By Matters India Reporter
Muzaffarpur: The Bihar unit of a forum fighting human trafficking has demanded candidates for the state assembly election to pledge their support to a campaign to eradicate the social menace.
The Collective Coalition against Human Trafficking (CCHT) October 30 launched “Bihar ka Sankalp” (Bihar’s oath) to help root out “the heinous crime of human trafficking” from the eastern Indian state.
Bihar is a known ‘source’ state for trafficking, the coalition says in a press release.
“It is a hunting ground for traffickers who trap children from Bihar and take them to different cities across the country. However, Bihar is fast becoming a destination state for trafficking, and many children from other states are trafficked into the state as well,” it adds.
The coalition made the pledge demand mainly to those fighting for the Muzaffarpur seat, which goes to polls on November 7.
Muzaffarpur hit national headlines in 2018 when 11 women and four girls went missing from an NGO-managed home. Girls from other shelter homes were forced and abused to meet the demand from red-light areas.
“If you look at Muzaffarpur from the perspective of human trafficking, you would realize that is a transit, source and destination. At the same time the presence of the red-light area makes it a demand center as well,” said Ranjeet from Akanksha Seva Sadan, a coalition partner.
Y.K. Gautam, CCHT Bihar convener, while launching the campaign, said the pledge campaign aims to gather support from public representatives and ensure that spend their energy and resources to eradicate human trafficking and forced prostitution.
The coalition also want the legislators to make policies to provide alternate livelihood to the survivors of sex trafficking.
According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau report, Bihar ranks third nationally for child trafficking and missing children. The number of missing children in Bihar grew from 6,950 in 2018 to 7,299 in 2019, with 81 percent of them being girls.
“In Muzaffarpur alone, the number of missing children grew from 228 in 2017 to 412 in 2018, an 81 percent increase.
In 2019, the Directorate of Social Welfare rescued 300 children below 18 trafficked to Bihar from other states. They were brought for bonded labor, sexual exploitation, slavery and other purposes.
The number of victims trafficked every year goes up because of the demand from red-light areas, the press release says.
“Women and children are lured into coming to muzaffarpur for jobs, and marriage and then sold into prostitution,” says Abdul from the Alliance against Human Trafficking group YUVA.
The coalition says the situation has worsened because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Other reasons for trafficking are poverty, job losses and floods in various parts of Bihar.