Unfortunately, Jharkhand is well recognised for having a high rate of human trafficking, especially of women and children. The state was exposed to this heinous crime because of its poverty, lack of education, and societal inequality. The promise of employment or an education is a common tactic used by traffickers to entice women and girls from low-income households, only to subject them to forced labor, sexual exploitation, or other forms of slavery. It is challenging for them to flee or be saved because they are frequently moved to other states or nations.
In Jharkhand, numerous governmental and non-governmental organisations have been fighting crime. They assist the victims with rescue, recovery, and integration while also bringing the problem to the community’s attention. The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act are just two of the laws that the government has passed to stop trafficking and prosecute those who do it.But the issue still exists, and more must be done to address the underlying factors that contribute to trafficking in Jharkhand, such as poverty, a lack of access to excellent education, and gender inequality. To end this evil practise and safeguard defenceless women and children, it takes a concerted effort from numerous stakeholders, including the government, civic society, and communities.
In 2019, Jharkhand recorded 422 cases of human trafficking, of which 288 cases were related to sex trafficking and 134 cases were related to forced labor, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). 386 victims out of the total cases were female, and 167 of them were children. It is essential to note that these figures only include instances that were reported, meaning that the real number of women and girls trafficked in Jharkhand may actually be much higher.
The state of Jharkhand’s government has made a number of measures to combat women’s trafficking. The creation of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) to look into and address instances of human trafficking in each district of the state. The establishment of a special hotline (1098) for reporting instances of child abuse, such as child labour and child marriage. To watch and stop trafficking in the districts, District Level Vigilance Committees (DLVCs) were established. The Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana, a programme that offers financial support to parents who marry their daughters after they reach the legal marriage age in an effort to avoid child marriage and human trafficking.
In Jharkhand, the Migrant Control Room has been working to recover and assist young women who are being trafficked. The creation of a free helpline (181) where victims of trafficking can submit their cases and get assistance. Co-ordination between the police and other government organisations to rescue females caught up in trafficking. Cleaning up the areas that serve as the origin of the trafficking of girls and launching awareness efforts there to stop it. Control room is Rescuing girls and giving them interim shelter, food, clothing, and medical care. Assuring that the girls who were saved receive justice by giving them legal assistance and giving the girls who were saved access to vocational training and job possibilities will help them live honourable lives. They are making a database of the rescued females to track their development and make sure they aren’t trafficked again.
A Case Study:
The Migrant Control Room Jharkhand has solved many cases of trafficking.
The grievance of 36 girls stranded in Triuppur, Tamil Nadu was registered on 30th May 2021 in the State Migrant control room managed by PHIA Foundation under Department of Labour, employment, training and skill development, Government of Jharkhand. The girls are native resident of Dumka district in Jharkhand. They registered their grievance that they are working as a seamstress (sewing operator) at “Cotton Blossom Ltd in Triuppur, Tamil Nadu” since last 4 months. They went to Triuppur with the support of a contractor without any informed processes.
Due to the lockdown situations the work at the company was shut down and due to which they were facing problems for food and monetary. They shared a video to the team in seeking for help from the Government of Jharkhand in returning back to the state of Jharkhand. The team verified the grievance and the details of the girls were sent to Labour Commissioner and district administration Dumka in Jharkhand. The grievance was further coordinated with the support from Chief minister Jharkhand, district authorities and CSO partner at the destination.
The team at state migrant control room in coordination with the district collector the grievance were taken up and women police team at Tripurr were appointed for taking the safety concerns of the girls. The team at state Migrant control room approached the CSO partner Bishop Daniel Ponraj, CEO- “Shubh Sandesh Foundation” and Latha Sundaram Founder & Managing trustee for Aram foundation charitable played vital role for communicating regularly with chennai railway division. They agreed to support and connected with the girls, employers and the address in reaching was managed by the partner. ACC cements Limited worked in coordination support for the arrangement of tickets and was immediately made in the shortest time possible but the tickets were not confirmed.
On an urgent basis DRM Saleam and Deputy general manager at Chennai Central made efforts in placing an additional coach ONE GSCN coach SE1 under emergency quota was arranged to meet the requirement. JSLPS team coordinated with MD cotton B Ltd. for providing transportation up to station. The girls boarded safely at 01.00 P.M at Triuppur to Dhanabd via train No.-03352, ALLP- Dhanbad.
After the boarding of the girls the state migrant team was working in arrangement of the food and logistics. The CSO partners in the southern route were contacted for the support for food packages, water supplies and sanitary requirements. Sabita Chanda & Naman Shah of India Cares and Foundation for ecological security (FES), Orissa along with Phia Foundation, Jharkhand has helped the girls in providing them packed food, water and other needs during the journey. Further the District administration Dumka arranged for the travel and medical tests at Dhanbad and facilitated the girls in reaching Dumka, Jharkhand.
