that afford greater protections to sex trafficking victims and provide stricter penalties for their traffickers and for clients of prostitution. While the Indian government has not yet passed and enacted these amendments which were drafted in 2004, some jurisdictions reportedly have stopped using the ITPA to arrest women in prostitution. India also prohibits bonded and forced labor through the Bonded Labor Abolition Act, the Child Labor Act, and the Juvenile Justice Act. These laws are ineffectually enforced and their prescribed penalties - a maximum of three years' in prison - do not meet international standards.

This year, the government did not make significant progress in investigating, prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing those exploiting bonded labor. Despite the millions of bonded laborers in India, the government reported arresting only three offenders and confirmed rescuing only 26 adult victims this year. India similarly did not report any criminal investigations or prosecutions of labor recruiters using deceptive practices and debt bondage to compel Indians into involuntary servitude abroad; the unchecked behavior of these recruiters contributes to the forced labor of some Indians working abroad.

Efforts to combat forced child labor remained uneven throughout the country, varying greatly from state to state. In October 2006, the government enacted a ban on the employment of children in domestic work or in the hospitality industry, with penalties ranging from three months' to two years' imprisonment and fines - penalties that are not sufficiently stringent. As of December 2006, state governments had identified 1,672 violations of this ban, based on the 23,166 inspections they had conducted.

However, the government has not yet reported criminal prosecutions or convictions produced from these administrative measures. The Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE) began public campaigns to raise awareness and prevent child labor, and conducted videoconferences with states to coordinate efforts. Some state and local governments also rescued children from forced labor situations. For example, in New Delhi, police rescued 234 children from embroidery factories and rice mills, although they did not report making any arrests. India did not provide any evidence of convictions for forced child labor, in spite of the hundreds of thousands of children between the ages of 5 and 14 that have been removed from workplaces.

The government conducted at least 43 rescue operations that released 275 victims of commercial sex trafficking from their exploiters; however, these operations were not accompanied with vigorous prosecution of traffickers. The Government of India provided significant in-kind contributions to a two-year U.S. government-funded UNODC project in Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh states, focused on raising the awareness of police and prosecutors on the problem of trafficking, and building the capacity of these police and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute persons involved with trafficking. In contrast to previous years, the government did not arrest potential trafficking victims on solicitation charges during these raids. During the reporting period, India arrested 685 suspected sex traffickers, but there were no reported prosecutions or convictions. The government succeeded in convicting only 27 traffickers across the major trafficking hubs of Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.

According to a study produced by the National Human Rights Commission a majority of traffickers surveyed claimed to rely on corrupt police officers for the protection of their trafficking activities. These officers reportedly continued to facilitate the movement of sex trafficking victims, protect brothels that exploit victims, and protect traffickers and brothel keepers from arrest or other threats of enforcement. In Jammu and Kashmir, authorities charged a deputy inspector-general of the Border Security Force, a former advocate general, a deputy superintendent of police, and two former state ministers with trafficking. In January, an official with the Central Bureau of Investigation was also arrested for complicity in trafficking. While those arrested were awaiting trial, there were no reported prosecutions or convictions of public officials for complicity in trafficking during the reporting period.

Due to the intra-state nature of most of India's sex trafficking, the uneven response from state-level governments, and the lack of effective coordination among state police authorities, India should strongly consider expanding the central MHA office to coordinate law enforcement efforts to investigate and arrest traffickers who cross state and national lines. India should also significantly increase prosecutions of those arrested for trafficking, including employers who exploit forced labor, deceptive labor recruiters, and sex traffickers; and impose strict sentences on those convicted. Similarly, the government should significantly increase its efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence public officials who participate in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking in persons.

Protection

India's efforts to protect victims of trafficking remained uneven and, in many cases, inadequate. Victims of bonded labor are entitled to 10,000 rupees ($225) from the central government for rehabilitation, but this program is unevenly executed across the country because state governments are responsible for implementing the program. The government does not proactively identify and rescue bonded laborers, so few victims receive this assistance. Though children trafficked for forced labor may be housed in government shelters and are entitled to 20,000 rupees ($450), the quality of many of these homes remains poor and the disbursement of rehabilitation funds is sporadic. Some states provide services to victims of bonded labor, but NGOs provide the majority of protection services to these victims. The central government reported no protection services offered to Indian victims trafficked abroad for involuntary servitude or commercial sexual exploitation, and it does not provide funding to repatriate these victims. The Government of Kerala, however, appointed nodal officers to coordinate with Indian embassies in destination countries to assist victims from Kerala state. Foreign victims are not offered legal alternatives to their removal to countries in which they may face hardship or retribution. Many victims decline to testify against their traffickers due to the length of proceedings and fear of retribution by traffickers without adequate witness protection from the government.

The Government of India relied heavily on NGOs to assist sex trafficking victims, though it offered funding to these NGOs to build shelters under its Swadhar Scheme. In April 2007, however, India's parliament released a report concluding that the Ministry of Women and Child Development had failed to adequately implement the Swadhar program and another program specifically focused on services for trafficking victims across the country. Government shelters are found in all major cites, but the quality of care they offer varies widely. In Maharashtra, state authorities converted one government shelter into a home exclusively for minor victims of sex trafficking this year, and issued a policy permitting trafficking victims to access any of the 600 government homes throughout the state. The Governments of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh also operate similar homes. Though states have made some improvements to their shelter care, victims sheltered in these facilities still do not receive comprehensive protection services, such as psychological assistance from trained counselors, and many victims are not assisted with long term alternatives to remaining in the shelter. The Government of Andhra Pradesh - the state with the largest number of trafficking victims in the country - now provides 10,000 rupees to sex trafficking victims.

The government should improve its protection efforts by enhancing the quality of rehabilitation services available in government run shelters, increasing protection services for bonded labor victims, and encouraging victims to assist in investigations of their traffickers. India should similarly improve its repatriation procedures to ensure that victims are not re-trafficked or further victimized. To protect Indian nationals trafficked abroad, the government should consider training overseas diplomatic officials in identifying and assisting trafficking victims caught in involuntary servitude, and should extend rehabilitation services to these victims upon their return.

Prevention

India's efforts to prevent trafficking in persons were limited this year. To address the issue of bride trafficking, the government instituted public awareness programs to educate parents on the laws against sex-selective abortions and infanticide, and the negative effect that gender imbalance is causing in parts of India. While the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs instituted a system requiring women under the age of 35 going to the Gulf as domestic workers to obtain authorization to leave India, the government failed to provide those traveling overseas with information on common trafficking perils or resources for assistance in destination countries.

The central government did not effectively guard its long, porous borders with Bangladesh and Nepal through which trafficking victims easily enter the country. India also did not take adequate measures to prevent internal trafficking for sexual exploitation or involuntary servitude despite the prevalence of such trafficking to major cities, and increasingly in smaller cities and suburbs. The lack of effective coordination between source and destination states contributed to this problem, underscoring the necessity for a centralized law enforcement authority with intrastate jurisdic