A blot on the region

What the chairperson of the National Commission for Women(NCW) Rakha Sharma had said at Shillong on how girls from the north east are sold dreams of good money and good life in big cities only to eventually end up in the flesh trade as call girls, prostitutes etc. This is not a new revelation and every time the issue is highlighted with new cases, it only serves to add salt to injury. Because of such cases including the dress and lifestyles of youths from the region, it has led to prejudice in metro cities against people from the region. The chairperson of the NCW had highlighted the urgent need for the states in the region to seriously combat human trafficking in the region. What the chairperson also informed was that those involved in trafficking girls from the region to metro cities, are well connected and also have very efficient network for procuring females. The other aspect which the chairperson NCW noted is that the state police forces in the region have to be sensitized about the matter. Perhaps this would need well trained and motivated, mobile and well equipped special anti-trafficking units. These units of various north eastern states also have to effectively collaborate against the crafty criminals prowling across towns and villages in the north east. The obvious target for traffickers are gullible girls, young women especially from the poor economic backgrounds. In the past, girls and women from Nepal used to be the most trafficked lot and who land up in brothels or as domestic servants. It would seem that today the girls and women from the north west are becoming the target of traffickers. Girls from the north east are also much in demand in beauty parlours which become the source of exploitation. The other is the mushrooming massage parlours or spas which provide innocuous fronts for many girls who choose to be deluded that they were in a lucrative job but ignoring the likely possibility that it was just a step from sex trade. These girls are generally duped / coerced into the commercial sex trade by ill-intentioned employers. Perhaps most of those girls involved, whether knowingly or not, may not like to call themselves ‘prostitutes’ but their activities do not disprove the nomenclature. It was also reported sometime in 2011, that some girls from Nagaland were caught in a so-called spa run by some foreigners in Chennai. Networking was one of the means where a girl would entice her friend with placement in the city. The newcomer would be given a good holiday time to see the good side of city life. Gradually the newcomer would be tempted with a job in the spa with good money but eventually the good money had to be earned through prostitution. With regard to Nagaland, it would be suggested that all those who go to cities register themselves at state guest houses or respective church or unions detailing their purpose of being in that city etc. The driving factor for many who go to cities is to look for jobs but unfortunately, they are underpaid and overworked. The NGOs involved in trafficking including the church and state government should seriously look into this issue to take remedial measures and prevent the ensnaring of the gullible into the hands of criminals.