To Be A Girl: Is It A Boon Or A Curse???

Angelina Naorem *

Child Trafficking :: An illustration by Bunti Phurailatpam

We live in a male-chauvinist society where women are raped brutally and killed mercilessly, women are lured into sex trades, women are killed for not bringing enough dowry, female foetus is aborted and so on but one should remember that at the end of the day, one's mother or sister is after all a woman.

People are still opposed to feminist views and demand that men and women should be treated equally and that one should not be biased or favor the other. Yes, that is what we women want- to be treated equally!! As violence against women increases on a daily basis in the country, it is indeed sad that very little steps have been taken up for women's safety in the country.

Women-trafficking is one such crime which also includes rape of the victim where women are kidnapped, abducted, threatened and transported to other countries or within the country itself for purposes of sexual slavery, forced labor, forced marriage, extraction of organs and surrogacy.

It may occur within a country or transnationally and the victims are usually restricted from movement as their passports are seized by the trafficking agents and they are brought to other countries where they take the form of migrants and become dependent on the agents. As a result, the victim's life is destroyed and her rights are violated.

Women-trafficking being a global crime as victims are transported between countries through networking, government are obligated to protect their citizens from being trafficked. The Trafficking Protocol is the first global legally binding instrument on trafficking and it investigates and prosecutes trafficking. It also aims to protect the victim's rights as established in the United Declaration of Human Rights.

Women-trafficking is mostly caused due to poverty and unemployment. Women coming from poor families are lured into sex trade on the pretext of employment in hotels, restaurants, bars, beauty-parlours, modelling jobs or promised education. Women-trafficking takes the following forms:

1) Bonded Labour: Victims become bonded when their labour are demanded as a means of repayment for a loan but the value of their work is greater than the original amount of money thus borrowed by the victim.

2) Forced Labour: Victims are forced to work against their will under coercion and threat which may include mining, begging, agricultural labour, etc.

3) Sex-trafficking: Victims are transported between countries and within countries and are taken to brothels who seized their passports and lure them into prostitution and sex slavery and other sexual activities under threat or coercion. These traffickers initially offer promises of employment, education, marriage or a better life but later force the victims to work in the sex industry making them work in strip clubs and pornography thus, exploiting the victims and outdoing their modesty.

4) Forced Marriage: Marriage where one or both parties are married without free consent. It is also known as servile marriage which involves a person being sold into that marriage. If a woman is sent abroad, forced into marriage and repeatedly compelled to engage in sexual conduct with her new husband, it is considered sex-trafficking.

5) Trafficking for Organ Trade: Victims are compelled to give up or sell an organ forcefully or in exchange of money but is not paid. Sometimes, organs are removed without victims' knowledge while undergoing a surgery like kidney, womb, ovary etc. and victims are even forced into surrogacy.

Even though laws are being drafted to prevent women-trafficking in India, every year, the rate of sex-trafficking in women is increasing. Women and young girls are more vulnerable to being tricked and forced into sex trade and many trafficking victims remain unseen as they are under the control of the traffickers who keep a continuous check on them. Sex-trafficking is a serious crime that violates human rights to a great extent.

But it is sad that the ugly truth is many of the trafficking consumers and people who purchased sex-slaves are developed nations and rich countries. Sex-trafficking has negative impacts on the victims who often experience physical abuse, emotional stress, shame, fear, anxiety and depression. Victims are often isolated from their families and society due to the mental stigma they faced as a result of such trafficking and they often end up taking drugs and alcohol to ease the pain and at some instances, even commit suicide.