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Opportunities
for change
Economic rehabilitation is an important
part of giving victims of trafficking a new life. An NGO in Goa
shows the way...
IT is 8.45 a.m. A confident Sudha waits
outside her home in Goa, wearing a uniform designed by one of
the country's top fashion designer, Savio Jon. She is waiting
for a cab to take her to work. Sudha works for a laundry unit at
Sancoale Industrial Estate, which she hopes will one day be the
most successful rehabilitation programme.
Six months ago, 23-year-old Sudha had no aim
or ambition and faced an uncertain future. Dedicated to Goddess
Yellama at the age of 12, she was forced into prostitution as a
Devadasi at the age of 14, and worked for a gharwali
(brothel keeper) in Baina, Goa. The mass demolition of cubicles
in Baina's unofficial red light area on June 14, 2004, didn't
change her situation, rather worsened it. With no economic
rehabilitation in sight, she was forced to travel to other parts
of the State for "business".
Economic
support
Incidentally, the Supreme Court in Gaurav
Jain vs. Union of India, 1997, had pointed out that Welfare
Departments should undertake economic rehabilitation programmes,
as this would prevent the practice of the dedication of young
girls to prostitution as Devadasis, Jogins or Venkatasins.
"It would be meaningful if rehabilitation programmes are
launched and implementation machinery is set up not only to
eradicate the fertile source of prostitution, but also for
successful rehabilitation of the fallen women who are victims of
circumstances to regain their lost respect to the dignity of
person to sustain equality of status, economic and social
empowerment," the court observed.
In Goa, there is much talk about combating
trafficking of persons, thanks to a report on "Trafficking
of women and children in India 2002-2003", commissioned by
the National Human Rights Commission along with UNIFEM and the
Institute of Social Sciences (ISS), which reveals that Goa has
the highest level of trafficking of women and children in the
country. Though economic rehabilitation is vital, little has
been done by the government or NGOs to economically rehabilitate
trafficked victims.
"We need economic rehabilitation
programmes because if we don't provide rescued trafficked
victims with jobs, they will go back to prostitution, if not in
Baina, then in another part of the State or country,"
opines former DGP of Goa, Neeraj Kumar.
New
journeys
After nine years of commercial sex work,
Sudha has embarked on a new journey that is helping her see
herself as part of the whole. "At first it was difficult,
but I was determined," reveals Sudha, who is now a trained
commercial driver. And she is not alone.
Fatima doesn't remember her village in
Karnataka. She always believed Goa was home until the demolition
drive happened. "I was denied compensation by the Goa
Government because I am a non-Goan," she says. She was
six-months-old when her poverty-stricken family came to Baina
seeking a livelihood. Personal problems forced her into
prostitution. Following the demolition, decreasing income,
loneliness and insecurity only compounded her troubles.
But now, like Sudha, she has taken her first
step to freedom from sexual and emotional exploitation. "I
have got an opportunity to change my life, to live life with
dignity and I have chosen it," she said.
The wheels of destiny are changing, slowly
but surely, for 40 silent, helpless victims of commercial sexual
exploitation, desperate to leave the trade, but left with little
due to poverty.
ARZ, an NGO working with trafficked victims
in Goa, as part of its economic rehabilitation programme, has
set up a fully mechanised laundry unit, "Swift Wash",
at Sancole Industrial estate. The first of its kind in Goa, it
provides employment to 40 trafficked victims, mostly from Baina.
"We want to ensure that women earn a dignified income, as
it is the only tool that can pull them out and plug all entries
into prostitution," revealed Arun Pandey, Director, ARZ.
Arun hopes the unit will develop into a
full-fledged women's cooperative with trafficked women being the
sole owners of the entire unit. And, Arun is not the only person
dreaming of a better future. Laxmi, a trafficked victim,
optimistically reveals, "Our hard work will be rewarded.
Within a year or two, we want the unit to grow and expand so
that we can help more children and women like us."
The effort has won accolades from former DGP
Kumar, who says, "This is the first time that an NGO in Goa
has walked the talk." And, for trafficking victims like
Fatima and Sudha, the laundry unit has helped them leave
prostitution, something even the Baina demolition couldn't
achieve. Today, they are confident and empowered women, ready to
fight their exploiters, including their mard.
T.S. Sawant, Director, Women and Child, Goa,
admits that the idea is very good and the department would
support the endeavour. "This is what Goa needs at the
moment to combat trafficking. After all, poverty is the main
reason why innocent girls and women are pushed into prostitution
and economic rehabilitation is the need of the hour if one wants
to seriously combat trafficking of persons." The State
Government is planning to seek ARZ's help to provide economic
rehabilitation to trafficked victims in the State Protective
Home.
If human rights are about the rights of
humans, about empowering the underprivileged and neglected in
society by providing them equal opportunities, then this is just
the beginning.
(A few names have been changed to protect
identity.)
Original link: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/11/05/stories/2006110500210400.htm
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