A few days ago, I was watching a movie. In one scene, a female sex worker was sitting at a beach at night with a policeman. She told him that three customers had taken away one of her colleagues and that she had never returned. The policeman asked her if the matter had been reported to the police. By way of an answer she asked him how anybody from her profession, which was illegal, could approach police for help? Also, she asked, how could they have registered a missing person report for somebody whose very existence was never acknowledged? Most of them, she reminded him, did not choose the profession.
Almost a month ago, an auto-rickshaw driver in my neighbourhood reported that his two daughters were missing. An FIR was registered but no suspect was named because the complainant had no idea who the kidnappers were. The girls have not been recovered until now. A large number of girls are kidnapped and sold into sex work worldwide. It is a huge criminal enterprise. Many of the girls are trafficked across city and state borders to be sold. They are forced into cargo containers, oil tankers and other vessels and packed into luggage to sail thousands of miles. They suffer endless voyages and are kept in private jails. They are chained and routinely tortured.
Many are kidnapped from streets and schools or stolen from hospitals. Other are bought from poor, needy and selfish parents. Most of them are teenagers. They are given drugs to lower their resistance to abuse and they bear physical and mental torture. By and by, they lose their will and surrender to their captors. In some countries, they are herded like animals by the police. They are brutally beaten wherever they go. Sometimes, they are exploited by law enforcing agencies too. Their miseries end only when they die.
Not everyone considers them worthy of love, respect and a home. The rare people who do face a social stigma.
A large number of girls are kidnapped and sold for sex work. This is a huge criminal enterprise spreading all over the world
One of my relatives who used to work abroad fell in love with such a girl. They ran away and my relative spent all his savings on her protection. They married and started a new life. He was afraid of nothing but his family. He had already been married. Finally, he returned home and brought his new wife with him. They faced everything he had expected. His second wife was housed in a rented house. I admired his courage and went over to see him. I also asked him about his new wife. He said, she had proved the fighter he had thought she was. She had started a tuck shop. Once I saw her baking some food to sell. Her shop catered for schoolchildren.
I have not kept in touch and am unaware of the rest of their story. I believe that the man would not have succeeded had the woman not stood by him. Good for both of them. It is often said ‘good mind, good find’. He had lent a hand to a homeless girl in a terrible situation. That is not an ordinary thing.
Most of us get to lead our lives the way we choose. There is a need for a global anti-human trafficking network to prevent the heinous crime. All organisations working for human rights should join hands for this.
Parents must keep an eye on their children, particularly girls, to protect them from traffickers. The children must be made aware of the threat. They should be told to always inform their parents about where they are and where they are going. If they cannot tell their parents at least some friend should know about their whereabouts.
The writer is a teacher of English