Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Can We Hear the Cry of Trafficked Women and Children?


Can We Hear the Cry of Trafficked Women and Children?

Today human trafficking has become a big issue not only in India but also in the world. It is a big obstacle of development for developing country like India. Human trafficking is the misuse and exploitation of available human resources.  Missing of thousand boys and girls every year is not a new thing in our country. “According to government statistics in our country a child disappears in every 8 minutes.”[1]   Though many NGOs and government agencies are working against the issue “human trafficking” but still many trafficked children remain untraced. It is hard to imagine about the fact, the innocent boys and girls are kept away from their parents though their parents are still alive. When the other children celebrate their lives, trafficked children made to suffer quietly. Exploited life and unimaginable treatment takes away their innocent smile. But who cares? What crimes have they committed? Is it their birth? Whom to blame? Is it their parents who brought them into this world? These questions will remain unanswered. Where are we moving today? Is it the kind of progress and development we dream for? Trafficked women and children are sold in the market like goods. They are bargained in the market. Can we imagine the pain and suffering, they go through when all these processes go on? Why the hands of traffickers do not shiver doing all these things? Have they murdered their soul? Everyone wants to live in freedom, breath in fresh air.  Who has given traffickers the right to play with their lives and take away the smile from their innocent faces? Today we need to think seriously about all the above questions.
With this background let me share the life story of Ms. Sunita whose life forces me to think about the pain and suffering of every trafficked girl. Sunita was 15 years old girl studying in class 9th. She came from a poor family, village called karamtoli, Gumla district. She had seen her poor and illiterate parents struggling to run their family. In the month of December, in the village market she met some girls from neighboring villages who had come from Delhi to celebrate Christmas. Their appearance was quite different form rest of the village girls. They invited Sunita to go with them to Delhi and showed willingness to find for her a decent job with good salary. Sunita was tempted to go with them but her parents would not allow her to go. But one day she quietly ran away with those girls who had come from Delhi. She worked there as a domestic worker. In the beginning everything was fine but after few days she was scolded and beaten by her employer and was sexually exploited by the driver of that house. She had become like a sex slave. She complained about it to her owners, but they did not pay attention to it, may be it was because the driver was working in that house for many years. She was thrown out of the house when she got pregnant. With the help of another girl who worked in neighboring family, she managed to return back home. Her return had become the main gossip at that time in her village. A girl, who used to be very talkative, spoke very less and hardly came out from her home now. Situation had completely silenced her. Nobody cared about the pain and suffering she was going through at that situation. She was completely broken from within. She has lost the hope of survival. Anyway after few days she gave birth to a baby boy. But it was not the joyful moment for Sunita like the other mothers. She died after two days of the birth of her son. I am sure that she would have survived, if someone would have helped her mentally and psychologically. At that moment she was in need of mental, physical and psychological support from her family and villagers. Whom to blame for her death? Is it the girls who tempted her to go to Delhi? Is it the employers or their driver who sexually exploited her? Or is it her parents or villagers. It is not easy to answer these questions. There are so many Sunitas in our country who are going through same kind of pain and suffering every day.
Keeping in mind the life story of Sunita let us analyze the issue of human trafficking.

Analysis of the issue

From Jharkhand thousands of girls are trafficked every year by interstate gangs to Delhi, Bengluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Haryana, Punjab and Goa. Garhwa, Gumla, Saheb Ganj, Dumka, Pakur, West Singhbhum, Ranchi, Palamu, Hazaribag, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Girdih, Kodarma and Lohodaga, Simdega and Khunti are the districts of Jharkhand which have become the hunting grounds for the traffickers.

These are the main reasons which play the major role in trafficking from above mentioned states-:

 Poverty

 All these states are tribal majority states. And 35% of tribal population lives below the poverty line. Some of them own few pieces of land but because of the uncertainty of monsoon rain they do not get good crops. Some are landless, and earn their living by working in the others’ fields or doing manual labour. They do not have any savings and thus their children’s education remain uncertain. Their dreams are not high but just earning a living. This kind of situation forces them to fall easily into the hands of traffickers.

 Maoists war Zone

 All these states are Naxal affected states. Their life is always in threat from both police and Maoists. They do not have faith in the police because even police is afraid to go in these areas. Young boys are often suspect to be Naxalites and thus often they are unnecessarily beaten and even put into the jail. And on the other side most of the decisions about their lives are taken by Naxalites. Naxalites take away their children both boys and girls in order to increase their numbers. Thus poor tribals do not want to keep their children at home for the good of their children. So, if someone who takes their children to the big cities in promise of finding a good job, they happily send their children with them without much thinking. And even if some children are lost they do not go to the police because they fear naxalites.

 Illitracy

 Most of the tribal people are illiterate. In some of the tribal villages, there are no schools. And in some of the villages there are schools but there are no teachers and proper building to run the schools. Since these people are very poor they cannot afford for the good education in the big cities. Thus, they remain illiterate and do not know much about the reality of the city life. So if someone comes with the tempting offer, they do not think much about it and easily get ready to go with them.

 Lack of sustainable employment

 In villages there are very less possibility of getting employment. Most of the people are engaged in cultivation. Thus, there is no employment other than the cultivation work. Government comes with some employment project but that also does not last long or villagers are cheated in their payment by the middlemen. This kind of situation forces them to go to the big cities in search of employment.

Single crop patterns

 Tribals fully depend on monsoon rain for their cultivation. They do not have the irrigation facilities. They do not have enough money to buy the modern equipments of cultivation. Thus, they produce only once in a year. Thus, half of the year they remain unemployed. And so, if they get offer to get employed in the big cities, they do not hesitate to go to the big cities.

 Lack of awareness 

There is lake of awareness among the tribal people. They do not know much about the reality of the big cities. They feel happy when they get money from their children but fail to think about the situation by which their children earn that money. Many children run away from their families because their parents are alcoholic. Most of the children are not taken care well; they are left to themselves to decide about their lives. Parents cannot think more than to make them to work in the paddy fields. And if any family does well in a particular village, in place of getting inspired from that family, others plan how to bring them down.

 Lack of political stability

In Jharkhand there is lack of political stability. There is lack of good political governance. Government has failed to tackle some basic problems. Most of the time poor people are neglected. Many times they are exploited in different ways. Their lands are being taken away from them. Government officials and dalals take advantage of their illiteracy. Before the election political leaders promise to do many things for the poor people but after election they never think and talk about their promises. All these situations create the way for the human trafficking.


Now let us look at the district wise statistics of human trafficking presented by the police from-2011-2015, published in Prabhat Khabhar, life Ranchi, dated 06.08.2016.

District
2011
2012
2013
2014
Ranchi
14
22
10
16
Lohordaga
01
01
06
02
Gumla
08
13
20
42
Simdega
02
11
12
11
Khunti
04
02
13
23
Chaibasa
01
01
08
13
Saraikela
00
00
01
02
Jamshedpur
01
03
00
00
Palamu
01
03
00
00
Garhwa
01
01
00
01
Latehar
00
03
07
05
Hazaribag
00
00
00
03
Kodarma
00
02
00
01
Girdih
02
07
04
01
Chatra
00
01
01
00
Ramgarh
01
00
00
00
Bokaro
00
00
00
00
Dhanbad
01
00
01
00
Dumka
01
00
01
07
Pakur
00
00
03
07
      Given above statistics clearly shows us, that the most affected districts of human trafficking are Ranchi, Gumla and Simdega. These are the three districts from where every year human trafficking takes place in maximum number.
It is very hard to understand the reasons that make easier for trafficking for traffickers. But one thing is clear that most of the trafficked girls have come across some problems or the other. They have closely experienced hunger, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty or exploitation at home. Some women have gone to the big cities by choice and the others have been tempted or forced to go to the big cities and fall into the hands of traffickers.

Role of the agents and the function of the placement agency

Every trafficked girl has her own story. But in most of the trafficked tribal girls’ story, the role of the agent is played by the people who are known to them. For example in case of Sunita the role of agent was played by the girls of neighboring village. Thus, agents can be anybody, their uncles, maternal uncles, brother in laws, or can be their own brothers or sisters. Trafficking is not a one day affair but the process of trafficking goes on for a few months. Traffickers gradually prepare the background for trafficking by tempting the innocent girls and boys in the promise of good job, money and luxurious life. There are also some cases where boys make the innocent girls to fall into their love and take them to the big cities and sell them.
Almost all the agents, work for the placement agency. They get sufficient money for this. Thus, their work is just hunting boys and girls for trafficking. Agents generously spent money on the trafficked girls to make them somewhat  look decent and modern, before handing them over to the placement agencies, which they get back from the placement agency later on. Placement agency functions very secretly and systematically. It places these girls for the work according to the demands and requirements as if they are market goods. An agreement is made between employers and placement agency. And this agreement is for one year, during this period if the girl runs away from employers home or falls sick, whole responsibility is taken by the placement agency. In place of that girl another girl is replaced if above mentioned incidents take place. If the family builds the emotional attachment with that girl and wants to keep the girl after one year also the placement agency does not take any responsibility. This way we see that poor trafficked girls are treated like any other goods in the market. It is very strange that in replacement agency even our own tribal people are also involved. This shows that tribal people can go blind and can sell even their soul for money. Then how can we expect help from the non-tribals.

Human trafficking worldwide

“In all over the world 80% human trafficking takes place only for sexual exploitation and remaining 20% for bondage labour.”[2] The majority of trafficked persons are women and girls and only few of them are men and boys. “Where as, most trafficked women and girls are exploited in the sex industry and through domestic labour, men are trafficked mainly for labour in agriculture, construction and services.”[3] Women are trafficked for prostitution, pornography, forced mirage and slavery. And there is no doubt that cases of women trafficking are increasing every day. Women are trafficked mainly from central and Eastern Europe (from Albania, the Czech Republican, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine). These trafficked women are sent to work as prostitutes in Western Europe. “ in the Netherlands 70%, in Germany between 60 and 80%, in Austria 80% and in Italy 80% of all trafficked women come from eastern Europe.”[4] Some of the countries like Thailand and so on, are also known for sex tourism, thus they need young girls and women to attract the customers. Women who are trafficked for force labour are not protected or recognized. They are paid less and have limited access for public interaction. They are involved in unprotected works such as domestic work, child care, and care for the elderly persons and so on. Children are also trafficked for prostitution. In many parts of the world, young prostitutes are in great demand; it is because the exploiters are feared of contracting HIV/AIDS.

These are the ways through which women and children are trafficked globally:-

1. Local contacts

 With the help of local people trafficking are executed. Villagers or local people, who play the role of an agent, always look for the people who are poor and vulnerable. Everything is done with a proper planning.

2. Direct sales

 In this case women and children are directly sold to traffickers by parents or other family members.

3. Deceit

In this case agent deceives parents, women and girls with false promises, such as good jobs or mirages to rich partners.

4. Kidnapping

Criminal gangs or middlemen kidnap women and children, force them to work against their will, and often sell them to brothels.

4. Bribes

 Bribes are commonly paid to various officials or police to produce false documents, or at border crossings.
This way we see that in all over the world human trafficking has become a big problem. Everyday many women and children are kidnapped or sold from one place to the other or one country to the other. It is unimaginable that everyday many children and women are sexually exploited or even killed.

Trafficking in women of Jharkhand

Trafficking of women and children from Jharkhand mostly takes place through the well organized placement agency racket in Delhi. They target mostly the children of age group 11-16, who remain silent, even after exploitation. These young children are easy to be tempted for good jobs and good life. It is seen that tribal girls are easily attracted towards the glamorous life. Thus, when they see someone coming from the big cities with good cloths and money, they are tempted to have things like them. There are some girls who are forced to go to the big cities and get exploited and the others take this decision by choice.
There are different types of work which are done by the children and women who are trafficked from Jharkhand. Most of them work in kothis, as domestic help. Luckier ones have a good life as domestic workers but in general most of them are given less money and are scolded and beaten for the small mistakes. Some of them are sexually exploited by the employers or their sons. Some of them are sold in mirage in Punjab and Haryana, as we know that in Punjab and Haryana there is a vast difference in boys-girls percentage. Some of them who are sold in brothel, there life becomes like hell. They are sexually abused by the customers and there is always fear of contracting HIV/AIDS. This way, they are made to suffer in brothel never-ending abuse in all forms. Some of them are sent to Punjab and Haryana to work as bonded labour. Where they are made to work day and night and are not paid well. The less fortunate ones are made to work as organ donors. They are threatened and forced to donate their organs. Recent news also reports about the emergence of trafficking of women from Jharkhand for surrogacy and delivering babies for sale. Surrogacy is becoming very popular these days where womb is hired for a baby from a surrogate mother. Seeing this popularity government has come up with a bill where it states that single parents, gay couples, foreigners and married couples before five years of their marriage cannot have their surrogate child.
Thus, we see that victims of trafficking have to go through a series of exploitation starting from the source of traffickers, placement agents and employers. But who is going to listen to their cry? Women and children from villages of Jharkhand just disappear and no one is equipped to look for them. With whom the Poor and the illiterate parents of trafficked women and children will share their pain. They cannot approach the police because if they do so Maoists will not spare them. Even if they approach the police, the police are not going to come there easily for enquiry because most of the tribal villages are Naxal- affected villages.
This way, the villages of Jharkhand remain hunting ground for traffickers. But who is going to listen to the cry of the tribal people of Jharkhand. One side Modi government speaks about “sabka sath, sabka vikas” but in what sense. Present Jharkhand government is trying to bring amendment in CNT/SPT act, if it does happen many tribals will lose their lands. And it will again promote trafficking; Jharkhand will again become hunting ground for traffickers. For tribals, land is everything, if they are uprooted from their land, they stand nowhere, they become without identity. Thus, as a resident of Jharkhand we need to understand our responsibility towards our fellow Jharkhandis. We need to stand by the poor and fight for their rights.

Tribal’s life and understanding the situation of trafficking


Adivasis are peace loving people with minimum needs. They live a simple life, believe in unity and help one another. Their main assets are land, live stock and children, thus, they believe in celebrating life. But they suffer from poverty and illiteracy. So, it becomes advantages for the traffickers to tempt them for good jobs, money and good life. Some girls leave their houses without telling their family members, and, there are parents who send their children with agents in the hope that they will find an employment in a big city. Simple and illiterate tribal parents feel happy when their daughters and sons send money for them. But they fail to understand the difficulties and exploitation which their children go through to earn that same money.
Most of the trafficked girls are sexually exploited. And in Adivasi culture pre-marital sex is not permitted. The girls who live in the big cities are looked down by the villagers. Even if they escape from the traffickers and come back to their respected villages, they have to face a lot of difficulties. Villagers consider them impure and no one wants to marry them and thus, many of them remain unmarried. Often they are taunted by the family members and the villagers. These girls go through a traumatic experience of dislocation, socially, psychologically and culturally. It affects their family, community, their own marriage, their family’s relationship with others both in and outside the society, and above all, it affects them personally. Thus, their life becomes miserable. They find themselves excluded and out of place. All these situations force them to go back to live the same kind of life which they never want to. In fact, these girls need psychological help and counseling so that they can come out from the horrific experiences and start their life anew. Thus, these girls are challenged socially and culturally. As a good human being we need to bring awareness among the tribal people. We need to help them to understand the pain and suffering of the trafficked girls so that they may accept these girls with open heart when they come back their home.





                                                             Bibliography
Main Source,
Vohra, Tanuja. Trafficking in women and Children. Delhi: Pacific Publication Extension, 2009.
Secondary Sources,
Guru, Rahul. Human Trafficking. Prabhat khabar, Life Ranchi, 8 August 2016, 1.
Johnson, Mini S. Women in Christianity. New Delhi: Mittal Publication, 2005.
Sharma, Arvind, ed. Women in World Religion. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publication, 1995.
Kujur, Joseph Marianus and Jha, Vikash. Tribal Women Domestic Workers in Delhi. New Delhi: Mayur Entrprises, 2008.




[1] Rahul Guru. Human Trafficking. Prabhat khabar, Life Ranchi, 8 August 2016, 1.

[2]Guru, op. cit, 1.
[3] Tanuja Vohra, Trafficking in Women and Children. Delhi: Pacific Publication, 2009, 7.
[4] Ibid., 37-38.

Can We Hear the Cry of Trafficked Women and Children?

Can We Hear the Cry of Trafficked Women and Children? Today human trafficking has become a big issue not only in India but also in t...