The first of its kind agreement focuses on joint efforts on intelligence gathering and sharing; legal and witness protection; and rehabilitation and care for survivors.
The first of its kind agreement focuses on joint efforts on intelligence gathering and sharing; legal and witness protection; and rehabilitation and care for survivors.
Women and child welfare representatives from six Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Telangana – signed an inter-state declaration of intent to work collaboratively to combat trafficking in persons.
The first of its kind agreement focuses on joint efforts on intelligence gathering and sharing; legal and witness protection; and rehabilitation and care for survivors. The announcement concluded a two-day regional consultation on combating human trafficking, which was hosted by the Telangana government in association with non-profits Prajwala and Shakti Vahini. The US Consulate General in Hyderabad and Kolkata supported the conference.
Sunita Krishnan, founder of Prajwala, said that the problem of human trafficking in India is mostly inter-state or inter-state. “The need of the hour is the need for cooperation between states in anti-smuggling efforts. This consultation under the able leadership of the Telangana government has led to the best course of action in the Indian context to tackle human trafficking,” she said.
The Regional Consultations on Combating Human Trafficking took place on 1 July and 2 July. It brought together 36 high-level functionaries from the Departments of Women and Child Welfare/Social Welfare; Home Department; State Commission for Women; State Children’s Commission; State Legal Services Authority; Also the concerned Ministers of State of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
The consultation included panel discussions and presentations by senior police officers, prosecutors, members of the judiciary, cybercrime professionals and survivor advocates, providing a platform for knowledge sharing and developing the way forward. Series of consultations bringing together state-level stakeholders, including government departments, legal services, law enforcement, child protection and prosecuting agencies, to ensure convergence in response mechanisms and strengthen interstate cooperation between source and destination Partnered with State Governments to organize agencies.
Rishi Kant, co-founder of Shakti Vahini, said, “We are already seeing a surge in cases since the COVID-19 restrictions were eased. The apprehensions expressed by international agencies and the United Nations are proving to be true. The need of the hour is that civil society organizations strengthen the vigilance mechanism in the source and destination areas.
“We must accelerate prevention initiatives and ensure inter-state cooperation between agencies so that all assistance is provided to the rescued victims with regard to their repatriation and rehabilitation,” Mr. Kant said.
David Moyer, the US Consulate General of Public Affairs, said working together to end all forms of human trafficking is a key pillar of the US-India partnership. “We are excited by the anti-trafficking ecosystem and the new partnerships and networks that will work together on research, inter-state collaboration and advocacy for more effective laws,” he said.