Legal awareness
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 22 2016:
District Legal Services Authority, Imphal East in association with Nirvana Foundation conducted a one day legal awareness programme for drug abusers and commercial sex workers at the latter's conference hall today.
District Legal Services Authority, Imphal East secretary and Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East Aribam Noutuneshwari Devi, Nirvana Foundation secretary Sobhana Sorokhaibam and MSACS Partners NGO Forum president Vikram Nepram attended the programme as chief guest, president and guest of honour respectively.
Aribam Noutuneshwari said that NALSA had launched a scheme to carry out rehabilitation, consultation and advocacy programmes for drug abusers, commercial sex workers (CSWs) and female sex workers (FSWs) across the country last year.
She also said that Manipur State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA) along with various NGOs have carried out campaigns on phase-wise basis.
Informing that Manipur has around 5000 CSWs/FSWs, Noutuneshwari said that most of them are widows.
She further said that drug addiction, armed conflict and unnatural deaths are the main reasons of being widowed in the State.
She also said that no woman becomes a CSW willingly but due to poverty.
Noutuneshwari further said that DLSA has been taking up measures to bring CSWs to the mainstream by organising vocational training for them so that they may run small scale and cottage industries for their survival.
Under the guideline of NALSA, Manipur State Legal Services Authority is trying all possible ways to reduce the number of CSWs/ FSWs in the State.
Advocates I Lenibala, Th Premlata and N Salai Mangang spoke at the programme as resource persons.
Many CSWs/FSWs took part in the programme, organised under the aegis of Manipur State Legal Services Authority.