Unsafe migration leads to Trafficking. Presently India has a large movement of rural people going to the urban areas. In this stream of migration many children and women are being trafficked for forced labour , child labour , forced marriages, sexual exploitation , bonded labour etc. Many cases of missing children and women have been reported who have subsequently been trafficked. In recent times men, women and children are made false promises of good jobs in the urban areas and made to work in illegal activities.Thousands of illegal placement agencies flourish in cities like Delhi where there is a high demand of live-in maids who can work even at odd hours according to the schedule of the employers. The employers are also specifically looking for younger children because ‘they are cheaper’, complain less and can be exploited. Apart from this there are those source regions struck by poverty, natural calamities, lack of employment, education where parents are willing to let go off their children in the hope that their child will live a better life in the city and send back some money so that those back home can enjoy two meals a day, but instead what the children go through in these cities is nothing less than hell.

 There is also a lot of reporting on the sex abuse of maids. Many cases off such exploitation has been reported. The maids work from dawn till midnight, do all household chores, they are deprived of food, clean clothes, basic sanitation, and what they get is physical, sexual and mental abuse with most or all wages going to the agents operating the placement agencies. The employers don’t think twice before giving their wages to these middlemen who never send back the money home nor do they intimate the families of these maids about the whereabouts of the maids.Recently, there has definitely a growth in the number of cases that have come to light. This has been possible as there is an increased partnership between NGOs and Police. With awareness and sensitization programmes being conducted and also with increased media space being provided to such issues there has been an increased public participation in providing information about such violence to NGOs and Police.

Media has been playing a lead role in highlighting the issue. Creating pressure on the government to take action, it has kept the police on its toes. This has led to increased debate on such issues among the general population.

Shakti Vahini collaborates with the Mass Media for such issue based reporting which prioritizes the issue of Child Protection. We present below some of the Media Reportings which happened after the Rescue of the Dwarka Case where two Doctor Couple had locked a child while vacationing in Bangkok.

NDTV CAMPAIGN : TRAFFICKING AND MISSING CHILDREN

INDIAS MISSING CHILDREN

PLACEMENT AGENCIES OR EXPLOITATION HUBS

WEST BENGAL TRAFFICKING HUBS : SANDESHKHALI

DOCTOR COUPLE DENIED BAIL

MAID TORTURE DOCTOR COUPLE DENIED BAIL

TEEN DISCOVERED LOCKED UP

CNN IBN : FACE THE NATION DEBATE

FACE THE NATION – SPECIAL SHOW ON MAID TRAFFICKING

STAR NEWS ; JHARKHAND TRAFFICKING