THE NEED
While HT is a heinous, detestable crime it is also a multi-billion dollar business, When you look at HT from the standpoint of a business, it’s all about demand and supply. In HT, the source areas are where the supply is and the destinations are where the demand is. The source/supply areas are mostly the backward, vulnerable pockets of our country. The destinations/demand areas are most o
ften our cities with booming economies. Migration plays a key role in all this. When I looked around in the AHT scene I found many gaps. The burden on my heart is to fill those gaps rather than reinvent the wheel. Most NGO’s are working at destination points, mostly doing rescue and rehabilitation. However, the reality is that when one woman/child is rescued and rehabilitated, another hundred have been trafficked. This makes the scenario dismal. It means that HT will continue to thrive as the profits are high and risks are low. There are some NGO’s working on prevention in source areas but they are few and far between and often not a coordinated effort. The purpose of this new initiative is to reduce supply and reduce demand. When you work on rescue or rehabilitation, it’s easier to quantify the work and the metrics of evaluation are easier. However, there are ways to make the outcomes more quantifiable and evaluate impact even in prevention. Purnata will increase the knowledge and awareness on human trafficking using the arts and technology with Govt and civil society; promote/foster effective rights-based (victim-centered), multi-disciplinary collaborative community responses against human trafficking; build and develop capacity of Govt and civil society to prevent and combat this modern day slavery. THE OBJECTIVES
This will be accomplished by focusing on the following in collaboration:
Prevention
Reducing both the vulnerability of potential victims particularly in source areas, the demand for exploitation in all its forms in destination areas and rescue children being trafficked in transit through outreach, surveillance, ensuring safe & regulated migration, formation of Active Communities against Trafficking (ACT) Groups (vigilant groups), facilitating good education, vocational training, counselling, healthcare and, in some instances, a place to live.. The outcomes broadly expected in relation to prevention (the major focus) are:
1. Reduced vulnerability of people in source areas (Awareness, facilitate education & livelihoods, social enterprise)
2. Increased risks to traffickers (legislation, convictions, harsher punishments)
3. Lower demand for the goods and services of modern-day slaves (prosecuting users, education)
Rescue & Rehabilite:
Protect and restore survivors of human trafficking to a life of dignity, purpose and economic independence – one life at a time – providing holistic, integrated livelihoods options while increasing the risk to traffickers. Reintegrate & Repatriate:
Reintegrating survivors of human trafficking back to safe communities, both within the borders of India and abroad. Research:
Bridge the current information gap on the situation of trafficking in persons, by providing accurate statistics and case studies, analysing and conducting research on the issue, in particular on root causes. THE APPROACH
The whole purpose of Purnata is not to deal with symptoms but dealing with root causes - reduce/end human trafficking by reducing supply and reducing demand. Though our vision is to see a total end to it, as long as there is greed and lust in the hearts of men and women, it will survive. However, we can strangle it, thwart it, reduce it and break its back. That can be done through collaboration and a holistic approach. The approach has to be collaborative. HT is too large for any one organisation or even the Govt on its own trying to tackle it. It calls for joining hands in collaboration. It means we have to rise above our petty differences and work together. We need to strengthen each other’s hands. We need to stop reinventing the wheel and use the expertise and strengths that we all have. We need to be more open and share our resources so that others could do their work well. AHT will require involvement all relevant stakeholders - the police, the panchayats, the relevant ministries under the Govt, civil society and the community themselves. The approach has to be more holistic. HT can’t be seen in isolation. It has many contributing factors and unless it is not dealt with in a way that addresses all of them, it won’t be possible to make a difference. For example poverty is often cited as one of the most significant factors leading to people getting trafficked. However, poverty though a necessary cause is not a sufficient cause. There are other factors within the spectrum of poverty that could have more directly caused it like, the desire to be rich, having more mouths than the family could afford to feed, being part of a particular community, region, etc. So while awareness is vital to reduce trafficking, it definitely is not sufficient. If children are not in school, they need to be put back in school. If the schools system is not functioning well then that needs to be strengthened. If there are young people who have are uneducated and unemployed they need to be provided with viable skills that will keep them in jobs.
