Their voices matter

Last week, Outlook magazine created a furore with its investigative piece on how the RSS has violated norms in sending 31 girls in Assam to the organisation’s residential

Last week, Outlook magazine created a furore with its investigative piece on how the RSS has violated norms in sending 31 girls in Assam to the organisation’s residential schools in Punjab and Gujarat for an education that instills ‘Hinduism’. The RSS — angry at the reporter’s allusion of their action to human trafficking — filed an FIR against the magazine for inciting communal hatred. While the jury is out on this case, human trafficking is indeed a serious challenge in India.

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According to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau, trafficking of minor girls — the second-most prevalent trafficking crime — increased 14 times over the last decade and increased 65% in 2014. It also revealed that girls and women are the main targets. The draft legislation provides for special courts to expedite trafficking cases, more shelters and a rehabilitation fund to help victims rebuild their lives. It also provides for anti-trafficking committees — at district, state and central levels — that will oversee prevention, protection and victim rehabilitation. There is also a provision for the recovery of fines from the convicted in the draft bill, officials said, and victims who are not paid wages while in servitude will be reimbursed. The draft Bill was up for consultation, and 23 survivors of human trafficking have sent their suggestions to the government. While one of the survivors have asked for the Bill to incorporate “punishment for hostile policemen who discourage us from lodging complaint against our oppressors,” another one wants time-bound rehabilitation targets so that they can be economically independent. Another victim wants the draft Bill to define ‘trafficking’ better since she was abducted by an acquaintance and sold to a brothel.

While civil society groups have also been saying that the draft Bill falls short on many counts, the recommendations by the victims are crucial because they, more than anyone else, know exactly where and how the existing penal provisions or State structures have failed to help them. It is a positive thing that the ministry had sought the views of the survivors as this gives a better picture on how to deal with this problem in both preventing it and also dealing with the consequences, and it should now try to see how best the recommendations made by the victims can be incorporated into the new law.