SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2263illustration of the consequences of forced sweep rescues. Police in Mumbai carriedout no such sweeps during the year.As was the case in the 1996 raids, NGO’s claim that they seldom are given advancenotice of police raids on brothels and therefore are not able to lend valuableassistance in identifying and interviewing underage victims. Moreover police do notseek advice or assistance from NGO’s in planning law enforcement action to protectthe victims during raids. Although over 400 girls and women were arrested in the1996 raids, few pimps or brothel managers were arrested, and none were prosecutedto conviction. The NGO’s found themselves caught off guard by the large-scale policeaction and were illprepared to cope with a sudden huge demand for shelter for therescued sex workers. As a result, many of the girls were sent to government centersknown for their harsh conditions and considered by many to be in a worse statethan the brothels. Ultimately, some of the girls died in state detention and manyreturned to the sex trade voluntarily, given their lack of options. Success storiesfrom the 1996 raids were rare.Some NGO’s know about trafficking conditions in the brothel areas such asKamathipura, including identification of traffickers and locations of girls being heldcaptive by brothel owners. However, because of the lingering effects of the 1996raids, most of these NGO’s are reluctant to trust the police with this information.Cooperation among NGO’s in sharing information and assessing out the magnitudeand scope of the trafficking problem in Mumbai has not been significant to date,although it continues to improve. Some Mumbai NGO’s have worked aggressivelyto sensitize, train, and create awareness of trafficking among local authorities. Thecase of the NGO Prerana, which has been working closely with government officials,is a good example. During the year, a Prerana pilot program trained employees ofa large Maharashtra government enterprise to identify and assist trafficking victimsduring their daily bus commute; Prerana also has enlisted the assistance of statepolice, who help train the workers. Conversely, other NGO’s working to rescuewomen and girls from forced sexual work report that complaint-based police rescuesare quite effective. Unlike the sweep type rescues such as the one carried out inKamathipura in 1996, these are focused attempts to rescue a small number ofwomen and girls using specific information about the victim’s location, names andappearance, often supplied by NGO’s; police responses in such cases frequently haveresulted in the rescue of the women and girls involved.Similar efforts to improve NGO coordination are being made in Calcutta, wheresome 10 NGO’s meet monthly as part of the ‘‘Action Against Trafficking and SexualExploitation of Children’’ forum. Every 3 months the group attempts to meet withitsBangladeshi and Nepalese counterparts. Calcutta NGO’s such as Sanlaap also areseeking to build stronger working relationships with local police. As a result of thiscoordination, Sanlaap has built stronger working relationships with police and otherlaw enforcement officials in Calcutta. It has organized and sponsored meetings betweenrepresentatives of the sex workers and police to discuss such issues as violenceagainst women and trafficking. The seminars have helped sensitize police tothe fact that many of the sex workers are the victims of organized traffickers.Sanlaap invariably is the first organization Calcutta police turn to when they haverescued a trafficked sex worker. The NGO has been allowed to place a counselor atthe West Bengal Remand Home for Women, where rescued trafficking victims arehoused. It also has been permitted to place counselors in police stations within Calcutta’sred light district and has convinced the courts to release young traffickingvictims into its custody, instead of sending them to the remand home.There are roughly 80 NGO’s in 10 states around the country working for theemancipation and rehabilitation of women and children trafficked into the sex trade.A group on child prostitution established by the NHRC includes representativesfrom the National Commission for Women, the Department of Women and Child Development,NGO’s, and UNICEF. It continued to meet throughout the year to devisemeans of improving enforcement of legal prohibitions.MALDIVESThe Republic of Maldives, which comprises 1,190 islands (less than 200 of whichare inhabited), with a population of approximately 270,000, has a parliamentaryform of government with a very strong executive. The President appoints the Cabinet,members of the judiciary, and one-sixth of the Parliament. The President derivesadditional influence from his constitutional role as the ‘‘supreme authority topropagate the tenets’’ of Islam. Political parties are officially discouraged, and candidatesfor the unicameral legislature, the People’s Majlis, run as individuals. TheVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00107 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1