WEDNESDAY, MAY 08, 2024
Team Café
Goa is undoubtedly a beautiful state of India with its rich flora and fauna and its buzzing nightlife that attracts tourists from all over the world to this favourite tourist destination. However, beneath the shiny lights, there is a dark shameful truth. With its status of a thriving tourist destination, there are vices that also follow very closely. The millions of tourists flocking to Goa every year are beneficial to the economy of the state and are the source of livelihood of many Goans but another ugly truth is that it has also leads to one of the most shameful crimes in the world, human trafficking.
Have you ever wondered how a young child wearing torn, ragged clothing, carrying another sleepy child on his hip, is begging for alms at the traffic signal? How did he/she land in Goa and where are their parents? Where do they disappear in the darkness of the night? They will refuse a packet of biscuits and will beg for money. They are all victims of human trafficking.
Human trafficking has ruined the lives of many people, especially women and children, who are being trafficked from many Indian states into Goa for sexual exploitation, labour, sale of organs etc. This is a well organised crime, and the numbers of those being trafficked are increasing every year. It is done through deception by taking people away from their safe environment, transported to unsafe environment so they can be exploited. Millions of people are trafficked because they have no access to education, health care or decent work. They face a lot of discrimination, violence and abuse. Anyone can be trafficked, especially the poor particularly the vulnerable. The traffickers prey their vulnerability by offering them good job, good salary, better living etc. Sadly, they never get that but fall into the trap of exploitation.
Women and girls are trafficked to Goa from different parts of India and even from other countries. Goa is not only a destination state but girls and women from Goa have also been victims of commercial sexual exploitation. They are victims of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). Sex Trafficking is a criminal offense under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention (IPC) Act 1956 and Indian Penal Code (IPL) for minor victims (POCSO) Act 2012.
To create awareness about this crime of human trafficking and the role of different bodies that can help in the rehabilitation of the victims, it is important to reach out to the younger generation. Mukti Kiran, a NGO with the support and collaboration of MOG Foundation, has plans to make a difference to this situation in Goa, and for a start concentrating on the coastal belt of North Goa. Mukti Kiran believes that involving communities along with the police and enforcement agencies (court) to provide quality service to the victims can reduce the crime.
As World Day of Trafficking was observed on July 30, Mukti Kiran is organising an Inter Higher Secondary School debate on the topic, ‘Who Is responsible for tackling the Issue of Human Trafficking in Goa: The Police alone or the Police along with Civil Society?’ The day will be observed on August 25 at the Multi-Purpose Hall at Sanskruti Bhavan, Directorate of Art and Culture, Patto, Panjim from 9.30 am onwards.
The debate and poster competitions also received the registration of 25 higher secondary schools from North Goa which is very encouraging. There will be ab awareness programme presented by Sayonara Telles Laad, President of the Children’s Court for the State of Goa.
“Human trafficking is a very serious crime and can be further damaging in Goa. It is more damaging than the environmental issues we are currently facing. That is the reason we thought of creating awareness among the younger generation. DGP Jaspal Singh will also be attending the programme. We were really surprised to receive this overwhelming number of registrations by higher secondary schools. The students were presented with two recent studies, ‘A Study on Human Trafficking in Vulnerable Districts in India, Goa, State Report by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai in 2019’ and ‘Trafficking of Women & Children for Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in Goa, a Statistical Analysis (2014 TO 2019), prepared by Anyay Rahit Zindagi (ARZ) and supported by ECPAT, Luxembourg’, which they have studied well to present their arguments at the debate,” says Roshan Mathias, director of MOG Foundation.
He adds, “For the poster competition, each educational institute has to be represented by a single student. We also received the registration of a student from Sanjay Higher Secondary School, Porvorim. The programme is open to all.”
This is the second of many events that Mukti Kiran is taking up with the hope of creating greater awareness in civil society of what is happening in Goa, and being a part of the solution.
