May 26, 2006

The UNIFEM organizes a high level regional conference in Kathmandu to bring all the stakeholders who are fighting against trafficking and HIV/AIDS on a single platform

By A CORRESPONDENT

The issue of human trafficking and HIV/AIDS is clearly a multidimensional one involving a number of countries. Both the issues are serious and have caused a number of socio-economic problems for South Asian countries.

Each countries of the region on their own are dealing with these problems. In order to bring together the stakeholders of the region and chalk out integrated approach of overcoming the problem, the UNIFEM South Asia Regional Office and UNDP Regional Center jointly organized a high level meeting in Kathmandu from May 22-24.

“Already these countries have had experience of dealing with the issues. We wanted to bring them together for learning and sharing of experiences as well as strengthening the joint resolve to fight these problems,” Chandni Joshi, chief of UNIFEM SARO.

Reports say that human trafficking in South Asia has taken many forms and occurs for a variety of purposes like organ transplant, bonded labor, domestic servitude, sex trade, hazardous labor, marriage, illegal adoption and pornography. “The most visible and widespread form, however, is trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation,” states a press release by the UNIFEM. It is estimated that over 100,000 people are trafficked annually in this region.

“Increasingly, young women and children who have been trafficked are at increased risk for HIV infection since they have little or no control over their circumstances. Their vulnerability is rooted in and aggravated by prevailing poverty, depravation and severe gender inequality that exist in political, social, education and economic areas of life. The female face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the female face of the trafficked and vulnerable constituency is a terrifying reality,” adds the release.

Reports say that there are 5.1 million people infected with HIV in India , 40 percent of which are women. Nepal also has over 60,000 HIV infected persons. As Nepal has long and open border with India and as thousands of Nepalese girls are trafficked to brothels in Indian cities, the threat of HIV epidemic looms large. The link between trafficking and HIV/AIDS is obvious. The situation further endangers vulnerable sections of society including women, children and the poor.

The UNIFEM has been working in the area of trafficking since 1990. Although the number or volume of trafficking may not have decreased significantly, the level of awareness and the society’s response to this problem has progressively evolved.

“Earlier, these issues were debated in a different language. There were talks about sending countries, receiving countries, victims and so on. Now we talk about rights, dignity, coordination and so on. We have come a long way,” said Joshi.

Sunita Danuwar, coordinator of Shakti Samuha, a network of survivors of trafficking, makes some interesting observations. “We now find that the society is beginning to look at survivors positively. In the past they were denigrated but now survivors can hope to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on. Even the police administration and media perspectives have changed. The police now have separate cell for interrogating survivors. And the media, too, has moved away from the initial phase of sensationalizing the issue. The media now has become more sensitive,” she said.

Despite the gradual change in the mindset, there are lots of challenges that still need to be overcome. The inhumane trade still continues. The governments of the region are yet to forge a strong network of cooperation to nab the traffickers who operate with disturbing ease.

“One major problem that still remains is the poor legal mechanisms. The survivors do not have legal protections and the traffickers, often, go unpunished,” said Danuwar.

Meanwhile, the government of Nepal is preparing to update its anti-trafficking act. “Now that the parliament is restored, we hope to update the law,” said Shyam Sundar Sharma, spokesperson at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare.