Experts discuss ways to check human trafficking

MYSORE : Mysore SP Abhinav Khare has said that effective implementation of sections 366, 366 (A), and 372 of Indian Penal Code, along with a sound rescue mechanism, can eradicate human trafficking in the country.
Addressing the participants of a state-level workshop on 'Challenges in preventing human trafficking' organized by JSS Law College and Karnataka Institute for Law and Parliamentary Reform (Bangalore), in the college premises here on Tuesday, the SP said: "Girls, who run away from their homes for different reasons, form a major chunk of victims of human trafficking and prostitution.In big cities, some women play a major role in the abduction of girls."
"First, they identify girls roaming in public places like bus stations and befriend them. Later, they abduct them, only to push them into illegal activities. Human trafficking is rampant in border regions. One can see many Bangladeshi girls in Kolkata. It is difficult for police to trace illegally migrated girls as they are given fake ID cards," Khare claimed.In many cases, victims do not reveal the circumstances under which they get into prostitution fearing pimps or abductors who would have warned them with dire consequences.Speaking on trafficking in Karnataka, he said that majority of the girls are being trafficked to neighbouring states.
"Initially, girls refuse to get into that vicious circle. But later, they are brainwashed to work in brothels. Victims conceive, and continue to work in brothels to look after their children," the SP said, adding that getting into prostitution is no less than getting stuck in a whirlpool. Victims need at least 3-4 years to get over the trauma. But rehabilitation centres serve them hardly for a year. The short stay may again push them into brothels, the SP said.
Additional secretary to Karnataka government and in KILPAR director H K Jagadish said: "Despite having strict laws, immoral trafficking is on the rise. Legal challenges need to be discussed and social and economical challenges must be met."