Government lets down sex workers

Rescued prostitutes left stranded by authorities who delay monetary aid for years

MORE THAN 90 PER CENT OF THE GIRLS NEVER RECEIVE THE AID

Amy Rose Thomas

Deccan Chronicle

26^th Oct 2010

Giving hope and then breaking promises can be the greatest betrayal and it is even crueler when lives depend entirely on these promises. In this case, rescued sex workers have been waiting in vain for the government to make good their promise of rehabilitation funds.

Orders Ms No 1 and 13 state that the government must provide the rescued women with an immediate relief package within the period of one week. This package, the value of which is Rs 10,000 is to pay for medical and travel expenses. In addition to this, a further rehabilitation funding of Rs 25,000 has also been allocated.

But the packages are usually delayed and many either never receive the funds or get them as late as three to four years after their rescue. Banuja who works at the Reds NGO in Anantapur says, "Eighty girls were rescued from Anantapur in 2007.

According to the government order, rehabilitation package and immediate relief package were to be given to them. Immediate relief package must reach the rescued girl within a week. Yet among the 80 girls who applied for it in 2007, 62 girls received the immediate relief fund in 2009 and another 18 got it in 2010. The remaining 15 died of AIDS before they could receive the money."

One of the rescued girls, 20-year-old Sridevi (name changed on request) elaborates on how the failure to receive the funds impacts her life, "For me money is everything. It is the dearth of it that pushed me to sell my body. The government has not been able to help.

My father died when I was 6 and my mother too died soon after. My younger sister and I stayed with my aunt. I felt we were a burden to her and that is why I decided to enter this profession. In 2007, the police caught me and sent me to a rescue home. They treated me well and I learnt embroidery work. I moved out because I wanted to live with my sister. But because I haven't received a single penny from the government I have started to live with my aunt again. I wish I could make use of the training I received but I am waiting for the money to arrive so that I can start a small business."

More than 90 per cent of the girls never receive the aid. "In the three districts Anantapur, Chittoor and Kadappa, there were 220 people who were rescued in 2007. But till now only a negligible few have been provided with the rehabilitation package," Banuja says. Whatever investment the government makes in the girls' training goes in vain as women are not provided with money to start an establishment. There's a high risk of the girl returning to prostitution .

"I have been trained in baking but it is of no use as I am working at a cotton mill to support my family.

My mother, younger sister and brother all depend upon me.
I was rescued in 2007 but haven't received any money. I am desperately waiting for it," says 19year-old Amrita (name changed on request).

When asked, the acting Director of AP Women's Co-operative Finance Corporation, D.Venkateswarlu says, "I have been in charge of the department for only a month. I am unaware of the repercussions. I will surely look into the matter and make sure that the girls receive the money at the earliest. It is sad that many died and couldn't receive the money."

Rescued a West Bengal minor girl at Hyderabad

Rescued a West Bengal minor girl at Hyderabad

HELP received a mail on 12^th of oct 2010 at 3.58pm from Ms.Nisha & Sayan, Grope developpment , Kolkatta regarding the missing girl from west Bengal and requested to rescue her. Immediately HELP initiated efforts and rescued the girl on next day ie., 13^th Oct through one of network members who are working in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.

A minor girl aged 17 years old of Maghpala village of Coochbehar District, West Bengal trafficked by Susanta Mondal on 14^th august 2010. Family members of the Girl put a missing case in a local police station on 21^st August 2010.

Family members of the girl got a phone call by the girl and came to realized that the girl had trafficked to Hyderabad and getting pressure by the perpetrator to do prostitution and hence she requested to save her immediately. The local NGO named..SPAR which is working on prevention of trafficking approached HELP through Grouppe Development and informed where about of issue.

Based on the phone number received from the girl, HELP informed to network partner Mr. Chandra from CARPED organization, Hyderabad city. They immediately reacted on the issue and personally involved in the rescue operation with the support of police and succeeded in rescuing the girl on next day itself (13^th ) and arrested the perpetrator.

We say thanks to Mr. Chandra and his team members for their efforts and cooperation. This is an obvious example and evidence for the need of a strong and effective network with NGOs in demand and source areas irrespective of their work on trafficking issue.

Groupe develppment is vigorously moving ahead with its efforts to build linkages in between source and destination organization so as to fortify the rescue mechanisms. As a part of these efforts a strong network has been built and this issue is the clear evidence. This network resulted in rapid rescue operation and success.

Hope the coordination will continue for ever and bring best results to rescue more girls in future…..

Pavan S

Network coordinator

HELP & NATSAP

Article on Trafficking situation in AP

Deccan Chronicle, Hyd edition 5^th Oct 2010

‘My father is my worst enemy’

There can be nothing worse than a father selling his daughter for the sake a few extra bucks. We speak to some such survivors.

AMY ROSE THOMAS

DECCAN CHRONICLE

My father is my worst enemy…”

It is hard tocomprehend what a young girl has been put through for her to utter these words. For a girl, her father is the ultimate hero who can do nothing wrong. So imagine her plight when the same father pushes her into prostitution. Unfortunately such incidents do still take place in our society. Last week at Ramapuram in Kadapa district, a man tried to auction his six-yearold daughter, in a desperate attempt to buy liquor. When the owner of a liquor shop denied Krishnaiah booze as he had already run up a hefty tab, the latter took his daughter to the nearby village and put her up for sale in an open auction.

The bid started at Rs 300 and a person named Mohd. Basha ultimately bought her for Rs 1,000. Once alerted, the police rushed to the spot and apprehended Krishnaiah while Basha abandoned the child and fled. But this is not an isolated case. Lakshmi, too faced a similar predicament, when her father tried to force her into the flesh trade. “My father forcibly took my sisters and me to Guntur where he sold me for Rs 15,000. That was the day I realised that my father is my worst enemy,” says Lakshmi, adding, “His name is Balaram and he is responsible for breaking up my family. It is because of him that I cannot see my mother. My father was addicted to alcohol and would beat my mother. We were three sisters. My sisters Karuna and Ramya are much younger to me. My father used to be very suspicious of my mother and used to complain that she was over-friendly with other men. This was not true. All my sisters and I could do was cry while he beat our mother black and blue. Fed up with the ill treatment and constant abuse, my mother ran away to a relative’s place.”

While Lakshmi was still reeling from this shock, her father took them to Guntur against their will. “Even in Guntur, he used to drink a lot. One day he took me to a brothel and sold me to a person called Ramana. When I heard their conversation, I was shocked. That is when I understood why he had taken me there. However, I did not relent when they insisted that I should sleep with costumers. My father was called and they asked him to take me back home as I was too young and refused to do as they bid. Furious, my father took me home and kept me locked up. He also threatened to push me into the flesh trade.”

This continued for quite some time, till Lakshmi decided to make an escape. "Under the pretext of using the washroom, I went to my neighbour's house and informed them of my plight. I was rescued by an NGO and now stay in a home. My sisters also stay with me. They are also studying. I would never allow such things to happen to my sisters. I am very protective of them. My father is currently serving a sentence in prison. I don't miss him though I do think about my mother often.
After my sisters and I were shifted to the home, my mother came over to visit me. She wanted to take us to her place but was scared of my father. She does keep in touch and that in itself is a relief," says Lakshmi.

Experts say that such incidents usually occur in homes where there is no woman to care of the kids. In another incident, Lalita's mother died when she was young and her father had remarried.

"I don't remember my mother's face. She passed away when I was very young and my father remarried. My stepmother used to treat me like a slave. Father was just a spectator and did not say anything when my stepmother misbehaved with me. Later, he sent me to work with a person. He would touch me at every opportunity.
One day he raped me. When I complained to my father, he confessed that he had sold me for Rs 20,000. I was forced to stay with that person. He would force me to sleep with his friends. One day the police caught us and I was sent to a home. I now work at a bakery in Chikooripeta," Lalita says.

(names of victims changed to protect identity)

Many districts in India affected by women trafficking: NCW

New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI):

At least half the 612 districts in the country are affected by trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation, according to a report.

The report by the National Commission for Women (NCW) says that in 378 districts, there are 1,794 identified places of origin from where females are trafficked and 1,016 areas where commercial sexual activities take place.

The southern and eastern states are the most vulnerable as far as trafficking is concerned, with states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal having all their districts affected by the problem. Among other most affected states are -- Tamil Nadu (93.33 per cent of all districts), Orissa (86.66 per cent) and Bihar (86.48 per cent).

The report further adds that 2.4 per cent of the total female population in age group of 15-35 years in the country is engaged in the flesh trade. "The estimated number of commercial sex workers in India is about 28 lakh," it says. In this, over 43 per cent of the girls are minor at the time they enter the flesh trade.

"The entry of minors in flesh trade is comparatively high in regions where incidence of poverty and hunger are chronic. Reasons like violence against women, high unemployment and lack of options contribute to the vulnerability of trafficking of adults," the report says.

The report says that gender discrimination and gender specific violence and crimes perpetuate the vulnerability of women and children and act as one of the reasons behind trafficking. The NCW says that the promise of a job is the biggest way of deception and accounts for over 50 per cent of trafficking cases.

Presenting a gloomy picture, the report says that more than 22 per cent women in flesh trade are trafficked and forced into it by family members. "Around 8 per cent (women) are trafficked by husbands or in-laws and 18 per cent are lured by friends or neighbours.

More than 51 per cent women in commercial sex were trafficked either by family members or in-laws," it says. But what is more disturbing is the conclusion that political backing ensures that 22 per cent of traffickers are not prosecuted, the report claims.(Deccan Herald)

discussion:UNIFEM's AHT prvention programmes

From: Ramamohan NVS [mailto:helpap@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 2:20 PM
To: Gender Community
Subject: Re: [se-gen] Discussion: UNIFEM's Anti-Human Trafficking Prevention Programme. Reply by 06 October 2010

Dear All,

We would like to share with you Anti trafficking initiatives and current scenario in Andhra Pradesh (AP).

We are so happy to hear that the Gender Community has taken up for discussion the issue on Human Trafficking. In this context, we would like to bring to your kind notice that HELP’s core focus is on advocacy and lobbying and to work against Human Trafficking. HELP has promoted a network with 45 partner NGOs called NATSAP (Network Against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in Andhra Pradesh). Formerly, we worked with UNIFEM on human trafficking in Coastal AP over a period of two years. As a part of this program, we carried out several activities against human trafficking and prevention of second generation from being trafficked.

HELP initiated the formation of community vigilance groups in some of the red-light areas of coastal AP. As a result, we succeeded in preventing new entries in to red light areas. We feel happy to mention that the Government of AP replicated the same mechanism i.e. formation of community vigilance groups in all the areas by involving Anganwadi worker as convener. (The State Government released a memo No. 1457/A1/05 Dt.25/02/05). Since there is no proper follow up on the reinforcement of mechanisms, and timely review by higher authorities to make appropriate changes in implementation of above memo, there is no data collection from the villages. At present so-called committees are also not functional.

In the year 2007, the police department took the trafficking issue as a top priority and trained the police personnel with the expertise of HELP and Prajwala on Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA) and Trafficking issues with the support of UNODC. As a result, the number of rescue operations was more during that year; consequently, more girls were rescued, and more traffickers and customers were arrested.

	Guntur			Krishna			Prakasam
	2007	2008	2009	2007	2008	2009	2007	2008	2009
No. of cases registered	72	27	9	50	33	33	18	16	3
No. of victims rescued	130	47	8	73	32	35	22	22	4
No. of Traffickers arrested	199	59	23	108	72	97	23	14	6
No. of customers arrested	27	26	2	30	16	36	12	0	3

Source: CID of Police, AP

All the agencies working against trafficking felt it was a good sign and there will be increase in conducting rescue operations and more traffickers will be convicted. UNODC’s support was however for two years, following which there was lack of (police) interest on the core objective; moreover, there were also transfers of the police officials as well as station officers. The above table also shows that rescue operations came down. Further, the total cases registered in Guntur district since 2007 – 2009 are 108, out of which 63 are acquitted, 41 cases are pending in trial and only 18 (11 females and 7 males) persons convicted in 4 cases. In Prakasam district, of the 37 cases, 11 cases are acquitted and 9 persons got convicted in 4 cases. (In other words, the traffickers are continuing their activities).

Victims/Witness support

We would also like to draw attention that even though cases have been registered, the victims and the witnesses are not attending courts. The police are unaware of the whereabouts of the victims, as the victims usually give wrong addresses at the time of rescue. Due to insufficient budgetary allocation for the travel of the police to trace the victims and due to the heavy workload of the court constables, the police tend to submit to the court a statement stating that the victims are not available. The witnesses also are unwilling to present themselves, as they have to lose their wages for the day.

In most cases, the police send the survivors to their home places without conducting home investigation, after rescue operations. Andhra Pradesh is the first state in the country to have launched an immediate relief package to the tune of Rs.10, 000 for each survivor. However, most of them cannot utilize this scheme as they are sent to their places immediately after rescue. For want of livelihood, the survivors are likely to get back to prostitution. In our experience, the police does not follow and honor the protocols during pre and post rescue operations. The rights of the survivors are not protected. This violation makes the survivors to lose their faith in the police (and they do not cooperate with the police during further investigations). For these reasons, the traffickers are able to continue their activities. (On the other hand, trafficked cases are registered only after rescue operations, and not after the girls are found trafficked. The number of missing/trafficking cases registered is very low either due to unwillingness of the victim families to report to the police for fear of stigma or lack of faith in the police).

Many traffickers not arrested

Another aspect we would like to highlight is, when a rescue operation is held, it is usual to arrest both brothel owner and pimp at demand areas (where the girl is rescued). However, source area traffickers are not arrested; the trafficker who resides at source area stands on safe side. (Thus, when rescued girls are reunified with families by the police/NGOs, they can again be re-trafficked by the trafficker at source area).

HIV Prevention

One more observation we would like to make is regarding Community Based Organizations (CBOs), which emphasize/demand for the legalization of the sex work. Some of the organizations support the legalization movement in the name of HIV prevention. In our view, one of the significant reasons for the spread of nexus of the traffickers (all over the state) is the fact that the government has focused more on the prevention of the further spread of HIV/AIDS. Apparently, the police have been directed not to conduct too many raids on red light areas, as the women in prostitution would then run away from their places. In such a case, they cannot access condoms, and it is feared that they would cause HIV/AIDS! There are 13 or 14-year-old girls at prostitution localities or red light areas but there are no efforts to rescue those minor girls. (If the police is put under pressure not to commit raids because the fear of organizations (working on HIV prevention) prevails, which argue that the girls will abandon these places and cause HIV, it is more likely to put the police in a dilemma! More so, as their training on trafficking focuses on preventing it, but they experience something different on the field, which seem to impede their actions)

Other Major Reasons (Increase in Trafficking)

· Even if the rescued victims are sheltered at Government homes (Swadhar and Ujwala), there are no trained counselors on trauma management. Quality counseling services too are not in place in most homes

· There are no linkages between source area NGOs and destination area NGOs. The reason for this is that only a few NGOs are working on trafficking issues. (Establish linkages with destination area NGOs and facilitate sharing of information between them and source area NGOs to ensure good coordination between them. The NGOs conduct home investigations and submit the reports to the destination agencies. They do not follow up reunification, reintegration and other support service mechanisms)

· Likewise, the coordination among Women Development, Child Welfare, Juvenile Welfare Departments and Law enforcement agencies is not encouraging

· There is no efficient mechanism in place to conduct home investigations (The girls rescued are to be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) by the police. The CWC will order for home investigation and refer the survivors to transit Homes and rehabilitation services. However, the police, in majority cases, do not produce the victims before the CWC)

· There are no victim/witness protection services; the victims are therefore, threatened / blackmailed by the perpetrators and are re-trafficked

· Lack of adequate and consistent advocacy efforts

· Human trafficking is unfortunately not a priority of the state

Proposed Interventions

As per our experience in the field we propose the following interventions:

· Victims witness protection services

· Support to more transit centers with efficient counselors, legal support services, and vocational/skill trainings

· Continuous trainings for police personnel (for station level officers )

· Training for judicial officers (magistrates on ITPA and Juvenile Justice Act)

· Ensure speedy disposal of trafficking cases

· Record the witness within the 3 months of rescue

· Ensure the improvement of conviction rate

· Re-establishment of Regional Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUS)

· Conduct rescue operations on regular basis

· Build linkages between police and Child Welfare Committees

· Formation and strengthening of Community Vigilance Groups (CVGs) at village level (for prevention of trafficking/abuse/sexual exploitation and to prevent re-trafficking of rescued victims)

· Formation, networking and strengthening of groups among victims

· Provide vocational and life skill trainings to the second generation

· Provide education support /residential education support for second generation children

· Legal awareness among women in prostitution

· Protection of second generation (children of women in prostitution)

· Ensure appropriate rehabilitation packages for rescued victims

Thank you.

Ramamohan NVS, on behalf of

Network Against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in Andhra Pradesh (NATSAP) & HELP

Ongole/Andhra Pradesh