Strict action needed to stop trafficking of slum women and girls
We are deeply concerned about the increasing cases of girls and women from urban slums being targeted by transnational human trafficking syndicates, as reported by this newspaper yesterday. The victims are mostly enticed with false promises of jobs in India (in beauty parlours, malls, etc.), which would pay them much more than any job in Bangladesh could. Being financially vulnerable, and with their limited livelihood options here, they fall prey to such traffickers and end up being sold to brothels in our neighbouring country. Families of victims only get to know of this horrific fate weeks or even months after they are trafficked—if ever.
What is most worrying is that the ring of traffickers seems quite tight, with perpetrators operating on either side of the border and coordinating their activities seamlessly, all the while staying out of the sight of law enforcers in both Bangladesh and India. Reportedly, these syndicates have "safe houses" in bordering districts such as Satkhira, where the victims are kept before being trafficked into India. Meanwhile, the accused syndicate trafficking women from slums is operating with up to 20 people, according to investigators, and their associates are usually locals from the slums or nearby areas who are known to the victims and their families. This particular ring has managed to traffic at least 50 such women and girls over the last six years, around 20 of whom belonged to a slum from Mirpur's Kalshi area in the capital. Besides this, law enforcers say that another 50 or so girls were similarly lured away in a recent TikTok trafficking racket.
While police and Rab often report arrests of some of these traffickers and claim to be actively working to thwart the syndicates' activities, the results on the ground leave a lot to be desired. According to the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report 2021 released on July 1, the government of Bangladesh prosecuted 517 suspected traffickers last year, but only convicted seven traffickers within the same time frame. The gulf between words and action seems to be widening. Only recently, reports emerged of the mother of a trafficked 17-year-old who wilfully got herself trafficked into India, after reportedly having received no help from local authorities. She did that at great personal risk, pulling off a daring rescue of her minor daughter who had been sold to a brothel in India.
We would urge the law enforcement agencies to prioritise saving current and potential victims of such trafficking rings by ensuring the culprits see justice instead of getting out on bail and resuming their heinous activities, as they reportedly have done in the past. It is also crucial for law enforcers on either side of the border to communicate their findings with each other and stay in constant contact regarding new leads. Finally, girls and women in urban slums (and other potential victims of trafficking) must be made aware of how these rings operate and how they abuse social media platforms to conduct their crimes, so that they may avoid an awful fate.
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