Five minors rescued from Maharashtra brothels

NEWS
Kolkata, August 5: The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), which was inaugrated a month back, has rescued seven young girls from Mumbai and other suburbs of Maharashtra and brought them back to Kolkata.
A six-member team went to Maharashtra to rescue the girls, who were trafficked from South 24-Parganas and North 24-Parganas.
The girls were sold in various parts of Maharashtra for being used as commercial sex workers. The AHTU team visited Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Kalyan of Maharashtra and rescued the girls.
Of the seven, five are minors. Six of them are from South 24-Parganas and one is from Barasat in North 24- Parganas.
Officials said in most of the cases, the touts were either female traffickers or young men. After questioning the girls, AHTU officials have not ruled out the involvement of acquaintances or relatives.
Officials said that one of girl’s father had sold her to tout, who had taken her to Maharastra.
“After conducting a preliminary investigation, we believe that one of theminor’s father might have taken a sum of Rs 1 lakh from the tout,” said Sanjay Mukherjee, DIG, CID.
At present, the girls are staying in a city-based NGO. They will be handed to their parents. But if the parents are involved in the trafficking, the girls will not be returned to them, officials stated.
“Many cases have been reported from South 24-Parganas. We will send more teams to Maharashtra soon to rescue more girls from different parts of the state,” added Mukherjee.
According to police data, in four different operations conducted in the past three months, 20 traffickers were arrested and 14 child victims rescued.
Recently, the state government has decided to form a network to fight the menace of human trafficking. The social welfare department will act the nodal agency.
The health, backward classes welfare, self-help group and self-employment, panchayat and rural development departments will be a part of the network.
Police, CID, NGOs and the state women’s commission will play a key role in the initiative.
The primary objective of the network, the first of its kind in the country, is to spread awareness among the people both in the city and the rural areas so that they do not fall prey to this menace.
The network comes with the assurance of economic independence and proper rehabilitation of victims.
The state government has allotted Rs 1 crore for this purpose. The network was formed following a report on human trafficking prepared jointly by three Calcutta, North Bengal and Burdwan universities

Two women held for forcing minor girls into flesh trade

NEWS
Express News Service
Pune, August 13: THE Faraskhana police arrested two women on charges of running a prostitution racket involving minor girls, on Sunday night.
Bhagyashree Shekhya Nayak (30) and Kamala Gopi Nayak (35), both natives of Andhra Pradesh were arrested and five girls ranging from 17 to 20 years of age were rescued in the process. While three of the girls are from Bangladesh, two are from Andhra Pradesh. The women would dupe young girls, bring them to the city and force them into prostitution, police said.
They would also take away their earnings leaving them with no means of escape.
The duo were booked under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) and were charged for kidnapping. The police sought a 7-day police custody for interrogating them about the brothel owner and other agents involved. They have been remanded to police custody till Wednesday.
In another case, Tara Manbahadur Tamang (50), a native of Nepal who was had been arrested on August 10 for running a brothel in Shukrawar Peth, was remanded to custody till August 27. A girl from West Bengal, had been rescued earlier from the brothel.
Police are on the lookout for a woman named Jayanti who allegedly sold the girl to Tamang

Repatriation of trafficking victims is a fundamental right

Repatriation of trafficking victims is a fundamental right
Mr. Abdul Gafurvs.Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affair, Govt. of Bangladesh and anotherHigh Court Division (Special Original Jurisdiction)Judge Mozammel HoqueMd. Hassan Ameen. JJ.
Date of Judgment: The 14th of August, 1997
Petitioner's daughter Hasina Begum aged about 15 years was missing since March, 1992. In November, 1996 it was learnt that she was being lodged a Women's Home at Lilua, West Bengal, India. She was a victim of atrocities and violence perpetrated by women traffickers. Her father approached the Government of Bangladesh for bringing her home but to no avail. The High Court Division directed the Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to initiate appropriate actions at the state level for effecting repatriation of victim Hasina Begum and to inform the developments to the petitioners from time to time. (Para-7)Mrs. Seema Zahur, Advocate for the Petitioner.Mr. Md. Mahhub Ali, A.A.G., for the Respondents
JudgmentMd. Hasan Ameen, J: . . . 2. Facts in short necessary for the purpose of disposal of this writ petition may be stated as follows:- That the elder daughter of the petitioner namely Hasina Begume aged 15 years was lost from village Arichpur , Tongi in March, 1992 and her whereabouts could not be known in spite of best effort by the petitioner. However in the month of November, 1996 he met a lady . . . from India [who] told him that his daughter is in M.M.M. House, situated in No. 8 street, Post Lilua under police Station Bali, District-Howrah, India. The petitioner then wrote a letter to Chairman, Human Right Bureau, Dhaka to bring back his daughter on 21.11.96 (Annexure-A). The further case of the petitioner is that Bangladesh Jatiyo Mahila Aynjibi Samity somehow managed to meet with his daughter and requested the Additional Secretary under the Respondent No.1 through letters dated 27.1.97 and 25.3.97 about the victim Hasina and some others for their repatriation who had been taken out of Bangladesh by child traffics on false pretext and perpetuated heinous crime upon her vide Annexures-B and C. In the meantime the victim Hasina sent a letter to her maternal grand father to get her back from the said home where she is passing her days in great distress. The Jatiya Mohila Aynjibi Samity further wrote a letter to “Sanlap”, a woman's right centre, a social registered non-government organisation society in India for accurate information of the victim Hasina who sent information that Hasina aged 23 years was admitted in Lilua Home on 25.11.92 with reference to Bhagabongola P.S. C/No. 72/92 dated 19.3.92 . . . but the Respondents did not take any step for repatriation of the victim. Hence the petitioner has been forced to file this writ petition for speedy and efficacious relief.
3. The Respondents did not turn up in this court in spite of due service of notice upon them which proves their negative attitude toward the issue.
4. We have heard Mrs. Seema Zahur, the learned Advocate for the petitioner who took us through the writ petition along with the Annexure referred thereto. Mrs. Seema Zahur the learned Advocate for the petitioner submits that the victim Hasina Begum a citizen of Bangladesh having been abducted from Bangladesh and taken to Calcutta detained in custody is legally entitled to get protection of law under Articles 31 and 32 of the Constitution of Bangladesh through the High Commission of Bangladesh in India to provide her legal support. She further submits that the victim girl being a citizen of Bangladesh is entitled to be looked after by the Respondent No. 1 in Calcutta, India , as Article 31 makes an obligation on the part of the government to give protection to its citizen in any party of the government to give protection to its citizen in any part of the world and that she has been denied her right to get equal protection of law by the Respondents in spite of their knowledge under Article 27 of the Constitution. She finally submits that much time has passed by this time and it is now high time to direct the Respondents for making negotiation in state level for repatriation of the victim who has got not fault of her own in such state of affairs.
5. It may be recalled that the Respondents did not file any affidavit denying the contentions of the petitioner and as such the allegations so brought thereto remained uncontroversial i.e. there is no denial that the victim is not a Bangladeshi and that she crossed the border and entered in to the territory of India at her own will.
In order to refresh our memory we may be permitted to quote the relevant provision of the Constitution. The Article 27 provides that
“all citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law”
Article 31 runs as follows:“To enjoy the protection of law, and to be treated in accordance with law and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh and in particulars no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law”.
This particular provision of the Constitution is in aid of the petitioner and the in action of the Respondents is a clear proof of denial of any assistant to the petitioner by the Government agency who (victim) is languishing in foreign soil in connection with a case.
6. The absence of the respondents justifies the claim of the petitioner that they (respondents) did not take any step in the matter through state agency, which proves in equal treatment towards its citizen. The principle of fairness in government acting requires the government functionaries must act according to law and must perform their duties on good faith, public accountability and acceptance demand that government action must correspond to good conscience and fair play. In the instant case, we are constrained to hold the concept of fairness, fair play and legitimate expectation have been found by the Respondents and minimum fairness was not exhibited in dealing with the case which is unfortunate no doubt. The common expectation is that the Respondents would take up the matter in state level in order to bring back the victim, a citizen of this country who is languishing in foreign territory for no fault of her own for more than 5 years. The respondents ought to have taken steps long ago and kept the petitioner informed about its result. In the circumstances we find no word to console the petitioner save and except to disapprove the actions and behaviour of the Respondents.
7. In the premises of the above facts and circumstances the Rule is made absolute. Let the Respondents be directed to initiate action in the matter through state level for repatriation of the victim Hasina Begum and inform the result to the petitioner from time to time. Considering the facts of the case we make no order as to cost.
8. Let the Respondent No. 1 be directed to take steps to repatriate the victim Hasina Begum after taking upon the matter with their counter part in India within 60 days from receipt of copy of this judgment with compliance to the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. High Court Division who will report the matter to this Bench in due course.
This is the abridged version of the judgement.
Gafur vs State: Case analysis
Renee Gerber
Trafficking in persons the forcible transporting of people in order to exploit them is the most abominable form of human rights abuse, and it disproportionately harms the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the world. In Bangladesh, the demand for cheap labor in urban areas and the growing global sex trade make the poor and especially women and children vulnerable to trafficking. Traffickers exploit them for prostitution, sexual abuse, forced labor, camel jockeying, cheap or bonded labor, domestic servitude, organ sales, or forced marriage. Victims may be trafficked within the country or to foreign destinations such as India, Pakistan, the Gulf States, and Europe. While there are no reliable data on the actual number of persons being trafficked in and from Bangladesh, the Ministry of Home Affairs considers the number to be significant.
Many factors contribute to ensuring a supply of trafficking victims, including poverty, unstable home environments, and social pressures. Widespread lack of education and landlessness reinforce these factors, as do natural events that cause people's displacement, such as Bangladesh's frequent flooding and cyclones.
The legal system alone cannot prevent the abuse of vulnerable members of society. However, laws do provide a mechanism for victims and survivors to assert their rights and for society to punish wrongdoers in order to prevent future wrongs. In the past decade, Bangladesh's courts and legal systems have taken commendable and significant strides in the fight against this modern-day slavery.
Gafur v. Bangladesh, a 1997 Supreme Court case, is one of the most important examples of this progress. In ruling that the government of Bangladesh had a duty to rescue and repatriate Mr. Gafur's daughter who had been trafficked to India, the Supreme Court established that repatriation of trafficking victims is a fundamental right under the Constitution. Relying on the language of the Constitution itself, the Court made it clear that victims' repatriation is not simply desirable, but absolutely required by law. The judgment also provided harsh scrutiny of the government for failing to immediately intervene on behalf of the victim and for ignoring Mr. Gafur's case by not coming to court. This ruling reveals the Court urging the government to take trafficking cases more seriously, and this case signifies a turning point in how Bangladesh's government deals with trafficking victims and their rights.
-Renee Gerber is a student at Harvard Law School in the United States and a summer intern of The Daywalka Foundation in Dhaka

Untying the knot

Issue Date: Wednesday, August 08, 2007

A new Child Marriage Prohibition Act has just replaced the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. But legal experts claim that it is flawed, reports Saheli Mitra

On July 16 this year, a 15-year-old girl married to an already married man was tortured and murdered for dowry, not in a remote village but in the heart of Calcutta.

Grassroots worker Shakuntala Verma’s hands were hacked off when she urged members of her community in rural Madhya Pradesh not to solemnise a child marriage.

Incidents such as these are not few and far between. In fact, some alarming statistics collated by the National Family Health Survey in recent times reveal that over 40 percent of marriages in India involve girls below 16 years of age. In states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the number of child marriages is as high as 70 per cent.

In the wake of such incidents which seem to hit the headlines at regular intervals, the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 has finally been repealed. In its place, a new Child Marriage Prohibition Act has been passed by Parliament.

The Act received the President’s approval this year and was published for the first time in the Gazette of India in January 2007.

“The new Act has introduced a number of changes but it has also thrown up a plethora of controversies,” says legal expert B.B. Ghosh. Non-governmental organisations such as Prayas, Prakriti and Joint Women’s Programme, which fight for women’s rights, have already sent a joint letter to the President declaring “the new Act is toothless and unable to address issues on the ground”.

“A major shortcoming of the Child Marriage Prohibition Act is that instead of declaring every child marriage void, it places the onus of declaring such a marriage void on the child or her guardians who can file legal proceedings against the marriage,” explains Sunil Kumar Mitra, senior lawyer, Calcutta High Court, and president of Incorporated Law Society, a body of lawyers and solicitors of Calcutta High Court recognised by the West Bengal government. “Considering the social pressures surrounding such marriages, it is highly unlikely that parents will ever move court,” he points out.

The Act states every child marriage shall be void at the option of the contracting party who was a child at the time of marriage (females have to be 18 years and males 21 years to be recognised as adults). The marriage can be annulled by the filing of a petition at the district court or before the child marriage prohibition officer by the child’s guardian or by the contracting party after he or she attains adulthood. Therefore, there’s hardly any independent authority to look into the matter other than those involved themselves.

Many believe that the appointment of child marriage prohibition officers by state governments will not be of much help. This, despite the fact that such officers will have the jurisdiction to look into cases of child marriages in a particular area. They will have the power to prevent such marriages from being solemnised and sensitise the community against the evils of such a practice. They will be able to collect evidence and prosecute those involved in the crime. The officers will be considered public servants and no legal proceedings may be started against them in view of the work they do.

“But what happens in villages and towns where officials can be easily bribed or compelled to overlook child marriages,” asks social activist Nivedita Dasgupta, member of the National Federation of Indian Women. “The government ought to be aware of the problems of implementing such an Act at the grassroots level,” she says indignantly.

True, the Act has no provision for punishing any officer in whose area such marriages are solemnised. “This will merely encourage officials to turn a blind eye to child marriages wherever there is social and community pressure. On the contrary, the Act calls for the punishment of parents, forgetting that many child marriages are performed to escape the debilitating demands of the dowry system,” says Alok Kumar Mitra, lawyer at the Calcutta High Court.

While all offences under this Act have been made cognisable and non-bailable, the punishment does not seem to be too harsh. The Act states that an adult male who marries a child or one who performs, conducts or directs a child marriage will get a maximum jail term of two years or be fined.

“One good thing is that the court has been given power to issue an injunction on such a marriage on receipt of news of a child marriage from the child marriage prohibition officer or from any other source,” stresses advocate Prabir Chowdhury. A judicial, a first class or a metropolitan magistrate has the power to issue the injunction against any person, including the member of a community or organisation, prohibiting such a marriage.

“The Act will also come down heavily on marriages that lead to the trafficking of women, especially in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and even Kerala where trafficking of married girls is rampant,” adds Mitra.

A large number of child marriages end up with girls being sold for trafficking. Marriages being terminated as a result of compulsion and at times culminating in trafficking have been included in the list of void marriages.

“But does this implicitly acknowledge traditional child marriages as valid,” asks Dasgupta. The Act doesn’t speak of child marriages in communities where it’s more of a tradition than compulsion. It is also silent on the registration of child marriages. “Though such marriages are illegal, they should be recorded without issuing certificates as is done in the case of adult marriages, for future reference,” feels Rajesh Ganguly, a Calcutta High Court lawyer, adding, “Since children born out of such marriages will get legitimate status, they should also be issued birth certificates.”

Most activists and victims of child marriages believe that the government needs to provide alternative economic support and livelihood options for children who want to opt out of the abusive environment. “The Act should have introduced protection for the child bride, so that her right to maintenance and her right to a household are not undermined,” says Ketaki Das, a victim of a traditional child marriage. Alas, the Act has no provision for that

MTV launches anti-human trafficking campaign

Mumbai, Aug 9 : MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom and the MTV Europe Foundation, a registered UK charity has announced the launch of MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) across Asia and the Pacific.

As a part of the anti-trafficking campaign by MTV-Exit a documentary, featuring gut wrenching stories of victims of human trafficking in Bangladesh and Nepal, presented by Bollywood star Lara Dutta, will be aired in September.

The documentaries will be followed by a series of public service announcements in 2007 and 2008, along with a multi-language website,www.mtvexit.org, and live awareness and prevention events.

According to United Nations (UN) estimates, there are 2.5 million victims of trafficking in the world with the majority being in Asia and the Pacific. It is the second largest illegal trade after drugs, with criminal traffickers earning over 10 billion US dollars every year through the buying and selling of human beings.

According to the UN '' Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, and receipt of a person for sexual or economical exploitation by force, fraud, coercion, or deception in order to make a profit. Often, victims are young men and women, who are guilty only of aspiring a better life for themselves and their families''.

It had been estimated that over the past decade in south Asia alone, some 30 million people, mostly children, had been trafficked.

And India is a major destination and a transit point for human trafficking in the sub continent. The majority of trafficking in India, both trans-border and in-country, happens for the purpose of sex work. A combination of growing demand for cheap domestic labour, labour and sex coupled with extreme poverty makes human trafficking an easy and lucrative business in India.

But trafficking can be fought through awareness and prevention.

Thus, MTV EXIT will highlight and address three major forms of trafficking in Asia and the Pacific: sex trafficking and forced prostitution, labour trafficking, and forced domestic servitude.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Bill Roedy, Vice Chairman, MTV Networks said,''Human trafficking has become a critical human rights issue facing young people across the Asia and Pacific. Victims are subject to horrendous abuses, including rape and torture, with women and girls particularly affected. Education is a key to prevention.

MTV EXIT is part of our commitment to help for highlighting issues affecting young people in Asia and across the world''.

The MTV EXIT initiative across Asia and the Pacific is an extention of the successful MTV EXIT European campaign, which has been raising awareness and increasing prevention of trafficking and exploitation in Europe since 2004. Many influential artists have supported MTV EXIT’s special programming and events in Europe, including Angelina Jolie, Helena Christensen and Roedy informed

INDIA: Landmark ruling on 'bonded' labour
[news] [7 August 2007] -
An Indian NGO has won what it believes could be a landmark court case for the rehabilitation of child labourers.In October 2005, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) rescued 129 child labourers from embroidery factories in Kotla Mubarakpur area, Delhi. However, the case registered by the police after the rescue was filed under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 which do not provide for Rehabilitation of children. BBA then filed a case with the National Human Rights Commission against the office of the Sub-divisional Magistrate (Defence Colony). They demanded that the case of these children be registered under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, as the children were working under ‘bonded’ conditions and were therefore eligible for rehabilitation under centrally-sponsored schemes.Repatriation
After almost two years, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has upheld BBA’s stand by granting the issue of release certificates for the children, repatriating them to their native places in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal, and arranging for their rehabilitation. NHRC cited various provisions of law and decisions taken by the Supreme Court regarding the issue of release certificates and bonded labour.
NHRC also emphasised the need for an understanding of the meaning and implications of the words “child”, “bonded labour system” and other terms in various acts relating to the prohibition of child labour. SensitisationIt has also indicated a need for sensitisation among officers at the Labour, Revenue and Police departments of the Delhi Administration. The ruling implies that all other cases of rescued child labourers, working under similar conditions, will be registered under the Bonded Labour Systems (Abolition) Act which will provide for their rehabilitation. BBA believes this makes it a significant victory in the battle against Child Labour

WB: CID rescues seven girls

Monday, August 06, 2007 (01:12:23)

Kolkata: The Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has rescued seven girls five minors and two adults who were trafficked from West Bengal to Maharashtra. Out of the seven girls, aged between 14 and 22, six are from the Sunderbans area of South 24 Parganas in West Bengal, and one is from the North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. Alarmed by the increasing number of trafficking cases in the state, the CID had geared up to put a full stop to this. The AHTU had been inaugurated by the honourable Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on June 28, 2007 for combating the human trafficking menace, which had been spreading like wild fire for quite some time in the state.
Earlier speaking to Headlinesindia, Sanjoy Mukherjee, DIG (Special) of CID, and an expert in human trafficking related issues, had assured that the increasing incidents of human trafficking in West Bengal would come down considerably with the formation of AHTU. Getting a tip off that some girls from the state had been trafficked to Maharashtra, and forced into commercial sexual exploitation, the AHTU was sent to Maharashtra on 26th July. After verifying the family details and addresses of the trafficked girls in West Bengal, the AHTU visited Mumbai, Pune, Kalyan and Thane of Maharashtra, and rescued seven girls. The girls have been brought back to the Kolkata, where they are being interrogated by the AHTU. The CID hopes to get some useful information from the girls, which will help in tracing the traffickers. The girls will soon be sent to their parents.
Sanjoy Mukherjee told Headlinesindia, The AHTU is interviewing the girls and trying to pinpoint the traffickers. This has been an accomplishment for us, and we hope to arrest the traffickers soon.Mukherjee also stated that the CID hopes to trace the entire gang that is involved in human trafficking. He added, We are happy that the first major operation of the AHTU, launched by the chief minister, was for such a good cause. We will conduct more raids, and send our team for more rescue missions.
By Divya Pathak

Draft plan to check human trafficking

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

Australian convicted of pedophilia in India

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

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

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

Shivraj Patil decries international focus on trafficking in India

Shivraj Patil decries international focus on trafficking in India

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

Date:02/08/2007

New Delhi

An inside story of trafficking in women
Smriti Kak Ramachandran

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

Police told to see prostitutes as victims

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

Victims of trafficking await justice

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

University students educating sex workers' children in KolkataBy Soma

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

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

28 Jul 2007,

In the flesh trade for extra bucks

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

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

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

Rehabilitation for women victims of trafficking

Date:20/07/2007

Andhra Pradesh

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

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

Child marriages, trafficking on the rise in West Bengal

19/07/2007

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

Six rescued from brothels

Six rescued from brothels

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