As many as 353 women had been trapped in the clutches of prostitution and trafficking from the State in 2018.
The Crime in India-2018 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau on January 9 shows that 353 women were trafficked with the purpose of ‘sexual exploitation for prostitution in Andhra Pradesh in 2018’, and except two, the age of all the victims was above 18.
Twenty-one women were trafficked for forced labour. Eight women were trafficked for the purpose of ‘domestic service’.
In Andhra Pradesh, 240 cases of human trafficking were registered in 2018, which was 9.7% of the total cases in the country. In Telangana, 335 women were trafficked for prostitution in 2018.
The police had filed charge-sheets against 487 for their role in human trafficking but the conviction rate is 11.7.
Challenges
“Those rescued from prostitution are facing a web of challenges in leading a normal life. Finding someone who will forgive their past becomes difficult. In many cases, own families do not provide the support the victims need,” said B. Keerthi, president of the Vijayawada-based NGO Vasavya Mahila Mandali.
Referring to many case studies which she attended in the State, Ms. Keerthi observed, “The majority of the victims were not aware that they would be landing in prostitution for their survival as the traffickers trap them with lucrative options. Bringing the rescued victims to normalcy from the mental trauma they were subjected to is a challenge.”
