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Current News
 On a Crusade>>
Ela Sangma now fights against trafficking and sexual exploitation of women
Date: 30 July 2006
Source: The Hindu, New Delhi
Preventing Trafficking of Women>>
Women and child trafficking is not only for prostitution but also for pornography
Date: 28 July 2006
Source: The Nation, Bangladesh
Adolescent Girls Face Violence>>
Adolescent girls are facing most violence in the society
Date: 26 July 2006
Source: The New Nation, Bangladesh
3,855 Women Fall Victim to Violence in 2005 - BNWLA Report Reveals>>
The number of incidents of violence against women fell by 14 percent in 2005
Date: 23 July 2006
Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Interim Statute to Signify Future Constitution: Aryal>>
Date: 9 July 2006
Source: The Kathmandu Post, Nepal
Mock Trials Helping Crime Victims>>
The Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre (LACC) is conducting mock court trials in Kathmandu, Surkhet, Nepalganj and Jhapa.
Date: 9 July 2006
Source: The Himalayan Times
Mock Courts Help in Fight for Justice>>
Due to the practice of mock trials, cases of sexual offence against children have gone down by 80 percent in Sri Lanka
Date: 8 July 2006
Source: The Kathmandu Post
Aryal Committee to be Complete Tomorrow>>
Date: 8 July 2006
Source: The Kathmandu Post, Nepal
'Ratify Anti-Trafficking Protocols'>>
Experts today stressed the need to ratify and implement two protocols to take care of and support the victims of trafficking.
Date: 7 July 2006
Source: The Himalayan Times, Kathmandu
Work Begins on Interim Constitution>>
Date: 7 July 2006
Source: The Kathmandu Post, Nepal
Aryal Panel Begins Work on Interim Statute>>
The Interim Statute Drafting Committee headed by former justice of Supreme Court Laxmi Prasad Aryal, officially started its work.
Date: 7 July 2006
Source: The Himalayan Times
'Make Fight Against Human Trafficking Effective'>>
An effective mechanism is needed for ensuring the protection of victims and witnesses to combat human trafficking in South Asia.
Date: 7 July 2006
Source: The Kathmandu Post
Mock Trials Held for Victims of Immoral Trafficking>>
Sunita was sure she could recognise the couple who had cheated her and landed her in a brothel.
Date: 28 June 2006
Source: The Indian Express
Excerpts from CSR Newsletter
Centre for Social Research>>
Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, May 2006
Date: 27 June 2006
A Home Away from Home for Destitutes, Kids>>
It was time for jubiliation for children sheltered by Odanadi Seva Samsthe, an NGO involved in rehabilitation of destitutes.
Date: 23 June 2006
Source: The Times of India
Microsoft Partners with CAP>>
It will empower victims and communities vulnerable to human trafficking with IT skills
Date: 1 June 2006
Source: Cybermedia News
Two Years Into Sex Slavery, 9 Nepali Minors Finally Get Freedom>>
Officials in the Indian capital have started preparations to repatriate nine Nepali minor girls.
Date: 19 May 2006
Source: ekantipur.com
Website Against Women Repression Launched>>
A website against the women and children repression and trafficking titled www.atsec bangladesh.org was launched on May 17, 2006
Date: 18 May 2006
Source: The New Nation, Bangladesh
Human Trafficking in the Northeast Fuelling HIV/AIDS - Report>>
A study across eight states of North East, India on Human trafficking and HIV/AIDS.
Date: 17 May 2006
Source: Reuters Foundation
Ensure Justice to the Victims of Trafficking>>
Improve facilities in the rescue homes
Date: 15 May 2006
Source: Voice of the Voiceless, A Newsletter of the NATSAP
How Tech is Driving Trafficking in Women>>
Mobile phone-cameras, handycams and sedative-laced drinks are beginning to give rise to a new form of trafficking in women.
Date: 12 May 2006
Source: The Times of India, Pune
Gender-Based Violence and the Culture of Silence>>
Gender-based violence is worldwide, differing only in scope from one society to another.
Date: 12 May 2006
Source: The Rising Nepal, Kathmandu
Girls and Minors Rescued from Brothels in India>>
Some 23 girls and minors have been rescued from brothels in Mumbai and Pune by Indian and Nepalese non-governmental organisations with the help of Indian Police.
Date: 11 May 2006
Source: The Hindustan Times
Police Chiefs Agree to Form Saarcpol>>
Decide to cooperate more to fight terrorism, trafficking
Date: 10 May 2006
Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Remittance to Reach $4.5b this Year>>
Remittances sent by Bangladesh Expatriates will reach $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion this year, State Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Quamrul Islam said.
Date: 8 May 2006
Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Working Kids Ask for Evening Schools>>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: Deccan Chronicle, Chennai
'States Must Check Child and Women Trafficking'>>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: City Express, Chennai
When Children Occupied Seats of Power>>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: The Hindu, Cheenai
Extend Support to Exploited Women: Subash Bharani>>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: Vijay Times, Mysore
Women Should Unitedly Oppose Trafficking: Judge>>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: Star of Mysore
Meet Ponders Over Security, Rehabilitation >>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: The Times of India, Mysore
'Public Must Alert police on Human Trafficking'>>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: The New Indian Express, Bangalore
SHGs to Help Weed Out Menace>>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: Deccan Herald, Mysore
Growing Issues of trafficking>>
Date: 6 May 2006
Source: The Island, Sri Lanka.
Victims of Trafficking Cry for Help >>
Date: 18 April 2006
Source: The Sentinel, Guwahati
Teenaged Trafficking Victim Turns Crusader>>
A domestic help at 10, a sex worker at 12 and, at 17, a born-again teen with the spunk to speak out against oppression of women
Date: 18 April 2006
Source: The Telegraph, Guwahati
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Support Base for Victims of Trafficking>>
Date: 17 April 2006
Source: Times News Network
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NE Lacks Support Mechanism for Victims >>
Date: 17 April 2006
Source: The Assam Tribune
Girls 'for Sale' Along Indo-Nepal Border >>
Young girls along the Indo-Nepal border are lured into the dusty bylanes of Mumbai and Delhi with promises of marriage
Date: 12 April 2006
Source: NDTV.COM, Bihar
Victims of Flesh Trade Voice their Opinion>>
Agony and demands for "restoration" voiced during a National Survivors Conference organized by Prajwala in Hyderabad
Date: 25 March 2006
Source: The New Indian Express, Hyderabad
Amendment Soon to Law Against Immoral Trafficking >>
Date: 24 March 2006
Source: The New Indian Express, Hyderabad
Police Help them Defy all Odds>>
Training helps socially backward youngsters secure good jobs
Date: 24 March 2006
Source: The Hindu
Youth Urged to Face Challenges Confidently>>
Date: 24 March 2006
Source: The New Indian Express
Criminals Start Over>>
Date: 24 March 2006
Source: Deccan Chronicle
Victims of Exploitation Share Experiences>>
Date: 22 March 2006
Source: The Hindu, Hyderabad
NGOs Call for More Effective Govt. Protocols in South Asia>>
During a national consultation held in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 10 March 2006 a comprehensive set of “victim friendly” tools was presented by the Nepali members of the Regional Action Forum on Law and Care of Victims/Survivors of Trafficking and other Forms of Violence.
Date: 10 March 2006
Source: The Rising Nepal
Machine Readable Passports Soon>>
An important step towards safe migration
Date: 9 March 2006
Source: The New Nation, Bangladesh
Female Migration - ‘$ 2 b more remittance possible a year’>>
Pre-migration preparedness and post-migration management – Important components for the safe migration of women
Date: 8 March 2006
Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Agonizing Tales from Central Jail>>
Innocents remain in jail for years waiting for a pardon
Date: 23 February 2006
Source: The Kathmandu Post, Nepal
Declaration Against Child Trafficking Signed>>
The Pakistan Chapter of ‘Action Against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children’ (ATSEC) was formed on 20 February 2006 in Islamabad. It is the fifth in the South Asia Region.
Date: 21 February 2006
Source: The Nation, Islamabad
Goa Tries to Repair its Reputation>>
The Goa Children's Act of 2003 tackles the issue of pedophilia in a progressive manner. It needs vigorous implementation.
Date: 12 February 2006
Source: International Herald Tribune
Culture Victimizes Women>>
Married women cannot return to her-in-laws house until their husband comes to take them
Date: 5 February 2006
Source: The Kathmandu Post
Thousands of Indian women, children missing>>
According to the study, the number of women and children going missing in India every year are 22,480 and 44,476 respectively.
Date: 29 January 2006
Source: www.webindia123.com
Domestic Violence>>
Up to three women a day die from "stove deaths" in Pakistan, for reasons such as the failure to give birth to a son, disobedience, and allegations of adultery
Date: 29 January 2006
Source: The Nation Islamabad
PM calls for collective efforts to combat HIV/AIDS curse >>
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called for collective and coordinated efforts to overcome the threat of HIV/AIDS
Date: 27 January 2006
Source: The Financial Express
Social ostracism mars inter-caste bliss>>
Madan's family is undergoing psychological trauma as neighbors continue to humiliate them for going through with the union
Date: 26 January 2006
Source: The Kathmandu Post
Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights Bill Submitted to National Assembly>>
Suggesting, the formation of a Protection Team to ensure transparency in the cases of domestic violence
Date: 24 January 2006
Source: The Nation Islamabad
Kerala turning into child-sex tourism hub>>
God’s Own Country is slowly turning into a hub of child-sex tourists, according to a path-breaking study.
Date: 17 January 2006
Source: The New Indian Express
Children continue to suffer in conflict>>
A study conducted in 11 districts in Nepal in June 2005, said that rape, abduction, and their illegal detention were found to be on the rise.
Date: 17 January 2006
Source: ekantipur.com
Indo-Nepal JCBC expresses concern over women trafficking >>
Representatives of over 40 NGOs, senior Government and police officials of India and Nepal attended the JCBC meeting to formulate policies to tackle the increasing trafficking of girls and women along the border areas of the two countries
Date: 16 January 2006
Source: Newkerala.com
In the Dark >>
According to the foreign employment bureau Sri Lanka has been slow to track illegal migration, though the island remains a hotbed for human trafficking.
Date: 16 January 2006
Source: Lanka Business Online
Displaced Women & Employment >>
The biggest brunt of displacement is faced by women and children. The displaced women are forced to seek employment for the livelihood of their family members.
Date: 13 January 2006
Source: The Rising Nepal
India terminated 10 mn daughters in 20 years>>
Over the last two decades about 10 million female foetuses might have been selectively terminated following ultrasound tests, says a study.
Date: 9 January 2006
Source: Hindustantimes.com
Delhi top human trafficking destination: Study>>
Delhi leads in the number of women and children being trafficked, says a survey by Institute of Social Sciences
Date: 9 January 2006
Source: Indo Asian News Service
US to fund Bengal’s fight against human trafficking>>
The battle against human trafficking is likely to get a boost
Date: 7 January 2006
Source: Kolkata Newsline
In Sex Offences Anonymity of Victims must be Ensured>>
Ensuring anonymity would improve the abysmal rate of conviction in sex offences, said Law Commission Chairman Jagannadha Rao.
Date: 21 December 2005
Source: The Times Of India
Helpline becomes inaccessible to children >>
As private telecom companies are not offering the facility to put the call through their network toll free.
Date: 20 December 2005
Source: The Hindu, Kerala
15,000 kid jockeys from Rahim Yar Khan District>>
reveals a report on 'the life and situation of child camel jockey', prepared by Pakistan Rural Workers Welfare organisation
Date: 19 December 2005
Source: The Nation Islamabad
Program against domestic violence in 60 districts>>
A door-to-door program against domestic violence will be organized in 60 districts from Mangsir 25 by Nepal Scout, Central office in Kathmandu with the assistance of UNFP
Date: 13 December 2005
Source: The Rising Nepal
Caste no bar for their Families>>
writes Sangeet Nijal, who participated in the Media Workshop organized by SARI/Equity in Colombo.
Date: 11 December 2005
Source: Kathmandu Post
Human Trafficking: U.S. Signs On to Palermo Accords>>
On December 3, 2005, the United States became an official party to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, also known as the Palermo Protocol. This noteworthy event comes in conjunction with the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on December 2, 2005
Date: 5 December 2005
Source: Voices Magazine Analysis
A Long Journey from Pain and DIstress>>
The first regional convention on South Asian child journalists forum was held in Chennai on saturday.
Date: 4 December 2005
Source: The New Sunday Express, Chennai
These Children have Common Problems>>
Nearly 40 street and working children from Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and other parts of India interacted with Governor Surjit SIngh Barnala on friday at Raj Bhawan
Date: 3 December 2005
Source: The Hindu, Chennai
16-day campaign against gender violence underway>>
Officials have said the government and civil society need to join hands to spread the message of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence-- an international campaign being launched by the UN-- and make it sustainable
Date: 3 December 2005
Source: Nepalnews.com
Expo to Spread Awareness of Human Trafficking>>
The campaign against trafficking and sexual exploitation, an initiative of Mysore based Odanadi Sewa Samsthe, will raise awareness in the city through a painting exhibition and a cultural program.
Date: 2 December 2005
Source: The Hindu, Chennai
Court victory for Nepal's women >>
Nepal's supreme court has ruled that women under 35 years of age will not need the permission of their parents or husbands to apply for a passport.
Date: 29 November 2005
Source: BBC News
For Too Many Women, Silence Equals Death>>
Despite improved laws and international treaties signed by various governments in the past few years, millions of women continue to suffer from violence at the hands of men.
Date: 28 November 2005
Source: Inter Press Service News Agency
Message of the UN Secretary General on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women >>
Violence against women remains pervasive worldwide. It is the most atrocious manifestation of the systemic discrimination and inequality women continue to face, in law and
in their everyday lives, around the world
Date: 25 November 2005
Source: Division for the Advancement of Women
7 Tips to Stop Sex Crime Victims Turning Hostile>>
The abysmal rate of conviction in sexual offence cases could improve dramatically if victims were allowed to depose in anonymity and without fear of being made a public spectacle during the trial.
Date: 21 November 2005
Source: The Times of India
New Relief Scheme Proposed for Rape Victims>>
Pressure to amend IPC to make it more gender sensitive and punishment more stringent.
Date: 20 September 2005
Source: The Hindu
Kuwait may raise foreigners' pay >>
Kuwait is considering proposals to improve the lives of nearly a million expatriate workers, most of them from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Date: 19 September 2005
Source: BBC News
Trafficking hits 'alarming' level >>
A new report on trafficking in south-eastern Europe says the trade in human beings - both adults and children - is reaching alarming proportions.
Date: 16 September 2005
Source: BBC News
Children without parents to get citizen rights>>
Nepal Supreme Court's historic verdict on providing citizenship to every Nepali child born within the country whose parents are unknown.
Date: 15 September 2005
Source: Kantipur Online
Educating India's child labourers >>
Date: 13 September 2005
Source: BBC News
India National Commission for Women (NCW) gets online facility>>
Date: 10 September 2005
Source: The Hindu
Lift ban on women seeking job in Gulf >>
Date: 2 September 2005
Source: Southasianmedia.net
Parliament Nod For Inheritance Rights Bill>>
Date: 30 August 2005
Source: The Hindu
More Camel Jockeys Await Repatriation to Bangladesh>>
Identifying 'real' parents poses legal problems
Date: 27 August 2005
Source: The Daily Star
Five Women Rescued from Traffickers>>
Date: 25 August 2005
Source: The Daily Star
Bangladesh: Figures on Violence Against Women>>
According to a study by BNWLA, 4,495 incidences took place last year
Date: 25 August 2005
Source: The Daily Star
Maoists rape 25 dalit women in Saptari, Nepal>>
Date: 25 August 2005
Source: Kantipur Online
22 More Jockeys Return>>
Bangladeshi chindren used as camel jockeys in UAE return
Date: 24 August 2005
Source: The Daily Star
Domestic Violence Bill Tabled in LS>>
Date: 23 August 2005
Source: The Times of India
11 Abducted Pakistani Workers Freed in Iraq>>
Date: 23 August 2005
Source: The Times of India
India's first all-woman ambulance fleet>>
Another male bastion smashed as Fortis Hospital launches a new concept in
medical care.
Date: 14 August 2005
Source: The Hindu
40 women constables trained to curb crime against women>>
Date: 3 August 2005
Source: The Times of India
Child trafficker handed 30 year imprisonment>>
Date: 31 July 2005
Source: The Daily Star
Four Children Rescued from Traffickers>>
Date: 31 July 2005
Source: The Daily Star
Tamil rebels 'recruit children'>>
Unicef, has accused Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels of stepping up child recruitment in the island's volatile east.
Date: 25 July 2005
Source: BBC News
Villager Victim of Reverse Migration>>
Date: 15 July 2005
Source: The Hindu
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On a Crusade
Ela Sangma now fights against trafficking and sexual exploitation of women.
At 16, she broke free from the clutches of flesh traders of Delhi's infamous G.B. Road. Ela Sangma is now a resource person for those combating human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children.
Ela's story began in 1996 when Pravin Pundit came to her village Garo Basti near Bhalukpung, Arunachal Pradesh. He offered to take the 11-year-old girl to Delhi and get her a job as a domestic worker. With six children and little money, Ela's mother agreed.
Forced to leave
The little girl, who overheard the conversation, initially refused to accompany him but had to give in when her mother firmly told her that she would go to Delhi if Ela did not. "I did not want my mother to take on more trouble. So I agreed to accompany the man to Delhi."
The graphic descriptions of how she was sold for Rs. 25,000 and then forced into prostitution in a Delhi brothel, which she gives at state level consultations on anti-trafficking always leave the participants — bureaucrats, officials of law enforcing agencies, NGO workers — dumbstruck.
Ela got a fresh lease of life in 2001. Rescued during a police raid in the brothels of G.B. Road, she was sent to Nirmal Chhaya Observation Home for Girls. In 2003, Ela was handed over to the Shillong-based Impulse NGO Network.
Wanting to help other teenaged girls break free from the clutches of flesh traders, she began to look beyond the struggle to stand on her own feet with the skills learnt at Nirmal Chhaya and Impulse.
"I decided that I must narrate my story wherever I go instead of suppressing it for fear of being thrown out of society. I believe my story would make elders, especially the police, aware of the menace of trafficking. They can rescue girls like me from the flesh traders and save others from falling prey to the traffickers."
Much response
Hasina Kharbhih, who heads Impulse NGO Network, says, "We generally keep the identities of victims a secret, but Ela agreed to help us. This has made a lot of difference to our campaign. Instead of our resource people presenting her case study, Ela narrates her own story. This has got us a better response."
Ela lost her childhood and her family. But she wants to protect other children from losing their childhood, for which she pleads for assistance.
Plea for help
"I want assistance from the government; from the police. I want their help to bring all those traffickers to book. They have destroyed our lives. In Delhi, I saw a policeman when I got off the train. I asked him if the place was safe. Had he been sensitive enough to suspect foul play and stopped us that day, I would not have fallen prey to the flesh traders."
She insists that if the police do not come forward, it is not possible for victims of trafficking to lead a normal life even after being rescued by an NGO.
Ela has seen many policemen conniving with the traffickers and abusing many helpless girls, although she has also met many who are ready to help such victims. She is willing to give evidence in the case against the man who sold her so that he can be convicted. However, Ela says, the traffickers followed her when she went back to Delhi to give evidence.
After travelling length and breadth of the northeast and also to places like Banglaore in her crusade against human trafficking, Ela is now planning to travel beyond the boundaries of India.
"I have applied for a passport. I now want to travel to other countries to narrate my tale, so that girls in those countries too can be saved from falling prey to the traffickers," she says in a determined voice.
Author - Sushanta Talukdar
Date: 30 July 2006
Source: The Hindu, New Delhi
Source URL: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/07/30/stories/2006073000090200.htm
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Preventing Trafficking of Women
Women and child trafficking is not only for prostitution but also for pornography which wasn't included in the SAARC Convention, according to the theme presenter Prof. Ishrat Shamim, President, Centre for Women and Children Studies, Bangladesh and she also highlighted that according to ILO Convention no.182 and Second Optional Protocol CRC Article No.3- child pornography is an offence, but it was not also included.
Centre for Social Research of New Delhi and Community Action Centre of Nepal jointly arranged a Regional Consultation on "Effective Implementation of the SAARC Convention on Trafficking" on 5 July 2006 in Kathmandu. Nepal with the financial support of South Asia Regional lnitiative / Equity Support Programme, AED.
Prof. Ishrat Shamim further said that in the Ninth SAARC Summit, held in Male, the capital of Maldives in 2002, the member countries expressed a combined commitment against the trafficking in women and children and the Member States signed a Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution. In 2005, the Member countries ratified and agreed to fulfil the assigned commitment.
In her paper titled "Trafficking of Women and Children in Bangladesh : Prevention and Protection", the Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Government of Bangladesh Dr. Yeameen Akbory said her Ministry is doing a lot of work to combat trafficking of women and children. She said that a task force has been created to tackle the problem of trafficking under the project 'Coordinated Programme to Combat Child Trafficking' to combat child trafficking, followed by the Counter Trafficking Framework Report: Bangladesh Perspective, a training module has been developed and training has been arranged for the law enforcement officers such as Police, BDR, Ansar, etc. She also said that to reduce trafficking of young girls, a training module named 'Life Skill Management' has been developed and girls are being trained. Underprivileged and poor women are also included in the training programme to increase their level of consciousness. Through the Information Ministry, TV spots, drama and folk songs these are transmitted regularly. Besides these, the elected members of the local govt. are helping community leaders and Imams to increase consciousness against trafficking and implementing similar projects. Posters and leaflets are also been circulated to make people conscious.
President of the Centre for Social Research of India, Dr. Ranjana Kumari said that in all countries, gender imbalance is the main cause of women depression, such as torture, rape, family quarrel, sex victims, etc. Trafficking is also a matter like this. A victim of trafficking is more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. These women are being forced to become prostitutes. Media is also helping to make women a sex object and as a result young boys and girls are easily attracted to indulge in sexual relationships. Now-a-days tourism is also helping the sex business.
South Asia Network Against Trafficking (SANAT) is working in the member countries to combat trafficking, but time has come to work in the very interior regions of these countries. Discussions and dialogues should be done on a regular basis within Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. On the other hand, media should step forward with all its resources to increase massconsciousness. Law making and its implementation is also a very important work to combat trafficking.
Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Child of India Nandita Misra said, trafficking violates the basic human rights. So, we must take trafficking as a serious matter. The main objective of this meeting is to combat trafficking, reducing it, compensating it, giving the victims their life back and identifying regional task force. Every year 5 to 7 thousand girls are being trafficked to India because India is the transit, as well as a destination country, she said.
Police Super of Delhi, India Mr. Sankar Sen said, girls of 12 to 20 years are being trafficked from Bangladesh and Nepal by alluring them a dream of better life. But ultimately they are being sold to the brothels. Because of the beauty, the Nepali girls have more demand than others. He said that the traffickers have good connections, but the police have no coordination. As a result, to combat trafficking we have to work jointly. He suggests to build coordination among law enforcers working in the border areas, as well as to involve people to combat trafficking by making them conscious. It can be done by a joint venture between government and the civil society, instead of blaming each other for the failures. Mr. Sen also said that the law enforcers, the prosecutors and the court are not giving importance to this matter which must be changed. To eradicate this, a social revolution is needed.
The President of Community Action Centre (CAC) of Nepal Mr. Tulasa Lata Amatya said, now-a-days trafficking in South Asian countries is increasing. Research shows the grave reality in Nepal which is very tragic. In all the SAARC Summits, the traffciking agenda has been discussed, but no joint step has been taken yet. Though a national action plan and a road map have been developed in all SAARC countries, but the implementation has never been undertaken. It is necessary to act jointly by the law makers, planners and ministries.
A SAARC Convention on Trafficking of Women and Children in the South Asian region recently has been held in the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. Different problems of trafficking, possibilities and what to do in the SAARC countries (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives) were the main topics of this regional consultation. The representatives of SAARC countries promised to work together to solve the problem on the basis of the existing issues in their own countries.
Author - Rita Bhowmick
Date: 28 July 2006
Source: The Nation, Bangladesh
Source URL: http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_29510.shtml
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Adolescent Girls Face Violence
Adolescent girls are facing most violence in the society. This was said at a workshop on 'Protection Violence on Women' organised by South Asia Partnership Bangladesh (SAPB) at CIRDAP Auditorium in the city yesterday.
CQK Mustaque Ahmad, Director General of NGO Affairs Bureau, was present as chief guest.
Syed Nurul Alam, Executive Director and Nadira Mallik of SAPB, Taleya Rahman, Executive Director Democracywatch, Dr Sadeka Halim, Professor of Social Science Depatment of Dhaka University, Dr Fostina Pereira, Director of Research and Advocacy of Ain O Salish Kendra, among others, addressed, while Muhammad Jahangir, Executive Director of Centre for Development Communication, moderated the session.
SM Tozammel Haque of Human Rights Project of SAPB, presented key-note paper.
Speakers urged the government to ensure birth registration of girl infants. They also urged the government to extend field of education for women in the country.
Self-dependency should be ensured for the development of women, which would help to reduce violence in the country, they said.
Forty per cent families in the country depend on females for their economic support, they added.
There are three types of ruling systems in grass root level in the country. These are- Union Parisad level, NGOs and traditional system. If the constitutional rights should be implemented properly, women would get rid of any violence in the society, they also added.
Speakers further said that women who are living at coastal regions are most vulnerable to violence. There should have coordination among the local leaders and the government.
Date: 26 July 2006
Source: The New Nation, Bangladesh
Source URL: http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_29465.shtml
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3,855 Women Fall Victim to Violence in 2005 - BNWLA Report Reveals
The number of incidents of violence against women fell by 14 percent in 2005, compared to the previous year, a study report of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) revealed yesterday.
It reported that the number of victims in 2005 was 3,855 down from 4,495 in 2004.
The BNWLA presented its study report entitled 'Violence Against Women in Bangladesh-2005' at a dissemination session at the National Press Club in the city.
Presenting the summary report, Principal Researcher Shaheen Akhter Munir said women in the country often fall victim to rape, dowry-related violence, acid attack, trafficking and fatwa (religious edict).
The study found that the existing laws are not enough to safeguard women and ensure punishment to the offenders, Shaheen said, adding that enactment and proper enforcement of an integrated law is vital to curb such violence.
The study report recommended enacting Victim and Witness Protection Act, bringing amendment to Hindu Family Law and conducting summary trial of domestic violence cases.
At the dissemination session, the speakers urged the mass media to help eliminate gender discrimination and curb violence against women through raising awareness.
Prof Nazmunnessa Mahtab of Dhaka University, Dr Karen Ellen Spannow, senior advisor to Multi-Sectoral Programme on Violence Against Women under the women and children affairs ministry, and Executive director of BNWLA Advocate Salma Ali also spoke at the session presided over by Advocate Sigma Huda.
Date: 23 July 2006
Source: The Daily Star, Bangladesh
Source URL: http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/07/13/d607131001104.htm
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Mock Trials Held for Victims of Immoral Trafficking
Sunita was sure she could recognise the couple who had cheated her and landed her in a brothel on GB Road. In court, as she took to the witness stand, she saw them covertly holding up pictures of her two younger sisters. She froze. She was legally termed a hostile witness.
The conviction figures in cases under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA) are abysmally low.
As part of attempts to reverse this trend, for the first time, victims of trafficking in the Capital are being exposed to mock trials, a concept introduced by NGO Stop Trafficking and Oppression in Women and Children (STOP).
In the two-day regional conference which concluded today, organisations from Bangladesh and Nepal also shared their experiences of such mock trials. ‘‘The 14 such trials we held are already yielding results,’’ says Roma Debabrata of STOP.
Roshana, a 15-year-old who had been brought from Haryana, was one of those who were exposed to these court-like situations. Initially, she was petrified at the prospect of deposing before a court but last month Roshana identified those who had brought her to the Capital, withstanding the cross examination of defence lawyers.
“Most people are under the misconception that such simulated trials are a means of coaching the victims. On the contrary, the victim observes the proceedings and learns from the role play,” says Debabrata.
Mock trials help acclimatise victims to court room situations. “It’s scary facing that roomful of lawyers, who hurl uncomfortable questions at you,” says Sunita. “Often the victim gets so terrified that she ends up turning hostile,” says Sunita recalling her own experience.
Victims are observers in the trials wherein other survivors enact the roles of judge, lawyers and prosecuters. Those who may have to depose as witnesses are also invited to participate in these trials.
Apart from sharing experience of trials, the workshop also had sessions on trauma counselling to understand the psychological status of victims.
The workshop saw the participation of public prosectors, judicial officers, NGOs working for the rescue and rehabilitation of victims; Nari Unnayan Shakti Kendra, Bangladesh and Legal Aids council from Nepal.
(names of victims have been changed)
Date: 28 June 2006
Source: The Indian Express
Source URL: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=190355
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Microsoft Partners with CAP
It will empower victims and communities vulnerable to human trafficking with IT skills necessary to explore sustainable livelihood options
Under its Project Jyoti program, Microsoft Corporation India announced a grant of approximately Rs 2.2 crore to Child and Police Project (CAP), a Hyderabad-based NGO, to provide IT skills training to victims of human trafficking as well as vulnerable communities at risk of trafficking.
CAP, along with Delhi-based Prayas and other NGO partners, will engage with these communities to set up a network of 95 Community Technology Learning Centers (CTLCs) across key urban and semi-urban centers in India. The CTLCs will also be located in strategic locations in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Vietnam.
Through this program Microsoft aims to extend the benefits of IT to 38,590 people over the next three years. Additionally with support from the QUEST Alliance, CAP's well-proven life skills training curriculum will be digitized to ensure wider distribution. Furthermore under the project, training will be provided to cyber café owners to ensure online safety of children and safe Internet usage.
Elaborating on this partnership, Neelam Dhawan, MD, Microsoft Corporation India said, "At Microsoft we are committed to extend the benefits of technology to the grass root level and thereby help build a digitally inclusive India. Our special focus is on the underserved vast majority which risks being on the fringes in terms of IT access. In this context, we are very happy to engage with CAP for enabling IT empowerment of victims of human trafficking. We are confident this skills enhancement will be vital in equipping these individuals to explore sustainable livelihood options."
Speaking on the occasion Nalini Gangadharan, Chairperson, CAP, said "At CAP we strongly believe that economic development and providing the right avenues for employment can help in reducing the risk of human trafficking. The government and voluntary organizations alone cannot provide such opportunities to the underserved sections of the community. It is excellent that companies like Microsoft are coming forward to provide such avenues for growth and development. We look forward to our association with Microsoft in reducing the growth of trafficking in India and the adjoining regions."
Date: 1 June 2006
Source: Cybermedia News
Source URL: http://www.dqchannels.com/content/reselleralert/106060106.asp
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Two Years Into Sex Slavery, 9 Nepali Minors Finally Get Freedom
Officials in the Indian capital have started preparations to repatriate nine Nepali minor girls, who were sold into prostitution at Delhi's notorious red light district nearly two years ago but rescued early this week in a surprise police raid.
The girls between 15 to 19 years of age were rescued by the Delhi Police, who took action after local non-governmental organizations put pressure on them, according to government and NGO officials working to repatriate them.
Most of the girls -- "of ethnic backgrounds" -- hail from Sindhupalchok and Nuwakot districts, north of Kathmandu valley. They are currently receiving shelter at Indian government's Child Welfare Committee-run shelter home at Hari Nagar in South Delhi district.
Tricked into sex trade
The girls are still in a state of trauma. At the shelter called Nirmal Chhaya Complex, they are receiving regular counseling. It's still unclear whether they have contracted HIV or other sexually transmitted diseased. Understandably, they are not too keen on being interviewed by the media.
They told rescuers they were tricked into the flesh trade by their friends and relatives, who brought them to the Indian capital separately around two years ago. That has been the common trend often reported in the media in the past decade.
Although they were promised "decent jobs", they had been leading the "hellish life" at the dingy brothels, said an official involved in the rescue and repatriation. Located in an older part of Delhi, the red light district, G.B. Road, has been notorious for its crumbling, old buildings -- and in them, the noisy, littered, stinking and unhygienic living conditions.
With funds from the Indian government, Delhi-based NGO, STOP (Stop Oppression of Children and Women) will soon repatriate them back to Kathmandu, where they are likely to be handed over to Maiti Nepal, the official said. For the last few years, STOP has been actively involved in rescuing and repatriating -- by buying air tickets -- Nepali minors sold into prostitution in and around the Indian capital.
Embassy without funds
Although India is home to millions of migrant Nepali workers thanks to the open border, officials at the Royal Nepalese Embassy here privately concede that the mission -- Nepal's biggest and oldest so far -- does not have "enough funds and resources" to foot the bill of repatriation of the citizens in dire straits like the nine girls.
Like other cities in India such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune, "fair-complexioned" Nepali girls are the main attraction for the clients visiting the brothels at the red light districts in major Indian cities, said Rishi Kant, a coordinator of non-profit organization, Shakti Vahini.
Demand high as ever
In India's sex-trade markets, "a human trader is paid up to IRs 200,000 for one single fair-looking Nepali girl these days," he said, adding, "So the demand for them is high here as ever. They are extremely vulnerable to trafficking for sex-trade across India."
According to a 15-year-old estimation, nearly 200,000 Nepali girls and women were involved in sex-trade in different cities across India in the early 1990s.
Fresh data isn't available to suggest how many Nepali girls have been forced into prostitution in India. But according NGOs, nearly 12,000 are trafficked into India every year for prostitution. That trend shot up after the conflict situation in Nepal worsened in recent years.
Recent years has also seen girls and women from the conflict-infested mid- and far-western hills of Nepal -- often involuntarily and sometimes voluntarily too -- landing up in the sex-trade markets of India, according to activists working to check the illegal trade.
Author - Surendra Phuyal
Date: 19 May 2006
Source: ekantipur.com
Source URL: http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=73874
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Human Trafficking in the Northeast Fuelling HIV/AIDS - Report
Images of guns, drugs and rebels have long defined India's troubled northeast. Now, a study across eight states in this resource-rich, infrastructure-poor, conflict-scarred region seeks to highlight a new worry: the rising tide of human trafficking - mostly women and girls - and its potential for hastening the spread of HIV/AIDS.
India's northeast is home to 200 of the 430 odd tribal groups in the country. The region is also socially and culturally distinct from mainstream India. Along with Kerala, this pocket is the bastion of Christianity in the country.
The seven-month long study carried out by the Nedan Foundation, an Indian NGO working in the largely isolated region, was sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is expected to be released soon.
"Poverty and conflict are fuelling trafficking in the north eastern states. This opens up huge possibilities for the spread of HIV. It is high time programmes address the problems," Digambar Narzary, head of the Nedan Foundation, said.
"We visited 25 relief camps of internally displaced persons [IDPs] in Kokrajhar in Bodoland Territorial Council, Assam [state]. Nearly 200,000 people are living in these camps without proper food. Traffickers carry out recruitment drives in such relief camps. They make false promises of jobs as domestic help in big cities," he said.
An influx of migrants over the past few decades into northeast India from neighbouring areas has sparked ethnic conflicts over land, leading to demands for secession and political autonomy.
Many armed insurgent groups are active in the region and blood feuds are common. In the last few decades, violence has ravaged the states of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. Assam, Manipur and Tripura have also witnessed massive displacement. Economic liberalisation launched in the early 1990s is yet to impact on the northeast in the same way that it has touched other parts of India.
Narzary noted that more than 100 young women had gone missing from the camps over the past two years. Regional analysts fear that such "missing girls" may have been sold into sexual slavery or "temporarily married" – often a euphemism for prostitution.
The fear is that many such girls are extremely susceptible to HIV/AIDS and that many have already been infected. "Young girls and women from poor, desperate families are dually vulnerable: to being trafficked into the sex trade and to catching HIV. But there are no initiatives at present to address these twin problems," Nazary said.
India now holds the second largest absolute number of HIV infections in the world, UNAIDS has said. With more than 5 million people living with HIV in the adult population in 2004, India accounts for almost 13 percent of global HIV prevalence.
Kokrajhar is one of several hot spots in conflict-ridden northeast India. Since the late 1990s, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in the region by regular clashes between various militant and tribal groups.
Estimates of IDPs in northeast India due to prolonged insurgency remain scarce. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said up to 200,000 people were displaced in 2003 in Assam state alone and a further 15,000 in neighbouring Tripur state.
But with little reliable research, the trafficking problem is more widespread in the region than previously thought. Interviews by Nedan's field teams with 60 teenage sex workers at Dimapur, a border town in the north eastern state of Nagaland, revealed that many of the girls had been trafficked from the Naga countryside with false promises of sales jobs in big cities.
Most of the girls were from broken families, having lost one or both parents in the region's protracted ethnic conflicts. Almost all had dropped out of school and faced a bleak future, the foundation discovered.
Sexual transmission is driving India's AIDS epidemic, according to UNAIDS. This route accounts for approximately 86 percent of HIV infections in the world's second most populous country. The remaining 14 percent are through blood transfusion, mother-to-child-transmission and injecting drug use, particularly in north eastern states and some metropolitan cities.
Narzary hopes that the report's key findings, such as these from the eight states, will spur the Indian government, as well as NGOs, to come forward with initiatives to reduce the level of human trafficking in the region and thereby lessen the spread of HIV/AIDS in this troubled part of the country.
Date: 17 May 2006
Source: Reuters Foundation
Source URL: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/7635cd7fedc1efb49d62f6fc074a1682.htm
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How Tech is Driving Trafficking in Women
Mobile phone-cameras, handycams and sedative-laced drinks are beginning to give rise to a new form of trafficking in women in different parts of the country.
From Kashmir to the small taluka township of Bhor in Pune district, about a dozen cases have surfaced in which unsuspecting women were filmed in sexual encounters.
The video clips were then either sold, circulated or used to blackmail them into repeated rapes by different men. As had happened in the recent Srinagar sex abuse case, at Bhor and in the neighbouring Ahmednagar district, two minors and two other women were sexually exploited by a ring of men.
What is shockingly similar in both the cases are allegations that the victims were drugged, filmed and then blackmailed into sexual exploitation.
In most cases, the women suffered silently out of fear that the scam, if exposed, could destroy their own future and that of their families.
"The misuse of mobile phone cameras and handycams to sexually exploit women has been rising steadily and we NGOs feel that this has led to a technology-driven trafficking in women," Stree Adhar Kendra president Neelam Gorhe, MLC, told TOI on Thursday.
In the Bhor case, which surfaced on Wednesday, a 22-year-old woman was taken to a lodge by an acquaintance on the pretext of being introduced to some influential people who could help her get a government job.
There, she was allegedly sedated through a laced drink, sexually exploited and filmed. While this happened in January, the sordid saga of blackmailing and repeated rape continued over the next fourfive months till the racket was busted by the Pune police and nine men were arrested.
In Ahmednagar, the CID arrested 12 men in connection with the chainrape of two minor girls from poor families. That case was brought to light by Ahmednagar NGOs Childline and Snehalaya after they pursued a "missing" complaint lodged by the parents.
"Our investigations led to people who were known in the Ahmednagar redlight area as traffickers in women. In this case too, some form of filming was done to trap the girls and keep them quiet," Snehalaya's honorary director, Girish Kulkarni, told TOI.
Two months ago, in Aurangabad, two youths were arrested and charged with filming and circulating an oral sex MMS featuring their female classmate.
The traumatised girl from the northeast was forced to discontinue her studies and rush back home. Last year, Pune was rocked when secret webcams were discovered in rented rooms occupied by college girls. In 2003, a web camera was found in the women's changing room in a public swimming pool.
Author - Abhay Vaidya
Date: 12 May 2006
Source: The Times of India, Pune
Source URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1526709.cms
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Gender-Based Violence and the Culture of Silence
Gender-based violence is worldwide, differing only in scope from one society to another. Much of this violence is inflicted on girls and women by husbands, fathers or other male relatives. The home can be one of the most dangerous places for a woman to be in. Domestic violence exists in a ?culture of silence? and denial, and of denial of the seriousness of the health consequences of abuse at every level of society. The fact that domestic violence against girls and women has long been considered a ?private? affair has contributed to the severe gap in public health policy-making and the lack of appropriate programmes.
Discrimination
Girls and women face systematic discrimination from entrenched power relations that perpetuate the almost universal subordination of females. This leaves them highly vulnerable to being harmed physically, sexually or psychologically by the men in their families and communities.
Gender-based violence is violence involving men and women, in which the female is usually the victim, and which is derived from unequal power relationships between men and women. Violence is directed specifically against a woman because she is a woman, or affects women disproportionately. It includes, but is not limited to, physical, sexual and psychological harm. It could be intimidation, suffering, coercion, and/or deprivation of liberty within the family, or within the general community).
Violence is an obstacle for the accomplishment of objectives of equality, development and peace. It violates and damages human personal liberty. In reality, the patriarchal view of the society gives men higher value than women. It is taken for granted that men should dominate women in politics, economics and in the social world including family life and interpersonal relationship. This is still seen as a normal and natural practice in various aspects of modern society in many parts of the world.
Trafficking of Nepalese children for commercial sexual exploitation is a serious problem in Nepal. It is estimated that on average, 5,000-7,000 Nepalese women and girls are sold to Indian brothels every year. Trafficked women and children suffer from depression, frustration as well as physical and mental torture.
Under a broad definition, violence against women includes: sexual abuse and torture, women trafficking, rape, incest, sexual harassment, dowry and bride price, rough treatment of women, marital rape, violence, mental torment, verbal abuse and gender discrimination.
In essence, more or less all girls as they grow into womanhood are taught fear. Fear is the form in which the female internalises both loyalty and the double standard. Her fear results in a passive rather than active response to male aggression. She may become paralysed with fear.
In order to confront violence in our patriarchal society, women must use their own strength as an energy source for reform. In all societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture. Violence against women is proving to be an effective weapon in the hands of men through which they can make use of women and establish their domination.
Psychologists from the developed and developing countries have vividly remarked that violence raises diversified problems like anxiety, depression and sleeplessness. Also it can generate an extreme state of dependency as well as severe symptoms that comprise post-traumatic stress disorders experienced by victims of violence as well as by victims of rape.
Violence is unnoticed and perpetuated. It is a dangerous but pervasive instrument of domination and demolition for the most vulnerable members of the family, children and women. Stopping violence against woman is not just a matter of punishing individual acts. The issue is to change the perception - so deep seated as to be often unconscious - that women are basically of less value than men.
By and large, violence is the result of economical, psychological, social, cultural, environmental and educational problems in society. Domestic violence raises devastating emotional and physical wounds - and sometimes it kills. Although men are also victims of domestic violence, women are 10 times more likely than men to be victimised.
Abolition of violence is not a trouble-free and one-day work. As a result, combined efforts are needed. A grassroots effort at awareness generation is of utmost importance to nip the problem in the bud. Mass media - both audio-visual and print materials ? plays a very vital role to keep the public informed about the magnitude and proportion of this shameful and dehumanising dilemma.
Gender-based violence is recognised today as a major issue on the international human rights agenda. This violence includes a wide-range of violations of women?s human rights, including trafficking in women and girls, rape, wife abuse, sexual abuse of children, and harmful cultural practices and traditions that irreparably damage girls? and women?s reproductive and sexual health.
Although reliable data on the incidence of gender-based violence are scarce, especially for developing countries, there is an increasing body of knowledge indicating that it is widespread and common. It occurs in a broad context of gender-based discrimination with regard to access to education, resources and decision-making power in private and public life.
Sexual harassment at workplace
Sexual harassment at the workplace is an age-old problem, yet very few studies have been conducted on this issue in Nepal. The Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) and the International Labour Organisation conducted a collaborative research study on sexual harassment in the workplace in Nepal. According to results of this study, sexual harassment is prevalent in workplaces across the spectrum, from government and NGO offices to private business. There is no specific law in Nepal against sexual harassment.
In conclusion, education for girls is the single greatest initiation of human development. It imparts girls with the knowledge, skills and confidence needed by them to make the most of their abilities, to lead healthier lives and to protect themselves from discrimination and violence.
Date: 12 May 2006
Source: The Rising Nepal, Kathmandu
Source URL: http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=322
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