The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “India becoming destination for traffickers”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 03, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“India becoming destination for traffickers”

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: There are indications that India is fast becoming not only a source and transit point but also a destination for traffickers from Nepal, Bangladesh and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Union Minister of State for Law and Justice K. Venkatapathy said on Saturday.

Trafficking is said to acquire grave dimensions and gain in sophistication, complexity and consolidation of networks and penetration of organised crime syndicates, he said at a meeting on the ‘Methods to Combat Trafficking of Children and Women for Commercial Sexual Exploitation’ organised by the State Judicial Academy and the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women.

Referring to the numbers of missing women and children in India, he said that between 1996 and 2001, more than 1.34 lakh women and 2.66 lakh children were reported missing.

“Though there is no evidence, it will not be wrong to presume that most of them would have been victims of trafficking. Thus the situation is really alarming,” Mr.Venkatapathy said.

Legal awareness

Creating legal awareness, he said, was one of the most important functions of any social action programme, as it would empower people by making them aware of their rights and intolerant of abuse and exploitation.

There was an urgent need for co-ordination mechanisms at the national and international levels, Mr. Venkatapathy said, suggesting that India set up a national nodal agency.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu