The New Nation - Internet Edition

Nava Thakuria

It was a daylong rigorous dialogue, where mass awareness about human trafficking, comprehensive plans for victims' support & rehabilitation package, sustained & collaborative effort from NGOs and a pro-active role by the media were emerged as major issues of discussion. Organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the Northeast chapter of ATSEC (Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children) on September 19 at Guwahati in Northeast India, the forum brought together stakeholders like civil society, corporate house and media persons from the region.

The discussion on 'Building Public Private Partnership for Anti Human Trafficking' was held under the banner of UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), where the primary objective of the dialogue was to deliberate upon the need for a cohesive approach to combat human trafficking and also address the larger issues of livelihood generation as a prevention strategy.

The dialogue emerged as a significant initiative by the civil society and advocacy groups when the Northeast has been witnessing an increase in incidences of women & children being trafficked for exploitative situations such as forced labour, fake marriages and commercial sex works. This phenomenon can be attributed to factors such as porous borders, displacement of communities, ethnic conflicts, lack of employment, mass exodus of communities and poverty. For record, hundreds of women and children are trafficked every day within and outside the trouble torn region of the country under the pretext of a better future.

As per the UN Protocol on Trafficking, the term 'Human Trafficking', refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. Trafficking primarily takes place for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), as well as for other forms of exploitation such as labour, organ transplant, and forced marriage.

Addressing the gathering, Hasina Kharbhih of Impulse Network, a Northeast based NGO, emphasized on practical solution to the rehabilitation practices.

She argued that once a girl is rescued from the traffickers, she must enjoy the choice for vocational practices. She also insisted on a sustained need-based rehabilitation package. Talking about the huge migrating population from Bangladesh, Burma and even Nepal into the Northeast, she revealed that, the migrant population remains vulnerable to human trafficking.

Anurita Hazarika of North East Network, a women's right group of the region, in her address, urged the corporate houses to support measure to prevent trafficking on the ground keeping in mind the conflict situation of the region. She also asked the corporate bodies to play a positive role in rehabilitating the trafficked victims. She argued that they could join the initiative under the scheme for corporate responsibility sector. Anindit Roy Chowdhury, from Sanlaap, a Kolkata based NGO, highlighted the scope and opportunity for the rescued victims ensuring social and economic reintegration. He also highlighted on the employment opportunities for the victims as the sales girl, waiter, house keeping, care taker to the hospital, attendant to bank ATMs etc.

The NGO activists representing GOLD, Nedan with Impulse Network and NEN presented an overview of human trafficking in the region and also presented the various initiatives undertaken by them. The participants of the workshop included media persons, representative of NEDFi (a financial institution) and NGO workers from West Bengal, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. The gathering was also addressed by Manavendra Mandal, coordinator of ATSEC, Rajeeb Sharma of GOLD, Digambar Narzery of Nedan, Oli Bora from NEDFi and N. Thakuria from Guwahati Press Club, an active media persons organization of the region.

Pinky Pradhan Bora, Communication and Advocacy Officer, UNODC Regional Office for South Asia, shared about the mandate of UNODC, while initiating the dialogue. She informed that UNODC seeks to achieve security and justice for all by helping member states and their people to guard against threats posed by drugs, crime and terrorism. In South Asia, UNODC's main current focus areas are drug abuse awareness, reducing injecting drug use (IDU) driven HIV/AIDS, combating human trafficking, precursor chemical control, prison reform, smuggling of migrants and anti-corruption.

The highpoint of the dialogue was also the participation of Ela Sangma, an empowered survivor of human trafficking. Currently working with Impulse Network and being involved in the rescue of the victims of human trafficking, Ela spoke about the need for creating awareness at the district level and stressed upon the need to hold similar programmes with community leaders. She further appealed to the media to be sensitive while profiling the victims of human trafficking.

"UNODC's anti human trafficking initiatives focuses on the three aspects of prevention, prosecution and protection. Most of law enforcement programmes relate to setting up anti-human-trafficking units in the police, training police and prosecutors, developing standard operating procedures for better law enforcement and improving law enforcement networks with the anti-trafficking NGO communities. Other areas of work include prevention programmes and supporting facilities for the victims and survivors of human trafficking," said Marie Erickson, Consultant UNODC, during the proceedings of the dialogue.

The protection of rights of rehabilitated survivors and provision of special services was strongly recommended various speakers in the programme. Many times survivors are discriminated against and isolated due to societal stigma. The need for collaboration between law enforcement and CSO's (Civil Society Organization) was equally stressed upon. The speakers also emphasized on implementation of laws and programmes that respect women's rights. It was also unanimously agreed that there is a need for integrating counter trafficking measures within the larger livelihood framework and collaboration between civil society, corporates and Government to ensure effective implementation of laws and policies.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Guwahati, Assam, India)