Twenty-six-year-old Usha (name changed) was rescued from a sex workers’ den in Ongole last year.
Forgetting the bitter past, she resolved to live with dignity. She ran from pillar to post for the benefits of the rehabilitation, but in vain. She is now back to her old ways of living.
“This is not an isolated case. Many the victims of human trafficking have similar tales of woes to narrate. They are choosing their miserable ways of life again even after being rescued and the trend is slowly growing. The alarming situation calls for stern measures from the authorities concerned,” says civic society organisation HELP Director N.V.S. Rammohan.
Poor awareness among the rescued victims about the rehabilitation benefits and failure of the authorities in implementing proper rehabilitation measures and poor conviction rate in trafficking cases are among reasons that force the victims back to sex trade, he explains , adding most of the hapless girls who fall prey to the trafficking and subsequently got rescued, get trafficked again.
According to a survey conducted by the HELP, an NGO that works for the welfare of sex workers and their children, the State police registered only about 1,500 cases against alleged traffickers between January 2014 and September 2018.
“The number is far less than the incidences of trafficking. The rate of rescue also saw a sharp decline during the period from a monthly average of 32 rescued victims to 23. The failure of the prosecution to prove the case effectively in courts add to the woes of the victims,” says Mr. Rammohan.
‘Guidelines not followed’
The survey teams found that investigative officers were not being sensitised about the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and Juvenile Justice Act. As per the Act, minor victims should be presented before the CWC, which was not followed in many cases, he laments.
The survey also found that in many rescue cases, statements of victims or the witnesses were not recorded before the magistrate and 88% of the mediators presented for witness turned hostile during the trials. “This indicates towards the non-involvement of local government officials as mediators by the law enforcement agency. Women constable witnesses were not available in 56% of the cases, indicating that the rescue protocols were not followed by the police,” Mr. Rammohan points out.
Meanwhile, Meharunneesa, State convener of ‘Vimukthi’, a community-based organisation, expresses concern over the government ‘delaying the benefits and falling to provide full-fledged rehabilitation facilities to the rescued victims in time’.
“This is forcing many victims to turn to their old ways of living. It is time the authorities concerned ensured speedy disbursement of benefits to the victims and created job opportunities for them,” she suggests.
