An HIV expert has been jailed for keeping a 21-year-old woman as a slave.
Scientist Rebecca Balira, 45, was convicted at Southwark crown court, south London, for keeping Methodia Mathias in servitude. She was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and ordered to pay Mathias £3,000 in compensation.
Mathias, 21, claimed Balira brought her from her native Tanzania. The court heard that Mathias had stayed with Balira's relatives in Dar es Salaam and they paid for her UK visa applications, the third of which was successful, as well as a return flight to Britain. But she claimed that she was kept as a slave in a flat in Thamesmead, south-east London after coming to the UK.
She said on Balira got so angry one occasion that she cut her bra with a pair of scissors and injured her in the process.
Balira maintained that she only pulled on Mathias's bra, causing it to snap, during a row over money missing from a coin box in September last year.
The court heard that Mathias's friend, Beatrice Kosgei, sought help from the charity Kalayaan, which represents migrant domestic workers.
Kate Roberts, from Kalayaan, said: "We are obviously pleased in cases where there is justice for domestic workers ... But cases such as these do highlight our concerns that instances of such abuse will increase if the protections that are currently maintained within the migration domestic worker visa are removed."
Prosecutor Caroline Haughey said Balira had imposed "conditions that ... amounted to slavery and servitude". Balira was cleared of trafficking a person into the UK for exploitation and of common assault.
Showing posts with label Just to expand a bit. Show all posts
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Tamil Nadu has highest human trafficking cases
New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS) Tamil Nadu tops the states in cases of human trafficking with over 700 cases registered, Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha Wednesday.
A total of 716 cases of human trafficking were registered in Tamil Nadu, followed by 344 cases in Maharashtra in 2009, said Singh.
He added that as per inputs provided by the National Crime Records Bureau, the total numbers of cases registered under the category of crimes categorised as human trafficking were 2,848.
Friday, August 12, 2011
HIV expert jailed for keeping woman as slave in London flat
Rebecca Balira sentenced to six months and ordered to pay 21-year-old Methodia Mathias £3,000 in compensation
Rebecca Balira was convicted at Southwark crown court of keeping Tanzanian woman Methodia Mathias as a slave. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian
Friday, August 5, 2011
Girl sold for Rs 20,000 rescued
Berhampur: A minor girl of Adaba in Gajapati district, who was sold by her uncle at Mumbai for Rs 20,000, was rescued and brought back here on Wednesday.
The accused identified as Mutikka Bero, was working in Mumbai. Last year, he visited Adaba and approached parents of the girl to take the latter to Mumbai promising them to provide her good education. As the girl was studying well, her parents agreed to Mutikka’s proposal.
However, after they left for Mumbai, Mutikka’s did not contact the girl’s family for several months. When efforts to contact him proved futile, the girl’s parents lodged a complaint with Adaba police.
The police allegedly just registered a diary. The parents later came to know that their daughter had been sold off by Mutikka for Rs 20,000 in Mumbai. The harassed parents then approached the Pramila Devi Mahila Kalyan Sangha, a voluntary organisation working in Berhampur. Workers of the Sangha then approached the Gajapati SP who directed a senior police official to accompany Sangha workers and the girl’s parents to Mumbai to rescue the girl.
At Mumbai, they found the girl working as a domestic help in the house of one Nikhil Seth in Sai Baba Nagar under Bareli police limits. The Bareli police was informed and the girl was rescued. Bareli police also arrested Seth for employing a minor. The investigators also collected Rs 11,000 towards compensation for engaging the girl from Seth.
After completion of the investigation, the girl was brought here on Wednesday morning.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Nepali girls rescued from traffickers´ clutches
NEW DELHI: Had help not arrived on time, eight Nepali women would have fallen prey to traffickers, who were plotting to send them to Jordan on forged papers.
The women, most of them in their 20s, were rescued from a hotel in Pahadganj on Thursday evening after Help Nepali Mission informed Delhi Police that a man was allegedly trying to traffic them to Jordan.
The mission had received information about the suspected trafficker from the hotel itself.
Those rescued are: Bishnu Maya Magar; Anita Rana and Basanta Gandharba of Pyuthan; Khushi Maya Tamang of Kavre; Ramita Tamang of Jhapa and Ashma Rai of Okhaldhunga. The other two women are: Rubi (name changed on request) and Sabi (name changed on request), who hail from the central and eastern regions, respectively.
Khushi Maya, Ramita and Ashma said they have previously worked in Gulf countries and can communicate in Arabic. Samir Miya of Pyuthan had brought the women to the Indian capital and introduced them to Fayes Nassar Sabah Abuelliz, a Jordanian national in his early 50s, at the hotel.
Miya and his friends Birendra Khanal, Krishna Marshal and Tej Bahadur Shrestha, who were based in Nepal, had told the women that they would be working as housemaids with monthly salary of Rs 15,000-18,000.
Abuelliz had made a move on one of the women, according to the victims.
He made another from the group wash his briefs.
“If his intentions were good, he would not have done all that,” Sabi reasoned.
Miya had told us we would be directly flying to Jordan from New Delhi, the women said. But that was not to be as Abuelliz had other plans.
“Every day, the Jordanian would tell us that we would be leaving in a day or two,” Sabi added. The women could not know about the status of their visas as their passports were with Abuelliz.
It was only after the raid that Rubi came to know that her agents had been trying to fly her to Jordan on a forged passport.
The Nepali Embassy will soon repatriate the girls to Nepal. Himalayan Times
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Cops to form anti-human trafficking cells in week
NEW DELHI: The commissioner of police on Monday issued orders to form a task force of anti-human trafficking cells in each of the 11 districts of Delhi Police. The cells are to be formed within seven days — by April 18 — and the strength of each cell in each district will depend on the pending cases of missing children. The staff selected for posting will be briefed on how to treat the victims with sensitivity. Those who have undergone training as juvenile welfare officers will be given preference.
On March 16, the high court had passed a direction for creation of a task force to investigate cases of missing children aged between three and eight years and could not be traced within six months. The court had asked the commissioner of police to select a team of officers to sensitize the ground-level police officers to the requirements of such cases. The deputy commissioner of police will oversee the investigations.
Pending cases where children between the ages of three and eight years have not been rescued or found even after six months will be transferred to this cell. "Existing cases, where the child has not been traced even after six months, will be directly transferred to this cell. New cases will first be handled by the local police station and if they are not solved within six months, they will be transferred to this cell," said a senior police officer.
Additional CsP/DCsP of all the districts will form the anti-human trafficking cell in their districts. The cell in each district will be headed by an inspector. The additional DCP-II will closely supervise the investigation of cases and will be assisted by the ACP (District Investigation Unit).
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Fed hormones, kids pushed into sex trade
n a sordid tale of man’s lust for lucre, members of the Banchra tribe here have taken to abducting young girls, including one-year-olds, pumping them with hormones and steroids to hasten their physical growth and selling them into the flesh trade. The police here have recently rescued 21 abducted g
irls — aged between 1 and 8 — from brothels in a series of raids.
The Banchra community used to push their young girls into prostitution when they attained puberty. “But with a dwindling female population in the community, the men have resorted to abducting and drugging minor girls from surrounding areas,” said Mandsaur superintendent of police GK Pathak.
“Administering drugs and growth hormones to pre-adolescent girls is a new and disturbing trend,” he said.
Some of the 34 men arrested in the raids admitted to giving estrogen (a hormone) and steroids such pednisolone dexona and kenacort dexona to their victims at frequent intervals.
Apart from the trauma of 'growing' fast in a hellish environment, the impact of the drugs can be devastating on the young ones.
“Though growth hormones such as estrogen advance breast growth and puberty within three to six months, it's given in tiny doses to young women (who need them),” said a senior endocrinologist at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
“In girls as young as one year of age, it would serve no purpose. Rather, it would have harmful effects such as abnormal hair growth in the form of a beard or moustache, and a lot of unnecessary weight,” the specialist said.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Two youths held for abducting 3 minors
CHENNAI: Two persons were arrested on Thursday on charges of kidnapping three school girls, including the daughter of a policewoman. The girls were promised an excursion to Puducherry and kidnapped but were abandoned at the Koyambedu bus terminus from where they were rescued.
The arrested duo — photo studio employee S Karthik (20), and call centre worker V Seenu alias Srinivasan (23) — from Triplicane were later remanded in judicial custody.
The police tracked down the mobile phone number of one of the girls, the daughter of sub-inspector of the Tamil Nadu Police Academy. "After the location of the mobile phone tower was found to be in Puducherry, we found she spoke to Abbas of Puducherry. Abbas told Puduchery police he had received a call from a girl saying she and two other girls were coming to Puducherry and wanted accommodation. Abbas said he had rejected the request and switched off his phone," a police officer said.
The police said the three class 6 students of a private school in Kilpauk were residents on the hostel there and got to know Karthik and Seenu through one of their hostel mates. On Tuesday, Karthik and Seenu told the girls of their trip to Puducherry. One of the girls, who knew Abbas, said she would arrange the accommodation. The girls waited for Karthik and Seenu in Purasawalkam.
Then Karthik and Seenu came to know that the police were after them and abandoned the three girls at the CMBT.
The Times of India
The arrested duo — photo studio employee S Karthik (20), and call centre worker V Seenu alias Srinivasan (23) — from Triplicane were later remanded in judicial custody.
The police tracked down the mobile phone number of one of the girls, the daughter of sub-inspector of the Tamil Nadu Police Academy. "After the location of the mobile phone tower was found to be in Puducherry, we found she spoke to Abbas of Puducherry. Abbas told Puduchery police he had received a call from a girl saying she and two other girls were coming to Puducherry and wanted accommodation. Abbas said he had rejected the request and switched off his phone," a police officer said.
The police said the three class 6 students of a private school in Kilpauk were residents on the hostel there and got to know Karthik and Seenu through one of their hostel mates. On Tuesday, Karthik and Seenu told the girls of their trip to Puducherry. One of the girls, who knew Abbas, said she would arrange the accommodation. The girls waited for Karthik and Seenu in Purasawalkam.
Then Karthik and Seenu came to know that the police were after them and abandoned the three girls at the CMBT.
The Times of India
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Police finally files FIR in Vasai trafficking case
After a long battle with the police, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has succeeded in filing a first information report (FIR) against a lady allegedly involved in human trafficking.
Almost after a two-month-long follow-up on Tuesday, Manikpur police station filed the FIR against the woman under the IPC 366 for kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her into marriage.
In January, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) rescued two minors from Vasai as a woman attempted to abduct them. The matter was taken to the Manikpur police station. However, no action was taken against the woman. The CWC urged the police to register a case against the woman and arrest her, but the police did not act on it. On January 18, DNA reported how no action was taken against the Vasai resident.
The CWC did not give up and sent repeated summons to the Manikpur police station. Finally, on Tuesday, the police filed the FIR and informed the CWC. The police wanted the case to be filed at the CST railway police station, because the girls were rescued from there.
According to the CWC, on November 19, 2010, Nisha and Swati (names changed) were found crying at CST station by Bal Prafullata, an NGO.
The girls had run away from their homes (in Ahmedabad and Kolkata) only to come across a woman who promised to help. However, they found something amiss and escaped while they were being brought to Mumbai from Pune. The woman reportedly attempted to get one of the girls married to an old man.
Chandrakant Jadhav, senior police inspector, Manikpur Police station, said, “We filed the FIR against the woman and transferred it to the CST railway police station. We are hopeful of arresting the woman involved in this case.”
Shaila Mhatre, chairperson of CWC, said, “We always face issues regarding jurisdiction. The police usually file a ‘zero’ number FIR and transfer it to the concerned police station. In this case, they did not file the FIR for a long time. It was rather strange.”
DNAINDIA
DNAINDIA
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Darkest Side of Human Trafficking
Many times we hear of human trafficking and to many it means nothing because it does not involve them. To others human trafficking is just another moral dilemma that does not concern them. After all this kind of thing only happen to the poor from the so called “third world countries” who are easy prey to the dogs involved in the practice.
But what is human trafficking?
Human trafficking is the unlawful trading of human beings “for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor”. In reality human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery with more sinister motives and capturing the lowest attribute of the human being.
Most of the trade is carried out in the Western world with their victims coming from poorer nations and involves sexual coercion and exploitation. Most of the victims are lured through the Internet with promises of a better life in the Western world.
Some are lured by the middle men recruited by the perverts to identify those to be exploited. Others particularly children, are kidnapped and stripped of their rights as they are moved away from their homeland and families.
Africans and Asians, where the victims are mainly from, have strong family ties and most of the victims will be lured with the promise that through them their families lives will be made better. Obviously they assume they are coming to do legitimate work.
The Sad story of LolitaOnce they get to the country of destination they are hit with the reality that they are sex slaves and they have no way out. Their passport will be confiscated and they are warned not to talk to anyone. They will be made to do things they never knew existed with no right to say no.
This writer came across the story of a twenty six years old woman named Lolita who is a victim of human trafficking. Lolita’s story is heart rendering and will make you angry, sad, or ashamed to be associated with human beings that do such things to other human beings.
Lolita is from Nigeria and was lured to Europe through the Internet. She claims that the site had ”photos and stories of happy and successful marriages”. She answered a posting and the ”man contacted me and we started communicating via the Internet. He promised me things that no woman would refuse. A dream” and she was lured.
Before living Nigeria, she was asked by her “fiancé” to pass through Benin city, also in Nigeria, to pick up a “ small parcel” . To her surprise the small parcel was actually three boys aged 8-12 years. The whole journey to Europe was suspicious because they left from Ghana where they were provided with Liberian passports.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Rescued minors saved from fake guardians
Three minor girls, who were rescued from a bar in November, were saved from being forced back into the profession after the police caught the bluff of three applicants pretending to be their relatives. The Kashimira police had raided the Amar Palace lodge in Mira Road on November 21 and rescued eight girls from there. The Thane magistrate had sent the girls to the rehabilitation centre at Ulhasnagar. The court had appointed a probation officer under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act to investigate about the age, character and suitability of the parents or guardians to rehabilitate the girls.
“In their statements, the girls said their poverty had forced them into the job,” said Anil Patil, senior inspector, Kashimira police station.
Patil said they rescue around 25 minors per week. “But once they are in rehabilitation centres, we loose track of them. Most of the times, the fake guardians are the owners of the bar where the girls worked,” he said.
On Monday, the girls were presented before the court where five of them were handed over to their parents and genuine guardians. However, three girls were sent back to the rehabilitation centre as the people pretending to be their guardians were caught lying.
“These girls will now be allowed to receive education and trained in their choice of vocational jobs so that they can earn a respectable living,” Patil said.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Fight human trafficking, Suu Kyi urges
New Delhi (Mizzima) – National League for Democracy general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday urged NLD women’s wing members to combat human trafficking.
The message came as Suu Kyi and about 200 from the women’s wing of her party from all states and divisions except Kachin and Karenni met for about three hours at NLD headquarters in Rangoon.
National League for Democracy women’s wing members mark leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s 65th birthday at the NLD head office in Rangoon on June 19, 2010. At a meeting in Rangoon on November 24, NLD women’s leaders warned Suu Kyi over possible assassination. Photo: Mizzima Archive
“Although victims reported their cases to the women rights non-governmental organisations, the results were fruitless. So the NLD has to take up this responsibility,” Rangoon Division NLD women’s wing chief May Win Myint told Mizzima. “Thet Wai, aka Pauk Sa, used to help combat against human trafficking with complete reporting to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).”
“Aung San Suu Kyi urged us to help in combating against human trafficking,” May Win Myint said.
The junta formed the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation (MWAF) in 2004. Also, Burma, along with Laos, Cambodia, China, Thailand and Vietnam, signed the “Commit MoU” in Bangkok on October 29, 2004. It stands for Co-ordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking Memorandum of Understanding.
Despite being party to these efforts, Burmese rights organisations in exile said the junta had failed to effectively protect women, meaning many were trafficked to China, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.
NLD women’s wing leaders including May Hnin Kyi, Hnin Hnin Yu, Khin San Hlaing, Khin Htay Kywe, Lei Lei, Khin Mar Kyi, Aye Aye Mar and Phyu Phyu Thin attended the meeting,
They sought Suu Kyi’s lead in educational development for the new generation to which the Nobel Peace laureate said she would help as much as she could.
The women’s leaders also expressed fears for Suu Kyi’s safety, and told her to take care amid assassination threats. Her father National hero Aung San was assassinated in 1947 by his political rivals just before Burma largely through his work attained independence from Britain.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Umrao Jaan: A Portrait of Human Trafficking of Indian Girl Child
'Agale Janam Mohe, Betiya na kijo'
'In next birth of mine, Oh God, don't bring me as a girl child!'
The Umrao Jaan is a Bollywood film produced by Muzaffar Ali in 1981, which was remake by J. P. Dutta in 2006, is the story of Indian girl child base on Urdu novel 'Umrao Jaan Ada' written in 1905 by Mirza Hadi Ruswa based on the famous Lucknow courtesan.
It is a story of an Indian girl child who laments her agony of life a victim of human trafficking, composed in form of poetry and music with soul gripping lyric 'Agale janam mohe, betiya na kijo,' 'In next birth of mine, Oh God, don't bring me as a girl child'
It is the song of a woman, whose childhood was looted when she was kidnapped by her neighbor Dilwar Khan to revenge her father for testifying in a criminal case which led him imprisoned for several years. She was sold to a brothel at Lucknow at the age of eight, who was latter adopted by a couple to bring her up with same parental care, education, dance, poetry and music, only to fit to charm the wealthy in a famous courtesan of Lucknow.
Ameeran, her parental name changed to earn famed Umrao Jaan (love) from wealthy men, who came to the courtesan, was labelled as 'Bazaar Aurat, a prostitute' In remake version, former Miss Universe and Bollywood Super Star, Aishwarya Rai acted as Umrao Jaan along with Abhishek Bachchan as Nawab Sultan and Sunil Shetty as Faiz Ali.
At the age of 20, when she is fully grown matured, Umrao got the title 'Jaan' after performing a charming courtesan dance and singing at Lucknow, where Umrao got the eyes of wealthy princes, kings, and Nawabs. Nawab Sultan was one among many wealthy men, whose love was stolen by charms of Umrao at first meeting itself. Soon, Umrao got into the net of Sultan, with true passionate romance, not knowing her love for Sultan will be rejected soon. Sultan's father did not want to his family defamed by his son marrying a 'Bazaar Aurat' and disowned him.
When Sultan didn't have a penny after his father disowned him he went to live with his uncle at Grahi. In the absent of Sultan, Umrao catches the eye of a wealthy Faiz Ali, who wanted her at any cost. Faiz Ali turned to be a dacoit and got arrested during a journey to Grahi with Umrao. Sultan heard the news about Faiz Ali and Umrao's coming to Grahi, and questioned Umrao about the suspicious relationship with Faiz Ali.
Broken-hearted, Umrao, finally decided to return back to her cage of courtesan at Lucknow, where at arrival, she was raped by her childhood friend in brothel, latter she forgave him unconditionally. Soon British attacked the city and forced her to leave Lucknow and decided to go to her forgotten childhood home at Faizabad. She found her father death and mother and brother refused to accept her because of her profession.
Umrao shunned by her family, her lover and society leaves to return to Lucknow, but fate plays another joke and on her way out the city, she encounters the man who kidnapped and sold her to the brothel in the first place. Poor, wretched, homeless and injured, the man begs for pity, not recognizing that she is Ameeran, and she essentially forgave him. Shunned by all and having forgiven those who destroyed her life, she lives the rest of her days in Lucknow with her poetry and ill fate.
Umrao Jaan's story reflects what a girl child looks like in Indian society where Indian girl child faces abuse and gender discrimination. It is based on a 100 years old fictional story of human trafficking, quietly different from present form. It is story that reflects the life of a girl child, whose choice is nothing but the slavery through out life, beginning under dominion of father at childhood, husband at married life and son at old age.
The story reflects the gender discrimination, female feticides, and female infanticides in our society. The story reflects the girl child trafficking, pushing many into the life like of Umrao Jaan.
Trafficking includes men, women and children who are forced to commercial sex work and sexual exploitation, forced and exploitative labour, marriage and forced marriage, adoption, organ transplantation, begging and mafia beggars and drug peddling. (Traffiking and the Law, New Delhi: HRLN, 2006, 6-8).
Human trafficking is reported worldwide as the largest organised crimes. National Human Rights Commission's senior research officer Savita Bhakhry says, 'Trafficking in human beings, more in women and children, is one of the fastest growing forms of criminal activity, next only to drugs and weapons trade, generating unaccountable profits annually.' (Combat Law, 5/3 (2006, 44).
India is also affected by this epidemic, which is not recognized as one of the greatest thread to human rights violation. To the challenges of organised crime of human trafficking which has affected children and women, particularly in the areas where people live in socio-educational and economically backward areas.
'International Organization for Migration estimates that the global trafficking industry generates up to US$ 8 billion every year. Rough estimates by the UN suggest that 70000 to 2 million persons trafficked across international borders annually are women and children.' (Traffiking and the Law, New Delhi: HRLN, 2006, 9). It is violation of human rights that India as nation needs to address the issue and the civil societies need to seek to the questions on how to respond to the issue.
The film ends with a song after shunned by her mother and brother. Umrao laments -
Tell me. Have you seen such a farewell?
No mother nor father nor brother.
No one is there.'
Tears are the ornaments and the palanquin of sorrow.
The locked doors are bidding farewell to me.
Never return here even in your dreams.
Look at my lover, he has broken my heart
After abandoning me midway,
He is setting a new life
As like a child gets new toy,
Plays with it for some days and then forgets
Don't make me a doll like this, who cannot even cry.
In next birth of mine,
Oh God, don't birth me as a girl child!
Whatever you have done now,
Oh God, don't do it again.
Where Umrao Jaan was shunned and forsaken, no one could hear the song that narrates her misery, but it was Mirza Hadi Ruswa, who heard as she cried -
You call me, 'the voice of broken heart.'
I am the instrument, which contains all melodies
Who am I, what am I, and for whom am I alive?
I myself do not understand.
Tell me the secret.
Tell me the secret.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Bench book to curb human trafficking suggested
A bench book on women's rights, a resource directory and common protocol for rehabilitation of victims and policy interventions at every stage was suggested by experts to curb human trafficking.
At a sensitisation programme on trafficking for judicial professionals on Saturday, Geetha Ramaseshan, advocate, Madras High Court, said trafficking for sexual exploitation had nuances involving various stages. At present, women become vulnerable to trafficking owing to factors such as internal displacement, poverty and approach to teenage sexuality. The language of the law might be neutral but the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act was highly discriminatory against women, she said, suggesting a bench book — a compilation of judicial decisions, policy notes and international women's rights guidelines — that would act as a ready reckoner.
Almost every panchayat had a vigilance committee led by its president but information on human trafficking was not passed up the communication channel, said A.N. Raaj Saravanakumar, Deputy Director, Department of Social Defence. Calling for better coordination among the 11 line departments involved in prevention of human trafficking, he suggested a common protocol for the three main departments — police, judiciary and social defence — for rehabilitation of victims.
S. Kannayiram, a consultant, asked the State to follow the Philippines model of enquiry in child abuse cases. The courts had the powers to set up a multi-specialty team comprising stake-holders, including police officers, lawyers and social workers, to interact with a victim without seeing him or her. “The victim and the enquiry team will sit in separate rooms but the interaction could be videotaped to be produced as evidence,” he said.
The victim need not be troubled repeatedly in the name of enquiry under this method and the team could get back to him/her for further clarification, Mr. Kannayiram said, suggesting the compilation of a resource directory of all stakeholders concerned, especially for proper rehabilitation.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Punjab to get law on human trafficking
Chandigarh: In a bid to check increasing cases of human trafficking in the state, Home Ministry has decided to frame a law to curb the menace, the government said in an affidavit filed in Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday.
After an initiative taken by Punjab and Haryana High Court following reports where around 40 state youths illegally trafficked to Kuwait had appealed for their plight and threatened to commit suicide if their cause was not entertained, government filed an affidavit in this regard.
Affidavit says the law has already been approved by Governor and is pending under consideration of President of India.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Truth About Human Trafficking
The words "human trafficking" is heard frequently, and yet, when some are asked to explain the horrors of human trafficking and its victims, there is still an obvious sense of ignorance in the matter. These victims are bought and sold for labor and sexual purposes every day. Labor tends to consist of basic servitude and smaller labor demands. These labor demands are also on a much larger scale for purposes such as working on farms, in sweatshops, and different multinational corporations.
Trafficking for sexual exploitation is a whole different story. This has sadly and very oddly become one of the most private sects of human trafficking. Trafficking for sexual purposes can be for anything from prostitution, forced pornography, bride trafficking (sold into marriage), to sexual abuse. Knowing now what exactly it is that takes place during the process of trafficking, the question is: who are these people? It's commonly said that people only from impoverished and international countries are victimized. This myth is incorrect, and also includes virtually any kind of person as long as there is a profit to be made from potential victims.
Over the last 30 years, the frequency of human trafficking has led to certain trends in different locations throughout the world. During these 30 years, the United States has involved themselves accordingly, and helped establish the cause for anti-human trafficking along the way.
The prime locations of human trafficking in the world have shifted between largely depressed areas. In the 1970's, it was the most prominent in Southeast Asia and the Philippines. In the 1980's the wave shifted to countries like Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana in Africa. By the 1990's, the hotspots of human trafficking had moved up and over to Europe and South America, into El Salvador and Guatemala. From there, it eventually resided in Brazil, Mexico, and The Dominican Republic.
After the 90's it then spread to countries such Russia, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. In 2000, it finally shifted to Central Asia to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. Present day human trafficking resides most commonly in countries such as China, Russia, Japan, Cambodia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, and the United States.
In late 2000, the U.S. Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. This act became a landmark in anti-human trafficking because it employed the U.S. to use political and economic leverage to contain human trafficking globally. It requires the U.S. state department to give an annual evaluation of different government's performances in stopping human trafficking in their given countries.
Each country was evaluated on their laws, policies, and practices used to hunt and prosecute traffickers. The country was then ranked on a scale of 1-3. Number one indicated the nation had been meeting act standards. Receiving a number two meant controlling issues, but solutions were in progress. Finally, a number three resulted and issue with no solution pursued.
If the country was classified as a three, there was a public report released to the entire world, resulting in embarrassment ridicule. This prompted rethinking and planning on their part. A "number three" country will also be sanctioned by cuts to foreign aid, as well as opposition from the U.S. against any attempts for loans to their country.
Although the Unites States has obviously showed great promise and leadership in the fight against human trafficking, they still struggle with the issue on their own soil. It was estimated that 17,500 foreign victims are trafficked annually in the U.S. However, it's even more unsettling that the number of U.S. citizens being sexually trafficked within the United States is even higher at 200,000 people per year. As a result, many organizations were created to expose and battle this modern day slavery.
Robert - About the Author:
Jesus is a photographer. He has his own photography company where he takes pictures for social events. You can check out his recent web site where he writes about the Minolta X 700 and the Minolta x 700 manual.
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Sunday, August 8, 2010
CBI appropriate agency to investigate trafficking of women, says High court
While hearing a PIL on trafficking of women, the Calcutta High Court on 23 July said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is an appropriate agency to conduct a probe in this regard, considering that it involves international racket.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J N Patel and Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharjee also asked the CBI to appear in the case.
This comes after Advocate General Bolai Roy, who appearing on behalf of the state government, told the court that a probe conducted by the CID found that an inter-state as well as international rackets were involved in trafficking of women, and consequently the state police took help from the Interpol.
Acting on a writ petition filed by one Johara Bibi, a resident of South 24-Parganas who had alleged that the police did not take proper action to trace her missing minor daughter in May 2009, the High Court on June 19, 2010 had directed the state police to file a report on women trafficking and submit it within four weeks.
After the CID submitted its report to a single-member Bench, Justice Sanjib Banerjee referred the case to a larger Bench saying that the case should be taken up as a PIL. Source
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
Posts
