CSS Forums - Women Trafficking

[COLOR="Red"][B][COLOR="Black"][U]WOMEN TRAFFICKING[/U] [/COLOR][/B][/COLOR]

Women’s trafficking means the smuggling of women. It has become an enormous global problem and is listed among the most prevalent crimes in the world. The badly hit area of this epidemic is South Asia, which is one of the world’s most populous regions with one quarter tof the planet’s population. Due to geographical proximity and relatively open borders, trafficking in women is more pronounced here. India stands out as being on the receiving end of the trade.

Corruption is a common phenomenon in human practice; human trafficking as presently practiced , is a recent addition to the dictionary of global woes. According to Titi Atiku Abubakar, Wife of Nigeria’s Vice-President, “For those of you who think it cannot happen to you, I want to let you that the dragnet of the traffickers is so wide that only God knows who is safe.”

Women trafficking is an organized business just as the transatlantic slave trade was with various linkages spread around the globe. Today, not only young damsels are trafficked but married women, seeking greener pastures abroad also fall prey to this evil. It can safely be argued that in this age of jet-planes, cellular phone, and the Internet, there are faster means of dealing in human commodities than before. The commercialization of humanity is akin to modern day slavery. In times past , slavery and slave trade existed in various forms: people became slaves as war captives, criminals were punished with enslavement , and in some cases individuals in impoverished circumstances sold their relatives. However, in whatever form it took, it was quickly realized by most civilizations that the practice was the basest of crimes against humanity. One would have thought that, with the immense improvements in the understanding of human nature and the environment, any form of exploitation that looks like slavery would be abhorred automatically. Alas! This is not the case, as human beings especially, the females are today, prized as commodities and exchanged for money like any other article in the market. In a Protocol on Trafficking, attached to the UN Convention Against Organized Crime, signed by 80 countries and the European Union in December 2000, is generally accepted that human trafficking, whether in women or as child labor, constitutes a fundamental violation of the human rights.

Trafficking takes place at national and international levels as a result of both traditional and modern practices. Modern practice frequently involves women traffickers who draw girls into the process through abduction, rape, fake marriages, deceit, and parental consent. Traffickers and pimps are not necessarily strangers to victims – they may be family members, neighbors, and boy friends. Corrupt members of law enforcement and government agencies have also have also had roles in trafficking operations. They are organized and have an extensive network, which allows them to get away with the heinous deed. After picking up their charge they take them to the main city and then to some other country.

Trafficking of women, to whom prostitution is directly related, is considered a social crime. Major routes are known to exist between Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and different parts of India, form where women are transported to Bombay. Trafficking also takes place to Gulf States from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Maldives, and Nepalese girls might also find their way to Hong Kong, Thailand, the USA, Australia, and Europe. Although it is extremely difficult to take data on trafficking it is estimated that approximately 172,0007 Nepalese girls are working as prostitutes or are in business, relating to sex in different establishments in India. Varied sources indicate that between 5000 and 7000 Nepalese girls are sold to India on a yearly basis. Surveys of trafficking of girls carried out by 17 Nepalese newspapers in 1993 revealed 70 cases in just one year, where the promoters were caught red handed. However, it is not often that criminals are caught or brought to trial, as law enforcement is weak.

Twenty years ago, Thailand was in the forefront as a sending country for trafficked women. It has now become a destination country, receiving women from Russia, Yugoslavia, Poland and South America. Women from Thailand are trafficked particularly to the Netherlands, Japan, India, Malaysia and nations of the Middle East. Most of the internally trafficked girls are sent to closed brothels, which operate under prison-like conditions.[Anjira Assavanonda, “Drugs and prostitution flourish in quiet village, “Bangkok Post, 3 January 1998]

The economic factor, while not most important, is considered to be important in influencing trafficking. Victims of trafficking from other nations are easily deceived or lured because they face poverty, unemployment, broken families and unstable governments in their own countries.

Despite this staggering reality, governments around the world are only beginning to address the problem. In most countries, traffickers operate with almost total impunity even in the most severe cases. Inaction on the part of authorities is compounded by a lack of awareness in the general public. The traditional networks involved in trafficking have become more complex and organized through gangs and syndicates. These operate at three levels: the village or rural level centers of power at the national level, and the regional or international “flesh trade market”. The different levels are all inter-linked and function with the collusion, if not the collaboration, of politician, public figures, police and local authorities. The political stance lies at the crux of the problem. A country without the political commitment cannot protect the moral integrity of citizens.

The police, who are responsible for investigating the matter thoroughly before issuing the charges, could question the trafficked victims as witnesses against the agents to help prosecute them under various provisions of the Hudood Ordinance, including (sec-10)-“rape liable to tazir”, and others that may be applicable. This , however, is never done. However some police officials are on the payroll of the agents, or because of ill-intentions, fear or disinterest, they lack the will to enforce the law in the larger interest of justice.

[I][B]Some Specific Recommendations [/B][/I]

To encourage coordinated social movements against the trafficking of women and prosecution.

Promote the development of regional communications networks, which will facilitate the monitoring, and control of illegal activities.

Enacting a comprehensive law that will cover most aspects of human trafficking, specific severe punishment for traffickers, rehabilitate victims, and give law enforcement officers adequate investigate tools.

Increasing security at border posts, and adequately equipping law enforcement agencies to check the schemes of the traffickers.

Public enlightenment through regular workshops, seminars, conferences, and through print and electronic media. Schools, religious bodies, traditional institutions, and the family should be sensitized on the evils of this abominable trade.

Discouraging excessive materialism of ‘get rich quick’

Ensuring proper coordination of efforts between the police and other state security services.

The US government especially, has been in the forefront of seeking remedies to this crime. Their framework for attacking the problem includes: prevention through education, increasing public awareness about economic alternatives, protection for victims of trafficking and prosecution of traffickers. In the year 2000, for example, the U.S Congress enacted the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, requiring the secretary of state to report Congress each year on severe forms of trafficking around the world, and to render assistance to governments combating human trafficking on their own soils.

I think it is time for the whole international community to wake up before the whole world will die of mistreatment of women everywhere.