By Pr. Kungsong Wanbe
Trafficking of women and children has become very common and is a fast growing criminal activity in the world, the same as arms and drugs trafficking. Nowadays, human trafficking is a global problem including India. It is the right time to take it seriously by involving everyone including government and nongovernmental organizations to prevent and stop women and child-trafficking.
Human trafficking can mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer of persons through the use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception or taking advantage of a person`s vulnerability. Payment of money or other benefits for getting the consent of a person who has a control over another person for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation include at a minimum, prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or removal of organs.
As per a report from the United States of America, between 600,000 (six lakhs) to 800,000 (eight lakhs) men, women and children are trafficked across international borders each year. According to United Nations Organisation (UNO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO), more than one million children alone are trafficked annually and including men, women and children more than two million people are trafficked every year.
The ILO estimates that such kind of trafficking raises profits of $32 billion (thirty two billion US dollar) a year. It further estimates that $ 32 billion (Thirty two billion US dollar) per year is made from sexual exploitation of women and children. In India too a large number of children are trafficked not only for sex trade but also for non-sex exploitations, which include servitude of various kinds such as domestic labour, industrial labour and agricultural labour. Sixty percent of the victims of trafficked children are below 18 (eighteen) years of age.
According to National Human Rights Commission report, the number of women and children trafficked for sex work in India is stated to be between seven lakhs to one million. The said people are between fifteen to twenty years of age. According to a rough estimate made by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) called End Children`s Prostitution in Asian Tourism, there are around two million prostitutes in India out of which twenty percent are minors. A study conducted in the year 1992 estimates that about twenty thousand girls are being transported from one part of the country to any other country.
Lastly but not the least, the following are the answers to the questions who are involved in women and children trafficking and what are to be done to stop the trafficking crime. According to many noted speakers at the seminars on women and children trafficking, people from all sections such as politicians, government employees, NGOs, businessmen and simple villagers are involved in this trafficking. At a seminar, one expert Christian speaker reported that even some Christian pastors who are theologians are involved in this trafficking business. As mentioned above, this trafficking of women and children are carried on by means of deception, persuasion, bribery and force. The traffickers deceived even the parents of women and children by saying that they would be provided with job and free education. The members present at the seminar resolved that awareness campaigns have to be launched in every local clubs, village authorities, Christian churches for better understanding of the problem and to stop handing over of their children to any person freely and easily. May God bless us all.
