woman trafficking

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AIDS and poverty spur child traffic in Bangladesh (from the Asian Age on
9th Oct. 1998)

By Nadeem Qadir

Dhaka, Oct. 8: AIDS and poverty have pawned a growth industry in human
trafficking in South Asia with children the major target because they are
mostly poor and considered free of sexual disease, experts say.

"In the wake of the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome epidemic, younger
girls and children are being sought in the belief that they are less
likely to be infected," according to a new report, Child Trafficking: The
Underlying Dynamic s.

The findings, released this week, come after six months' research by
Ishrat Shamim and Farah Kabir of the Dhaka-based Centre for Women and
Children Studies, The Study Found that in the past seven years it least
2,600 Bangladeshi children, mostly girls, were abducted and never
returned, Most ended up in brothels or never returned home after being
raped because of fears of social alienation.

Children aged between six and 15 years suffered sexual abuse, and some had
died either from physical or sexual abuse, and some had died either from
physical or sexual torture or during the journey from their homes, said
the study, released to coincide with the landmark Asia-Europe summit in
London.

"Poverty is a major problem as those involved in human trafficking lure
the parents or children by offering lucrative employment abroad," Ms
Shahnaz Begum, a journalist and researcher, said. The report added: "the
underlying major cause is poverty, which in turn compels families to
migrate and its worst consequences fall on children. Poverty and
exploitation combine to make girls and women cheap commodities," it said.
Ms Begum said the problem could be tackled, but needed political
commitment.

The CWCS has called for the formation of an integrated national policy,
which would include an attack on the causes of poverty in Bangladesh.

This week the government formed a task force to stop the trade in child
trafficking, but experts said unless agencies involved were strengthened,
efforts to curb the industry would be "extremely difficult." Those
arrested for trafficking are punishable under Bangladesh's tough Children
and Women Repression Law, under which a maximum 10-year jail term can be
given.

A proposal to introduce the death sentence for the trade in still under
consideration after protests from human rights groups. "We should also
find out if all the cases reported are trafficking or not as some go
willingly, while others are forced," Ms Begum said, relating her own
research. She said there were  Biharis and Burmese Muslim refugees called
Rohingyas, who willingly offer to leave Bangladesh.

"I interviewed children caught b y security personnel and many were angry
for bringing them back - some really looked forward to a good life or a
new life," Ms Begum said. She and other social workers here said girls
faced real problems on their return as they faced social isolation, even
by their families. "One father refused to accept her daughter brought back
from India, saying that it would cause problems in getting his two other
daughters married," Ms Begum added.

The CWCS said of all the children lost during the period it studied, 96
per cent were girls and there had been a rise in trafficking and sexual
abuse. The police rescued 42 Burmese women and children in separate raids
in Dhaka this week and arrested 14 people on charge of trying to smuggle
then to West Asia, where they had been promised attractive jobs, officials
said.

Experts said organised gangs worked through agents, who approached poor
girls and children with lucrative job offers abroad. The agents paid from
several thousand takas to more than $2,000 depending on the child's market
value in terms of age or looks. The police said some 15,000 women and
children are smuggled out of Bangladesh every year. Most of them end up in
brothels or in virtual slavery as domestic workers.(AFP)


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