Women lured into prostitution by friends and acquaintances: Study

PANAJI: In a majority of cases of commercial sexual exploitation, the women were lured into the trade by friends, a study has found.
A statistical analysis of women rescued from prostitution between 2014 and 2019 by Anyay Rahit Zindagi (ARZ) has revealed that it is often a person known to the victim who has forced her into the activity. In 35 percent of the cases, it was friends who lured the victim into prostitution.

“We find that in many cases the woman first got information and contact numbers from a friend who is already a victim. When she opens up about her problems to her friend,the friend then puts her in touch with the pimp,” founder ARZ Arun Pandey said.
The state has witnessed a sharp drop in women being trafficked from North eastern states to Goa. The study revealed that of the 353 girls and women rescued between 2015 and 2019, 84 percent were Indians and 16 percent foreigners.
Figures reveal that a large chunk of women rescued in Goa over the past few years have been trafficked from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi and a small number from North East India among other states, and foreigners were mostly from Bangladesh, Nepal and Uzbekistan.
Pandey, speaking at the source- destination consultation to combat human trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation on Tuesday said traffickers have become faceless due to the internet which they use for everything from recruitment and soliciting to receiving payments.
Girls and women are being sexually exploited in flats, lodges and bungalows, which are not public spaces, he said.
A majority of the women trafficked to Goa are in the ‘fourth stage’ where they have resigned to their fate and have little hope of being rescued, which is why they are selected to be sent to Goa, with the assurance that they will not escape, Pandey said.
“If ‘supply’ from one state is cut, women are trafficked from another state. We need to work together to end this form of modern slavery. Agencies in one state alone cannot control it. We have to work closely with the source state,” Pandey said.
Director general of police Pranab Nanda said prostitution is a one of the negative impacts of Goa’s thriving tourism industry. The internet provides easy access and a platform for perpetrators, he said. Chokha Ram Garg, secretary for women and child development stressed on the need to equip rescued women with skills so that traffickers find it difficult to lure them back. The two-day consultation programme was attended by stakeholders from India and Bangladesh.