Government Must Prevent Human Trafficking, Aid Victims: Vimukthi

 Vijayawada: The state government should take strict measures to prevent human trafficking and provide compensation to victims of human trafficking. In addition, all government welfare schemes should be made accessible to them and a special scheme under the name “Community-Based Rehabilitation” should be designed, said M. Apurva and Pushpa Kumari, president and secretary of the collective of survivors of human trafficking and sex workers Vimukthi.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of ‘World Day Against Trafficking in Persons’ on Tuesday, Apurva and Pushpa Kumari have appealed to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and home minister Vangalapudi Anitha to focus on the issues of human trafficking and the numerous issues and challenges faced by these helpless destitute women.

Though 13 Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) have been set up in 13 districts with the status of police stations to prevent human trafficking, none of these AHTUs have directly registered even a single FIR. Local police stations are required to transfer missing children and trafficking cases to these AHTUs for an independent investigation, but this is not happening, resulting in a weak investigation of these cases, the Vimukthi members pointed out.

“In the last five years, a mere 10 per cent of the accused have been convicted, which is a cause for concern underlining the need for immediate staffing and strengthening of AHTUs and the implementation of a special action plan for anti-trafficking measures in the state,” they added.

They highlighted that according to the National Crime Records Bureau NCRB), 1,432 women and girls were rescued from brothels between 2019 and 2022 in the state. However, they did not receive the benefits of central and state government schemes owed to them. The state government of that period failed to provide rehabilitation services and victim compensation.

In this regard, the Vimukthi members demanded that the government provide victim compensation to the rescued women and girls from trafficking, and a special scheme be designed under the name "Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR)" instead of shelter home-based rehabilitation.