vijay
January 20th, 2006, 02:37 PM
An Indian woman can be bought for just $20
NEW DELHI: Trafficking in children and women to and from India is now a booming business and, believe it or not, a young woman can be 'bought' for as low as Rs 1,000 (about $20).
And in brazen violation of the law, even minor girls are being trafficked, to places as far as the Middle East and the Philippines for prostitution as well as pornography, with the Indian law enforcing agencies looking the other way.
These are among the shocking facts revealed in a path-breaking survey by the New Delhi-based Institute of Social Sciences on ‘Trafficking in Women and Children in India’.
The victims in the trade are from poor families, some of which are forced to "sell" their women because of grinding poverty, or girls lured to cities, often with promises of finding them a place in Bollywood.
"Trafficking is, without doubt, a very lucrative business," says the 748-page study, which was sponsored by the National Human Rights Commission and funded by USAID. "It requires a low investment but ensures a high profit."
NEW DELHI: Trafficking in children and women to and from India is now a booming business and, believe it or not, a young woman can be 'bought' for as low as Rs 1,000 (about $20).
And in brazen violation of the law, even minor girls are being trafficked, to places as far as the Middle East and the Philippines for prostitution as well as pornography, with the Indian law enforcing agencies looking the other way.
These are among the shocking facts revealed in a path-breaking survey by the New Delhi-based Institute of Social Sciences on ‘Trafficking in Women and Children in India’.
The victims in the trade are from poor families, some of which are forced to "sell" their women because of grinding poverty, or girls lured to cities, often with promises of finding them a place in Bollywood.
"Trafficking is, without doubt, a very lucrative business," says the 748-page study, which was sponsored by the National Human Rights Commission and funded by USAID. "It requires a low investment but ensures a high profit."
Over a quarter of the 160 traffickers interviewed said they spent less than Rs 5,000 to procure a girl, and the cheapest price they paid was just Rs 1,000. In some cases, however, women cost as high as Rs 90,000.
Women were sourced from within India and from Nepal and Bangladesh. They are supplied within India to Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir as well as Thailand, Kenya, South Africa, Bahrain, Dubai and Oman.
The traffickers admitted even sending women to the Gulf, Britain, South Korea and the Philippines for pornographic purposes.
"One of the traffickers disclosed that he had seen the pornographic material produced by exploiting the children he had trafficked."
The study came down heavily on the traffickers, calling them "merchants of human misery", and took a strong view of the police colluding with the criminals in many states.
The methods used to lure young girls to the sex industry included promises of jobs as domestic servants or in factories or the film industry, offers of money or pleasure trips, promises of marriage, or simple coercion.
"Attraction to the glamour world of films was exploited to dupe the victims," the study outlined. "Many young girls from Nepal are lured by promises of jobs in the film industry in Mumbai."
In contrast to the low amounts traffickers paid to procure young women, they themselves earned huge profits. Almost a third of them made more than Rs 100,000 annually. Another 20 per cent put their income at Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000.
"These figures (confirm) the widely acknowledged fact that trafficking is a highly profitable business generating a substantial surplus."
The places listed as source areas for traffickers in India included Tamil Nadu (Dindigal, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Chengalpattu), Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur), Andhra Pradesh (Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Anantapur, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Pedapuram, Telangana, East Godavari, West Godavari and Guntur), Rajasthan (Dholpur, Alwar and Tonk), Bihar (Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Kishangaj, Katihar, Purnea, Araria and Madhubani), Karnataka (Mangalore, Gulbarga and Raichur), Maharashtra (Solapur), Uttar Pradesh (Maharajganj), West Bengal (Murshidabad and 24 Parganas), and districts in Orissa, Assam, Goa and Jammu and Kashmir.
The study said police in some states colluded with the traffickers. Some traffickers said they bribed the police in cash, while others claimed allowing policemen to have free sex with the trafficked women.
According to the study, 68.1 per cent of the traffickers said they had links with police officials. Over 50 per cent said they were not afraid of the police.
"These figures indicate the unbridled freedom and impunity with which most traffickers (operate), with little to fear from the law enforcement agencies and virtually no challenge from community workers.
"In the context of the distortion of law enforcement and justice delivery, it is the trafficking victims who are usually punished, with the traffickers having the last laugh.
"Unless there is a paradigm shift - whereby the traffickers are brought to book, made to compensate for the damage and harm done to the victims, and their illegal assets are confiscated - there can be no justice for the victims and no real solution to the problem of trafficking."
Courtesy : Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1378875.cms
NEW DELHI: Trafficking in children and women to and from India is now a booming business and, believe it or not, a young woman can be 'bought' for as low as Rs 1,000 (about $20).
And in brazen violation of the law, even minor girls are being trafficked, to places as far as the Middle East and the Philippines for prostitution as well as pornography, with the Indian law enforcing agencies looking the other way.
These are among the shocking facts revealed in a path-breaking survey by the New Delhi-based Institute of Social Sciences on ‘Trafficking in Women and Children in India’.
The victims in the trade are from poor families, some of which are forced to "sell" their women because of grinding poverty, or girls lured to cities, often with promises of finding them a place in Bollywood.
"Trafficking is, without doubt, a very lucrative business," says the 748-page study, which was sponsored by the National Human Rights Commission and funded by USAID. "It requires a low investment but ensures a high profit."
NEW DELHI: Trafficking in children and women to and from India is now a booming business and, believe it or not, a young woman can be 'bought' for as low as Rs 1,000 (about $20).
And in brazen violation of the law, even minor girls are being trafficked, to places as far as the Middle East and the Philippines for prostitution as well as pornography, with the Indian law enforcing agencies looking the other way.
These are among the shocking facts revealed in a path-breaking survey by the New Delhi-based Institute of Social Sciences on ‘Trafficking in Women and Children in India’.
The victims in the trade are from poor families, some of which are forced to "sell" their women because of grinding poverty, or girls lured to cities, often with promises of finding them a place in Bollywood.
"Trafficking is, without doubt, a very lucrative business," says the 748-page study, which was sponsored by the National Human Rights Commission and funded by USAID. "It requires a low investment but ensures a high profit."
Over a quarter of the 160 traffickers interviewed said they spent less than Rs 5,000 to procure a girl, and the cheapest price they paid was just Rs 1,000. In some cases, however, women cost as high as Rs 90,000.
Women were sourced from within India and from Nepal and Bangladesh. They are supplied within India to Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir as well as Thailand, Kenya, South Africa, Bahrain, Dubai and Oman.
The traffickers admitted even sending women to the Gulf, Britain, South Korea and the Philippines for pornographic purposes.
"One of the traffickers disclosed that he had seen the pornographic material produced by exploiting the children he had trafficked."
The study came down heavily on the traffickers, calling them "merchants of human misery", and took a strong view of the police colluding with the criminals in many states.
The methods used to lure young girls to the sex industry included promises of jobs as domestic servants or in factories or the film industry, offers of money or pleasure trips, promises of marriage, or simple coercion.
"Attraction to the glamour world of films was exploited to dupe the victims," the study outlined. "Many young girls from Nepal are lured by promises of jobs in the film industry in Mumbai."
In contrast to the low amounts traffickers paid to procure young women, they themselves earned huge profits. Almost a third of them made more than Rs 100,000 annually. Another 20 per cent put their income at Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000.
"These figures (confirm) the widely acknowledged fact that trafficking is a highly profitable business generating a substantial surplus."
The places listed as source areas for traffickers in India included Tamil Nadu (Dindigal, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Chengalpattu), Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur), Andhra Pradesh (Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Anantapur, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Pedapuram, Telangana, East Godavari, West Godavari and Guntur), Rajasthan (Dholpur, Alwar and Tonk), Bihar (Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Kishangaj, Katihar, Purnea, Araria and Madhubani), Karnataka (Mangalore, Gulbarga and Raichur), Maharashtra (Solapur), Uttar Pradesh (Maharajganj), West Bengal (Murshidabad and 24 Parganas), and districts in Orissa, Assam, Goa and Jammu and Kashmir.
The study said police in some states colluded with the traffickers. Some traffickers said they bribed the police in cash, while others claimed allowing policemen to have free sex with the trafficked women.
According to the study, 68.1 per cent of the traffickers said they had links with police officials. Over 50 per cent said they were not afraid of the police.
"These figures indicate the unbridled freedom and impunity with which most traffickers (operate), with little to fear from the law enforcement agencies and virtually no challenge from community workers.
"In the context of the distortion of law enforcement and justice delivery, it is the trafficking victims who are usually punished, with the traffickers having the last laugh.
"Unless there is a paradigm shift - whereby the traffickers are brought to book, made to compensate for the damage and harm done to the victims, and their illegal assets are confiscated - there can be no justice for the victims and no real solution to the problem of trafficking."
Courtesy : Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1378875.cms