The 21st-Century Slave Trade
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
ALONG THE INDIA/NEPAL BORDER
Anyone who thinks that the word “slavery” is hyperbole when used to describe human trafficking today should meet Meena Khatun. She not only endured the unbearable, but has also shown that a slave trader’s greed sometimes is no match for a mother’s love.
Human trafficking is the big emerging human rights issue for the 21st century, but it’s an awful term, a convoluted euphemism. As Meena’s story underscores, the real issue is slavery.
Meena was kidnapped from her village in north India by a trafficker and eventually locked up in a 13-girl brothel in the town of Katihar. When she was perhaps 11 or 12 — she remembers only that it was well before she had begun to menstruate — the slaver locked her in a room with a white-haired customer who had bought her virginity. She cried and fought, so the mother and two sons who owned the brothel taught Meena a lesson.
“They beat me mercilessly, with a belt, sticks and iron rods,” Meena recalled. Still, Meena resisted customers, despite fresh beatings and threats to cut her in pieces.
Finally, the brothel owners forced her to drink alcohol until she was drunk. When she passed out, they gave her to a customer.
When she woke up, Meena finally accepted her fate as a prostitute. “I thought, ‘Now I am ruined,’ ” she remembered, “so I gave in.”
Meena thus joined the ranks of some 10 million children prostituted around the world — more are in India than in any other country. The brothels of India are the slave plantations of the 21st century.
Every night, Meena was forced to have sex with 10 to 25 customers. Meena’s owners also wanted to breed her, as is common in Indian brothels. One purpose is to have boys to be laborers and girls to be prostitutes, and a second is to have hostages to force the mother to cooperate.
So Meena soon became pregnant. The resulting baby girl, Naina, was taken from Meena after birth, as was a son, Vivek, who was born a year later.
The two children were raised mostly apart from Meena. Meena alerted the police to her children’s captivity (the police were uninterested), so her owners decided to kill her.
At that, Meena fled to a town several hours away and eventually married a pharmacist who protected her. Every few months, Meena would go back to the brothel and beg for her children.
She was never allowed inside, and the children were told that their mother had died. Still, Naina and Vivek regularly heard their mother’s shouts and pleas and occasionally caught glimpses of her. Other enslaved girls told them that she was indeed their mother.
When Naina turned about 12, the brothel owners prepared to sell her as well. At that Vivek, who was being forced to do the brothel’s laundry, protested vigorously. The owners beat Vivek, an extremely bright boy who was never allowed to go to school, but he continued to plead that his big sister not be sold. Finally, he escaped to search for his mother, in hopes that she could do something. Eventually, they found each other.
They received help from a terrific anti-trafficking organization called Apne Aap (http://www.apneaap.org/), run by a former journalist named Ruchira Gupta. Ms. Gupta covered trafficking and was so horrified by what she found that she quit her job and devoted her life to fighting the brothel owners.
Ms. Gupta agitated for a police raid (apparently the first such raid on behalf of a trafficked mother ever in the state of Bihar) that rescued Naina last month. The girl, who is now about 13, is still recovering in a hospital from severe beatings and internal injuries.
The brothel is still operating, and the police have not arrested the main traffickers. But the brothel owners are threatening to kill Meena, her children and the Apne Aap staff, because they are potential witnesses in a criminal case against the traffickers. One Apne Aap staff member was stabbed a few days ago.
But whatever happens to Meena or Vivek, they are in the vanguard of a new global abolitionist movement.
This is an issue crying out for world leaders — and community groups — to seize and run with. President Bush has pressed the issue more than his predecessors, but he could do much more. If a little boy like Vivek can stand up to modern slavers, why can’t world leaders do the same?
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HINDUSTAN TIMES

Friday, April 20, 2007
Trafficking in misery

The fact that an elected representative was caught trying to smuggle two people out of the country has evoked shock and horror. The BJP MP from Gujarat took money to facilitate their illegal migration to Canada, though the plan was foiled by alert airport authorities. This is the story of thousands of Indians who try to flee to what they feel are greener pastures abroad. Poor families often stake all they have to send a member abroad in the hope that his or her earnings will be an insurance for their future. For each person who succeeds, there are many who fail when touts decamp with their money, leaving them to an uncertain and impoverished future at home.
As illegal migration from developing countries to the developed world grows, barricades have come up. The European Union, which is an attractive magnet for illegal migrants, has put in place stringent checks to ward off unwanted guest workers. Yet, they keep coming in droves, driven by conditions of poverty or civil unrest at home. Indian migrants have been caught in locations as far removed as Belarus to a boat adrift the Mediterranean trying to reach the shores of Europe. The government needs to examine seriously why people are willing to risk their lives to get away from here. Economic necessity is one reason. But illegal migrants often find themselves no better off in other countries as they are not governed by the labour regulations that offer safeguards like minimum wages and health insurance.
The human trafficking business, of which illegal migration is a major component, is worth Rs 36.77 crore in India. A flourishing racket exists in which Indian women domestics are sent to the Gulf. Mostly from Kerala, these women are literally sold into bonded labour by touts. They are made to work long hours in inhuman conditions with no legal recourse. Many end up returning broken and disillusioned. Migration cannot be stopped. But the Government of India must try and play a greater role in facilitating migration in a transparent and effective manner. The Sri Lankan government encourages migration, but supervised by officials and not through touts. If we were to do this, we might well be able to rid ourselves of the shadowy touts who run the multi-million dollar migration trade.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=d24d0b94-52ba-43b5-882d-0cdfa30c2084&igration trade

Participation elicited for police awards
The Imphal Free PressIMPHAL, Apr 9:

The Union ministry of home affairs has asked the DGPs, IGPs and CPOs of various states of the country including Manipur to disseminate information among the police officers working under them to elicit their participation in the competition for the Webber Seavey Award for Quality in Law Enforcement.

The Webber Seavey Award for Quality in Law Enforcement was created in the year 1992 by the International Association of Chiefs of police (IACP) and Motorola with an objective to give opportunity for earning recognition to the police department for its hard work and initiative.The award recognizes innovative projects in areas such as community policing, internal security, crime prevention, highway safely, state-of-the art technology and other areas of law enforcement. The projects should depict quality and excellence in law enforcement with results that have been sustained for a minimum of one year.

Since inception, more than 1,800 municipal, country, state, and federal agencies and sheriff`s departments have participated in this distinguished programme.A project `Aasra` submitted by the Nalgonda district police, Andhra Pradesh, was selected as one of the top three finalists in 2006 and Mahesh Bhagwat, superintendent, Nalgonda police, received recognition at the annual IACP conference held in Boston, Massachusetts (MA), USA from October 14 to 18, 2006.`Parivartan`, a Delhi police project on community policing, was selected as one of the 25 semifinalists.

Every year, the winners/finalists are intimated directly and requested to receive the awards in person. The top three winners receive awards at the IACP conference general assembly while 25 award finalists are honuored at the Webber Seavey breakfast.

http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=37244&typeid=1

Over 53% children face sexual abuse: Survey

The Times of India Online
Printed from timesofindia.indiatimes.com > India
[ 10 Apr, 2007 0000hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: In a shocking revelation, a government commissioned survey has found that more than 53% of children in India are subjected to sexual abuse, but most don’t report the assaults to anyone. The survey, released on Monday and which covered different forms of child abuse — physical, sexual and emotional — as well as female child neglect, found that two out of every three children have been physically abused. Parents and relatives, persons known to the child or in a position of trust and responsibility were mostly found to be the perpetrators of child sexual abuse in the country. According to the women and child development ministry-sponsored report, which assumes greater significance in the backdrop of the Nithari killings that brought into focus the issue of children’s safety, those in the age group of 5-12 years reported higher levels of abuse. While releasing the survey, women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury said, "Child abuse is shrouded in secrecy and there is a conspiracy of silence around the entire subject. The ministry is working on a new law for protection of children’s rights by clearly specifying offences against children and stiffening punishments." The survey, carried out across 13 states and with a sample size of 12,447, revealed that 53.22% of children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse, with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Delhi reporting the highest percentage of such incidents. In 50% of child abuse cases, the abusers were known to the child or were in a position of trust and responsibility and most children did not report the matter to anyone. The survey, sponsored by WCD ministry and carried out by the NGO Prayas in association with Unicef and Save the Children, found that over 50% children were subjected to one or the other form of physical abuse and more boys than girls were abused physically. The first-ever survey on child abuse in the country disclosed that nearly 65% of schoolchildren reported facing corporal punishment — beatings by teachers — mostly in government schools. Of children physically abused in families, in 88.6% of the cases, it was the parents who were the perpetrators. More than 50% had been sexually abused in ways that ranged from severe — such as rape or fondling — to milder forms of molestation that included forcible kissing. The study also interviewed 2,324 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, almost half of whom reported being physically or sexually abused as children. When it comes to emotional abuse, every second child was subjected to emotional assault and in 83% of the cases, parents were the abusers.

Using minors in prostitution is a billion dollar industry in the city

Haima Desshpande Friday, March 09, 2007 20:46 IST


For most, Mumbai remains a city of dreams. But, for some, it has become a place full of nightmares.In recent years, the financial capital of the country has emerged as one of the leading markets for trafficked minors who engage in prostitution or, in other words, the commercial sexual abuse of a minor.

According to estimates released by international agencies, trafficking of minor girls is a $1-billion-a-year industry, and it is thriving due to increased sex tourism in Mumbai, Goa and adjoining coastal areas. Edging past North-Eastern states, poverty-stricken rural areas of Maharashtra — Beed, Latur, Solapur, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, Chandrapur, Washim, Akola, Buldhana, Dhule and the Konkan region — have emerged as one of the biggest suppliers of minors.States such as Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa have also opened up as the new supply markets, says a Mumbai police source.

As instances of HIV and AIDS reach alarming proportions, demand for younger, pre-puberty girls has hit an all-time high. Girls as little as seven and eight-years-old are being forced into prostitution, both in the red-light areas and as “professional” call girls (always accompanied by an adult), according to a DNA investigation.Affluent businessmen, some members of the film and advertising industries, diamond merchants and politicians form the “select” clientele who source minors.“Trafficking in minor girls has seen an estimated 30 per cent increase from previous years,” says a social activist working at Kamatipura — the city’s most notorious red-light district.

“Poverty due to prolonged drought, mounting farm debts, unemployment and lack of livelihood are the triggering factors, which are forcing parents to send their daughters out of town for employment.”Though migration is also emerging as an important aspect in the minor flesh trade, numbers entering the flesh trade through this route are considerably smaller, explains the activist.“Even when girls are rescued, families are unwilling to take them back,” says the police source. “This has become a common story in the rural areas.” According to conservative estimates released by NGOs, the flesh trade in Mumbai “employs” about four lakh individuals. “Nearly 45 per cent — 1.8 lakh — are minors,” says Triveni Acharya, Founder-President of the Rescue Foundation, an organisation working with commercial sex workers.

Nepal and Bangladesh are the biggest exporters of trafficked minors and women in South Asia. Though the police estimate there are about 35,000 Nepalese nationals in Mumbai’s red-light areas, social activists insist the number is closer to one lakh. A majority of them are minors.As per UNICEF estimates, about 12 lakh children are trafficked across international borders each year. Save The Children (India) states that clients today prefer girls as young as 10 years.“The victims are subjected to the worst form of torture if they do not ‘perform’ with the clients,” says another social activist. “Most are denied food, water and toilet facilities, and regular beatings are an ‘integral’ part of their lives.”Every minor girl is subjected to a probation period of three years. During this time, she is not allowed to meet or interact with others in the brothel, and kept in a locked room. The probation period is the gestation time for the brothel keeper to rake in the money.Shockingly, the same people who are supposed to uphold the laws of the country are the ones involved in the trade, says a social activist. “How else do some rescued minors find their way back to the same brothel?” she says. “This trade cannot survive without patrons in the Mumbai police. This is the main reason why the police are incapable of handling child prostitution.”And, it is all about the profits in this business.

A fair minor fetches between Rs1-1.5 lakh for a night, and a dusky one is sold for between Rs75,000-1.25 lakh. An adult always accompanies the child to the rendez-vous point, and the clandestine destination is subject to several changes to throw off decoy agents. Though several NGOs are actively involved in rescuing minors, the magnitude of the problem keeps growing. Since 1986, the age of girls entering prostitution has gradually declined. In 1998, the average age of girls was 18 years. By 2000, it was 15. In 2003, minors as young as 12 were freely available.Now, the police source says clients have been asking for minors as young as 8 years old. In 1998, NGO Prerna brought together a consortium of like-minded organisations to address the issue of trafficking of minors.The group formed the Network Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking, to begin a dialogue with women working in the red-light areas. Today, the organisation has about 250 members spread across the state. Most work in the districts from where girls are trafficked.The Rescue Foundation had till December 2006 organised 50 rescue operations. Over 700 people — about 60 per cent were minors — were rescued from the red-light areas of Mumbai and Pune.“The fear of HIV has increased demand for minors,” says Acharya. “However, it is not easy for clients to get them. They are only sourced to a select clientele known to the brothel keepers. Fearing torture, minors do not dare to venture out of the locked rooms.”

Though RR Patil, Deputy Chief Minister and in-charge of Home Department, mooted the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to include brothel owners, pimps and others found guilty of trafficking women and children, it has yet to be implemented. During 2004 and 2005, the police sealed 21 brothels for housing minors soliciting clients on their premises. Currently, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and provisions of the Indian Penal Code punishes offenders. If a minor girl is found on the premises of a dubious establishment, the said premise is sealed for a maximum period of three years, and the accused can be punished for a minimum period of 10 years. The Mumbai police recently launched a special juvenile aid police unit (JAPU) to tackle the menace. The unit has been staffed with trained personnel.(Inputs by Dayanand Kamath)

For sale
Fair minor: Between Rs1-1.5 lakh for a night

Dusky minor: Between Rs75,000-1.25 lakh for a night

Age profile
1998: Girls as young as 18 years

2000: Girls as young as 15 years

2003: Girls as young as 12 years

Today: Girls as young as 8 years

The horrors of the trade Client listAffluent businessmen, members of film and advertising industries, diamond merchants and politicians form the “select” clientele.Shocking riseTrafficking in minor girls has seen an estimated 30 per cent increase from previous years. The dark sideVictims are subjected to the worst form of torture if they do not ‘perform’ with the clients. Most are denied food, water and toilet facilities. Regular beatings are an ‘integral’ part of their lives

India set for tough child abuse law

NDTV CorrespondentWatch story
Monday, March 19, 2007 (New Delhi):
India's National Commission for Children on Monday backed tough measures to protect children from abuse. Its chairperson Shanta Sinha said children should become a part of national conscience to prevent abuse.Her biggest tool could be the new Child Protection Bill. The draft of the Bill is awaiting approval by the Cabinet. "The first task is to know who the victims are," Sinha said in an exlusive interview to NDTV. Non-bailable offenceForty-two per cent of India's population are children and crimes against them will soon become a non-bailable offence. The legislation will provide authorities with a mechanism to identify and punish offenders for crimes against children.The Ministry for Women and Child Development feels existing laws are inadequate to recognise and penalise offenders. Sinha says trafficking and sexual exploitation of children should be on top of the nation's agenda. "There is just no data, if we don't know how many children are victims, how will we formulate policies?" "It's a monumental task but need to collate data of how many children are missing how many are trafficked," said Sinha, a winner of the Magsaysay Award. According to the draft of the Child Protection Bill: It will be compulsory for doctors, teachers and social workers to report cases of child abuse to the authorities. Sources say while exploitation of women and crimes like rape have stringent laws there is little protection for boys from abuse – an area that the new bill will address.ExploitationThe current laws also do not recognise exploitation of children either through sex tourism, child labour or violence against children including emotional abuse or instances like deliberate starvation.Sinha says children between 0-6 age group are not on anyone's radar "Children of all ages are important till six years of age."Till now laws related to children have had minimal impact. But recent incident involving murder and rape of children in Nithari near Delhi exposes the inability to protect them from abuse.

AP trafficking victims will be paid to testify
Karn Kowshik
Posted online: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
HYDERABAD, MARCH 13The idea is to help victims of trafficking help themselves.
Many cases against traffickers in humans in Andhra Pradesh fall apart because the witnesses, usually the victims themselves, don’t want to testify. And it’s mainly because they do not have the money to appear at
hearings.
So for the first time in the country, the Andhra police are heading a UN agency plan to compensate witnesses for coming to testify. They will get fare to and from their village to the court, said P Umapathi, inspector general of Women’s Protection Cell. “We also propose to give them daily minimum wages for the period that they are in court. They will get some money for child maintenance, too,” he said.
The court currently pays witnesses only Rs 8 for food.
The money for the new initiative is coming from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The agency will give each of the five worst-hit districts Rs 5 lakh for a year. “While it will be funded by UNODC to start with, the state will eventually take over the programme,” said Umapathi.
He said the aim is to introduce the compensation scheme to all 23 districts. The payment scheme will also cover men who appear as witnesses.
Andhra has the highest number of cases of trafficking in women in the country. Records show that last year, 1,431 arrests were made in 458 cases under the Immoral Trafficking Act by the Andhra police across the country.
While the police are still compiling figures on those rescued, an official here said that in the last three months, they have had 300 rescues and a similar
number of arrests. About a quarter of those saved
are minors.
The police here say victims of trafficking often shun the courts because they are unsure about what the police are doing for them. In many case they want to go back to the brothel or the pimp who they were with, for reasons ranging from financial security to fear of being ostracized at home.
But the main reason, said a senior Women’s Cell official, is that victims lose their daily wages when they come to court to testify. “They have to spend money on transport and food, as well as food for their children,” he said

Sunday, 10th March,2007


Worst crime, gross profit
Sex slaves-I

New Delhi, March 10: Trafficking of women and children has emerged as the third largest billion-dollar industry after the arms trade and drugs. Researchers estimate that Kamathipura, in Mumbai, alone generates at least $400 million annually with 100,000 prostitutes servicing six customers per day at Rs 100 per customer.

Transactions in prostitution are reported to be grossing Rs 40,000 crores per annum with revenues being shared between procurers, pimps and brothel keepers, and the police. A massive study undertaken by the Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) highlights how traffickers have emerged as the kingpins of this operation.At the top of the hierarchy are the master traffickers, whose identities remain largely unknown. These are then assisted by field-level purchasers, transporters, master operators, pimps and procurers, and the crime syndicate, which involves owners and managers of the brothels where most of these trafficked women and children end up being forced to live.


Most of the time, traffickers and brothel owners have remained an anonymous lot. But the ISI decided to track down these merchants of the human trade. Assured anonymity, 160 traffickers spoke at length about their modus operandi. A fifth of these were from Andhra Pradesh while the others came from Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal and UP. Most of those interviewed were in their mid-20s, though the researchers came across two traffickers, from Maharashtra and Goa, who were just 18 years of age. Interestingly, many of them could converse in more than three languages, allowing them the freedom to move from one State to another with impunity.


Trafficking, they admitted, was a lucrative, low-investment and high-profit business. Girls were being purchased for as little as Rs 1,000 per girl though the majority admitted they spent around Rs 5,000 or less to purchase a girl. It was only in exceptional circumstances that they forked out as much Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 for a girl with payments being made on a commission basis.


The study cited the example of “AM”, a well-known trafficker from Muzzafarpur, who is at present supplying women in Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnea and Ataria. On an average, “AM” traffics 40 women and children every month, earning over Rs 10 lakhs just from the sale of these women. During the festival season, the number of women can go up to 60. He is reported to own three houses in Siliguri alone apart from earning properties in several other cities.


On an average, each of these traffickers had trafficked over 42 women and children. They then admitted to having sexually assaulted their victims. Forty-two per cent of them admitted to having abused between three and 10 of their victims while 37 per cent admitted to having abused more than 10 victims. It was only after they had sexually exploited the victims that they would hand them over to a brothel to start soliciting clients.


While many of the traffickers pretended to have petty businesses which they maintained as a front, almost 20 per cent of them doubled up as sex workers. The study has also computed their earnings. The 160 interviewed had a total annual income of Rs 2,77,46,000. Their annual expenditure was around Rs 50,000 while they grossed a profit of around Rs 2 lakhs. In the majority of cases, the traffickers admit to first developing a relationship with members of the family before actually trafficking the girl child or a woman. The study highlighted how in 35 per cent of the cases family members and relatives helped facilitate this entire operation with parents, in-laws and husbands doing so in lieu of receiving some payment.


These traffickers confided that in the majority of cases, the women/girls were being sold because of poverty; in approximately 10 per cent cases they were being handed over to them out of greed. But they also mentioned that 15 per cent of the victims came from the upper strata and would be lured with the promise that they would be helped get a foothold in the Hindi film industry.


Traffickers admit they do not need to use coercion or force to kidnap a victim. Rather, they and their informers are on the lookout for women and children who appear to be vulnerable and so can be lured easily. Young girls continue to be the main target, especially since clients express a keenness to have sex with “virgin” girls. The majority admitted to having trafficked children in order to sexually exploit them.


Many admitted to exploiting women and children for pornographic reasons. Children from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were being trafficked out of the country to West Asia, the UK, Korea and the Philippines for pornographic reasons. If there was one question they refused to respond to, it was regarding their international links with traffickers. Even though some admitted travelling abroad to buy and sell girls, they often circumvented the question by saying it was to arrange “dance and song programmes”.


Countries frequented by traffickers included Nepal, Dubai, Bangkok, Kenya, the UK and South Africa, though some respondents admitted to sending male children to Saudi Arabia in order to make them beg.

NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

Daughters on sale
Sunday March 10, 2007 18:13 IST
http://www.newindpr
Raka Sudhakar Rao and Vikram Sharma

In December 2005, 16-year-old Anjamma (name changed) was sold by her brother to agents in Kurnool and was brought to Hyderabad. In spite of her resistance she was forced into flesh trade by the traffickers. Between December 2005 and September 2006, she was gang-raped several times. Finally, she was rescued from Secunderabad in December last year. In the first information report, a total of 16 traffickers were named, nine women and seven men, but the police could arrest only two. In a small town called Karepalli in Khammam district, you are likely to spot a BMW. The owners of this car are three sisters, aged between 23 and 25, who 'struck' gold in Mumbai and got the swanky automobile as a gift for their 'customer care'. Once in two or three months, they drive down from Mumbai in this car. They also have their own house, where the parents and a brother live. Stories of Anjamma and of the girls moving in BMW speak volumes of how thousands of girls are being trafficked from Andhra Pradesh each year. But the real story is that the traffickers are mostly their parents, husbands and brothers! Andhra Pradesh woke up to this reality recently, following the rescue operations taken up by the State CID. Starting from January this year, the State Police, especially the Crime Investigation Department (CID) has rescued over 200 victims of trafficking and has arrested nearly 200 traffickers, from some pockets of Maharashtra, including Bhiwandi and Chandrapur. It was only after these rescue operations that the police learnt that many of the victims were sold by their family members and in some cases, their own parents. The trend of parents or other members of the family selling their daughters or sisters has been going on for the past two decades. Most of the girls come from the Lambada tribe, where flesh trade has become an accepted practice within the community. The police coyly refers to it as "family tradition." According to one officer: "It is common for a man in this community to get married for a second time if the first wife is unable to give birth to a male child. Therefore, the married women believe in producing more number of children in order to give birth to a male child so that their husbands do not marry again. In the process, the females, when they grow up, are sold." A study shows that in five mandals around Kadiri in Anantapur district, three in Kadapa and three in Chittoor district, this has been serious business for several years now. "The girls know that they will be sold some day and what is in store for them. They are sold for anything between Rs 20,000 and Rs 70,000. The girls are sold in Maharashtra or Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi," police officials say. Nobody knows how many girls have been trafficked so far and or how many are still in those dingy brothels somewhere out there. What the police do have is a list of traffickers active in Andhra. Surprisingly, women form a major chunk of traffickers with over 350 of them listed out by the sleuths. There are 157 men who are operating from various parts of the State. Some of them have been arrested, but there are many who continue to do business with these girls. The trafficking network in the state is very well organised and very well-knit. "Poverty and illiteracy are the two main factors that drive these girls into brothels. But the main problem is the demand for the Andhra girls. As long as there is demand, supply is bound to be there," officials say. Nearly, 30 percent of trafficked victims in the country are reportedly from Andhra Pradesh. Approximately, 15,000 girls and women have been trafficked from East and West Godavari districts alone and most of them are Dalits or from Dommari, Bogam and Kalavanthula communities. Out of the 15,000 FIRs registered for crime against women (per year), 537 cases were registered against traffickers in 2005. In 2006, 195 cases were registered and 780 people, including women traffickers, were arrested. "In the last seven months, charge-sheets were filed in 140 cases, nine cases resulted in conviction and 10 cases ended in acquittals. Unfortunately witnesses are not coming forward to depose due to lack of witness protection and support programmes," officials say. The police are also planning to register cases against such husbands who get married for the second time only for want of a son. They are in the process of studying the law under which cases can be registered. By the end of the year, the State Police hopes to arrest 1,000 more traffickers, prosecute them under Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act and other sections of IPC, rescue atleast 1,000 victims, set up witness protection and victim support and provide toll-free Helpline, trauma care and counselling. The police hopes to conduct sensitisation programmes for officers deployed in problem areas, and establish a network with Women and Child Welfare Department, Juvenile Justice Department and NGO's. The police has also established anti-trafficking units in Hyderabad, Anantapur, and Eluru in West Godavari district and plans to set up more such units in other parts of the State. Thanks to the massive trafficking business, in some parts of the State, especially villages, young men in some communities are unable to find suitable girls and one can see quite a few 30-plus bachelors in these villages. How they operate K Haribabu works as a junior assistant in Tangutur mandal revenue office. He has been trafficking women, especially minor girls, and has supplied them from Guntur, Krishna and Khammam districts to Bangalore and Hubli. He has five operatives working for him. All were arrested in June 2006 and the police rescued five girls, who were being sent to Karnataka. K Baji and Subrahmanyam Kumar are a team. They caught the women in their net by offering them roles in movies and sent them to Chennai. Baji used to take the the girls to Vijayawada and Subrahamanyam used to pick them up from there. They were assisted by Karnati Usha, who supplied the girls to Chittemmayi of Puranandampet in Vijayawada. The latter was running a brothel and had expanded her operations to supplying girls to Chennai. They were arrested in December 2006. How they are caught On January 2 this year, the Guntur police arrested one Mastan and rescued some girls who were being trafficked to Chennai. These girls were being brought from Tadepalligudem in West Godavari and taken to Hyderabad and Chennai via Guntur and Tirupati. On January 4, Guntur police conducted raids in Tadepalligudem and arrested five more persons. Mastan started singing and the police came to know of the gang's links in Chennai. They trapped Cherukuri Mohana Rao alias Raju who forced the women brought from various parts of Andhra Pradesh into prostitution. He also used to send some girls to Muscat, where his daughter Varalakshmi supplied girls to prospective customers. The police rescued three girls from East and West Godavari, who were waiting for their visas to fly off to Muscat.. On January 12, based on information obtained from the arrested persons, the police raided an apartment in Saroornagar area in Hyderabad and arrested pimps and brokers. The police recovered a diary containing telephone numbers of sex workers. On the same day, the police raided a premises in Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad and arrested two persons and rescued two girls from Eluru of West Godavari district. At the end of this operation police arrested 22 people and rescued 10 girls.
In December 2005, 16-year-old Anjamma (name changed) was sold by her brother to agents in Kurnool and was brought to Hyderabad. In spite of her resistance she was forced into flesh trade by the traffickers. Between December 2005 and September 2006, she was gang-raped several times. Finally, she was rescued from Secunderabad in December last year. In the first information report, a total of 16 traffickers were named, nine women and seven men, but the police could arrest only two. In a small town called Karepalli in Khammam district, you are likely to spot a BMW. The owners of this car are three sisters, aged between 23 and 25, who 'struck' gold in Mumbai and got the swanky automobile as a gift for their 'customer care'. Once in two or three months, they drive down from Mumbai in this car. They also have their own house, where the parents and a brother live. Stories of Anjamma and of the girls moving in BMW speak volumes of how thousands of girls are being trafficked from Andhra Pradesh each year. But the real story is that the traffickers are mostly their parents, husbands and brothers! Andhra Pradesh woke up to this reality recently, following the rescue operations taken up by the State CID. Starting from January this year, the State Police, especially the Crime Investigation Department (CID) has rescued over 200 victims of trafficking and has arrested nearly 200 traffickers, from some pockets of Maharashtra, including Bhiwandi and Chandrapur. It was only after these rescue operations that the police learnt that many of the victims were sold by their family members and in some cases, their own parents. The trend of parents or other members of the family selling their daughters or sisters has been going on for the past two decades. Most of the girls come from the Lambada tribe, where flesh trade has become an accepted practice within the community. The police coyly refers to it as "family tradition." According to one officer: "It is common for a man in this community to get married for a second time if the first wife is unable to give birth to a male child. Therefore, the married women believe in producing more number of children in order to give birth to a male child so that their husbands do not marry again. In the process, the females, when they grow up, are sold." A study shows that in five mandals around Kadiri in Anantapur district, three in Kadapa and three in Chittoor district, this has been serious business for several years now. "The girls know that they will be sold some day and what is in store for them. They are sold for anything between Rs 20,000 and Rs 70,000. The girls are sold in Maharashtra or Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi," police officials say. Nobody knows how many girls have been trafficked so far and or how many are still in those dingy brothels somewhere out there. What the police do have is a list of traffickers active in Andhra. Surprisingly, women form a major chunk of traffickers with over 350 of them listed out by the sleuths. There are 157 men who are operating from various parts of the State. Some of them have been arrested, but there are many who continue to do business with these girls. The trafficking network in the state is very well organised and very well-knit. "Poverty and illiteracy are the two main factors that drive these girls into brothels. But the main problem is the demand for the Andhra girls. As long as there is demand, supply is bound to be there," officials say. Nearly, 30 percent of trafficked victims in the country are reportedly from Andhra Pradesh. Approximately, 15,000 girls and women have been trafficked from East and West Godavari districts alone and most of them are Dalits or from Dommari, Bogam and Kalavanthula communities. Out of the 15,000 FIRs registered for crime against women (per year), 537 cases were registered against traffickers in 2005. In 2006, 195 cases were registered and 780 people, including women traffickers, were arrested. "In the last seven months, charge-sheets were filed in 140 cases, nine cases resulted in conviction and 10 cases ended in acquittals. Unfortunately witnesses are not coming forward to depose due to lack of witness protection and support programmes," officials say. The police are also planning to register cases against such husbands who get married for the second time only for want of a son. They are in the process of studying the law under which cases can be registered. By the end of the year, the State Police hopes to arrest 1,000 more traffickers, prosecute them under Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act and other sections of IPC, rescue atleast 1,000 victims, set up witness protection and victim support and provide toll-free Helpline, trauma care and counselling. The police hopes to conduct sensitisation programmes for officers deployed in problem areas, and establish a network with Women and Child Welfare Department, Juvenile Justice Department and NGO's. The police has also established anti-trafficking units in Hyderabad, Anantapur, and Eluru in West Godavari district and plans to set up more such units in other parts of the State. Thanks to the massive trafficking business, in some parts of the State, especially villages, young men in some communities are unable to find suitable girls and one can see quite a few 30-plus bachelors in these villages. How they operate K Haribabu works as a junior assistant in Tangutur mandal revenue office. He has been trafficking women, especially minor girls, and has supplied them from Guntur, Krishna and Khammam districts to Bangalore and Hubli. He has five operatives working for him. All were arrested in June 2006 and the police rescued five girls, who were being sent to Karnataka. K Baji and Subrahmanyam Kumar are a team. They caught the women in their net by offering them roles in movies and sent them to Chennai. Baji used to take the the girls to Vijayawada and Subrahamanyam used to pick them up from there. They were assisted by Karnati Usha, who supplied the girls to Chittemmayi of Puranandampet in Vijayawada. The latter was running a brothel and had expanded her operations to supplying girls to Chennai. They were arrested in December 2006. How they are caught On January 2 this year, the Guntur police arrested one Mastan and rescued some girls who were being trafficked to Chennai. These girls were being brought from Tadepalligudem in West Godavari and taken to Hyderabad and Chennai via Guntur and Tirupati. On January 4, Guntur police conducted raids in Tadepalligudem and arrested five more persons. Mastan started singing and the police came to know of the gang's links in Chennai. They trapped Cherukuri Mohana Rao alias Raju who forced the women brought from various parts of Andhra Pradesh into prostitution. He also used to send some girls to Muscat, where his daughter Varalakshmi supplied girls to prospective customers. The police rescued three girls from East and West Godavari, who were waiting for their visas to fly off to Muscat.. On January 12, based on information obtained from the arrested persons, the police raided an apartment in Saroornagar area in Hyderabad and arrested pimps and brokers. The police recovered a diary containing telephone numbers of sex workers. On the same day, the police raided a premises in Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad and arrested two persons and rescued two girls from Eluru of West Godavari district. At the end of this operation police arrested 22 people and rescued 10 girls.

Date:09/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/03/09/stories/2007030922850500.htm
Andhra Pradesh -

Hyderabad Police rescue woman from brothel in Uppal
Staff Reporter
The woman in her early 20s, forced into prostitution by four persons
HYDERABAD: A woman from a remote village of Nalgonda district, who was allegedly sold to a brothel by her lover three years ago, helped the police rescue another woman forced into prostitution in Uppal on Thursday.
Brothel raided
The 20-year-old woman from Nalgonda escaped from a brothel being operated allegedly by one Sweetie at Warasiguda a couple of days ago and approached Ankuram, a voluntary organisation. With Ankuram's help, she met the Crime Investigation Department officials.
Reacting to her complaint, the CID officials with the help of the Uppal police, raided the brothel from where she escaped.
Police found an alleged pimp Sweetie and her associate Srikanth Reddy. Later, they raided another brothel in Uppal.
"There we found a local woman in her early 20s forced into prostitution by one Padma, her associates - Pandit and Prashant - and a customer Tillu," the Uppal police said. According to the police, it was Pandit, a roadside eatery owner, who sold the woman from Nalgonda to Padma three years ago.
Hailing from Turkapally village, the woman fell in his trap when she came to the city on some work. Pandit allegedly befriended her with sweet talk.
Leading her to believe that he wanted to marry her, Pandit sold her to Padma. From there, the woman was sold by one pimp to another in the next three years before landing in Sweetie's brothel.
The two women would be sent to a State Home, the police said.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu

HYDERABAD
Mar 4, 2007

CID sleuths raid brothel, rescue six sex workers

Saturday March 3 2007 12:46 IST
HYDERABAD: A 30-minute late-night operation followed by a raid at dawn helped the sleuths of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) bust a sex racket at Krishna Nagar in Banjara Hills on Friday. A 24-year-old ‘mistress’ was arrested and half-a-dozen sex workers were rescued.Six mobile phones and two motorcycles were seized from the premises.Five persons found negotiating with the mistress also landed behind the bars.The raid is part of efforts to bust women trafficking network in the State.Days after receiving a tip-off, the well-planned decoy operation began on Thursday night. A CID constable posing as a businessman walked into the ‘den’ and negotiated with Udaya alias Uddi for two girls. She demanded Rs 4,000 (Rs 2,000 for each girl). The constable paid an advance of Rs 1,000 and left asking Udaya to arrange the girls the next day.On Friday morning, minutes after the constable entered the den, a team of CID personnel descended on it and took into custody all those present there.‘‘Udaya hails from Tirupati and has been in the trade for the last six years. She brought the girls, aged around 24, from Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati,’’ SP (CID) Mahesh Bhagwat told this website's newspaper.Surprisingly, Udaya, who had taken the house on rent, had been running the trade for all these six years at the same premises without attracting the attention of the local police.The five arrested customers are: V Raja, M Srisailam, G Krishna, G Ramesh and P Srinivas. A case under Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) was registered against them.They were handed over to the Banjara Hills police for further investigation. The rescued sex workers are being shifted to a rehabilitation centre. A few days ago, the CID had raided a brothel in Jeedimetla and rescued four sex workers.The drive against human trafficking would continue, Mahesh Bhagwat said.

IndiaTrafficked girls from Andhra Pradesh rescued in Delhi


By IANS, Feb 28, 2007 - 5:38:21 PM
New Delhi, Feb 28 - Police have rescued four girls from Andhra Pradesh and two minors from brothels in the capital.The girls were rescued from the brothels in the city's red light area Monday night after a special Andhra Pradesh police team conducted a raid with the help of the local police of the Kamla Market police station.'In response to five cases of trafficking registered in Andhra Pradesh, a police team from the state arrived in the city and conducted the raid with our help and rescued the four girls,' said Rakesh Giri, Station House Officer of the Kamla Market police station, without disclosing the names of the girls.While the victims were counselled and interrogated, the Andhra Pradesh police also managed to nab four of the traffickers.Giri said that apart from rescuing the four girls from the southern state, they also rescued two minor girls from the brothel. 'We rescued two minors during the raid as well. They have been sent to Nari Niketan, a government-run counselling home,' Giri told IANS.According to the United Nations -, Andhra Pradesh records the highest number of human trafficking cases in India. In an effort to prevent the trade and exploitation of human beings in the country, an Anti-Human Trafficking Unit was established in Andhra Pradesh last month in partnership with the US government and the UN.The US government provided $2.5 million - for this project, the largest single anti-trafficking project ever funded in the world. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime implements the project, and the Indian government chairs the meetings to help guide the planning and implementation.Apart from Andhra Pradesh, the project also targets four other states -- Bihar, Goa, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The Andhra Pradesh police team that rescued the girls here is a part of the same project.



http://www.rxpgnews.com/india/Trafficked-girls-from-Andhra-Pradesh-rescued-in-Delhi_17506.shtml

India on US 'watch list' for human trafficking
[ 1 Mar, 2007 2310hrs IST]
TIMES NEWS NETWORK


NEW DELHI: India continues to be placed on the US "watch list" of countries allegedly not complying with the international effort to combat human trafficking. Placing state-wise details of human trafficking cases in the Lok Sabha, the minister said the four southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh accounted for over 85% of the total trafficking cases reported so far. During 2003-05, Tamil Nadu topped the list with 2,777 cases registered in the two-year period out of a total of 5,900 cases reported in the country. Karnataka was second with 1,241 cases and Andhra Pradesh and Kerala registered 681 and 225 cases respectively. In its 2006 report on efforts of countries worldwide to eliminate trafficking in persons, the US has placed India in the "Tier 2" category, along with 31 nations to be closely monitored. Countries that comply with US and other international efforts to fight human trafficking are generally placed in "Tier 1". Those falling under the "Tier 3" category face significant sanctions from the US. Bangladesh was under this category when the report was first prepared and released in 2003 by then secretary of state Colin Powell. Minister of state S Regupathy said the government has initiated several measures and advised states to deal with the crime. He said state governments have been asked to evolve an "comprehensive strategy, encompassing rescue, relief and rehabilitation
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1709688.cms?mailtofriend=1

Date:21/02/2007 URL:

http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/21/stories/2007022103980500.htm
Andhra Pradesh - Nalgonda

28 girls rescued from brothels
Staff Reporter

#Police raid den in Maharashtra
#Traffickers lure girls on the pretext of offering jobs
#Officials to restore the victims to their parents

NALGONDA: A police team led by Suryapet Circle Inspector M. Tirupathanna rescued 35 girls from the brothels of Chandrapur in Maharashtra after arresting 15 traffickers, including a mother-son duo, in a raid conducted on Monday.
Of the rescued girls, 28 are from the State, six are from Maharashtra and one is from Karnataka.
The girls belong to Warangal and Khammam (seven members each), Hyderabad (five), Nalgonda (four) and Adilabad, Mahaboobnagar, Krishna, Guntur and Nellore (one each), Superintendent of Police Vijay Kumar said in a press release here on Tuesday.
The traffickers allegedly forced them into flesh trade after luring them with jobs.
Kingpins — Raninga Venkatesh and his mother Sundaramma alias Somakka of Nakrekal and K. Chandrakala of Kamareddigudem of Tripuraram mandal — were among the 15 persons arrested on the charge of trafficking girls.
Accused
While seven accused persons hail from Warangal district, two are from Hyderabad, one each from Khammam, Guntur and Maharashtra.
The police produced the victims and the accused persons before a local court. "The girls will be handed over to officials of the Child Welfare Department who will restore them to their parents," police sources said.
Mr. Kumar appreciated Chandrapur Collector Sanjay Jaiswal for helping the State police in carrying out the operation.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu

Date:14/02/2007

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/14/stories/2007021421060300.htm

Police to crack down on human traffickers
Special Correspondent
*Three-day 79th All-India Women's Conference inaugurated
*It is celebrating the 80th foundation day of its Hyderabad branch
*Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) to be increased to eight

ALL EARS: Woman leaders from across the country participating at the All India Women's Conference in the city on Tuesday. — PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

HYDERABAD: The police will use the Andhra Pradesh Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Dacoits, Drug Offenders, Goondas Act, 1986 and Andhra Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act to bring human traffickers to book, said Director-General of Police M.A. Basith.
He was speaking after Governor Rameshwar Thakur inaugurated a three-day 79th All-India Women's Conference (AIWC) here on Tuesday.
Mr. Basith said they were working in coordination with police in other States, apart from planning to augment the number of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) from the present three to eight.
Raids by the State police in Bhiwandi and Yavatmal areas of Maharashtra had led to arrest of 136 offenders and release of 157 victims, including 26 minors, last month.
The Governor gave away lifetime achievement awards to Gool Chenoy, Gyan Astana, Sudha Ranganathan, Hemachandra and Anees Mahmood. He also released a souvenir.
A blot on society
Mr. Rameshwar Thakur said human trafficking was a blot on society and an insult to women that deserved to be condemned. He urged law enforcement agencies to go all-out to stamp out the menace, blaming the `inferior' status of women in education, socio-economic and political life for violence against them.
AIWC is celebrating the 80th foundation day of its Hyderabad branch.

DECCAN CHRONICLE

Hyderabad
Monday, February 12, 2007
Rescued girls grab chance to put dark days behind


Seventeen-year-old Anju* wanted to be a teacher, but these hopes were crushed when her brother sold her to a brothel in Hyderabad two years ago. Her luck changed when she was rescued in a recent operation by the Crime Investigation Department and sent to a rescue home in the old city. Now she is learning carpentry and is once again able to dream of a future. Recalling her darkest days, Anju says, “The madam forced me into the trade. Initially I protested and they gave me no food and water for days. I was beaten round the clock and then I had no other option than to accept what she said,” she added.Anju is one of 156 girls from the State who were rescued in a series of operations around the country by the CID in the past few months. Of this number, 26 were minors. Many of girls are from Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy and Adilabad districts.
The stories of torture endured by these young girls are chilling. Police say that many of the brothels injected them with hormones to induce artificial growth. Sex traffickers also gave some of them oestrogen injections to speed up puberty. Rescued girls told the police how cockroaches packed in a cloth would be tied to their stomachs if they refused to entertain customers. In some cases the victims were even locked in room with boxes containing snakes. Though some were sold by their closest relatives, others were deceived in the name of jobs, marriage, film roles, modelling and love.
After they are freed from the brothels, the girls are sent to government rescue homes or homes run by NGOs, says Mahesh Bhagawat, SP of the CID. “After that, the rehabilitation and reintegration work is taken up by the Women and Child Welfare Department,” he says. There are about 12 state run homes, but most of these are already crowded so minors are often sent to rescue homes run by NGOs. Here they learn vocational skills and get counselling. Sometimes, the NGOs help them get married too.
It is one of these homes that Santoo*, who was rescued from a brothel in Maharasthra, ended up. She recollects the first day she stepped into the rescue home two weeks ago, “Everything was new to me. My life was totally different.” The 21-year-old from Khammam said that she was working in a telephone booth when she was promised a good job in Hyderabad. But when she boarded the train, she was drugged and woke up to find herself in Maharashtra. Today, she is optimistic. “I have not given up yet. I am learning computers and I want to work with a good company as a computer professional,” she says.
Some of the rescued girls are on a mission to save others. Zaira*, at 20 is outspoken. “I want the world to know what happened to me. I want to dedicate my life to rescuing other girls. I can never forget the trauma I faced. I don’t want this to happen to others,” she says. Zaira like Santoo, was promised a good job. “I eloped with a guy when I was 16 but the marriage fell apart and I worked in a shop. A man promised me a job in Hyderabad, but he took me to Goa instead and sold me to a brothel.”
A lot of girls like Zaira end up working at their rescue homes. Some lucky ones go on to find work or get married. Sadly, there are a few who fall through the cracks and return to the flesh trade. Though the State government has a policy of rehabilitating these women, long-term implementation is a problem. After a certain point the girls must fend for themselves. If like Anju and Santoo, they embrace the chance to learn new skills, there is hope for a brighter future.
*names changed

Andhra’s girls vanish, many to Maharashtra’s brothels
Karn Kowshik
Posted online: Thursday, February 08, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
HYDERABAD, FEBRUARY 7

Sarla was 10 when she left her house in Andhra Pradesh’s Khammam district. Her elder sister Lakshmi took her by train to Maharashtra, where she was passed on to another girl, who promised to employ her as a domestic help.
Instead, she was taken to a brothel, and sold to the ‘madam’ for Rs 2,000.
She spent the next few years changing hands, going from one owner to another. Her last ‘employer’ was Mrs. Trivedi. “We used to live with her. She would take us to picnics with men who we didn’t know. This happened very often. We were not given any money, but instead given food and clothes,” says Sarla.
She is now 15. And back.
That’s not a usual story in a state where over half of the missing children are never traced. An estimated 3,497 children, a majority of them girls, went missing last year and only 1,585 were recovered.
Sarla (name changed) was fortunate. She was rescued from Vani in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal by a team of Mumbai police. She was put up at a shelter in Mumbai and discovered by an Andhra police officer who visited the home to work out a system of sharing information with his Mumbai counterparts.
The police brought her back to Khammam, cracked down on the trafficking ring, arrested five women who ran it and rescued 37 girls who took the same route. As many as 10 of them are still minors.
Five years after going missing, cases of kidnapping and trafficking were registered for Sarla.
It’s the same story for Lekha, 16. She, too, was promised a job in Maharashtra and ended up in a Vani brothel. Lekha (name changed) has been rescued and is now at a counselling centre in Hyderabad, waiting for her HIV test results. In her Khammam village, no case was registered when she disappeared.
R K Meena, SP, Khammam, says parents are reluctant to register cases in rural Andhra, because of poverty, ignorance and illiteracy. “There is also a stigma associated with a missing girl. They know that if a case is filed, then police will come asking questions, and they do not want this,” he says.
Officials working against human trafficking say that Andhra Pradesh is a major supplier of girls for prostitution across the country.
Padma, recently arrested by Khammam police in Vani, Maharashtra says: “There are a lot of girls from AP in Vani.” While the police allege that she herself dealt in minor girls, she refutes it. “We too were forced into this business¿ why will we sell minors? Yes, we do trade in other girls. The other brothels around us do get children from AP. But it’s not our fault. It’s their own parents and siblings who come to sell them,” she says.
SP of the Women’s Protection cell in Hyderabad, Mahesh Bhagwat, says that many red-light areas prefer girls from AP.
In Andhra Pradesh, records show that the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secundrabad have the highest number of missing children in the state. In 2006, 1,031 of the 3,497 missing children were from here, and another 766 from neighbouring Cyberabad. Meena says that as labourers from rural areas migrate to the cty in search of jobs, many of their children are left unattended. Most of those missing are, in fact, from the lower strata of society.
Officials say that problem is worst in Khammam, Warangal, Adilabad as well as the coastal East and West Godawari districts. As in the recent case where 37 girls were recovered in Maharashtra, most of the minors that go missing are not reported in the state.
“In AP, the problem of missing children is compounded by factors like illiteracy. Social systems like the Devadasi system also endorse prostitution, making the police’s job harder,” says Union Women and Child Development minister (and Khammam MP) Renuka Choudhary. According to Choudhary, almost 40 per cent of trafficking originates in AP. Police officials say that there has been no survey to gauge how much trafficking originates from AP, but they place the figure “around 25-30 %.”
While Childline Hyderabad’s Isidore Phillips agrees that a large number of children that go missing from AP are trafficked, he says, “It’s not just trafficking for prostitution. There is also trafficking for labour, which is rampant. And while attaching the label of trafficking, we should not lose out on kidnapping for ransom.”
Phillips, who deals with a large number of missing children in Hyderabad, says, “There is a vast gap between reported and unreported cases. The police are reluctant to register FIRs for missing children. The Juvenile Justice act says that every police station must have a Special Juvenile police Unit and a Child Welfare Officer. This is non-existent.”
The state has no special team to tackle the problem of missing children. “We have no special team to find missing people,” says M. Ratan, Addl. Director General, CID (which deals with missing people).
“We can’t have a special unit for every different activity. It is the job of the local police and the SP of the district to find missing people,” he says.
Every fortnight, the CID compiles a list of missing people, along with photographs, and circulates it to all police stations as well as neighbouring states. T Krishna Prasad, who as Additional Director of the AP Police Academy trained three new Anti-Human Trafficking Units, says, “From the searching point of view, there is an issue. Something is missing¿ everyone is concentrating on sending, not on searching. We send pictures to districts, but nothing happens after that. There is no systematic approach to search for missing people. It’s not a job that police can do effectively. We should possibly employ some NGO for the job along with incentives.”
Other than trafficking for labour and prostitution, children from AP are also forced into begging or kidnapping. Though there have been cases of children being sent to the Gulf as child camel-jockeys, officials say such cases are difficult to track down, as parents are involved.

Human trafficking in Nalgonda Dist.

Date:07/02/2007
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/07/stories/2007020715670300.htm
Andhra Pradesh -
Nalgonda Tribal couple wants back baby `sold' for Rs. 5,000

Staff Reporter
NALGONDA: Dakhrawath Saida, a tribal of Guntibava thanda in Devarakonda mandal, wants his daughter back from the person to whom he has allegedly sold her. But the person, who has `adopted' the 20-day-old baby, is refusing to give her back.
"They took away my daughter after giving me Rs.5,000 recently. They gave me their phone number saying that we could visit her whenever we wanted. But the person, who receives my calls, says that we can't get her back," Saida said. "We don't want the money but we want our baby back," Poori, Saida's wife, said.
A tribal of a nearby `thanda' has allegedly prompted the couple to give away the newborn baby. It is said that a person from Hyderabad is instrumental in the "purchase" of the baby. Saida also said that the middleman had allegedly taken Rs.1, 000 from him for arranging the deal.
Case registered
Unable to bear the agony, the tribal couple approached the police with the help of ICDS officials. "Poverty had led us to give away the baby. We handed over the baby at Mallepally with the help of our relative. Now I realise that they have deceived me," Saida said.
Kanakadurga of the ICDS contacted the person who had allegedly taken away the baby girl. "Initially, he told me that the girl died but later he changed his stand when I told him that I was calling from the police station," the official said. Sub-Inspector K. Srinvas told The Hindu that a case was filed on the basis of a complaint filed by the couple. He said that investigation was on to find out the whereabouts of the baby.
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu

Project Aasara write up in Police Chief Magazine

Please check the link of January 2007 issue of "Police Chief Magazine"
http://policechiefm agazine.org/ magazine/ issues/12007/ pdfs/2006IACPAwa rds.pdf

Sweden’s Prostitution Solution:
Why Hasn’t Anyone Tried This Before?
Filed under: General, Gender
By Stan at 2:20 pm, 4/16/05
Sweden’s Prostitution Solution:
Why Hasn’t Anyone Tried This Before?

From the Women’s Justice Center
250 Sebastapol Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95407



In a centuries deep sea of clichés despairing that ‘prostitution will always be with us’, one country’s success stands out as a solitary beacon lighting the way. In just five years Sweden has dramatically reduced the number of its women in prostitution. In the capital city of Stockholm the number of women in street prostitution has been reduced by two thirds, and the number of johns has been reduced by 80%. There are other major Swedish cities where street prostitution has all but disappeared. Gone too, for the most part, are the renowned Swedish brothels and massage parlors which proliferated during the last three decades of the twentieth century when prostitution in Sweden was legal.

In addition, the number of foreign women now being trafficked into Sweden for sex is nil. The Swedish government estimates that in the last few years only 200 to 400 women and girls have been annually sex trafficked into Sweden, a figure that’s negligible compared to the 15,000 to 17,000 females yearly sex trafficked into neighboring Finland. No other country, nor any other social experiment, has come anywhere near Sweden’s promising results.

By what complex formula has Sweden managed this feat? Amazingly, Sweden’s strategy isn’t complex at all. It’s tenets, in fact, seem so simple and so firmly anchored in common sense as to immediately spark the question, “Why hasn’t anyone tried this before?”

Sweden’s Groundbreaking 1999 Legislation

In 1999, after years of research and study, Sweden passed legislation that a) criminalizes the buying of sex, and b) decriminalizes the selling of sex. The novel rationale behind this legislation is clearly stated in the government’s literature on the law:

“In Sweden prostitution is regarded as an aspect of male violence against women and children. It is officially acknowledged as a form of exploitation of women and children and constitutes a significant social problem… gender equality will remain unattainable so long as men buy, sell and exploit women and children by prostituting them.”

In addition to the two pronged legal strategy, a third and essential element of Sweden’s prostitution legislation provides for ample and comprehensive social service funds aimed at helping any prostitute who wants to get out, and additional funds to educate the public. As such, Sweden’s unique strategy treats prostitution as a form of violence against women in which the men who exploit by buying sex are criminalized, the mostly female prostitutes are treated as victims who need help, and the public is educated in order to counteract the historical male bias that has long stultified thinking on prostitution. To securely anchor their view in firm legal ground, Sweden’s prostitution legislation was passed as part and parcel of the country’s 1999 omnibus violence against women legislation.

An Early Obstacle in the Path

Interestingly, despite the country’s extensive planning prior to passing the legislation, the first couple years into this novel project nothing much happened at all. Police made very few arrests of johns and prostitution in Sweden, which had previously been legalized, went on pretty much as it had gone on before. Naysayers the world over responded to the much publicized failure with raucous heckling, “See? Prostitution always has been, and it always will be.”

But eminently secure in the thinking behind their plan, the Swedes paid no heed. They quickly identified, then solved the problem. The hang-up, the place where their best efforts had snagged, was that law enforcement wasn’t doing it’s part. The police themselves, it was determined, needed in-depth training and orientation to what the Swedish public and legislature already understood profoundly. Prostitution is a form of male violence against women. The exploiter/buyers need to be punished, and the victim/prostitutes need to be helped. The Swedish government put up extensive funds and the country’s police and prosecutors, from the top ranks down to the officer on the beat, were given intensive training and a clear message that the country meant business. It was then that the country quickly began to see the unequaled results.

Today, not only do the Swedish people continue to overwhelming support their country’s approach to prostitution (80% of people in favor according to national opinion polls), but the country’s police and prosecutors have also come around to be among the legislation’s staunchest supporters. Sweden’s law enforcement has found that the prostitution legislation benefits them in dealing with all sex crimes, particularly in enabling them to virtually wipe out the organized crime element that plagues other countries where prostitution has been legalized or regulated.

The Failure of Legalization and/or Regulation Strategies

This Swedish experiment is the single, solitary example in a significant sized population of a prostitution policy that works. In 2003, the Scottish government in looking to revamp its own approach to prostitution enlisted the University of London to do a comprehensive analysis of outcomes of prostitution policies in other countries. In addition to reviewing Sweden’s program, the researchers chose Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands to represent various strategies of legalizing and/or regulating prostitution. The researchers did not review the situation where prostitution is criminalized across the board as it is in the US. The outcome of that approach is already well known. The failures and futility of the revolving door of arresting and rearresting prostitutes is all too familiar the world over.

But the outcomes, as revealed in the Univ. of London study, in the states under review that had legalized or regulated prostitution were found to be just as discouraging or even more discouraging than the traditional all round criminalization. In each case the results were dramatic in the negative.

Legalization and/or regulation of prostitution, according to the study, led to:

*
A dramatic increase in all facets of the sex industry,
*
A dramatic increase in the involvement of organized crime in the sex industry,
*
A dramatic increase in child prostitution,
*
An explosion in the number of foreign women and girls trafficked into the region, and
*
Indications of an increase in violence against women.

In the state of Victoria, Australia, where a system of legalized, regulated brothels was established, there was such an explosion in the number of brothels that it immediately overwhelmed the system’s ability to regulate them, and just as quickly these brothels became a mire of organized crime, corruption, and related crimes. In addition, surveys of the prostitutes working under systems of legalization and regulation find that the prostitutes themselves continue to feel coerced, forced, and unsafe in the business.

A survey of legal prostitutes under the showcase Netherlands legalization policy finds that 79% say they want to get out of the sex business. And though each of the legalization/regulation programs promised help for prostitutes who want to leave prostitution, that help never materialized to any meaningful degree. In contrast, in Sweden the government followed through with ample social services funds to help those prostitutes who wanted to get out. 60% of the prostitutes in Sweden took advantage of the well funded programs and succeeded in exiting prostitution.*

* The full Scottish government report on prostitution policies can be seen at www.scottish.parliament.uk

So Why Hasn’t Anyone Tried This Before?

Why, then, with Sweden’s success so clearly lighting the way, aren’t others quickly adopting the plan? Well, some are. Both Finland and Norway are on the verge of making the move. And if Scotland takes the advise of its own study, it will go in that direction too. But, the answer to the question of why other countries aren’t jumping to adopt Sweden’s plan is probably the same as the answer to the question of why governments haven’t tried Sweden’s solution before.

In order to see prostitutes as victims of male coercion and violence it requires that a government first switch from seeing prostitution from the male point of view to the female point of view. And most, if not virtually all, countries of the world still see prostitution and every other issue from a predominantly male point of view.

Sweden, in contrast, has led the way in promoting equality for women for a very long time. In 1965, for example, Sweden criminalized rape in marriage. Even by the 1980’s there were states in the United States that still hadn’t made that fundamental recognition of women’s rights to control her own body. The Swedish government also stands out in having the highest proportion of women at all levels of government. In 1999, when Sweden passed its groundbreaking prostitution legislation, the Swedish Parliament was composed of nearly 50% women.

Sweden’s prostitution policy was first designed and lobbied for by Sweden’s organization of women’s shelters and was then fostered and fought for by a bipartisan effort of Sweden’s uniquely powerful and numerous female parliamentarians. Nor has Sweden stopped there. In 2002, Sweden passed additional legislation bolstering the original prostitution legislation. The 2002 Act Prohibiting Human Trafficking for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation closed some of the loopholes in the earlier legislation and further strengthened the government’s ability to go after the network of persons that surround and support prostitution, such as the recruiters, the transporters, and the hosts.

And Why Can’t We Copy Sweden’s Success Here?

While it’s probably true that we and other countries are still much more steeped in patriarchal darkness than Sweden, there’s no reason we can’t push now for the policy changes that Sweden has made. The beauty of it is that once the ground has been broken and the proof of success has been established, it should be ever much easier to convince others to go down that path

Police rescue 41 girls from sex trade

Uma Sudhir
Monday, January 29, 2007 (Warangal/Yavatmal):
The Andhra Pradesh police rescued 41 women, who had been forced into the sex trade, from Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
A dozen minors were among the women rescued during raids by anti-trafficking teams."Very young girls are being lured and trapped by brokers into this trade," said Ravi Gupta, DIG, Warangal Range.
Sixteen-year-old Jyothi who went two years ago to work as domestic help in Mumbai, was sold three times by three different brokers in Mumbai, Pune and Yavatmal.
"We have arrested five traffickers. The main one among them is Padma and the second one is Parveen," said Mahesh Bhagwat, CID-SP, Women's Protection Cell.
It is an open secret that girls and women from Andhra Pradesh are highest in numbers in the brothels of Mumbai, Pune and Goa.While a traditional sex market has been in operation in coastal Andhra Pradesh, the worrying aspect is the huge numbers being trafficked from agency areas of Khammam, Visakhapatnam and other backward regions.

THE TIMES OF INDIA
Human trafficking: India on US watch list

[ 23 Jan, 2007 1103hrs IST IANS ]

WASHINGTON: India
figures among 39 countries placed on a US
"special watch list" of nations deemed to warrant special scrutiny
of their anti-trafficking efforts under a 2003 US law.

The government of India has made some progress in
combating its significant problem of human trafficking since the release of a
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for 2006, the state department said while
releasing an interim assessment of these countries for 2007.

However, the government still needs to go
further in designating and empowering a national agency or office,
specifically tasked with carrying out an effective law enforcement response to
trafficking crimes committed throughout India, it said.

Some of these countries could be downgraded to
the lowest "Tier 3" - countries whose governments do not fully
comply with the minimum standards under US Trafficking Victims Protection
Reauthorisation Act (TVPRA) of 2003 - in the upcoming June 2007 TIP report if
their anti-trafficking efforts this year are determined to be inadequate, it
warned.

Besides India,
the 2007 interim assessment covers Algeria,
Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain,
Belize, Bolivia, Brazil,
Cambodia, Central African Republic, China, Cyprus,
Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt,
Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Indonesia,
Israel, Jamaica, Kenya,
Kuwait, Laos, Libya,
Macau, Malawi,
Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico,
Oman, Peru, Qatar,
Russia, Singapore, South
Africa, Switzerland,
Taiwan, Togo, and the United Arab Emirates.

On India,
the interim assessment said that despite estimates of a significant debt
bondage situation in the country, New
Delhi reported no arrests, prosecutions, or
convictions of employers using bonded labour. Similarly, it did not provide
evidence of any rescues of bonded labour victims.

India, however, did make moderate progress on addressing
child labour between September and November. Delhi Police rescued 140 children
working in zari factories and rice mills, but it is unclear how these children
have been rehabilitated.

In October, the government also enacted a ban
on the employment of children in domestic work or the hospitality industry
with penalties including three months to two years incarceration and the
possibility of fines, it noted.

Referring to India's anti-trafficking efforts,
the interim report said that in September 2006, the Indian government
responded to the need for a central anti-trafficking law enforcement effort by
creating a two-person federal "nodal cell" responsible for
collecting and analysing data of state-level law enforcement efforts

The cell is responsible for
identifying problem areas and analysing the circumstances creating these areas
and monitoring action taken by state governments for combating trafficking in
these areas. It is also to organise coordination meetings with nodal police
officers of the states.

The government has provided significant in-kind
contributions to a two-year programme by the US
government funded United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in
Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, and Andhra
Pradesh. The programme focuses on raising the awareness of police and
prosecutors on the problem of trafficking and to build their capacity to
investigate and prosecute people involved with trafficking, it said.

But law enforcement activity to combat human
trafficking remains confined to the state level and continues to be relatively
low in comparison to the estimated extent of the situation.

However, in June, two former state ministers in
Jammu and Kashmir
were arrested for trafficking in minor girls for commercial sexual
exploitation, along with other senior government officials. Two traffickers in
Delhi were
also convicted and sentenced to three and seven years in prison, and another
was arrested in August, it said.

In November 2006, the parliamentary committee
returned the amendments to the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act to the
ministry of women and child development for revision.

The committee asked the ministry to clarify
language, provide a clearer delineation between criminals and victims,
prioritise programmes and resources for expanded rehabilitation and
reintegration efforts, and recommended passage of the bill with those changes,
the interim report noted.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/World/The_United_States/Human_trafficking_India_on_US_watch_list/articleshow/msid-1393443,curpg-1.cms

28/01/2007

Date:28/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/28/stories/2007012804670500.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Andhra Pradesh - Khammam

41 State girls rescued from brothels in Maharashtra

Staff Reporter

Flesh trade racket busted

KHAMMAM: In a major operation monitored jointly by the Khammam police, the Women Protection Cell and the CID, special teams raided brothel houses at Wani of Yeotmal district in Maharashtra and rescued 41 girls from the State. They included 15 victims from Khammam district alone while 10 of the rescued girls were minors.

The Khammam Superintendent of Police, Rajiv Kumar Meena said here today that five persons indulging in flesh trade and organising brothel houses were arrested in the raids. They included Shaik Parveen, Rani, Baliram Singh Tagore, Nakka Padma- all residents of Khammam district and Rathamma of Warangal. One more person- Nakka Ramu alleged to be party to the racket was absconding.

Medical aid

Some of the girls rescued in the operation belonged to Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy and Adilabad districts. Four girls who belonged to Maharashtra were handed over to the Yeotmal Police. The victims were being provided medical aid and rehabilitation. The Superintendent of Police said that the flesh trade racket was busted with the information furnished by a minor girl, Jyothi from Palvancha town.

The girl who was missing for the past two years, was rescued from another brothel house in Pune recently. Padma from Palvancha town picked up the girl promising employment and sold her to Parveen at Warli. Parveen in turn sold the girl to one Swapna five months ago. A case was booked in Palvancha police station on a complaint lodged by the victims father.

© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu


News Update Service
Thursday, January 11, 2007 : 1030 Hrs

28 women rescued in anti-trafficking operation

Hyderabad, Jan. 11 (PTI): Twenty-eight women, including five minors, were rescued during a joint anti-trafficking operation launched by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra Police at Bhiwandi in Thane district.
The victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking hailed from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and Nepal, Additional Director General of Police (CID), M Ratan, told reporters here Wednesday.
He said nine traffickers were arrested and five of them belonged to Andhra Pradesh. Three victims also hail from that state.
A 75-strong force comprising police personnel of the two States raided Hanuman Tekadi area at Bhiwandi on January 5 after a complaint was filed by a victim, Ratan said.
Superintendent of Police (Women Protection Cell), M M Bhagwat, who led the 20-member police force from Maharashtra, said the three women from Andhra Pradesh will be rehabilitated under the Aasra scheme launched to aid sex workers.
DIG (Women Protection Cell), Umpati, who was also present at the press conference, said a search was underway for 500 traffickers from Andhra Pradesh who indulged in commercial sexual exploitation in other parts of the country.
________________________________________
Hyderabad
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/403200701111047.htm

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad
Date:11/01/2007
CID team rescues 28 victims of sex rackets

Special Correspondent

Raids conducted on brothels in Bhiwandi near Mumbai over a month

HYDERABAD: A team of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) has rescued 28 victims of sex rackets belonging to Andhra Pradesh from brothels in the powerloom-rich Bhiwandi town near Mumbai. They include five minor girls. They were among the 39 women who were traced out by the CID in raids on brothels in Bhiwandi during the last one month, the Additional Director-General of CID, M. Ratan, told news persons here on Wednesday.

He said a team of the CID from the State coordinated with the local police of Bhiwandi last week in checking 400 brothels in localities where powerlooms were operated. The entire area of Hanuman Tekdi was cordoned off for an hour in the evening when there was a power breakdown. The raids continued with the help of torches and candles. Seventy local policemen assisted the operation.

Nine arrested

Mr. Ratan also said that nine traffickers who took women from various districts of the State with the promise of employment were arrested. Five of them were from Rayachoti. They were being booked under non-bailable provisions of Indian Penal Code. He also said the team was sent to Bhiwandi after a girl escaped from the clutches of a brothel keeper and lodged a complaint with police at Kadiri in Anantapur. This was the first time that a major operation to flush out commercial sex workers was launched in the communally sensitive Bhiwandi. Raids were also conducted at Guntur, Vizag and Eluru

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/11/stories/2007011120860500.htm

Date:05/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2006/11/05/stories/2006110500210400.htm
Opportunities for change
PREETU VENUGOPALAN
Economic rehabilitation is an important part of giving victims of trafficking a new life. An NGO in Goa shows the way...
New directions: The mechanised laundry set up by the women in Goa.
IT is 8.45 a.m. A confident Sudha waits outside her home in Goa, wearing a uniform designed by one of the country's top fashion designer, Savio Jon. She is waiting for a cab to take her to work. Sudha works for a laundry unit at Sancoale Industrial Estate, which she hopes will one day be the most successful rehabilitation programme.
Six months ago, 23-year-old Sudha had no aim or ambition and faced an uncertain future. Dedicated to Goddess Yellama at the age of 12, she was forced into prostitution as a Devadasi at the age of 14, and worked for a gharwali (brothel keeper) in Baina, Goa. The mass demolition of cubicles in Baina's unofficial red light area on June 14, 2004, didn't change her situation, rather worsened it. With no economic rehabilitation in sight, she was forced to travel to other parts of the State for "business".
Economic support
Incidentally, the Supreme Court in Gaurav Jain vs. Union of India, 1997, had pointed out that Welfare Departments should undertake economic rehabilitation programmes, as this would prevent the practice of the dedication of young girls to prostitution as Devadasis, Jogins or Venkatasins. "It would be meaningful if rehabilitation programmes are launched and implementation machinery is set up not only to eradicate the fertile source of prostitution, but also for successful rehabilitation of the fallen women who are victims of circumstances to regain their lost respect to the dignity of person to sustain equality of status, economic and social empowerment," the court observed.
In Goa, there is much talk about combating trafficking of persons, thanks to a report on "Trafficking of women and children in India 2002-2003", commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission along with UNIFEM and the Institute of Social Sciences (ISS), which reveals that Goa has the highest level of trafficking of women and children in the country. Though economic rehabilitation is vital, little has been done by the government or NGOs to economically rehabilitate trafficked victims.
"We need economic rehabilitation programmes because if we don't provide rescued trafficked victims with jobs, they will go back to prostitution, if not in Baina, then in another part of the State or country," opines former DGP of Goa, Neeraj Kumar.
New journeys
After nine years of commercial sex work, Sudha has embarked on a new journey that is helping her see herself as part of the whole. "At first it was difficult, but I was determined," reveals Sudha, who is now a trained commercial driver. And she is not alone.
Fatima doesn't remember her village in Karnataka. She always believed Goa was home until the demolition drive happened. "I was denied compensation by the Goa Government because I am a non-Goan," she says. She was six-months-old when her poverty-stricken family came to Baina seeking a livelihood. Personal problems forced her into prostitution. Following the demolition, decreasing income, loneliness and insecurity only compounded her troubles.
But now, like Sudha, she has taken her first step to freedom from sexual and emotional exploitation. "I have got an opportunity to change my life, to live life with dignity and I have chosen it," she said.
The wheels of destiny are changing, slowly but surely, for 40 silent, helpless victims of commercial sexual exploitation, desperate to leave the trade, but left with little due to poverty.
ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims in Goa, as part of its economic rehabilitation programme, has set up a fully mechanised laundry unit, "Swift Wash", at Sancole Industrial estate. The first of its kind in Goa, it provides employment to 40 trafficked victims, mostly from Baina. "We want to ensure that women earn a dignified income, as it is the only tool that can pull them out and plug all entries into prostitution," revealed Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ.
Arun hopes the unit will develop into a full-fledged women's cooperative with trafficked women being the sole owners of the entire unit. And, Arun is not the only person dreaming of a better future. Laxmi, a trafficked victim, optimistically reveals, "Our hard work will be rewarded. Within a year or two, we want the unit to grow and expand so that we can help more children and women like us."
The effort has won accolades from former DGP Kumar, who says, "This is the first time that an NGO in Goa has walked the talk." And, for trafficking victims like Fatima and Sudha, the laundry unit has helped them leave prostitution, something even the Baina demolition couldn't achieve. Today, they are confident and empowered women, ready to fight their exploiters, including their mard.
T.S. Sawant, Director, Women and Child, Goa, admits that the idea is very good and the department would support the endeavour. "This is what Goa needs at the moment to combat trafficking. After all, poverty is the main reason why innocent girls and women are pushed into prostitution and economic rehabilitation is the need of the hour if one wants to seriously combat trafficking of persons." The State Government is planning to seek ARZ's help to provide economic rehabilitation to trafficked victims in the State Protective Home.
If human rights are about the rights of humans, about empowering the underprivileged and neglected in society by providing them equal opportunities, then this is just the beginning.
(A few names have been changed to protect identity.)