Subject: [Stop-traffic] Girl Traffickers Take Business Elsewhere
From: Sumnima Tuladhar (cwininfo@mos.com.np)
Date: Tue Aug 22 2000 - 04:18:49 EDT
Girl Traffickers Take Business Elsewhere
By B. M. Dahal
Each year, 5,000-7,000 women are believed to be trafficked to
India. And an estimated 200,000
Nepalese commercial sex workers (CSWs), including minors, are
reported to be involved in the world’s
oldest profession in various Indian brothels alone. But only
about 140 cases have been reported so far
since very few victims file lawsuits against the traffickers.
As many social organisations and government bodies have
launched campaigns against trafficking in
women in the most affected districts like Sindhupalchowk,
Nuwakot, Makawanpur, traffickers seem to
have started their activities for the lucrative yet
detestable trade in new areas adjoining the Indian border.
"After the police and NGOs initiated the awareness and income
generating programmes in affected
districts, traffickers have shifted their activities to other
districts, especially those bordering India," says
Parbati Thapa, chief of Women Cell at the headquarters of
Nepal Police.
At present, districts like Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari,
Bara, Parsa and Rautahat have also become
the new hunting grounds for the women traffickers. At
present, it is said that traffickers are active in
about 35 districts of the country. The rising number of
districts affected by the scourge indicates that
the traffickers have found it a lucrative trade.
Thapa said that with the development of new technology and
approaches to controlling girl trafficking,
the traffickers have come up with newer means to continue
their business.
In the past, Nepalese girls were taken to Bombay to be sold
to brothels. But now they are also being
trafficked to many other Indian cities like Delhi, Calcutta,
Pune. Besides, they are also supplied to
destinations like Hong Kong, Arabian countries, Thailand,
among others.
Many victims or their relatives withdraw the cases even after
filing them due to pressure from the
traffickers themselves.
"This type of tendency often creates difficulties for
forwarding the cases for legal action against the
traffickers and their accomplices," Thapa said.
Women’s Cell, in coordination with UNICEF, has launched
awareness programmes in various districts of
the country to control trafficking in girls and sexual
exploitation. The UNICEF-funded project has also
components such as capacity building of the police officers
and developing database system to
maintain records about the heinous crime.
To fight trafficking in women, an advisory committee has been
formed at the central level. Committees
have also been formed at the district and village levels in
order to check trafficking. The committees
include local body representatives, local police officers and
the representatives of local NGOs.
Poverty, illiteracy and unemployment are considered to be the
main causes the increasing number of
women as well as the girl child being trafficking from Nepal.
Different forms of violence against women
have also helped the traffickers in finding their prey.
"When women are the victims of violence at homes and in the
society, the criminals can easily lure
them. The property rights and social security can alone help
save the women from falling prey to the
traffickers," she said.
According to the prevalent law, traffickers are liable to a
maximum of 20 years of imprisonment. The
legal provision is strong but most of the traffickers escape
the noose just because of the fact that they
get political protection. Despite slogans of different
political parties to discourage women trafficking,
they have not been able to implement that into practice
because traffickers are said to play an important
role during elections.
Rehabilitation of the victims is another major problem. Some
NGOs have set up rehabilitation centres for
the returnees, especially those who have been infected with
HIV/AIDS. But this is not enough. There
also exists the possibility of spreading HIV and AIDS to
others as most of the victims return home
through the open border with India.
Shanta Sapkota, chairman of Shanti Rehabilitation Centre,
informed that her NGO has already
rehabilitated around 100 women. The figure incorporates both
the trafficked women and minors.
"Now we have launched non-formal education and sewing
training for both the victims and those who are
at risk of being trafficked. But our efforts alone will be
insufficient unless the health workers, police and
other sections of the society change their attitude towards
the victims," Sapkota said.
To fight girl trafficking, two networks that comprise several
NGOs have been working in the country.
Their efforts have been helpful to some extent. However, they
have not been wholly successful in their
mission as the traffickers are always a step ahead of them.
Dr. Madhavi Singh, executive member and coordinator of
National Network Against Girl Trafficking
(NNAGT), said programmes such as women empowerment, public
awareness, counseling can be
instrumental in controlling the crime of girl trafficking.
Dr. Singh also said that there should be bilateral talks
between Nepal and India and the issue of
trafficking has to be taken as a national one to control the
crime. She said NNAGT has been running
different training programmes to make women stand on their
feet and also increase awareness in them
about the heinous crime.
In the entire South Asian region, India is the major
destination of the trafficked women.
Sandhya Shrestha, coordinator of another network—Alliance
Against Trafficking in Women in Nepal
(AATWIN)—is of the opinion that the existing problem of girl
trafficking will not be solved unless the
different political parties express commitment to extend
their helping hand to uproot it.
Shrestha also said that a regional level court and its
branches have to be formed to look into the cases
related to women trafficking.
Considering girl trafficking as a regional problem, SAARC
Secretariat has prepared a SAARC draft
convention on girl trafficking. But it has drawn criticism
from the NGOs and woman activists as it cannot
ensure the rights of the victims.
"The draft convention needs to be amended so as to safeguard
the rights of the countries of origin. The
receiving countries have to give compensation and
rehabilitation facilities for the victims," she said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Sunday Despatch/20 August 2000
Girl Traffickers
Take Business Elsewhere
By B.
M. Dahal
Each year,
5,000-7,000 women are believed to be trafficked to India. And an estimated
200,000
Nepalese
commercial sex workers (CSWs), including minors, are reported to be involved
in the world’s
oldest
profession in various Indian brothels alone. But only about 140 cases have
been reported so far
since
very few victims file lawsuits against the traffickers.
As many
social organisations and government bodies have launched campaigns against
trafficking in
women
in the most affected districts like Sindhupalchowk, Nuwakot, Makawanpur,
traffickers seem to
have started
their activities for the lucrative yet detestable trade in new areas adjoining
the Indian border.
"After
the police and NGOs initiated the awareness and income generating programmes
in affected
districts,
traffickers have shifted their activities to other districts, especially
those bordering India," says
Parbati
Thapa, chief of Women Cell at the headquarters of Nepal Police.
At present,
districts like Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Bara, Parsa and Rautahat
have also become
the new
hunting grounds for the women traffickers. At present, it is said that
traffickers are active in
about
35 districts of the country. The rising number of districts affected by
the scourge indicates that
the traffickers
have found it a lucrative trade.
Thapa said
that with the development of new technology and approaches to controlling
girl trafficking,
the traffickers
have come up with newer means to continue their business.
In the
past, Nepalese girls were taken to Bombay to be sold to brothels. But now
they are also being
trafficked
to many other Indian cities like Delhi, Calcutta, Pune. Besides, they are
also supplied to
destinations
like Hong Kong, Arabian countries, Thailand, among others.
Many victims
or their relatives withdraw the cases even after filing them due to pressure
from the
traffickers
themselves.
"This type
of tendency often creates difficulties for forwarding the cases for legal
action against the
traffickers
and their accomplices," Thapa said.
Women’s
Cell, in coordination with UNICEF, has launched awareness programmes in
various districts of
the country
to control trafficking in girls and sexual exploitation. The UNICEF-funded
project has also
components
such as capacity building of the police officers and developing database
system to
maintain
records about the heinous crime.
To fight
trafficking in women, an advisory committee has been formed at the central
level. Committees
have also
been formed at the district and village levels in order to check trafficking.
The committees
include
local body representatives, local police officers and the representatives
of local NGOs.
Poverty,
illiteracy and unemployment are considered to be the main causes the increasing
number of
women
as well as the girl child being trafficking from Nepal. Different forms
of violence against women
have also
helped the traffickers in finding their prey.
"When women
are the victims of violence at homes and in the society, the criminals
can easily lure
them.
The property rights and social security can alone help save the women from
falling prey to the
traffickers,"
she said.
According
to the prevalent law, traffickers are liable to a maximum of 20 years of
imprisonment. The
legal
provision is strong but most of the traffickers escape the noose just because
of the fact that they
get political
protection. Despite slogans of different political parties to discourage
women trafficking,
they have
not been able to implement that into practice because traffickers are said
to play an important
role during
elections.
Rehabilitation
of the victims is another major problem. Some NGOs have set up rehabilitation
centres for
the returnees,
especially those who have been infected with HIV/AIDS. But this is not
enough. There
also exists
the possibility of spreading HIV and AIDS to others as most of the victims
return home
through
the open border with India.
Shanta
Sapkota, chairman of Shanti Rehabilitation Centre, informed that her NGO
has already
rehabilitated
around 100 women. The figure incorporates both the trafficked women and
minors.
"Now we
have launched non-formal education and sewing training for both the victims
and those who are
at risk
of being trafficked. But our efforts alone will be insufficient unless
the health workers, police and
other
sections of the society change their attitude towards the victims," Sapkota
said.
To fight
girl trafficking, two networks that comprise several NGOs have been working
in the country.
Their
efforts have been helpful to some extent. However, they have not been wholly
successful in their
mission
as the traffickers are always a step ahead of them.
Dr. Madhavi
Singh, executive member and coordinator of National Network Against Girl
Trafficking
(NNAGT),
said programmes such as women empowerment, public awareness, counseling
can be
instrumental
in controlling the crime of girl trafficking.
Dr. Singh
also said that there should be bilateral talks between Nepal and India
and the issue of
trafficking
has to be taken as a national one to control the crime. She said NNAGT
has been running
different
training programmes to make women stand on their feet and also increase
awareness in them
about
the heinous crime.
In the entire South Asian region, India is the major destination of the trafficked women.
Sandhya
Shrestha, coordinator of another network—Alliance Against Trafficking in
Women in Nepal
(AATWIN)—is
of the opinion that the existing problem of girl trafficking will not be
solved unless the
different
political parties express commitment to extend their helping hand to uproot
it.
Shrestha
also said that a regional level court and its branches have to be formed
to look into the cases
related
to women trafficking.
Considering
girl trafficking as a regional problem, SAARC Secretariat has prepared
a SAARC draft
convention
on girl trafficking. But it has drawn criticism from the NGOs and woman
activists as it cannot
ensure
the rights of the victims.
"The draft
convention needs to be amended so as to safeguard the rights of the countries
of origin. The
receiving
countries have to give compensation and rehabilitation facilities for the
victims," she said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Sunday Despatch/20 August 2000
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