Trafficking: A Form of Violence Against Women

Centre for Social Research

Submited by: Ritu M.A. Social Entrepreneurship Tata Institute of Social Sciences

TRAFFICKING: A FORM OF VAW

Women have been at the receiving end of unequal treatment, disrespect and violence from time immemorial. Perpetrators of such ill or in-human treatment of women can be seen in the form of parents, other relatives, spouse, dates, acquaintances and strangers. The United Nations Declaration on Violence Against Women provides a basis for defining such gender-based violence. According to Article 1 of the Declaration, violence against women is to be understood as: "Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life". Thus it could be seen as something similar to a hate crime as this type of violence targets a specific group: women. The Declaration also describes the generic forms of violence against women. The definition encompasses (but is not limited to): physical, sexual, and psychological violence occurring in the family and in the community, including battering, sexual abuse of female children, dowry-related violence, marital rape; female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women; non spousal violence; violence related to exploitation, sexual harassment, and intimidation at work and in educational institutions; forced pregnancy, forced abortion, and forced sterilization; trafficking in women and forced prostitution; and violence perpetrated or condoned by the state. Women are subordinated overtly or covertly and victimized throughout their life-cycle; the only thing that undergoes change is the form of violence that they face. The pervasive prevalence of such discrimination and violence against women becomes quite evident from the description given below regarding forms of violence at different phases in a womens life. Pre-Birth Infancy Girlhood Adolescence Adulthood Sex-selective abortion; effects of battering during pregnancy on birth outcomes. Female infanticide; physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Child marriage; female genital mutilation; physical, sexual and psychological abuse; incest; child prostitution and pornography Dating and courtship violence (e.g. acid throwing and date rape),discrimination within the family Economically coerced sex ; Sexual abuse in the workplace; rape; sexual harassment; forced prostitution and pornography; trafficking in women; partner violence; marital rape; dowry abuse and murders; partner homicide; psychological abuse; abuse of women with disabilities; forced pregnancy. Forced suicide or homicide of widows for economic reasons; sexual, physical and psychological abuse

Elderly

To understand the origins of such systematic discrimination we can see it in the context of the sexual and cultural division of labour between men and women. According to one view point, men with their superior physical strength were more suited to perform tasks such as lumbering, mining, hunting, land clearing etc. They could also venture farther away from their homes to hunt, to fish, to herd and to trade as they werent handicapped by the physiological burdens of pregnancy and nursing. On the other hand, women were tied to the home base because of their biological function of childbearing and lesser physical strength moreover during the nine months of carrying a child she could not take part much physical strain and couldnt take part in many activities. Thus her role was limited to gathering, preparation of food, manufacture of clothing etc. Another view point stresses on the cultural division of labour. It states that culture defines how males and females are socialized right from their childhood to fit into socially defined roles. Gender roles vary a great deal between different societies but these reflect male dominance. For E.g. in some societies activities such as weaving, pottery making and tailoring are thought to be naturally mens tasks and in some other womens. However, it is significant that where such tasks are assigned to men carry far more prestige compared to societies where these tasks are performed by women! The degree of such male dominance is a consequence of the frequency with which men have greater rights than women to distribute good outside the domestic group as stated by a sociologist Ernestine Friedl. Thus men gained dominance because they controlled the exchange of valued goods beyond the family group. According to Marxian thought female subordination was a result of the emergence of private property, specifically private ownership of forces of production. Men owned these forces of production and in order to protect this institution of private property, monogamy arose. Men needed control over women to ensure the undisputed paternity of their heirs. Male dominated monogamous marriage which involved the economic dependence of the wife upon her husband, provided this control. However economic dependence of women on their husbands isnt the only cause of this control and discrimination. In a study published in 1958, Blood and Hamblin found that the employment of the wife outside the home did not alter the power relations within the family to a large extent. Power was assessed in terms of who made important family decisions and it was found that working wives had only marginally more power than full time housewives because their role as a wife or mother was considered their main responsibility. As such it can be clearly seen that girls and women face systematic discrimination from entrenched power relations that perpetuate the almost universal subordination of females. Women as individuals and as a group are among the most discriminated sections of the world population and their plight has often been compared to the Blacks. Compared to Whites, Blacks have been labeled inferior; similarly, compared to men, women have been labeled weaker. A woman is subjected to discrimination even when she was equal or superior to the male perpetrator in status, education or other indicators. Women were the target of rape simply because she was a woman biologically different from Man. For e.g. in many states of India a newly wed bride is

beaten by her in laws simple because she is a woman and she ought to be controlled and subjugated. As a result societies across the world have shown preference for boy child. The preference for boy child has taken societies to the extent of killing girl child in the womb itself. All practices of discriminations in societies have been legitimised through either invoking socio-cultural needs or the need to maintain a lineage or for material production. The patri-leneality, where descent is through fathers lineage and patrilocality where the wife and children lives in fathers home or village have added to the preference for the boy child. All these arrangements have the consequence of women being relegated as the Second Sex. As the second sex in material terms means that women is quite often denied political, economic and even cultural rights. She quite often does not have right to inherit property along with her male siblings. She does not have either equal access to education and health care equal to a male counterpart. She is also highly vulnerable to being harmed physically, sexually or psychologically by the men in their families and communities. Due to such culturally embedded discrimination many developing countries face a serious problem of declining female sex ratio. The Sex ratio (females per thousand males) of India according to 2001 census was 933. Haryana had the lowest sex ratio of 861 females per 1000 males while Delhi stood at 868 females per 1000 males! This is in spite of the fact that Haryana and Delhi are the rich states of India. This led to another problem: trafficking of girls from other states into Haryana & Delhi for various purposes. Although such trafficking has been taking place for numerous other reasons as well which have been discussed ahead. Trafficking of women and children for various purposes is a serious global issue. In India poverty, illiteracy and lack of social security measures create situations where the son is seen as an insurance for the old age whereas the daughter as a liability. Can any monetary value be accorded to a human being? The answer is simply No. But we are faced with a heinous crime where human beings are bought and sold like commodities; the person in question having no control over his/her life and no opportunity to demand his/her rights . According to the United Nations Protocol, Trafficking in persons means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of 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 labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. Trafficking in persons primarily means taking the victim with or without consent across or within borders for purposes of sex work, forced labor, marriages and bonded labor. For all practical purposes, trafficking in persons is the modern day incarnation of slavery. Only difference is the fact that trafficking is a much more organized crime and much bigger in dimension.

It is heartbreaking to see that family members are themselves indulging in these horrible practices and selling off their children (mostly daughters) to traffickers to be further exploited for sex or non-sex based purposes. It has been observed through research projects that it is the economically backward and socially discriminated, especially those below the poverty line and those belonging to the ST, SC, OBC, and other deprived sections of society, who are the most vulnerable to trafficking. Even among them, children constitute the largest contingent. Further, girl children and handicapped children are extremely vulnerable. The status of the girl child, who is more often regarded as a liability, the gender discrimination prevalent in the social milieu, and different forms of violence against women like infanticide, female foeticide, etc., adds to the vulnerability. This is further accentuated during periods of acute economic distress, for example, drought, flood, food shortage, etc. The debt crisis due to economic deprivation as well as the collapse of social security systems has spurred migration, which has also eventually contributed to trafficking. Maximum trafficking takes place from those places where such vulnerability factors are high. Even within a state, those districts with high levels of illiteracy, exposure to natural or manmade calamities, social and economic exploitation, etc., are more vulnerable for trafficking. Certain social customs like Nath Uthrai in Rajasthan and Devdasi system in Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh make the girls and women of these communities more vulnerable to victimization. From an economic perspective we find that poor states and relatively poorer districts within states where development and livelihood options are few are the biggest supply areas of trafficking. Human trafficking has been deemed to be the worlds third-largest illicit industry, after arms and drugs generating billions of dollars annually despite increasing funding for intervention efforts. Various UN conventions have been signed by member countries to counter this growing crime. India has shown its commitment to counter this crime and has signed and ratified the following conventions dealing with human trafficking: 1953: On 9th January the Government of India ratified the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of others. 1992: On 2nd December the Government of India ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Under this convention Article 35 requires States Parties to take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form and Article 36 requires children to be protected from all types of exploitation. 1993: On 9th July India ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Discriminations against Women (CEDAW). Article 6 under this convention deals with traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women. 2002: On 12th December, India signed the UN convention against Transnational Organized Crime with its protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons especially women and children.

2002: The 11th SAARC meeting held in at Kathmandu, had passed the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking of Women and Children for Prostitution. 2005: On 16th August India also ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The Indian laws dealing with human trafficking can be summarized as follows: The Indian Penal Code, 1860: Sections 363, 363A, 366A, 366B, 367, 368, 370, 371, 372, 373, 374. These sections deal with kidnapping (including for begging, for marriage, and for procuring minor girl for illicit intercourse), slavery, buying and selling minors for prostitution, and unlawful compulsory labour. With a view to implement this International Convention " The Suppression Of Immoral Traffic In Woman And Girls Bill, 1950" was introduced in the Lok Sabha on the 20th December, 1954 which was amended by the select committee and was passed as an Act of Parliament under the title "The Suppression Of Immoral Traffic In Women And Girls Act, 1956 This act was amended twice i.e. in 1978 and 1986. In 1986 by amending this Act, the title of Act was changed to The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 and the scope was increased to traffic in human beings and not just traffic in women and girls alone. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986; The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1979; The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976; The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970; The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The National Commissions for Protection of child rights Act was passed in 2005 which was to provide for the constitution of a National Commission and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights and Children's Courts for providing speedy trial of offences against children or of violation of child rights. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, a statutory body of Government of India has been set up in March, 2007.

Despite these laws the problem of trafficking hasnt been countered effectively, this is mainly due to loopholes in the laws, lack of proper implementation of laws and lack of development schemes for women. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is undertaking a number of initiatives to prevent and combat trafficking. As discussed earlier, lack of employment opportunities, poverty and low status accorded to the female children are some of the causes that lead to trafficking. To check these MWCD has undertaken various developmental schemes focusing girls. Some schemes to check female foeticide have also been formulated. MWCD is also proposing to make the laws dealing with trafficking more stringent and victim friendly. Some important initiatives undertaken are: 1. It has proposed to amend The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 by ITPA Bill 2006 to provide for stringent punishment to the traffickers and other perpetrators of crime, deletion of Sections 8(soliciting for prostitution to be prosecuted) and 20(removal of sex worker from a place) of the Act would certainly make the Act more victim friendly. 2. Based on the favorable feedback on the implementation of 3 pilot projects a new Central Scheme Ujjawala which is a Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking, Rescue, Rehabilitation, Re-Integration and Repatriation of Victims of Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation was launched on 4th December, 2007. An Outlay of Rs 10 crore had been approved for the Scheme in the year 2007-08. 3. An Integrated National Plan of Action for preventing Trafficking in Human Beings, especially Women and Children, is being drafted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Labour, National Commission for Human Rights and National Commission for Women. The Integrated National Plan of Action addresses trafficking for all purposes and including commercial sexual exploitation. For this purpose wide ranging Consultations with State Governments, NGOs and experts through Regional Consultations, one each in Guwahati, Hyderabad and Goa and a National Level Consultation in Delhi were held wherein the draft Plan of Action was deliberated and recommendations received. The draft Plan of Action is under finalization. 4. The problem of cross border trafficking especially of young children and women trafficked from Bangladesh and Nepal into India for the purpose of prostitution has been growing in recent years. In this connection, a draft Roadmap and Joint Plan of Action has been developed in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and Bangladesh Counterparts with technical support from UNICEF. 5. The Ministry in collaboration with National Institute of Public Co-operation and Child Development (NIPCCD) is organizing a series of workshops for NGOs on issues relating to trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation. The Ministry in collaboration with NIPCCD organized training courses for International delegations such as Mauritius and SAARC countries delegations on various aspects of trafficking. 6. The Ministry in collaboration with Ministry of Home Affairs and UNODC is developing Training Manuals for Police and Prosecutors and also setting up

Anti- Human Trafficking Units (AHTU) in select States like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Goa. 7. UNODC in collaboration with MWCD and MHA organized the South Asia Regional Conference on Human Trafficking as a part of the Global Initiatives to Fight Human Trafficking (UN-GIFT). 8. The Central Advisory Committee (CAC) to combat Child Prostitution headed by Secretary (MWCD) had developed guidelines on six crucial issues Inter State Rescue Protocol; Health issues of trafficked victims; Prevention of trafficking of women and children; Rehabilitating victims of trafficking; Legal issues; MIS and data base systems. 9. The Ministry of Women & Child Development has been undertaking various developmental activities that would address the supply side push factors that make women more vulnerable to trafficking by improving the socio economic empowerment of women through initiatives such as mobilization of women into Self Help Groups (SHGs), provision of training in various livelihood skills, up gradation of skills to enable them to take up income generation activities through self employment or wage employment. The important programmes being implemented for this are: Swayamsidha under which womens SHGs have been formed with the objective of all-round development of women by ensuring them direct access to and control over productive resources of the community through a sustained process of mobilization and convergence of all ongoing sectoral programmes and these SHGs are involved in various developmental activities. STEP, under which updated skills and new knowledge are provided to poor and asset-less women in the traditional sectors such as Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Fisheries, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Khadi and Village Industries, Sericulture Social Forestry and Wasteland Development for enhancing their productivity and income generation capacity. The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) of Ministry of Women and Child Development has in place a unique credit delivery model RMK-NGOSHG-Beneficiaries and has flexible credit norms, hassle free loans, no collateral and reasonable rate of interest to help women start livelihood activities. To facilitate the employment of women away from their homes / towns, schemes providing support services for women such as Working Women Hostels with day-care centres and independent Crche Centres are implemented. Crche facilities for children of working mothers are provided under the aegis of Rajiv Gandhi National Crche Scheme. To provide relief, protection and rehabilitation of women in distress schemes like Swadhar Shelter Homes, Short Stay Homes and Women Helplines are being implemented. Further, Mahila Mandals, Awareness Generation Programmes, Condensed Course of Education and Family Counseling Centre scheme are some of the other important activities aiming at overall development of women.

10. Gender budgeting is perceived as a powerful tool not only for tracking allocation of resources for women but also covers implementation issues and outcomes. MWCD has been identified as the Nodal Ministry for Gender Budgeting and the Ministry is pursuing vigorously with the Central Ministries/ Departments and State Governments to implement the techniques of gender budgeting. The Ministry has also initiated steps to compile and prepare Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure which have been emphasized as the major monitoring tools to examine whether the benefits of policies and programmes are reaching those for whom these are intended. 11. Ministry has formulated a new centrally sponsored schemeIntegrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) which will provide preventive, statutory and care and rehabilitation services to any other vulnerable child including, but not limited, to: children of potentially vulnerable families and families at risk, children of socially excluded groups like migrant families, families living in extreme poverty, lower caste families, families subjected to or affected by discrimination, minorities, children infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS, orphans, child drug abusers, children of substance abusers, child beggars, trafficked or sexually exploited children, children of prisoners, and street and working children. The budget allocation under this scheme for the current financial year 2007-08 is Rs.95 crore. Some of the services provided under the scheme would be Emergency outreach service through CHILDLINE Transitional shelters for children in need in urban and semi-urban areas Family based non institutional care through Sponsorship, Foster-care, Adoption and After-care Institutional services Shelter homes, Children homes, Observation homes, Special homes, Specialized services for children with special needs Website for missing children and Web-enabled child protection management information system General grant-in-aid for need based/ innovative interventions

12. A pilot scheme, conditional cash transfer for girl child with insurance cover, is being implemented in eleven Blocks in seven States (Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Orissa) of the Country for which an outlay of 15 Crore is provided in Annual Plan 2007-08. Under the scheme cash transfers will be made to the family of the girl child on fulfilling certain specific conditions (Birth Registration, immunization, School enrollment and retention, delay in marriage of the girl child till age of 18 years). In addition, an insurance coverage to the tune of Rs 1 lakh would be taken for the girl child born on and after a cut-off date proposed.

Despite the plethora of conventions, laws and schemes, we find that ground reality is different from what was envisioned. All schemes and laws are purposeless if not implemented effectively. The government surely has been taking rigorous measures to counter trafficking. In the past, majority of victims of CSE were booked under Section 8 of ITPA Act for soliciting whereas the clients were not even touched. But now a change in this trend can be seen with the sensitization of police personnel, prosecutors and even the judiciary. There is growing awareness amongst the stakeholders regarding the psychological impact of trafficking on victims and various steps are being taken to reduce the victimization of trafficked persons in the post rescue scenario. There are a growing number of incidents where cases have been handled effectively but at the same time exist plethora of events where the issue has not been taken seriously by the law enforcers. To conclude I would say that as a nation we still have a very long way to go and a lot more to do. For this purpose, the first step should be to focus on prevention as the damage caused to the victims cannot be undone. Social Enterprises can specially cause direct impact at the prevention stage by bringing about changes in the socio-economic conditions of the supply areas by innovative intervention practices which would leave no incentive to the local public to migrate in search of livelihood options. Social Enterprises can cause such a change by following three types of innovations: Transformational: By building local capacity this approach alters local norms, roles and expectations to transform the cultural context for the better (E.g. local village based training initiatives focused at vulnerable groups) Economic: By developing custom packages to solve problems, this approach provides tools and resources to enhance productivity & transform economic circumstances (E.g. Grameen bank, Microfinance & other forms of Entrepreneur support models) Political: By building local movements to challenge power this approach increases the voice of marginalized communities to increase their political influence (E.g. SEWA) Awareness generation amongst local community regarding trafficking and the various dos and donts. Social Entrepreneurs should also play a huge role at the stages of rehabilitation of rescued persons by providing skill based training and employment opportunities. As social enterprises aim at social change and bringing a change in the relations in the society, they can facilitate reintegration of rescued persons into normal life. For E.g. The Green Hotel in Mysore, provides a model of environmental and social tourism, employing abused women and dalits, the 'untouchables'.

Secondly, there is a requirement of continually enhancing the collaboration between all stakeholders i.e. police, prosecutors, judiciary and NGOs. The same is needed in case of international and regional collaboration. Third step is to ensure that all laws and policies are taken seriously and implemented according to the letter and the

spirit. Any deviance from the standard operating procedures should not be tolerated. Fourthly, diffusion of best practices based on case studies need to be facilitated amongst stakeholders through training sessions. Fifthly, lack of rehabilitation and re-integration services need to be highlighted. In order to encourage creation of decent services in this field, seed funding to social entrepreneurs should be facilitated as they can affect direct impact at the stages of prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration. Further, a sustained commitment is needed on part of all stakeholders to continue fighting this transnational crime from all sides.