|
The
role of the international organizations in supporting
the developing countries' national policies and
strategies for combating human trafficking |
Prize
Subject |
|
US$
150,000 |
Prize
Amount: |
|
Cross
Border Program on Capacity Building for Prevention of
Trafficking & Rehabilitation of Potential and rescued
Victims. (Selected winner from 7 projects). |
The
Winning Project |
|
Planete
Enfants (www.planete-enfants.org). |
Implemented By |
|
Nepal |
Beneficiary
Country |
|
Creation of Creative Society Organization. |
Nominated
By |
Prior
to the initiation of its project
"Cross Border Program
on Capacity Building for Prevention of Trafficking &
Rehabilitation of Potential and rescued Victims",
Planete Enfants had been involved in trafficking
prevention through community based activities in
trafficking prone hilly district of Nepal, and had a
tremendous success. However, Planete Enfants formulated
a more innovative approach to address the dynamism of
trafficking through this project of which global
objectives were, prevention of women and children
trafficking and reintegration of trafficking affected
Nepalese children, young girls and women.
Whereas, it was true that intensive community based
activities helped control trafficking in the project
areas, trafficking vulnerability was ever increasing. It
was getting more and more difficult to identify any
particular area or ethnicity as trafficking vulnerable
or trafficking affected. The purposes behind trafficking
had also expanded, and trends & pretexts of human
transportation were ever increasing. Planete Enfants
responded to this dynamism of trafficking trend in Nepal
by initiating this multi-disciplinary intervention at
the cross-border belt of Nepal. In this manner,
trafficking vulnerability was addressed at a
funnel-point. Complemented by the awareness and
community based initiatives of the government and
non-government sector, the project has been well
thought, extremely pertinent and timely.
The
project also emphasizes on capacitating of local actors
and consolidating networks of local level actors. This
emphasis is rightly placed to carry on with further
development in anti-trafficking intervention. The
project has been able to lay significant ground-work for
sustained cross-border intervention. Saathi, one of the
projects local partners still continues the cross border
intervention in similar nature even after project
completion and optimizes infrastructure inputs like the
transit shelters acquired by the project in Kanchanpur .
While
the whole concept of comprehensive cross-border
intervention strategy was an innovative approach in
itself, selections of activities have also been
appropriate. The activities selected range from
awareness at cross border communities to recovery and
reintegration of the repatriated.
Besides its specific objectives, which have been
formulated appropriately with careful need assessment of
the beneficiaries as well as the target group comprising
local partner NGOs and anti-trafficking actors at local
level, the project seems to respect and follow the
concepts of Right-based intervention! and has made
efforts to make pragmatic applications of Human Rights
principals.
Nepal
and India share an open border, stretching more than
1.600 kms. Indian and Nepali nationals can cross over
the border at any point without any papers or
restriction. This political arrangement had been one of
the key factors of rampant trafficking from Nepal to
India and via India to numerous gulf an south Asian
countries. The project emphasized on awareness to
cross-border migrant without curtailing the rights of
migration or cross border movement of people, the
project staff were trained on providing ‘correct’
information to people moving across indo-Nepal border.
Focus was exclusively laid on promotion of informed
migration. This characteristic of practical application
of theories of Rights is commendable.
Another interesting aspect of appropriate use of
technology is seen in Database Activity, which uses
Information Technology (IT) in the interest of
understanding trafficking and trafficking prevention. It
is the first time ever in Nepal that such a
comprehensive database on trafficking situation was
attempted, and with intelligent use of IT, the database
was functional and keeps space for further integrate
database entering partners with the aim of consolidating
anti-trafficking efforts.
PRIZE WINNERS 2007
- Second Winner
|
|
Second Category
for
projects by national non-governmental organization
(NGOs).
|
|
NGOs-led efforts for protecting women and children from
human trafficking |
Prize
Subject |
|
US$
100,000 |
Prize
Amount |
|
Combat Trafficking of Women and children through
Community Partnership.
(Selected winner from 18 projects). |
The
Winning Project |
|
PARAJWALA NGO |
Implemented By |
|
India |
Beneficiary
Country |
|
Stree
Jagruti Samiti Organization |
Nominated
By |
Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation of women and
children in India is a multidimensional problem especially
with regard to its causes. While socio-economic factors play
a major role in this process of victimization, cultural
political and religious factors too are important elements
of this problem. India is a source, destination and transit
for trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Nearly
5-7% of the trafficking that happens in India is
cross-border. Large number of girls from Nepal. Pakistan,
and Bangladesh are trafficked to different red light areas
of India. But the majority of the trafficking is inter-state
In
India over 200 thousand women and children are inducted into
flesh trade or commercial sexual exploitation every year.
Out of these 25% are children. A concerning fact is: the
frightening reality that the age of the children is
progressively coming down.
The
growing demand of children in various forms of flesh trade
such as brothel based prostitution, sex tourism and
pornography is largely due to the myths and misconceptions
generated such as sex with a child could increase male
virility and decrease the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other
sexually transmitted infections. On the contrary children in
prostitution are more susceptible to infections than adults
And these extreme traumatic experiences in their formative
years, not only retard their healthy development but also
leave permanent scars in their lives.
Andhra
Pradesh has emerged as the second largest supplier of women
and children for the purposes of trafficking for commercial
sexual exploitation. It is a transit, destination and supply
point for trafficking. Women and children from other stales
like Karnataka, Orissa and Maharashtra are taken via Andhra
Pradesh to be sold in cities like Delhi or Mumbai. More than
fifteen districts in Andhra Pradesh are identified to be
major source areas. These districts are characterized by the
vulnerabilities of its population in terms of poverty, low
literacy, drought, breaking of traditional livelihoods etc.
But the issue of concern is the age of the victim. It has
been observed that progressively younger children in the age
group of 12-15 yrs. are being trafficked
Many
cities in Andhra Pradesh, particularly Hyderabad,
Vijayawada, Vishakapalnarn are destinations for women and
children both within and outside the state. In recent times
a large number of girls from Orissa, West Bengal and Uttar
Pradesh have been found in Hyderabad as bar girls/dancers.
Addressing
the issue of trafficking is a multi-pronged one. Al one end
is the challenge of prevention. On the other, the situation
of victims of trafficking is a matter of deep concern. These
young women and children are subjected to physical, sexual
and mental torture for years in brothel houses, which are
unhygienic and unsafe. Coupled with this trauma is the
danger of sexually transmitted infections and in many cases
being infected by HIV. The social reality of stigma furthers
the isolation of these Victims Mental health interventions
in this phase is very crucial to the emotional and physical
rehabilitation of the girls.
PRAJWALA
is an anti-trafficking organization based in the old city of
Hyderabad in South India. it believes in preventing women
and children from entering prostitution, the worst form of
sexual slavery. PRAJWALA, which started in the year 1996
with a small transition centre for second generation
prevention with only 12 children in a vacated brothel, today
works on all aspects of anti-trafficking viz., rescue,
rehabilitation, restoration and social intervention of
victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
These interventions are made possible by a large team of
supervisors of trafficking who are full time partners in the
organization.
In the
process of implementation of various programmes to combat
trafficking PRAJWALA has evolved need based intentions and
methodologies, which are milestones for the organization and
breakthrough in the Anti-trafficking sector.
PRAWALA
works with the conviction that to break the walls of learnt
helplessness that a victim of sexual exploitation develops,
a multi-pronged approach is necessary. Any interventions on
behalf of these victims have to be an interlinked chain of
psychological healing, vocational empowerment, economically
viable and socially acceptable. The programs to impen1ent
these Strategies and Interventions are mainly focused on
Prevention, Rescue, Rehabilitation, Reintegration and
Advocacy.
PRIZE WINNERS 2007
- Third Winner
|
|
Third Category
for
projects initiated, sponsored and/or implemented by
individuals |
|
Individual-led initiatives for combating human
trafficking in the poor communities |
Prize
Subject |
|
US$
50,000 |
Prize
Amount |
|
Community Mobilization
to Combat Trafficking (CMCT)
(Selected winner from 5 projects). |
The
Winning Project |
|
Mr.
Biony Krishna Mallick. |
Implemented By |
|
Bangladesh |
Beneficiary Country |
|
The
NGO Affairs Bureau |
Nominated
By |
Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men,
women, and children trafficking for the purposes of
sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude,
child camel jockeying, and debt bondage. Women and
children from Bangladesh are trafficked to India and
Pakistan for sexual exploitation. Bangladeshi women
migrate legally to Gulf states for work as domestic
servants, but often find themselves in situations of
involuntary servitude. Women and girls from rural areas
are trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic
servitude. Burmese women trafficked to India for sexual
exploitation also use Bangladesh as a transit country.
The US State Department’ reports that 10,000 - 20,000
women and children happen to be trafficked globally on
average annually. Bangladesh ranked in tier two in the
said report in 2005. A number of studies documented that
women and children in the southwestern districts in
Bangladesh are the most vulnerable populations in this
regard, who happen to be at risk of trafficking.
In
1992 Mr. Binoy Krishna Mallick and a number of dedicated
human rights activists have founded Rights Jessore (RJ)
as a national human rights organization to prevent human
rights violations and ensure protection against
exploitation and social injustice. Rights Jessore is
mainly operating in eight south-western districts of
Bangladesh. In order to implement its activities,
especially the women and child trafficking and rights
based initiatives, Rights Jessore maintains liaison and
working relation with a number of different networks and
forums.
Since
2005, RJ has been implementing Community Mobilization
to Combat Trafficking (CMCT) a project aiming at
community mobilization and social awareness building
activities in collaboration with ten local partner NGOs
based in Satkhira, Jessore and Jhenaidah districts.
The
involvement of community people in anti-trafficking
activities is the main innovativeness of the project
because most of the community people were not aware and
mobilized before the project commencement. Based on its
belief that human trafficking is a great threat to the
development and that traffickers are a strong syndicate,
RJ has been able to strengthen capacity on
anti-trafficking issue through direct involvement of
Community People and formation of Counter Trafficking
Women Forum (CTWF) and Ant Trafficking Network to
empower women at grassroots level and raising their
awareness against human trafficking through their direct
involvement in the organization and conducting of all
anti-trafficking activities.
