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| UNODC is cosponsor of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS - UNAIDS |
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Combatting trafficking by addressing gender vulnerabilities - The Role of Local Governance Bodies
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As we celebrate International Women's Day every year on the 8th March, we do a stock taking of the improvement in the status of the women and the girl child during the past year. What has disturbed us is the fact that women are still vulnerable to violence and injustice in all walks of life despite the Constitutional Provisions of Equality and the laws, policies and schemes for their protection and Human Rights.
Violence against women cuts across all cultures, religions and stages of economic development. It stems from the patriarchal attitude ingrained in our societies and communities and is strengthened by poverty and the caste divide. Women are considered as property, as labour and as pleasure givers - their role is to bear sons and protect the family honour. This second class status is in itself an expression of physical, mental and social violence which starts before birth and is continued throughout their life cycle in various forms - foeticide to early marriage, domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape, desertion, dowry death, and widow discrimination.
These various forms of gender based discrimination make women vulnerable and increases their of being easily targeted by traffickers who by false promises of jobs and other opportunities lure them away and put them into extremely exploitative situations. These women and girl children are thus pushed into prostitution, labour, begging, drug peddling, smuggling of arms, forced marriages etc.
The government has provided several laws, policies and schemes to address issues of violence against women and children. But these can be effective only if
local governance including the law and order machinery and civil society join hands to implement them consciously and sensitively.
The local government machinery - the panchayats, the gram sabhas, government functionaries of the various schemes like aanganwadi workers, primary health workers, and existing civil society formations like mahila mandals, youth clubs and school teachers should form local watch groups at the local village/ community level to prevent violence on women and children, trafficking and other forms of gender linked social and economic abuse.
Moving Forward
To be able to get the local governance bodies to become an effective institutional mechanism to address gender vulnerabilities and prevent crimes such as human trafficking, the following key actions can be undertaken.
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Creation of vulnerability database: The local government bodies should have a database of high risk zones/ villages/ districts that fall within there jurisdiction. The local governance bodies need to actively network with local police, to get and provide information, regarding criminals, missing people (especially women and children), suspected traffickers, and promote interaction with local citizenry.
They should prepare a list of services available like shelter and protection homes, juvenile justice boards, and child welfare committees etc. which are closest to their villages / zones / wards and districts.
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Involvement in needs assessment and identification of beneficiaries for rural development schemes: Local governance bodies should be actively involved in assessment and identification of beneficiaries for rural development schemes and rural development plans. They should ensure that the benefits reach out to vulnerable families through existing anti poverty schemes - NREGA and other similar schemes for SC's, ST's, OBC's, women and children, in order to prevent them from being abused and trafficked. They can prepare a list of all adolescent girls and vulnerable women in the village and provide them necessary information and support to access schemes like the Kishori Yojana, ICDS etc.
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Set up vigilance committees: Local level vigilance committees should be set up to check suspicious activities or movement such as involvement of outsiders/ strangers into arranging marriages without expenditure or offering lucrative jobs offers in the cities.
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Sensitization and awareness raising through local governing bodies: Every panchayat meeting should be accompanied with sensitization and awareness generation programmes to change the mindset of people regarding women and justice issues. The panchayat should build alliances with local NGO's and human rights movements in their area to develop joint action against trafficking and violence against women.
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| This background note has been prepared with inputs from Dr. Jyotsna Chatterjee, Director, Joint Women Program an NGO actively involved in anti human trafficking interventions. |
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