Category Archives: trafficking

Nigeria, trafficking

Warning girls about the tactics of human traffickers

Sr. Mary Rosanna Emenusiobi, teaching about trafficking to the students in Government Girls Science Secondary School of Kuje, Abuja, in Nigeria (Courtesy of Teresa Anyabuike)
Sr. Mary Rosanna Emenusiobi, teaching about trafficking to the students in Government Girls Science Secondary School of Kuje, Abuja, in Nigeria (Courtesy of Teresa Anyabuike)

As we, the Africa Faith and Justice Network-Nigeria walked into Government Girls Science Secondary School of Kuje, Abuja, in Nigeria, I felt we were at the right place to speak with a vulnerable group of young girls who might be future victims of human trafficking. I was happy that we were going to share with younger children information about the dangers of human trafficking. The school administration was also pleased to welcome us to speak with the students on how to avoid being trafficked, and to teach them to speak out when they notice unusual behaviors. There were about 200 girls, from grades 7-12.

It was interesting that — though the students already have some idea about what human trafficking is — they were surprised that perpetrators can be family members or friends of a family. I could see their innocence and fear when they realized that no one could be trusted, since family members too are potential perpetrators of human trafficking.

They were very attentive and active during the program. The students were eager to know more and share with their friends about what they learned about human trafficking and the tricks perpetrators use to lure their victims. Anyone can be a victim and/or an agent for perpetrators. This was highlighted in a short drama that I guided them to act. The drama shows that there are chains of traffickers linked together, waiting for an available opportunity to strike.

In order to educate and inform their consciences, I asked the students if they understood the core message of the drama and the ideas it was trying to get across. Their answers were affirmative and that gave me joy. In fact, understanding the message I tried to get across with the help of a short drama means that this group of students will be able to elude the tricks of traffickers.

The girls were shocked to learn about online trafficking. They were in dismay and expressed it, looking at each other when one of the speakers, Sr. Mary Rosanna Emenusiobi, an Immaculate Heart of Mary sister, shared with them how one can be trafficked online. Traffickers come across as harmless friends on social media, requesting friendship and showing potential victims enticing things that could lure them into believing they are really what they pretend to be.

Traffickers make conscious efforts to buy the trust of their victims before they strike. They make sure that the victims don’t have any doubt about them; traffickers would go to any extent to prevent anyone that might help the victims to see otherwise. The students were advised not to be quick to accept “friend requests” on social media of persons they don’t know, and to avoid flashy offers from potential “friends” or strangers.

Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. It is dehumanizing. A lot of people are forced into sex, hard drugs, hard labor, and are even beaten to death. Trafficked persons are also sold so that their organs can be harvested and sold.

Sr. Mary Rosanna also shared with the students how some victims have been trafficked online after having been lured with enticing job offers and parties. After traffickers build trust with their potential victims, they invite them for an outing to carry out their devilish plan. She urged the girls to be vigilant, intelligent and smart, and to speak out when they began to notice something unusual about a friend or classmate. This was to remind the students that they are their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers in the fight against human trafficking. She also told the students that 99% of girls trafficked are sexually abused and used for sex labor and other dehumanizing ventures.

I shared with the students some experiences that I had. On different occasions I got a phone call and a text message. The phone call was to tell me to come and collect a parcel someone sent me. I was quite sure that no one sent me any parcel. So, I told the caller to desist from evil tricks to lure people to his den! It was obvious to me that the caller had something up his sleeve. The text message was about getting a well-paid job, and gave me a number to contact. I ignored the message. I still had the message on my phone, and I read it to the students. They were surprised.

Some of the students said that they will share what they have learned with their friends and loved ones. They were so happy to be part of the program. They promised that they will work in their existing groups in the school to report any issues bordering on sexual misconduct to the school authorities. They also said that they will make conscious efforts to speak out and let their parents and guardians know what is happening to them. And they said they will be wise in the use of social media.

One thing you ought to know, I told them, is that anyone can be a victim. Nobody is too big or too small to be trafficked. Everyone is a potential victim. The keyword is vigilance. I was overjoyed with the responses of the students, and to see their action plan. It was very satisfying to have reached out to share information with our younger sisters, who could be victims of human trafficking at any time.

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/social-justice/column/warning-girls-about-tactics-human-traffickers

trafficking, USA

Malaysia to review recruitment fees, agreements after U.S trafficking report

FILE PHOTO: A police officer instructs workers during a spot check at a factory, during an enhanced lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Shah Alam, Malaysia July 3, 2021. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

KUALA LUMPUR, – Malaysia will examine recruitment fees charged to workers and review its agreements with the home countries of migrant workers, the Human Resources Ministry said, after the Southeast Asian nation was downgraded in a U.S human trafficking report.

The U.S. State Department last week ranked Malaysia in ‘Tier 3’ in this year’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report and said forced labour is the predominant human trafficking crime in the country.

Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry said it viewed the issues raised in the TIP report seriously.

“The government will continue to give attention to challenges in addressing forced labour issues, especially those involving foreign workers, and will continue to implement various improvements to existing initiatives,” minister Saravanan Murugan said in a statement on Monday.

The ministry has received 4,636 complaints from workers between May and July 4 via a new mobile app, and had taken action in 3,502 cases, including investigating allegations of forced labour, he said.

Malaysia depends on about two million documented migrant workers from countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and India to make everything from palm oil to rubber gloves.

Saravanan said the ministry would review the levies imposed by private recruitment agents and check whether there were any hidden charges that might lead to risks of exploitation and debt bondage.

“The Ministry will also review the memorandum of understanding that has been and will be signed with the source countries in particular to strengthen the element of protection of worker’s rights and, at the same time, not burden employers,” he said.

A national action plan on forced labour and child labour is also expected to be finalised in the fourth quarter, Saravanan added.

Malaysia’s state-funded National Human Rights Commission in a statement said the government had taken some initiatives to address human trafficking, but more transparency, law enforcement capacity and stronger labour laws were still needed. 

https://news.trust.org/item/20210705055530-wxl4b/

migrants, trafficking

Libya: More than 150 migrants freed in raid on traffickers

As many as 156 migrants were rescued by Libyan authorities from human traffickers in the southeastern city of Kufra [Kufra Security Directorate/Facebook]
As many as 156 migrants were rescued by Libyan authorities from human traffickers in the southeastern city of Kufra [Kufra Security Directorate/Facebook]

Libyan authorities say they have raided a secret prison in a southeastern city used by human traffickers and freed at last 156 African migrants – including 15 women and five children.

The raid in the city of Kufra took place on February 16 after a migrant managed to escape a house-turned-prison last week and reported to authorities that he and other migrants were held and tortured by traffickers there, the Kufra security bureau said.

Security forces arrested at least six traffickers and referred them to prosecutors for further investigation on Sunday, it said.

The rescued migrants, who were from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan, were taken to a shelter where they were given food, clothes and blankets.

The raid shows the perils that refugees and migrants face in conflict-stricken Libya, which has emerged as an integral transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe.

Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. The country is split between an internationally recognised government based in the capital, Tripoli, and a rival administration in the country’s east.

Traffickers have exploited the chaos and often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber boats that stall and founder along the perilous Mediterranean route.

Thousands have drowned along the way, while others have ended up detained in squalid smugglers’ pens or crowded detention centres.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/22/libya-more-than-150-migrants-freed-in-raid-on-traffickers

Advocacy, trafficking, Uncategorized

Feast day of St Josephine Bakhita/ International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking

“Loosen the chains . . . they are so heavy” – Saint Josephine Bakhita, above.

The Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St Josephine Bakhita on the 8th of February each year.  Her life was a journey from slavery to freedom and faith.  The patron saint of Sudan, her life story inspires hope in the face of modern day indifference and exploitation.  As Pope Francis states:

‘She is charged with showing to all the path to conversion, which enables us to change the way we see our neighbours, to recognize in every other person a brother or sister in our human family, and to acknowledge his or her intrinsic dignity in truth and freedom. This can be clearly seen from the story of Josephine Bakhita, the saint originally from the Darfur region in Sudan who was kidnapped by slave-traffickers and sold to brutal masters when she was nine years old. Subsequently – as a result of painful experiences – she became a “free daughter of God” thanks to her faith, lived in religious consecration and in service to others, especially the most lowly and helpless. This saint, who lived at the turn of the twentieth century, is even today an exemplary witness of hope for the many victims of slavery; she can support the efforts of all those committed to fighting against this “open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ”.‘ (Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace 2015)

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI considered St Bakhita as an ‘exemplary witness of hope’, in his encyclical, Spe Salvi:

“To come to know God—the true God—means to receive hope. We who have always lived with the Christian concept of God, and have grown accustomed to it, have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God. The example of a saint of our time can to some degree help us understand what it means to have a real encounter with this God for the first time. I am thinking of the African Josephine Bakhita, canonized by Pope John Paul II….She was born around 1869—she herself did not know the precise date—in Darfur in Sudan. At the age of nine, she was kidnapped by slave-traders, beaten till she bled, and sold five times in the slave-markets of Sudan. Eventually she found herself working as a slave for the mother and the wife of a general, and there she was flogged every day till she bled; as a result of this she bore 144 scars throughout her life. Finally, in 1882, she was bought by an Italian merchant for the Italian consul Callisto Legnani, who returned to Italy as the Mahdists advanced. Here, after the terrifying “masters” who had owned her up to that point, Bakhita came to know a totally different kind of “master”—in Venetian dialect, which she was now learning, she used the name “paron” for the living God, the God of Jesus Christ. Up to that time she had known only masters who despised and maltreated her, or at best considered her a useful slave. Now, however, she heard that there is a “paron” above all masters, the Lord of all lords, and that this Lord is good, goodness in person. She came to know that this Lord even knew her, that he had created her—that he actually loved her. She too was loved, and by none other than the supreme “Paron”, before whom all other masters are themselves no more than lowly servants. She was known and loved and she was awaited. What is more, this master had himself accepted the destiny of being flogged and now he was waiting for her “at the Father’s right hand”. Now she had “hope” —no longer simply the modest hope of finding masters who would be less cruel, but the great hope: “I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me—I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.” Through the knowledge of this hope she was “redeemed”, no longer a slave, but a free child of God.”

The International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking is also held on 8 February each year in light of the example of St Josephine Bakhita, so that we might reflect on the circumstances of violence and injustice affecting millions of voiceless people.  We can do this by stopping for a few moments a saying a prayer to God.  We can also learn more about modern forms of slavery and trafficking and reflect on how our choices might be contributing to a system perpetuating this exploitation.  We can join together, pray and start conversations about this important issue.

Feast day of St Josephine Bakhita/ International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking
Kenya, trafficking

Kenya makes hospital arrests as it probes child trafficking ring

Motorists drive in traffic along a highway as pedestrians walk on the walkways before a curfew, which is a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Nairobi, Kenya May 13, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

NAIROBI, – Kenya said on Wednesday it had arrested three hospital staff in a probe into the theft and sale of babies, accusing some public hospitals and care homes of colluding with organised crime.

Authorities acted after a BBC investigation revealed how Kenyan child trafficking syndicates – from street clinics to a government-run hospital – were stealing babies from vulnerable mothers to be sold for as little as $400.

Kenya’s Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai said three medical officers from a public hospital had been arrested, with a high possibility of more arrests to come.

“During an operation by police to unearth the organized crime, police officers noted with a lot of concern that local public hospitals and children homes within Nairobi are involved,” said Mutyambai in a statement.

“In the course of the investigations and operations, it is unfortunate that it was realised senior medical officers in collusion with the child smugglers are highly involved.”

The arrests were announced two days after the BBC aired its explosive Africa Eye documentary, ‘The Baby Stealers’, alleging a trade in babies that stretched right into Nairobi care system.

The government launched a sweeping investigation on Tuesday, saying it would do its utmost to root out the widespread human trafficking that has long plagued the East African nation.

Officials from the Mama Lucy Kibabki hospital named in the documentary did not reply to calls for comment.

Mutyambai directed county police commanders and other local security agencies across Kenya to “immediately undertake investigations and operations on matters touching on child trafficking” – especially in hospitals and children’s homes.

Kenya is a source, transit and destination country for men, women and children who are trafficked into forced labour and sexual slavery, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2020 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.

Once bought or lured, children are forced into domestic work, farming, fishing, herding, street vending and begging. Girls and boys are exploited in prostitution throughout Kenya, including in sex tourism on the coast, it added.

There are no accurate figures on the number of children trafficked in Kenya. However, the 2020 TIP report said the Kenyan government had identified 578 child victims in 2019.

Campaigners say the true number is far higher, noting that victims often do not understand they have been trafficked.

The BBC’S year-long investigation found young children were snatched from homeless women, while illegal street clinics in informal settlements were buying newborns from poor mothers.

An undercover journalist bought an abandoned boy just two weeks after birth from an official working at a government-run hospital. The official used legitimate paperwork to take custody of the child before selling him.

Simon Chelugui, minister for labour and social services, announced the establishment of a multi-agency team to probe the child trafficking syndicate.

“Following this expose, a team of officers and experts from the relevant government agencies has been constituted to exhaustively investigate and take the necessary action,” he told a news conference on Tuesday. “We will do everything possible to get to the bottom of this issue.”

https://news.trust.org/item/20201118130555-w7bf2/

Kenya, trafficking

Kenya arrests four more after BBC Africa Eye baby stealers exposé

Three senior medical officers were in court on Wednesday

Police in Kenya have arrested four more people for allegedly running a child-trafficking syndicate following a BBC investigation into the theft and sale of babies. 

BBC Africa Eye revealed children were stolen to order from illegal clinics and at a Nairobi public hospital.

Seven people are now in custody in connection with the case including medics and a hospital administrator.

The babies were sold for as little as $400 (£300). 

In the wake of the BBC Africa Eye story, police chief Hillary Mutyambai ordered an investigation into hospitals, as well as children’s homes in the Kenyan capital.

Two hospital administrators, a nurse and a social worker appeared in court on Thursday, adding to the three senior medical officials who were in court on Wednesday.

They have not been formally charged and did not enter pleas.

BBC Africa Eye uncovered a trade in children stolen from vulnerable mothers living on the streets, as well as the existence of illegal clinics dotted around Nairobi, where babies were being sold.

The investigation also revealed alleged corruption at Mama Lucy Kibaki, a public hospital in Nairobi.

Fred Leparan, a clinical social worker at the hospital, is alleged to have facilitated the sale of an abandoned two-week-old baby boy to undercover reporters, later accepting 300,000 shillings ($2,700; £2,000) in cash.

Both Mr Leparan and Mama Lucy Kibaki hospital declined requests to comment on the investigation’s findings.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Kenya’s Labour and Social Protection Minister Simon Chelugui said the culprits would face the “full force of the law”.

Mr Chelugui also acknowledged that improvements to some of Kenya’s child protection services were needed.

His colleague in the Interior Ministry Fred Matiang’i thanked the BBC for exposing the “rot” at Mama Lucy hospital. He added that human and drug trafficking were the biggest challenges Kenyan security was dealing with.

There are no reliable statistics on child trafficking in the East African state, but a non-governmental organisation, Missing Child Kenya, said it had been involved in nearly 600 cases in the past three years.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54986993

London, trafficking

Bring more traffickers to justice, UK anti-slavery chief urges

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Britain’s anti-slavery commissioner Sara Thornton poses for a picture in London, England, on August 6, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Kieran Guilbert

LONDON, – Police and prosecutors in Britain are not bringing enough human traffickers to justice, the country’s anti-slavery commissioner said on Thursday amid concerns that the coronavirus pandemic is preventing many victims from being identified or seeking help.

Modern slavery prosecutions have fallen during the last year despite a rise in police operations to combat the crime – whether labour abuse at car washes or children forced to deal drugs, said a report by Sara Thornton who took up the role in May 2019.

Thornton’s report follows criticism that Britain’s world-first 2015 Modern Slavery Act is being underused in efforts to jail traffickers, spur action from companies or help victims.

“The number of prosecutions under the Modern Slavery Act remains too low and organised crime groups continue to see the rewards as high and the risks as low,” she said in a statement.

“There needs to be scrutiny of the low number of prosecutions and convictions under the Modern Slavery Act.”

About 301 people were considered for slavery prosecutions under various laws in the 2019-20 period – down from 322 in the previous timeframe – government data shows. However, some of the defendants may have ultimately been charged with other offences.

Under the Modern Slavery Act alone, at least 67 people were prosecuted in 2019-20, against 82 in 2018-19. Yet the data does not include cases where more serious charges were also filed.

Thornton said training around modern slavery in the criminal justice system had improved recently but was still insufficient.

Police chiefs have previously cited getting victims to give evidence as a major obstacle to securing more prosecutions, and said slavery suspects were often charged for other crimes such as sexual violence as it may prove the simpler route to justice.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said its work with the police had led to more cases being referred for consideration.

“Modern slavery is an abhorrent crime and one we are tackling as hard as we can,” a spokesman said. “We continue to work (with the police) to build strong cases for prosecution.”

The National Police Chiefs Council declined to comment.

In a separate publication on Thursday, the Home Office (interior ministry) found that reports of suspected modern slavery had dropped for two consecutive quarters this year.

About 2,209 possible victims were referred to the British government for support in the second quarter of the year – down 23% from the previous three months – according to the data.

“COVID-19 has delivered unprecedented challenges in supporting victims and in many ways has increased vulnerability to exploitation,” Thornton said.

“Many are concerned that work across the world to end slavery will be knocked back years as governments prioritise building economic activity above concerns for human rights.”

A study in July said Britain was home to at least 100,000 modern slaves – 10 times more than the official estimate – and warned that 90% of victims may be going undetected.

https://news.trust.org/item/20200917151555-3xk4g/

trafficking, USA

Don’t forget trafficking victims amid pandemic, congressman cautions

Traffic
Credit: Unsplash.

Washington D.C. – While much of the world’s intelligence forces are focused on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, human trafficking victims are at risk of being overlooked, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) told a European security organization this week.

“Traffickers are not shut down—they haven’t gone on a holiday,” Smith warned in an April 27 webinar speech to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE-PA).

“Victims still need to be rescued. Survivors still need assistance. Vulnerable people likely will be made even more vulnerable by both the virus and the economic impact of the response to it,” Smith said.

“And as a result, when things start to open back up, traffickers may have an easier time finding, deceiving, coercing and exploiting victims.”

The New Jersey congressman is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Human Trafficking Issues. He has authored numerous U.S. laws to fight human trafficking.

In his remarks, Smith stressed that the plight of trafficking victims may be worsened by coronavirus lockdowns.

“Victims may be quarantined with their traffickers, and, as a result of quarantine and social distancing practices, are now less likely to come into contact with people who might assist or rescue them,” he said.

In addition, police forces are turning their attention to keeping order and offering assistance to medical personnel amid the ongoing pandemic, meaning that trafficking victims may go unnoticed, he said.

Meanwhile, shelters are decreasing the number of people they can safely house with social distancing measures in place, and job loss from the pandemic has been widespread, both factors that can leave those who have escaped human trafficking vulnerable, he said.

Smith also pointed to indications that there has been an increased demand for online pornography, which is closely aligned with sex trafficking.

“Sex buyers are quarantined like everyone else and may be turning to online venues,” he said. “Sites are hosting videos of trafficking victims, sexual abuse of children, and rape. There are reports from anti-trafficking groups that webcam sex trafficking is increasing.”

To respond to these worrying trends, lawmakers should work to consider how technology is aiding traffickers, Smith said.

He pointed to the use of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, by traffickers to avoid discovery. Smith said he is looking into ways that law enforcement may be able to better investigate and prosecute the use of these currencies.

The congressman also warned that an increase in online classroom instruction could leave children vulnerable to sexual predators. He called for renewed efforts to teach students and instructors ways to identify and avoid human trafficking and exploitation.

“NGOs, including the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, A21 Campaign, Just Ask, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and others already have developed age-appropriate school courses to educate students on how to avoid trafficking traps, and to educate teachers on how to identify and help students who may be trapped in labor or sex trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation,” he said. “Now is the time to take advantage of such programs, many of which can be conducted online.”

With public health experts saying the coronavirus crisis will continue over the coming months, Smith stressed the need to ensure that victims of sexual and labor exploitations do not fall through the cracks.

“[W]e must prioritize the fight against human trafficking, even during this crisis,” he said.

 

 

 

 

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/dont-forget-trafficking-victims-amid-pandemic-congressman-cautions-18698

Brazil, trafficking

Brazil eases residency visa requirements for trafficking victims

Screenshot_2020-03-25 Brazil eases residency visa requirements for trafficking victims
ARCHIVE PHOTO: Workers are pictured at a construction site in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 6, 2015. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

RIO DE JANEIRO,- H uman trafficking survivors will have an easier time gaining residence in Brazil after they are rescued, according to an ordinance issued by the government on Tuesday.

The measure creates a special procedure to expedite the issue of visas to migrants subjected to trafficking and violent crimes like domestic abuse, the government said.

Brazil is a regional hub for human trafficking, but rescued survivors have been without a clear path to residency since a 2017 change in the nation’s migration law, experts said.

Under the new measure, a visa applicant must be recognized as a victim by government authorities. Then migration authorities have a final say, taking into account if the victims cooperate with efforts to catch their abusers.

When granted, the visa authorizes migrants to work legally in Brazil.

“This … protects abused immigrants, usually women, who suffer aggression and violent relationships,” said Andre Furquim, director of the migration department at the National Secretariat of Justice, in a statement.

In Brazil, trafficking victims from Bolivia, Paraguay, Haiti and China have been found in forced labor and debt-bondage, particularly in the construction and textile industries, according to the U.S. 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report.

About 40 million people globally are estimated to be enslaved – in forced labor and forced marriages – in a trade worth an estimated $150 billion a year to human traffickers, according to the U.N. International Labour Organization (ILO).

But changes in Brazil’s migration law in 2017 that overturned an earlier residency ordinance left trafficked migrants in legal limbo, said Joao Chaves, a federal public defender and migration specialist.

“We have been waiting for this for two years and four months,” he said.

Larissa Getirana, from Caritas, a non-profit that helps migrants, said she considered it “unfair” for the government to make survivors’ cooperation with criminal investigations a determining factor in their applications.

“They are people who have already gone through an exploitative situation,” she said.

She also questioned the requirement that applicants provide an official document with a photograph, given that traffickers often take identification documents away from their captives.

 

 

https://news.trust.org/item/20200324195919-3j8pr/

India, trafficking

Indian court backs slavery survivors in compensation fight

Screenshot_2020-03-17 Indian court backs slavery survivors in compensation fight
ARCHIVE PHOTO: A survivor of slavery who wished to remain anonymous poses for a picture in New Delhi, India March 7, 2018. Picture taken March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

CHENNAI, India,- An Indian court has ordered the state of West Bengal to give trafficking survivors the full compensation they are entitled to without pre-conditions, a ruling lawyers said could help other victims access the money they need to rebuild their lives.

In a first, the Calcutta High Court last week quashed West Bengal’s policy of forcing survivors to put their victim compensation money in a 10-year bank scheme, and only allowing them access to the monthly interest payments.

In it’s ruling, the court said that the amount of money awarded to victims by the government was already “meager and ought not to be further fettered”, while calling on state authorities to end their “big brother” approach.

“The court has empowered survivors,” said policy advocate Kaushik Gupta, who represented the victims in court.

“The state had a very patriarchal and parental approach towards an adult citizen. Survivors should be given financial guidance but their money should not be controlled.”

India reported 3,000 cases of trafficking in 2017, with the victims largely being poor women and children being lured with better jobs and pushed into slavery by traffickers.

West Bengal has traditionally had very high trafficking numbers and has struggled to successfully rehabilitate survivors, anti-trafficking campaigners said.

Currently, less than 1% of India’s trafficking survivors win victim compensation – which is funded by the central government but distributed by states.

Such compensation awards are hindered by low awareness of the schemes and the high burden of proof it takes to succeed, studies have shown.

Every state has its own version of the scheme, with compensation running from 100,000 rupees ($1,400) to 1,000,000 rupees with pre-conditions attached.

 

 

 

https://news.trust.org/item/20200317094948-oega9/