Continuing the nation-wide advocacy efforts, undertaken by Regional Action Forum members with the support of SARI/Equity, for the dissemination and adoption/application of the (i) Regional Minimum Standards Protocol; (ii) Regional Victim Witness Protection Protocol; and the (iii) Resource Book on Livelihood Options Prerana, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), organized the Rajasthan Consultation. Participants included representatives from the Department of Women and Child Development; the State Human Rights Commission; NGOs and INGOs; lawyers and advocates; students; and the media.

Justice Jagat Singh, Member of the State Human Rights Commission, thanked SARI/Equity and the Regional Action Forums for the timely elaboration of the regional protocols on victim care and protection since this “products” were most welcome at a time when anti-trafficking efforts were gaining momentum in the state. The State Human Rights Commission would take particular interest in facilitating wider adoption of the “substantial” provisions of the two protocols in Rajasthan.

The Rajasthan Network of Positive People referred to both protocols as “great tools” for HIV positive persons who are generally deprived of shelter care facilities and are discriminated against because of their health status. They expressed the hope that the wide adoption of the protocols would also cater to a major need of that section of victims of violence.

Appreciating the regional protocols as “useful documents” for victim care and protection, Dr. Kamalini Dravid, Project Director of the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Rajasthan, committed to making efforts, at the government level, to incorporate the protocols into existing anti-trafficking programs and to get them implemented “as wide as possible” within the state.