Can the anti-trafficking bill put a stop to inter-State trafficking?
HYDERABAD: Gayatri was only 20 when she and her sister were taken to Delhi by her ‘helpful’ neighbour. Natives of Chitoor, the girls were promised jobs in a textile factory in the national capital. As tailoring in the small town wasn’t fetching her enough money to feed her family, she hopped on to the train, with hopes of a better future.
A few stations later, the sisters and their neighbour were joined by more men. By the time they reached Delhi, they had become part of a big group of men and women. Only after they were taken to a secluded place and locked up with another 60 odd women did Gayatri and her companions realise that they had been trafficked. That was the last time she saw her neighbour.
“I couldn’t believe what had just happened,” says Gayatri recalling her ordeal. “There were so many men on guard to ensure we did not try to escape. I was eventually sold off.” That happened in 2005. Now, 13 years later, Gayatri has been rescued and she works as an embroiderer. “My parents had filed a complaint with Chitoor police, but I was there all the way back in Delhi. I remained stuck there till Delhi police raided the brothel in which I was lodged,” says Gayatri.
Now, State and Central governments are trying to form a National Anti-Trafficking Bureau, which will coordinate the efforts of various States in fighting trafficking. The bureau was proposed in the ‘Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2018’ that was passed in the Lok Sabha earlier this year. Such a bureau could have helped victims like Gayatri who were taken to another State and trafficked. Still, many experts working at grassroots-level feel the Bill is inadequate.
Though the Bill calls for confiscation of any property used for trafficking, experts say it fails to take cognisance of the transient nature of sex trafficking. “It’s good that the Bill proposes to confiscate property used for trafficking and give the proceeds to rehabilitation of victims. It will instill fear in the minds of those aiding trafficking. But how will this be implemented,” asks Mamatha Raghuveer from NGO Tharuni.
“Sex trafficking business does not happen in brothels anymore. Many people are doing it from their homes. How will the Bill address those issues?” asks Mamatha. A senior city police official agrees that traffickers have become ‘smarter’. “Traffickers look like you and me so the society needs to be extra vigilant... the whole trend has changed...now trafficking can happen in school buses, autos and even trucks,” notes the official from Cyberabad commissionerate.
Reshma, another survivor, agrees that the business has changed completely. “It’s too sophisticated a network now,” she says. Reshma was 24 when her abusive husband sold her for `20,000. “Since I refused to cooperate they sold me to another broker, then to higher bidders in Chennai and Bengaluru. Whatever money came from my ‘services’ was routed to my husband,” says Reshma. After 6 years of torture, Reshma was rescued in 2017 and rehabilitated at Prajwala Homes.
Reshma says that about 40 people were involved in her abduction and trafficking, not to mention the ‘clients’ who visited her.
But only four persons were caught and punished. “When a national body comes into place without corresponding State systems, the whole effort fails. There are chances the State may simply think of it as a national issue and stop the existing intervention as seen in case of SCPCR,” notes Ranganathan from Save the Children.
Adequate or not, 30-odd survivors of trafficking, who are part of the Aprajitha sex trafficking survivors forum, have sent out an appeal to the Rajya Sabha members to pass the Anti Trafficking Bill. “Many more lives can be saved,” they believe.
(Names of victims have been changed to protect identity)
What the bill says...
As per NCRB data, Telangana had as many as 390 victims of human trafficking in 2016. At present, there are provisions under Section 370 of IPC and Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1956 to tackle sex trafficking. The ‘Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2018’ includes points like Formation of National Anti-Trafficking Bureau. It also seeks to fast-track these cases as is the case in POCSO,in addition to having a fund for victim rehabilitation and confiscation of property. The accounts of brokers will be blocked as well