Good response to debate on human trafficking 

On the occasion of World Day against Trafficking in Persons or to say human trafficking, the US Consulate General in Hyderabad had organised a panel discussion at Lamakaan on Saturday to discuss the impact of collaboration on countering trafficking in persons.

The panelists consisting of founder and executive director of Tharuni organisation Dr Mamatha Achanta, founder of Women’s Initiatives (WINS) Meera Raghavendra, Muhammad Ahammad Ali from an NGO ‘Prajwala’ and a journalist Udumula Sudhakar Reddy shared their views on the civil society, media, law enforcement and the judiciary.

“The three stages of trafficking include pre-trafficked, trafficked and survival. For example, once a police sees a woman as a sex worker, they think she will forever remain one. Such a thinking needs to be changed,” said Raghavendra.

“In 2016, Global Slavery Index revealed that from the 45.8 million modern slaves around the world, 18.3 million are from India. National Bureau of Crime Records said that Human Trafficking had reached to 59.7 per cent between the years 2010-2014. Worldwide, 5,366 trafficking cases are registered every day. Every state in India has more than 300 cases registering every year,” said Dr Achanta.

Ali who has been working with a city-based anti-trafficking organisation since 2006 said, “We recently started a programme ‘Suraksha’ with the help of US Consulate General to help the victims of trafficking. We send them to de-addict centers and we provide them education and good lively-hood conditions.”