Panaji: The primary sources for sex traffickers to push victims into Goa have been identified as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh. The international points to trap victims for the bleak trade into Goa have been recognised as Nepal, Bangladesh, and Kenya.
A recent study carried out by an NGO, Arz (Anyay Rahit Zindagi), titled ‘Sex Trafficking in Goa: Situation and Intervention (2019-2024)’, has flagged the major sources for sex traffickers who dispatch victims to Goa.
According to the study, 50 women rescued in Goa were from Maharashtra, 20 from West Bengal, and 15 each from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Over the past three-and-a-half years, Goa police have rescued 91 girls and women from alleged human trafficking rings in Goa. Most of those rescued are in the age group of 17 to 34 and hail from Maharashtra and West Bengal. Some are foreign nationals.
The highest number of rescues, 36, occurred in 2021. In the first six months of the current year, Goa police rescued eight from traffickers. In all, 40 human trafficking cases have been registered in the state. Most of them are under investigation, while chargesheets have been filed in some cases.
Police said that regular raids are organised with the assistance of NGOs involved in rescuing women targeted by traffickers.
The offenders/suspects who are forcing women into prostitution are arrested and booked under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
“Plain-clothes personnel of every police station have been given the task of collecting intelligence on a day-to-day basis on trafficking,” police said. “Regular checks are carried out at hotels to curb illicit activities. Verification drives are conducted for tenants and domestic help to gather information and develop intelligence.”
Admission to English-speaking courses, employment in big cities, enrolment in hostels or colleges, and online jobs for those laid off in the Covid-19 aftermath — these are some of the new lures used by human traffickers to ensnare targets.
Nearly one-third of the victims of sex trafficking rescued in Goa over the past decade were from the neighbouring Maharashtra.
While the rescued victims include Nigerian and Nepali women, a probe into their backgrounds revealed dysfunctional or single-parent families, domestic violence, addiction, and a lack of formal education and skills as factors that made them vulnerable.
To combat sex trafficking to Goa, the Goa State Commission for Women, in collaboration with Arz, the nodal anti-sex trafficking organisation in the state, is organising a consultation of agencies from source states/countries on Wednesday and Thursday in Panaji.
“The aim is to discuss sex trafficking to Goa and to design strategies to combat it,” said Arun Pandey of Arz.
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