Women trafficking

“It was unbearable”, says Reksona Begum, one of the victims of trafficking, who has returned from Saudi Arabia with painful memories.
Trafficking is the third largest illegal trans-national business after drugs and arms. Every year millions of men, women and children are being trafficked, according to the latest report of the USA government. Each year up to two million people are trafficked, including 150,000 from South Asia and 225,000 from Southeast Asia.
Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan are the foundation countries whereas India and Pakistan are destination and transit countries. Women are traded from Bangladesh to India, Pakistan and Middle East and to Thailand via Myanmar.
In Bangladesh it is believed that the first incident of trafficking women was traced out in 1979. Human Rights Association estimates that one million women and children had been trafficked from Bangladesh after independence. According to an estimate of UNICEF and Saarc, about 4,500 women and children are being trafficked out of Bangladesh every year. About 0.2 million women and children were trafficked out in the last 20 years. (Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of Bangladesh) About 41 percent of trafficked women are aged between 12 and 21 years.
Poverty, pseudo marriage, dowry, negative attitude towards women, child marriage, polygamy, lack of social security and safety, inefficiency of the law enforcement agencies etc. are some of the causes behind trafficking women.
We all have to work together to prevent this crime.