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Socialist Perspective,
Vol 36, No 1-2, 2008: 83-10
ISSN 0970-8863
Trafficking in Women and Children in West
Bengal
Biswajit Ghosh*
Ananda Mohan Kar**
The problem of trafficking offences against women and children in India
in general and West Bengal in particular, has emerged as an important
social issue in recent times. Trafficking refers to the movement of men,
women and children from one place to another through force, coercion or
deception into situations of their economic and sexual exploitation. The
UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons
(known as the Palermo protocol) defines trafficking as:
‘… 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 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.’
(Quoted in Ghosh 2007: 35).
This is the first internationally accepted definition of trafficking and it
provides a guiding principal for macro conceptual understanding of the
problem. Trafficking is basically done for the purpose of sexual or other
forms of „exploitation‟, and this separates it from other forms of migration.
While human trafficking is internationally considered „illegal‟, all illegal
migrations are not trafficking. Again, all cases of kidnapping & abduction
of women and children as well as child marriage cannot be counted to
measure the magnitude of trafficking even though these are some of the
popular methods of human trafficking. Similarly, trafficked women and
girls are mostly pushed into the sex trade although all sex workers are not
trafficked. These are some of the methodological problems in clearly
isolating trafficking cases from other related crimes.
* The author is a Professor of Sociology at The University of Burdwan, Burdwan.
** The author is a Lecturer in Sociology at The University of Burdwan, Burdwan.
84 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
Human trafficking is one of the greatest violations of human rights
and it prevents child victims from reaching their potential and denies them
the opportunity to live in safety and dignity. The Indian Constitution has
therefore prohibited all sorts of trafficking under Article 23. The
Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act 1956, later amended as the Immoral
Traffic (Prevention) Act (hereafter ITPA), was in response to the
ratification of the International Convention on Suppression of Immoral
Traffic and Exploitation of Prostitution of Others in 1950. Undoubtedly, it
is now one of the most fruitful activities of the organized crime. Every
year, thousands of young women around the world are lured, abducted or
sold into forced prostitution and involuntary marriage. Adverse socio-
economic conditions of people in many regions offer an ideal opportunity
to the traffickers to lure poor women by promising better pays, jobs and
much comfortable life in distant places. In several cases, women in rural
areas who have very little skills and education and very little income
opportunities at home, find it hard to reject such offer. Sometimes the
promise of immediate payments encourages the families living in financial
difficulties to sell their daughters to the traffickers. Often, marriage
appears to be an easy instrument for trafficking women to far away places
and exploit them sexually and economically.
In this paper, the nature, causes, modes and volume of trafficking
offences against women and children in the state of West Bengal have
been discussed so as to suggest meaningful stratagems to counter the
social evil. The paper derives its data from an intensive study of 22
villages and other strategic locations under 12 police stations of the six
districts of south West Bengal, namely Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum,
Purulia, Hooghli and West Midnapur during 2005-20061, and supplement
them by similar other primary reports2 apart from official (NCRB) records
and reports.
Records and Reports on Trafficking in Women and Children in India
Trafficking is a global crime. But there is a lack of systematic and
reliable data on the problem that would allow comparative analysis and the
design of counter measures. Perhaps not many crimes are as ghastly as
trading in human misery. In 2003, The International Organization for
Migration (IOM) had estimated that the global trafficking industry
generates between US $7 to 10 billion each year from this trade. But the
ILO (2002) estimates are much higher. As per this estimate, sexual
exploitation of women and children as a result of trafficking brings in US
$ 32 billion every year. The ILO also reports that some 200,000 to 250,000
Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008 85
women and children are trafficked annually to Southeast Asia alone and
that more than a million children are affected globally every year.
According to UNICEF (2001), two million people become victims of
trafficking each year, of whom 1.2 million are children. As a result, only
the trafficking of arms and drug surpasses revenues generated by human
trafficking.
It is very difficult to judge or estimate the scale of the phenomenon; and
collecting reliable information is a tough task due to the clandestine nature
of the operation. The trade is secretive, the victims are silenced, the
traffickers are dangerous and not too many agencies are involved in
counting the number of persons being trafficked or engaged in the trade. In
case of India, data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau
(NCRB) show that despite existence of various trafficking-related
legislations for providing protection to women and children, human
trafficking is increasing. Thus, there were 8695 cases of women and girl
being trafficked under the ITPA in 1998 and the figure increased to 11242
in 2002. However, since then cases registered under the ITPA have come
down to 4541 in 2006 (see Chart 1). Notwithstanding such decline in the
major crime head on trafficking, it can fairly be argued that human
trafficking is far from waning as incidences of crimes under various other
provisions of laws relating to the issue are on the rise. Thus, cases under
crime heads Kidnapping & Abduction (sections 363-369, 371-373 IPC),
Importation of Girls (section 366B IPC), Procuration of Minor Girls
(section 366A IPC), Buying of Girls for Prostitutions (section 373 IPC),
Selling of Girls for Prostitutions (section 372 IPC) have increased
persistently during the same period. Thus, the total number of crimes
committed under these crime heads including the ITPA has increased from
25,399 in 2005 to 27,389 in 2006. More particularly, official records on
trafficking of children show a steep rise during the last one-decade.
Interestingly, estimates provided by different NGOs and survey reports on
sex workers and trafficked women and children are several times higher.
For example, according to one estimate, roughly two million children are
abused and forced into prostitution every year in India (The Statesman,
Kolkata, 12th August, 2002). The study commissioned by the NHRC in
2004 has disclosed that on average 22,480 women and 44,476 children
were reported missing in India in between 1996 and 2001. Of these, more
than 5452 women and 11,008 children continued to remain missing
(Institute of Social Sciences 2005: 165-169). It has further proved that
there is a wide discrepancy between the actual figures of crime reported to
the police (5914) and the crimes that had actually taken place (14,597), as
86 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
estimated by the police officers themselves. This study again demonstrates
that 50 per cent of the survivors are from socially deprived sections of the
society. Most strikingly this study shows that the extent of re-trafficking
among the survivors is as large as 57%. This means that victims are being
criminalized; they are harassed and not easily accepted by their
community. The President of the Bharatiya Patita Uddhar Sabha has
stated that there are 17.50 Lakh prostitutes in India and that one Lakh
prostitutes are added to this figure every year many of whom are
trafficked. All these estimates clearly raise serious doubts about the
official figures on trafficking.
Chart 1: Cases Registered under the Immoral Traffic (P) Act in India,
1998-2006
8695
9363
9515
8796
11242
5510
5748
5908
4417
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Source: NCRB
There are several factors responsible for under-reporting of the
phenomenon. Trafficking is very hard to measure because in many cases
(mainly when the women are not in sex trade), the family members,
relatives, and friends have consent about young girls going to distant
places for lucrative earning. Problems usually start when the flow of
money sent by the girl stops and the communication link is cut off. We
have come across certain cases of young girls from Hooghli who were
trafficked to Mumbai to work at nightclubs and dance bars. Neither the
girls nor their parents wanted the cases to be reported to the police as the
girls went on sending remittances. The matter however became public
when the girls returned to their homes due to problems at Mumbai. These
girls who once were „models‟ for many others to follow, later became a
Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008 87
matter of concern for the local police and the civil society. The failure of
the relatives, neighbours and the civil society in general to stand by the
suffering of women and children and bring the matter to the notice of the
police may be one powerful reason.
Chart 2: Incidence of Kidnapping & Abduction of Women and
Girl in India, 1998-2006
16351
15962
15023
14645
14506
13296
15578
15750
17414
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Source: NCRB
Often the traffickers are so resourceful in a locality that the common
man rather prefers to ignore the plight of trafficked young or minor girl.
Despite the initiatives taken by Government of India in addressing the
issues of trafficking and commercial exploitation of children, at both
national and state levels, the institutional response to human trafficking
has not been sufficient. Even though in 2007 five states (Andhra Pradesh,
Goa, West Bengal, Bihar and Maharashtra) have taken the right step to
form Anti-Trafficking Units and there are also encouraging results of such
formation, severe staff shortage and lack of institutional support put
enormous pressure on the official setup to tackle the rising crime. As a
result, both the number of cases filed under the ITPA as well as arrests and
prosecution of master traffickers who are the kingpins of the entire
operation has remained very inadequate. This is in spite of the fact that
chargesheeting and conviction rates of ITPA cases are significantly high in
the country3. One of the reasons for such failure may be lack of witnesses
to substantiate the accusations made by the police. Legal hurdles are often
lost when a witness or victim turns hostile and prefer to avoid police
88 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
investigation involving her relatives or known persons. Also the fear of
uncertain future looms large on those who have to earn bread and butter
without the moral and economic support of their families or relatives.
Apart from the rules of evidence, the inordinate delay in prosecution often
leads to vital evidences going missing and witness turning hostile.
Chart 3: Incidence of Importation of Girls in India, 1998-2006
146
1
64
114
76
46
89
149
67
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Source: NCRB
A cursory look into Police records on the ratio of female arrest to
male arrest under the ITPA (nearly seven women per male offender per
case) may again prove that we are only „applying palliatives but not curing
the malady‟. In 2003, for instance, out of a total of 11101 arrests made
under the ITPA, 8098 (72.95%) were female. It has been a normal practice
to arrest and charge sheet, for instance, commercial sex workers who often
are victims of trafficking. As most of the arrests are done during the rescue
operations and raids by police, it is often the keeper or the madams who
are caught and arrested. Thereby the real „traffickers‟ find it easy to
regroup and continue their operation with new support system. Hence, just
arresting the pimps and procurers, cannot control trafficking.
Another reason for the lesser reportage of „trafficking‟ cases under
the ITPA is the official method of categorizing an offence. Police and the
victim‟s family most often fail to understand that there exist a mysterious
link between trafficking and missing. By and large, the First Information
Report (FIR) in such circumstances states about „a girl or child is being
missing‟, and attempts are hardly made to link such cases with trafficking.
Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008 89
To the police, a clear case of trafficking cannot be established just by any
disappearance of any person. It is a fact that some cases of disappearances
are linked to elopement. But to treat all missing stories as cases of
elopement or cases lacking evidence is inappropriate.
Table 1: Incidence, Rate, Percentage Contribution to all India total and
Rank of ITPA cases by Major States, 2005
Major Indian
States
Incidence
Rate
Percentage
Contribution
Rank by
Incidence
Rank by
Rate
A. Pradesh
681
0.9
11.53
3
5
Assam
25
0.1
0.42
15
8
Bihar
28
0.0
0.47
14
9
Delhi
151
1.0
2.56
6
4
Goa
38
2.5
0.64
11
2
Gujarat
59
0.1
1.00
9
8
Karnataka
1241
2.2
21.00
2
3
Kerala
225
0.7
3.80
4
6
M. Pradesh
19
0.0
0.32
16
9
Maharashtra
222
0.2
3.76
5
7
Orissa
29
0.1
0.49
13
8
Punjab
58
0.2
0.98
10
7
Rajasthan
115
0.2
1.95
7
7
Tamil Nadu
2777
4.3
47.01
1
1
U. Pradesh
31
0.0
0.53
12
9
W. Bengal
74
0.1
1.25
8
8
Other States
135
-
2.29
-
-
All India
5908
0.5
100
-
-
Source: Compiled from NCRB, 2005
The state wise difference in the number of cases being filed under the
ITPA in India may be attributed to differences in police approach to
trafficking. Thus, Tamil Nadu accounted for majority of the cases
registered under the ITPA over the last two decades. But when this is
compared with the demographic background of trafficked victims in the
red-light zones of different states, the problem of non-reporting and over -
90 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
reporting come to the fore. Because, as per the study of the National
Human Rights Commission majority of such victims were from the states
of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka and
West Bengal (Institute of Social Sciences 2005: 85-86). It is astonishing to
note that states with international boundary (e.g., West Bengal, North East,
Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, and Rajasthan) as well as lower levels of
socio-economic development (e.g., Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Orissa) have
recorded lesser number of trafficking cases as compared to the ones that
are geographically as well as socio-economically better placed (See Table
1). There are also serious legal and administrative problems related to
rescue and rehabilitation of trafficked girls with foreign origin4. We
therefore need a holistic approach to address the issue of human
trafficking.
Magnitude of Trafficking in West Bengal
Records of the NCRB tell us that very few cases of trafficking related
cases were reported in West Bengal in the last ten years. Thus, only 34
cases were booked under the ITPA in 1994 and the figure went up to only
152 in 2003 before sliding to 66 in 2006. In keeping pace with the national
trend, registration of ITPA cases demonstrates a declining drift in West
Bengal too. But the number of other trafficking related crimes (see Table
2) reported under various crime heads have collectively increased from
846 in 2002 to 1620 in 2006 accounting for 91.49% increase over the last
five years. More strikingly, the number of trafficking related crimes
committed against the children (kidnapping & abduction, procuration,
buying and selling) in the state grew even more steadily from 109 to 354 (a
whipping 225 % increase!) during the same period. As such the rate of
reportage of Crimes against women in West Bengal (14.8) is higher than
the national average (14.7) in 2006 and over the last five years incidence
of such reportage has increased from 6842 cases in 2001 to 12,785 cases in
2006 (87 per cent increase).5 This could be particularly due to our
improved consciousness and organizational strength of women‟s
organizations. But, at the same time, it is worth noting here that incidences
of child marriage, which is a major modus operandi of trafficking of minor
girls, mostly remain secretive and are hardly counted to measure the extent
of child trafficking. But, there is a silent complicity to child marriage in
West Bengal; many rural and backward communities treat it as normal and
routine. The latest National Family Health Survey 3 (NFHS) has reported
that the percentage of under-18 marriages of women in West Bengal has
increased from 45.9 per cent in 1998-99 to 53.3 per cent in 2005-6. More
surprisingly, the recent survey has revealed that 21 per cent of women
Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008 91
aged 20-24 at Kolkata had married before 18. Yet only six cases were
being registered under the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 (CMRA) in
2006 in West Bengal.
Table 2: Crime Head-wise Incidence of various crimes under Human
Trafficking in West Bengal during 2002-2006 and Percentage variation in
2006 from 2005
Crime Heads
Year
Percentage
Variation in
2006 from
2005
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Immoral Trafficking
(Prevention) Act
42
152
121
74
66
-10.81
Importation of Girls
01
01
12
61
01
-98.36
Kidnapping & Abduction
of Women
694
801
1018
1039
1199
15.39
Kidnapping & Abduction
of Children
94
32
99
102
159
55.88
Procuration Minor Girls
14
12
13
20
77
285.00
Selling of Girls for
Prostitutions
01
06
12
44
114
159.09
Buying of Girls for
Prostitutions
00
18
09
02
04
100.00
Total
846
1022
1284
1342
1620
20.72
Source: NCRB
Notwithstanding official claims therefore, NGOs and women activists
often argue that these „statistics‟ do not reflect the actual magnitude of the
problem for several reasons. A trafficked girl from Bangladesh or Nepal
enters India for distribution at different locations. It is estimated that nearly
10 % of the prostitutes in Kolkata are from Bangladesh and Nepal (Sinha
1997). The geographical location of West Bengal therefore makes it a
vulnerable location for trafficking. The porous border with Bangladesh
with 20 official check posts is particularly a thorny problem as it covers
92 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
4156 Km in length, 71 per cent of which is land area. Moreover in North
Bengal there are 14 entry points with Nepal. Hence it is often difficult for
BSF to keep a close look and demarcate trafficked persons from other
migrants and trespassers. Again, in majority of the instances trafficking
takes place in cognizance of relatives or known persons. Hence, the girl
does not normally protest against any spatial movement unless otherwise
faced with the ultimate reality. As a result trafficking within the state gets
blurred with the normal processes of migration, immigration and mobility.
West Bengal serves as a source, transit and destination for national
and international trafficking in women and children. This is in spite of the
fact that the state has evolved positive institutions to achieve gender justice
during the last few decades (Bagchi 2005: 15). The state shares boundaries
with northeastern states, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Sikkim. More
importantly it shares international boundaries with the neighbouring
countries of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. The geographical location of
West Bengal therefore makes it vulnerable for trafficking. Again, the
social composition of state‟s population having the highest density of
population among the states (903 in 2001) deserves special attention. The
socially and economically backward sections like Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes and Muslims constitute 54 per cent of its population.
Hence the state needs a special attention so far as controlling trafficking is
concerned. The UNICEF has already identified the districts like
Murshidabad, Dinajpur (South and North), Nadia, Howrah, North 24
Parganas and Midnapur as „endemic areas of child and women trafficking‟
(UNICEF 2005). However, district wise official data on only two crime
heads related to trafficking are available. They illustrate that districts like
24 Parganas (North and South), Nadia, Kolkata, and Murshidabad are
mostly experiencing rise in kidnapping and abduction cases of women and
girls. Again, in 2005 there were 61 cases of „importation of girls‟ in the
state out of which 60 were in Nadia alone and one in Howrah.
Trafficking Routes and Prime Targets in South West Bengal
Trafficking patterns and routes are often highly complex, ranging from
trafficking within one country to cross border trafficking. It appears from
our fieldwork as well as review of literature that the border areas of West
Bengal are most suitable for this trade. Girls are brought from Bangladesh
and Nepal as well as from the strategic locations within the state so as to
supply them to cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur, Haryana,
Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008 93
Ahmedabad, or Pune. And places like Siliguri, Tufanganj, Kishanganj,
Raiganj, Maynaguri, Farakka, Alipurduar, Dinhata, Balurghat, Islampur,
Dalkhola, Old Malda, English Bazar, Kaliachak, Lalgola, Howrah,
Sealdah, Haldia, Kolaghat, Kharagpur, Bandel, Naihati, Durgapur,
Asansol, Adra, Rampurhat, Seuri, Bishnupur, and Kulti are utilized as
transit zones. All the six districts of North Bengal particularly are targets
of cross border trafficking (Mukherjee 2005). But it should be kept in
mind that traffickers keep on shifting their base and modus operandi
depending on feasibility. Hence, there may not be any fixed trafficking
route. This is more particularly due to the fact that women and children
belonging to vulnerable sections (poor, illiterate, landless and migrant
people who lack social security) are available through the state. It is found
that a majority of the trafficked girls are between 14 and 16 years, whose
parents could not afford to pay for their dowry. Almost in all the cases of
trafficking in rural areas, the recruiters live in close proximity with the
recruits and are known to the victim in the form of neighbours, relatives or
friends. These agents are often middle-aged women of humble origin.
Sometimes, the trafficking victims themselves join the trade to procure
new girls from their home districts. Hence, argues Blanchet, „the
traffickers exploited the trust they could easily gain from families of a
similar background. They spoke the same language as their recruits. In the
trafficking of girls Bengalis exploited Bengalis, females exploited females,
neighbours and relatives exploited their own people‟ (Blanchet 2005: 329).
Our study has identified the following trafficking routes and trafficking
prone areas in the districts of South West Bengal:
a) The industrial belt of Burdwan District, namely Durgapur and
Asansol including the inter-state border areas like Kulti serve both as
destination as well as out flow centre of trafficking. Girls, brought from
Bihar or Uttar Pradesh, are first kept here, while girls collected from the
surrounding districts are trafficked from here to several destinations
depending on demand and rates. Majority of the girls brought here from
neighbouring states finally find place at the red light localities of Burdwan
District.
b) In the Eastern part of Burdwan district, girls from poor Muslim
and Scheduled Caste families of Katwa and Kalna are transported to Delhi
and Uttar Pradesh via Bandel and Howrah.
c) In West Midnapur, girls from villages in and around Kharagpur
are transported to Delhi and Ahmedabad via Howrah, Ranchi or Orissa.
94 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
Similarly dhabas (eatery on road side) in and around Kolaghat are „safe‟
destinations of many victims of sexual exploitation. There is also a
trafficking chain from East Midnapur to Kolkata via Haldia and South 24
Parganas. Many backward areas of both the districts serve as important
trafficking hubs.
d) There is also a trafficking route that originates from the villages
under the Taldangra and Beliatore police stations in Bankura district and
the destination is Ranchi in Jharkhand via Adra. These girls are trafficked
along the G.T. Road using both road and rail links.
(e) In Birbhum, the traffickers from adjacent Murshidabad district use
some of the areas under Muraroi police station to procure girls from poor
Muslim families. Khoyrasol, Dubrajpur and Seuri are three sensitive
blocks in this district that have become important to traffickers. Birbhum‟s
proximity to Jharkhand and Bihar provides strategic support to these
gangs.
f) Girls from certain areas of Hooghli District like Pandua are trafficked
to Mumbai via Bandel and Howrah. Several brothels in the urban centres
of the district also serve as their common destination.
The following case studies explain the reasons as well as modalities of
trafficking, which are so common for any one to understand:
Case One
Trafficking of a SC girl in Dantan 2 Block in West Midnapur district:
Economic condition of the victim’s family: Very poor; father of the victim
was an agricultural labourer and he had difficulties to maintain a
family of eight members including three daughters.
Educational qualification of the victim: Illiterate
Mode of trafficking: Child marriage arranged with a good-looking man
from Kharagpur by a matchmaker who lives in the same village;
the parents received Rs. 2000.00 towards marriage expenses.
Route of trafficking: Village → Kharagpur → Howrah
Present status: The girl returned from Howrah after being rescued by her
uncle after a gap of eighteen months (no prompt action by the
police and other authorities).
Case Two
Trafficking of a 15 year old girl in Dantan 2 Block in West Midnapur
district:
95 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
Economic condition of the victim’s family: The father of the victim died
about five years ago from the incident of trafficking and the
mother was facing tough task to meet the necessary needs of the
family of five (including three daughters).
Educational qualification of the victim: Class I dropout; could not continue
her studies due to poverty.
Mode of Trafficking: Offer of a job in Delhi by an old family friend.
Route of Trafficking: Village → Kharagpur → Kolkata → Delhi
Present Status: No Communication for the last five years.
Case Three
Trafficking of a 13 year old SC girl in Beliatore Block of Bankura district:
Economic condition of the victim’s family: Poor financial condition of the
family; father of the victim was a day labourer and he had huge
amount of debt.
Educational qualification of the victim: Class II; could not continue her
studies due to poor financial condition.
Mode of trafficking: One of the moneylenders arranged marriage of the girl
in Uttar Pradesh near Mathura; no demand for dowry. The party
arranged the feast.
Present status: No contact with parents for the last four years
Route of trafficking: Village → Durgapur → Asansol → Uttar Pradesh
Present Status: No communication for the last five years
Case Four
Trafficking of a seventeen year old girl from Muraroi, Birbhum district:
Economic condition of the victim’s family: Poor financial condition
developed suddenly after the death of victim‟s father.
Educational qualification of the victim: Class V
Mode of Trafficking: Marriage or „Nikah‟ arranged in Uttar Pradesh by a
matchmaker; no demand for dowry. The party gave Rs. 2500.00
to the guardian for marriage expenses.
Route of Trafficking: Village → Bihar → Uttar Pradesh
Present Status: No communication with the family members for the last
six years.
96 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
Case Five
Trafficking of a 15 year SC girl in Katwa Block of Burdwan:
Economic condition of the family: Poor financial condition of the family;
father is a fisherman and mother of the victim works as maid-
servant (the victim herself was a maid-servant).
Educational qualification of the victim: Class I
Mode of trafficking: Kidnapping of the victim
Route of trafficking: Unknown
Present Status: A boy who owns a STD booth in Katwa town was the
suspect; no trace of both the suspect and the victim for the last
four years.
Causes and Modes of Trafficking
There are several contributing factors for trade in human beings
particularly in women and children. A cursory look into the available
records and reports on trafficking show that the trafficked women and
children are pressed into activities like prostitution, pornography, petty
crimes, domestic help, begging, camel jockeying, organ trade, drug
trafficking and even trafficking. These poor women and children can
rarely escape the condition of their employment. They are humiliated,
tortured and exploited by every possible manner. The rapid growth of sex
tourism in recent years has contributed to the increase in trafficking of
young women and girls. Women are bartered at prices that vary on the
basis of physical beauty and virginity. In the sex industry some clients
prefer girl child who are perceived to be unaffected by the AIDS. As a
result, there is a constant demand for girl child, sometimes as young as ten,
in the sex industry.
The factors of trafficking in women and children can be divided into
two categories: Push and Pull factors. The Push factors include: poor
socio-economic condition of a large number of families, poverty coupled
with frequent, almost annual natural disaster like floods leading to virtual
destitution of some people, lack of education, skill and income
opportunities for women (and for their family members) in rural areas,
absence of awareness about the activities of traffickers, pressure to collect
money for dowry which leads to sending daughters to distant places for
work, dysfunctional family life, domestic violence against women, low
status of girl child, etc,.
97 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
The Pull factors are: lucrative employment propositions in big cities,
easy money, promise of better pays and comfortable life by the trafficking
touts and agents, demand of young girls for marriage in other regions,
demand for low-paid and underage sweat shop labour; growing demand of
young kids for adaptation, rise in demand for women in the rapidly
expanding sex industry, demand of young girls for sexual exploitation as a
result of the misconception that physical intimacy with young girls reduces
men‟s chances of contacting HIV/AIDS, or of the myth that sex with a
virgin can cure HIV/AIDS and impotence.
Apart from these factors, weak law enforcement machinery helps the
traffickers to recruit women and children from the districts and send them
to distant destinations with relative ease. Rare conviction of traffickers
encourages the operators of the trade to continue the lucrative trade and
earn huge margin without any investment. Moreover, the unwillingness of
the victims to seek legal redress due to absence of support from the police
and the community members is also contributing to the spread of this
crime.
Trafficking is also closely linked to migration, and of late mobility
across the borders has increased to a great extent due to economic
globalization. In recent years, the demand for cheap labour has risen
everywhere in order to survive in the age of competition. At the same time
traditional economic activities, caste occupations, age-old handicraft and
cottage industries are affected by the introduction of new technology,
demands for new types of consumer goods and consequent change in our
cultural practices. All these factors have led to migration of large number
of people from one place to another in search of jobs. Traffickers have
taken this opportunity and lured poor people.
One major problem faced by the poor families in India is the
members‟ limited ability to communicate outside their place of residence.
Many of them are illiterate – cannot read or write. So they depend on
others for sending letters or make a phone call to their relatives. Often the
guardians of law do not support the victims. It has often been alleged that
police harass the victims more than those who have committed the crime.
All these limitations not only make the socially and economically
backward people vulnerable to trafficking, they also explain why re-
trafficking is so rampant in our society.
Apart from increasing the demand of cheap labour in the production
sector, globalization has played a major part for the growth of tourism
business and entertainment industries world over. As a result, the sex
related trades like sex tourism have escalated rapidly. At the same time,
rising male migration to urban areas as well as stressful working
98 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
of the BPO sector workers have also contributed to growing demand for
commercial sex in the cities.
Our experience also reveals that trafficking is closely associated with
child marriage. Child marriage is one of the easiest modes applied by the
traffickers to send young girls from one place to another6. In traditional
village community, there is a stigma attached to single woman. Inability to
arrange marriage of daughter is a cause of embarrassment and matter of
shame for the parents. In this situation, when the traffickers approach the
poor families with marriage proposal (sometimes with cash reward
between Rs.1000-5000 on an average) minus dowry, the parents find it
hard to refuse the offer. After marriage, the girl is sold and resold, until she
reaches the ultimate destination. The method of marriage to traffic a girl
has one great advantage. It protects the husband and the recruiter from the
immediate accusations of trafficking. The dalals (agents) also shame and
silence the parents efficiently by offering a share in the benefit of their
daughter‟s sale (Blanchet 2005: 329).
Apart from child marriage, there are other modes of trafficking as well:
(a) Fake marriage or marriage of a woman followed by sale to a brothel
keeper;
(b) Abduction or kidnapping of a girl/woman and later sold or resold to
the operators of sex trade;
(c) Recruitment of a girl for a job and then sold to brothel;
(d) Forcing and kidnapping of children of prostitutes;
(e) Luring poor families with jobs and better living condition in cities.
Trafficking in women and children in recent times however takes
place mainly for commercial sexual exploitation even though the
marriage market still exists in North India and girls destined for one
are often diverted to other.
Measures to Prevent Human Trafficking
Trafficking is a social problem and it is a symptom of a much deeper
malice in our society. Hence there cannot be any instant remedy for such a
problem. The trafficked persons are subjected to physical and emotional
harm, sexual assault, economic deprivation and violation of the dignity.
The post-trafficking scenario therefore finds the victims at the end of the
tunnel, with almost no hope of survival. Research on the concerned subject
has proved that the strong nexus of vested interest ensures that the victim
is caught in debt and bondage, which is one of the many strategies adopted
99 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
to keep the girl in constant servitude. The difficulties in detecting and
measuring trafficking cases make the task of preventing them much more
challenging. Nonetheless, several measures can be taken in this direction
and successful implementations of the steps will surely bring some
positive result. As the problem is multi-dimensional, its solution also lies
in following a multi-dimensional approach for prevention. We suggest the
following short-term and long-term measures:
1. The rescued victims should be protected and rehabilitated through
certain proper mechanisms in order to prevent re-trafficking. The human
rights of the victims should be protected while conducting quick rescue
operation and taking stringent actions against the real traffickers and the
exploiters. A vulnerability mapping of the source, demand and transit areas
of trafficking will be very useful in this direction.
2. The Government should formulate schemes to help the trafficking
victims to resume a normal and fruitful life by arranging for her education
and professional training. It is essential to create alternative income
opportunities for the prevention of re-trafficking. Strengthening network of
NGOs and other bodies working against trafficking, establishment of
counselling centres, legal centres and help line, establishment of adequate
number of shelter and rehabilitation homes, etc., are positive steps in this
direction. The rural society needs to be convinced that a victim ought to be
rehabilitated with due respect.
3. There is no doubt about the fact that poverty, unemployment and
lack of income opportunities are among the main reasons behind
trafficking. Hence we need to improve the economic condition of the
families living in financial hardships. It is particularly necessary to focus
attention on micro-finance and self-help groups to strengthen the economic
condition of women. This may prevent them from going to distant,
unknown places to earn money for their family members.
4. The age-old practice of child marriage and dowry should be
checked more vigorously. Marriage registration should be made
compulsory and local bodies should be involved in the process.
5. Lack of literacy and awareness amongst the economically weaker
sections of the society is another cause of trafficking. There is therefore
every need to strengthen basic capabilities of women through education
and awareness. Simultaneously, regular and vigorous campaign is
necessary to sensitize media and make people, particularly the poor, to
remain alert about the traffickers.
100 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
6. Low rates of prosecution of traffickers and weak law enforcement
machinery are also responsible for the rise of this lucrative trade.
Therefore, the law enforcing machineries and the legal system in India
needs a face-lift. The recent attempt to amend to the Immoral Traffic Act
of 1956 is a step forward in the sense that it absolves the sex workers from
the crime of soliciting even though it complicated the matter by suggesting
exemplary punishment for the clients. The act of trafficking should be
technically separated from the act of prostitution. Moreover, child
trafficking should be understood and addressed separately from other
trafficking offences by the law enforcing machinery. Similarly,
governments should consider constitution of Special Benches in every
district court for speedy trials of cases related to trafficking and appoint
requisite number of „trafficking police officers‟ to combat the menace.
7. It is undoubtedly a difficult task for a woman to reintegrate into her
natal community in a dignified manner once it gets known that she was
trafficked, sold as wife or used in sex trade. Hence it is very important to
sensitize the rural society in accepting the trafficking victim with due
respect. The laws cannot be effectively enforced unless the mindset of the
society about the trafficking victims alters. The civil society, women‟s
bodies, NGOs and the media should play a proactive role to support the
courageous victims who dare to complain against the culprits and identify
the traffickers in court. The social and legal institutions should make a
joint endeavor to reduce the occurrence of this organized crime.
8. For the prevention of trade in women, strict vigilance is required to
check sex trade in cities and tourist destinations. It is necessary to set up
separate monitoring boards in different vulnerable locations and tourism
zones for this purpose. Apart from keeping a watchful eye on hotel
business, the boards can look after other jobs as well, (e.g. monitor
negative impact of tourism on local ecology). Community policing would
be helpful to bridge the gap between the police and the public. The police,
NGOs and other relevant organizations should be trained and sensitized in
this regard. Neighbourhood Watch Groups can be created in the vulnerable
pockets to maintain strict vigilance on the neighbours without intruding
their private life. Such groups can successfully make the situation difficult
for the recruiters. Recently, the state government has set up Anti-Human
Trafficking Units to create an effective partnership among several stake
holders engaged to provide responses to human trafficking.
9. Suggestions of community policing, however, do not undermine
the importance of tough police actions. Regular police raids and strict
101 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
measures are required not only to combat sex tourism but also to prevent
circulation of pornographic films, obscene picture books and
advertisements in Internets. Roadside restaurants, hotels, and dhabas are
regularly used by the traffickers to keep the young girls for some time
before sending them to the destination. Some of these joints are used for
sex trade as well.
10. At the same time, registration of names of the domestic servants
by the employers should be made compulsory with the local police
stations. Similarly, it must be made mandatory for the parents in rural
areas to keep the Panchayat office informed about the place of work of
their family members to ensure safe migration.
Notes
1. The Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of West Bengal and UNICEF
jointly sponsored the study on Child Marriage, Dowry and Trafficking in
Women and Children. We are grateful to all concerned for the support
extended to us in conducting the study.
2. The Centre for Women‟s Studies of The University of North Bengal, and
Women Studies Research Centre of The University of Calcutta have also
conducted surveys similar to the one we did in 12 other districts of the State
under the direction of UNICEF and Govt. of West Bengal during 2005-6.
3. NCRB data reveals that the rate of chargesheeting and conviction under the
ITPA was respectively 99.6 and 82.2 per cent in 2005.
4. When any trafficked girl of foreign origin is rescued, the matter becomes too
complicated to be sorted out easily for repatriation and rehabilitation.
Several legal and bureaucratic problems like establishing her identity,
locating her home address, pursuing the concerned relatives to take her back,
moving the files between different offices of governments, getting her
released from the remand home prove to be quite time consuming and
tedious processes.
5. West Bengal‟s rank in the country as per the rate of total cognizable crimes
against women was 13th in 2006. But its rank, with respect to rate of total
cognizable crimes (IPC), is much better (32nd) among 35 states and Union
Territories. It is, however, surprising that conviction rate under the IPC
(15.7) and SLL (51) crimes are much lower than the national average of 42.9
and 84 respectively in 2006. The mean conviction rate for various crimes
committed against women is 36 and for the children the rate is 35 in the
state. We have particularly failed to achieve better conviction rate with
respect to cases of molestation (11), kidnapping & abduction (16.1),
domestic violence (13.9), sexual harassment (20.8), and dowry death (21.6)
in 2006. One may argue that we often over-report incidences of crime in our
effort to provide gender justice as it is easier now to book a person with
102 Socialist Perspective, Vol 36, No 1-2, June – September 2008
gender crime. „Construction‟ of gender crimes to immediately draw the
attention of media and consequent sympathy of the public is also a
sociological reality today.
6. The practice of child marriage is rampant among many rural and backward
communities in West Bengal. As a result the state is ranked 7th among 35
states and Union Territories in terms of percentage of child marriage in
2001. In between 1996-2001, 37.16% of girls in the state got married before
18, while the corresponding figure for the country, as a whole, was 32.10%
only (see, for details, Ghosh 2007: 83)
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