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Anti-trafficking Movement:
Bangladesh is one of them victim countries for
international trafficking, primarily the women, girls and children.
Several thousand women and girls are trafficked annually from Bangladesh
for the purpose of sexual exploitation, primarily to India, Pakistan, and
the Middle East. Most trafficking girls and women are sexually abused;
often they also experience other forms of physical and psychological
violence. They are in high risk of becoming infected with STD's including
HIV/AIDS and they are by the surrounding society seen upon as non-pure and
considered among the lowest ranked in the society.
Alongside extreme limit of poverty, gender inequality
plays a vital role too behind all these; also frustration and risky
behavior cause a major damage behind the scene. The link between poverty
and gender inequality helps the decline of the socio-economic progress.
This link creates several anti-social and fatal issues too; such as,
trafficking for prostitution, selling of sex for livelihood, breaking down
of family norms to create frustration and driven drug point etc.
It is not just the problem of girls; even little boys
and women are victimized to trafficking to countries like India. They are
trafficked even within Bangladesh, often from the villages to the major
metropolis areas with the promise of work opportunity and a better life.
These little boys and girls are then forcefully involved in physical labor
at rich households, child labor, pick pocketing, illegal drug selling,
criminal activities, thieving, commercial sexual selling and many other
unfair jobs etc. India is one of the major markets for trafficking as
people from most of the countries are trafficked here. Bangladesh is a big
market where from these victims are trafficked.
Bangladeshi girls and women are trafficked to India
in maximum number from these districts of Bangladesh- Kushtia, Jessore,
Rajshahi and also from other districts. India shares 4,222 kilometers of
border with 28 districts of Bangladesh, most of which are open with rivers
running across. So, Bangladeshi trafficking groups have been able to build
up powerful bases in the border districts of India in West Bengal and
Assam, to the north and west, and these have now become favorite transit
points of trafficked women.
One of our surveys at Goalondo brothel under Rajbari
district in Bangladesh, it has been found out that almost 53% of sex
workers enter the profession before the age of 20 years, and 30% do so
between 20 to 25 years of age, and some of them get into this profession
through deceptions of the traffickers. Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan
Foundation started Anti Trafficking movement on 2006. In this long run, we
have been able to include ten organizations in these activities. By mid
2007, our team of experts trained Anti-trafficking actions among some NGOs
working in the border areas.
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