India Country Report - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

CHAPTER
5
PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS:
To Prevent and Combat Trafficking of Women and Children for Commercial Sexual Exploitation
One of the challenges faced in the rehabilitation and re-integration
of the victims is that of providing them with sustainable livelihood
options. It is often seen that imparting traditional skills such as
tailoring and embroidery, candle making, doll making, block printing etc, do
not always provide them with steady markets or income and thus increases
their vulnerability of being re-trafficked. With the spread of globalization
and liberalization, a large number of creative and innovative as well as more
lucrative livelihood options are emerging which factor in the market dynamics.
In the recent past, there is a growing perception that public private partnerships
are not just a charitable venture, outside of the company, but one where socially
responsible processes, whether for developing human capital, especially women
and children, or to put in place a gender friendly mechanisms, or to supplement
and complement the Government’s efforts to benefit the disadvantaged and
marginalized are an inherent part of the ethos of the company.
In the recent past, there
is a growing perception
that public private
partnerships are not just
a charitable venture,
outside of the company,
but one where socially
responsible processes are
an inherent part of the
ethos of the company.
The need for this is all the more relevant today with growing globalization,
de-regulation, and privatization where development of human capital and
enhancing income generating activities and entrepreneurship amongst the poor
and vulnerable are important determinants of sustainable poverty reduction.
Such economic empowerment, especially of women, leads to the creation of
wealth for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid, and also can act as
a powerful deterrent to social evils such as trafficking, violence and abuse of
women and children.
Thus, an important partner is the corporate sector, which under the broad
spectrum of public private partnerships can play a greater role in preventing and
combating trafficking by supplementing and complementing the Government’s
efforts. The public private partnership would be effective in areas such as
prevention of trafficking, especially in vulnerable areas, by creating awareness
and providing skill building and livelihood options to potential victims and
rehabilitation to survivors of trafficking.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development, as part of the International
Women’s Day Celebrations, in collaboration with UNODC, organized a workshop
on Combating Trafficking on 4 th March, 2008. One of the issues that were strongly
advocated at the workshop was that of public private partnerships and suggestions
were made to carry forward the collaborative efforts in a systematic manner.
<strong>India</strong> <strong>Country</strong> <strong>Report</strong>
49