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KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY DR. JUSTICE A.S.
ANAND AT NATIONAL SEMINAR ON TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS ON 27 OCTOBER 2005
AT INDIA HABITAT CENTRE Trafficking in human beings has, unfortunately, become an organized transnational crime generating unaccountable profits of more than 8 to 10 billion dollars annually. It is acquiring alarming proportions. Trafficking in human beings is not new. What is new, are the appalling new dimensions it has acquired in recent decades and reached an epidemic proportion. No country is immune. As a form of organized crime, trafficking threatens sustainable development and the Rule of Law because illicit profits may be used for corruption, other criminal activities and in some cases even for promoting terrorism. A National Seminar like the present one is an occasion for introspection and self-assessment. I am sure the Seminar will provide the participants with an opportunity of a healthy discussion and enable them to identify gaps in the existing domestic laws on trafficking and related policies. Till a few years back trafficking has been used interchangeably with “prostitution” or “commercial sex”. However, trafficking in human beings is not confined only to sexual exploitation. Trafficking in other forms also exists, as for example, children are trafficked to serve as domestic servants, as labour in hazardous industries and sweetmeat shops etc., for begging, for public sports, such as use of male children between the ages 5-10 years as camel jockeys in camel races, bonded labour, smuggling and the like. The only common factor is the exploitation of the marginalized sections by the traffickers. The traffickers employ a spectrum of methods to enslave trafficked persons. These are: • Kidnapping; • Abduction; • Rape and blackmail; • Material inducements to parents; relatives, guardians so as to sell female family members; • Deceit in the form of promises of well-paying, legitimate jobs, better quality of life, and more prosperous status; • Luring by declaration of love and fake marriage. • Employment prospects. Women and children are the most vulnerable amongst the human beings, particularly those from marginalized sections of society and those from poor economic strata. Cascading discrimination, within and outside the household, lack of education, nutrition, health, skills and employment, apart from domestic and societal violence make them an easy prey for the traffickers. Therefore, they need special attention, more so, because nearly half of the world population compromises of women and 1/3rd are children. Statistics tell us that more girls, than boys are even withdrawn from schools to assist in household management, family care along with their mothers and sometimes even to augment family income, reducing their opportunity for better education and jobs which adversely affects their right to development – a recognized basic right. Trafficking in women and children is a gross violation of human rights. It is the worst form of modern day slavery. Sexual exploitation of women and girls is an obscene threat to the dignity of a female. It indeed is a de-humanising concept to treat human being as commodities or chattels. The problem of trafficking in women and children is both real and present. One of the reasons why it has continued to flourish is the efforts of the authorities to brush the problem under the carpet and not even admit of its existence. Unless we identify a problem, there is no way that steps can be taken to tackle the same. Historically efforts to combat trafficking have ended up justifying the repressive measures against victims of sexual exploitation – prostitutes – only in the name of their protection. These efforts have neither ended prostitution nor improved their lot. Anti-trafficking measures must take into account the role of the traffickers and steps to protect the rights of the sexually exploited. With a view to meet the problem a gender and rights based perspective is necessary. The primary objective should be to help the victims recover from serious human rights violations and ensure that they are not subjected to further harm or harassment. Given the clandestine nature of trafficking accurate data has always been difficult to obtain and that has been an important constraint in developing a sustainable and comprehensive strategy to combat trafficking. It was to fill this gap and collect reliable data that the National Human Rights Commission launched an Action Research on Trafficking in women and children with the involvement of Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India and UNIFEM. The research was a multi-centric study carried out in 13 States and Union Territories under the academic insight of a reputed Research Institute – The Institute of Social Sciences. The objective of the research was to study the trends and dimensions of trafficking in order to identify the vulnerability factors and issues which could facilitate the response system to develop and implement policies and programmes aimed at combating trafficking. The Action Research brought to the forefront many depressing but significant findings. Indeed the research did not answer all the questions or concerns and dilemmas but it made an attempt to unravel some of the key issues and posed important questions for those who need further study and exploration. The research put forward several recommendations and suggestions to address the problem. Permit me to just point out some of the findings of the field research to appreciate how serious the problem is. During the survey, interviews of over 4000 persons were conducted of different stake-holders. Amongst the survivors of commercial sexual exploitation it was revealed that: • 51.7% were from deprived sections of society. • The age at first sexual experience of 41.35% was between 7-15 years. • The age of entry into commercial sexual exploitation before they reach the age of 18 was 61.7% with 45.6% of those who had been sexually exploited even before they reached the age of 16. From amongst the clients interviewed it was found that: • 10% were student and 82.3% were married below the age of 35 years, having wives at home; • Only 67.9% used condoms and 32.1% did not go for any safe sex measures either; • 82.6% of those interviewed stated that they had never encountered police in brothels, which just explains the poor law enforcement against abusers. The study also brought out some more facts and figures regarding trafficking. It illustrated a strong linkage between trafficking and migration. It exposed an added dimension in trafficking because of unconventional means of commercial sexual exploitation like sex tourism and exploitation through massage parlours etc. The data collected by interviewing 852 police officials out of the total 4006 persons revealed some shocking facts: • 40% of the police officials were not aware of the issue of trafficking. • 54.8% police officials gave no priority at all to trafficking while 25.3% gave it low priority. • The reporting on trafficking was only of 40% cases and the 60% of the cases go unreported. • Only 6.6% of the police officials had undergone some sort of training/ sensitization on the issue. To deal with the issue of trafficking amongst women and children a strategy of 4 R’s is needed. • Raid • Rescue • Rehabilitation • Re-integration Raid and Rescue – There is need to associate NGOs and other credible persons. While conducting raid and effecting recovery, there is need to wean away the rescue victims from those who lured or misled them. It is necessary to have temporary shelters and short stay homes for the rescued females. The effort in these homes should be to help restore the dignity of the victims and facilitate them to come to terms with their rights. Steps for counseling and providing vocational training would be useful. We need to have clear cut policies and political Will to tackle the problem. There is also great need for protecting the privacy and identity of the victims. No amount of legislation or penal provisions can be effective unless there is sensitization of law enforcement officials, police officials, judicial officers and other stake-holders. Societal indifference needs to be given a go-by. It should not be considered to be somebody-else’s problem. Rehabilitation and Reintegration - The aspect of rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking is challenging task in anti-trafficking measures. The research study has brought out the fact that there is a huge shortage of manpower, infrastructure and resources in most of the existing homes. These need to be replenished and augmented depending on the need. The Superintendents of these homes need to be given powers to cope with emergencies, especially when large number of rescued persons are brought to these homes without advance notice. Police officials have stated that they have to refrain from rescue operations for want of adequate rescue homes where the persons could be lodged. This definitely calls for setting up of such homes wherever required. Rehabilitation measures need to be carried out keeping in view the best interests of the trafficked victim/survivor. The Department of Women and Child Development’s National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children has specifically made some provisions for rehabilitation. This needs to be looked into in the light of the findings of the research. I would like to emphasise that once the victim is rehabilitated, it is not in her interest to recall her to the court of law for any purpose including giving of evidence, as she is then compelled to revisit the trauma and indignity. It would be better, therefore, to take into consideration the statement given by her before repatriation and act accordingly. If, however, her recall is necessitated, it should be done in such a way that it causes least harm to her. This is because dislocating her from the rehabilitated ambience causes severe displacement. Reintegration is one of the most difficult stages within the anti-trafficking process, especially in the case of girls returning from the sex industry. We all know that incidence of reintegration at the family and community levels has been low and painstakingly slow. Being in long-term process, it must be planned, taking into account the specific short and long-term needs of individual victims. And the overall aim should be to protect the rights of the victims. In accordance with the mandate of the Constitution of India prohibiting trafficking, the Government of India enacted the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956, which criminalizes trafficking. The Act does not prohibit prostitution, but it does prohibit prostitution related activities such as keeping a brothel or allowing premises to be used as a brothel, living on the earnings of prostitution and procuring, inducting or taking a woman or a girl for purpose of prostitution. The Act was amended in 1986 and renamed as the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA). The ITPA introduced several initiatives including setting-up of Protective Homes to provide protection and services to victims and education and vocational training to at-risk groups. The Act also provides for the appointment of Special Police Officers assisted by women police to investigate trafficking offences, and for the setting up of Special Courts. The implementation of the ITPA is hampered by the existence of certain Sections, such as, Sections 8 and 20, which are the most commonly invoked Sections for any enforcement being done under the ITPA. These Sections result in prosecution of the trafficked persons and result in further victimization of the victims / trafficked persons. It has been found that instead of prosecuting the traffickers under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6, most prosecutions take place under Section 8 of the ITPA. It is thus seen that there are enormous gaps in the ITPA, which need to be addressed to. At this seminar you can consider what amendments are required to be made so that focus is more on the traffickers including enhancement of penalties against them. Dialogue between the judicial officers, police officers, Government officials and representatives of non-governmental organization at this seminar would be a useful exercise to arrive at some meaningful recommendations. Having said all this let me be candid about our role. Unless we stop commoditisation of human beings – unless we stop treating them as chattels, fit for trade only, no amount of amendments of law or strict enforcement would help. The society needs to change its mind-set. It must respond to the problem as its own and not somebody-else’s baby. The amendment of the law would help indeed to book those who continue to trade in human beings but for that the legislation may provide the basis but not the answer. It would require great sensitization on the part of law enforcement agencies, the police and the judiciary as well as the civil society. Unless each one of them becomes sensitive to the whole issue, it would not be possible to tackle this growing organized crime which is threatening the very fabric of the society. It is late but not too late. We can and we must wake up and rise to the occasion. Let us commit ourselves to tackle the issue and not to brush it under the carpet. With these remarks, I hope the participants in the Seminar would examine and review the implementation of laws and policies related to trafficking and that the discussions would be meaningful and the results fruitful. Workshops are often held to be forgotten. I hope and wish it would not be so in this case. I wish the Seminar every success. |
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