By Matters India Reporter
Dimapur, Sept 1, 2020: Several NGOs, who are committed to check human trafficking, met recently in northeastern India to share experiences and streamline their activities.
Sister Annie Jesus from Chhattisgarh shared her years of experience in rescuing trafficked victims with the help of Self Help Groups of women. “The women in Self Help Groups have been the backbone of our work to combat human trafficking,” the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary nun told the August 25 meeting.
A network of likeminded individuals and organizations on anti-human trafficking organized the coordination meeting at Dimapur, the commercial capital of Nagaland state.
While Father Abel Jacob, the founder and director of Hope Charitable Foundation, welcomed the participants, Chavanod Sister Prema Chowallur, vice president of Amrat Talitha Kum India, moderated the meetings.
Other participating groups were North-East India Regional Bishops’ Council Commission for Ecumenism and Set Them Free.-
Jesuit Father Martin Puthussery, who heads the office of labor and migration in the Bangalore-based Indian Social Institute, explained how he has been working with migrants since 2011. He narrated a few cases of death of the migrants and the sufferings of bonded laborers as part of his sharing of achievements and challenges.
“Our work can be successful only through the network and shared information,” the Jesuit social activist asserted.
Other speakers included Maria Bambina Sister Dhanam from Delhi, Jesuit Father Valerian Castelin, director of Purvanchal Pragati Samaj from Guwahati, Father Jaison Vadassery, executive secretary of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India and International Catholic Migrants Commission and Amrit Goldsmith, an honorary secretary of Assam Christian Forum.
The meeting suggested preparing an ecumenical directory of organization and networks on migrant laborers and anti-human trafficking.
Human trafficking affects an estimated 20 million to 65 million people in India. Women and girls are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage, especially in areas with skewed sex ratio favoring men.
Children are forced to work in factories and in homes as servants. They are made to beg in cities or work in farms. Some insurgent or terrorist groups use them as child soldiers.
India is also a destination for women and girls from neighboring countries, smuggled for sexual exploitation. Indian women are also trafficked to the Middle East. Indian migrants who work in Middle East and Europe as domestic servants or low-skilled laborers could also end in human trafficking industry and into forced labor.
According to the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), human trafficking involves recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion/deception, for the purpose of exploitation.
A UNODC report says most victims detected globally were trafficked for sexual exploitation. While trafficking for forced labor is the most commonly detected form in sub-Saharan Africa, in Central Asia and South Asia, trafficking for forced labor and sexual exploitation are near-equally detected.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 5,264 cases of human trafficking were reported in India in 2018, where 64 percent were women and 48 percent below 18 years old.
The most affected areas are Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Orissa and West Bengal.