Madhumayanti Nandi
12th October 2020
According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, Andhra Pradesh has earned the enigmatic distinction of being ranked second in human trafficking in India, while Maharashtra is leading the charts, as reported by The Hindu.
Andhra Pradesh ranks fifth in the country and number one in South India when it comes to low conviction rates. Out of the 159 cases that had been charge-sheeted, there were convictions in only 52 cases. The trial was completed in 238 cases. The initial action, however, seemed to be positive with 825 persons arrested in 425 cases, charge sheets were filed against 512 persons, and 136 persons were convicted, according to The Times of India.
“This phenomenon vindicates our demand for setting up anti-human trafficking units in all districts and giving them powers on par with the police stations. We need a special unit of the police to deal with trafficking”, says Ongole based HELP organisation secretary NV Rammohan, as reported by The Hindu.
In the economies in transition in several Asian countries, globalisation has encouraged free mobility of capital, technology, and the spread of modernisation with greater access to the media and transport. On the flip side, globalisation has escalated poverty and gender disparities, which led to the erosion of traditional income sources and rural employment, pushing the poor and the unskilled labour to migrate to sustain. To be specific, women and children are placed in increasingly vulnerable situations, making them more prone to trafficking and other crimes.
Human trafficking, however, is the impact of socio-economic developments stemming from neoliberal economic reforms which triggered a large-scale rural crisis in rural India, especially in Andhra Pradesh. The other consequences range from the collapse of market and farm credit, less sustainable agricultural work, and the massive migration of rural workers to the urban centres. The growing casualisation of female labour in recent years is, in fact, one major factor that has increased the vulnerability of women to trafficking.
With the erosion of traditional livelihood options and increasing feminisation of poverty, and accompanying changes in social and cultural relations, including the pursuit of alternative livelihood options by women themselves, they become prime targets of traffickers who offer them an escape from their situation with promises of opportunities for a better life elsewhere. The worst victims have less status, less education and skills, and limited work options, particularly women and girls from landless and small farmer families or lower-caste backgrounds. They want to live a better life is what pushes them towards these cruelties.
AM Plus presents these findings in the backdrop of October 5 observed as the International Day of No Prostitution.
News Sources: Times of India, The Hindu, AP News, The New Indian Express.
Edited by: Sanskriti Airon