Someone to turn to
From Mumbai to Manchester, sex trafficking takes place the world over - chances are it's happening in a town near you. Rachel Lewis reports from India where a police 'rescue' is not always what it seems.
You are 14 years old. You've been drugged, kidnapped and abandoned in a strange city. You arrived here a virgin, but now you are raped by 15 men a night. When the police come to rescue you from the brothel that is your prison, you protest. You insist that you're not a minor, that you work here voluntarily, that you don't want to leave.
What would possess a girl in this situation to react in this way? Quite simply: a police force with a terrible reputation.
In India there are an estimated 2.3 million people in prostitution, a quarter of whom are minors and children. All across India, the youngest girls are in the highest demand and traffickers are keen to meet that demand. It's not hard to see why: human trafficking can generate up to $31 billion a year, most of it from forced labour and sexual exploitation, according to the International Labour Organisation. In Mumbai alone, the trafficking of minor girls is a billion-dollar-a-year industry.
In large cities trains arrive packed with girls who have been drugged and kidnapped, however it is difficult for police to intercept these traffickers before the girls have been taken to brothels.
What would possess a girl in this situation to react in this way? Quite simply: a police force with a terrible reputation.
In India there are an estimated 2.3 million people in prostitution, a quarter of whom are minors and children. All across India, the youngest girls are in the highest demand and traffickers are keen to meet that demand. It's not hard to see why: human trafficking can generate up to $31 billion a year, most of it from forced labour and sexual exploitation, according to the International Labour Organisation. In Mumbai alone, the trafficking of minor girls is a billion-dollar-a-year industry.
In large cities trains arrive packed with girls who have been drugged and kidnapped, however it is difficult for police to intercept these traffickers before the girls have been taken to brothels.
Some sanctuary
Many of the girls on these trains come from poor rural areas in West Bengal. Sanlaap, a development organisation supported by Christian Aid, runs a shelter home on the outskirts of Kolkata, West Bengal, for girls who have been rescued from brothels in police raids in cities like Mumbai.
Most of the girls in the shelter come from West Bengal and are repatriated to their home state when rescued. Sanlaap, which is partially funded by the government, reports that some girls have been 'rescued' four or five times, but have ended up back in brothels when police have accepted a bribe by the brothel owner. One girl at Sanlaap's shelter home talked of being rescued by the police, but sold back into the brothel for Rs 30,000 (£355).
She said:
Most of the girls in the shelter come from West Bengal and are repatriated to their home state when rescued. Sanlaap, which is partially funded by the government, reports that some girls have been 'rescued' four or five times, but have ended up back in brothels when police have accepted a bribe by the brothel owner. One girl at Sanlaap's shelter home talked of being rescued by the police, but sold back into the brothel for Rs 30,000 (£355).
She said:
'How can the people who are supposed to protect us do this?'
However this isn't the reason why girls are terrified of being rescued by the police. One young girl at the shelter explains:
'Do you know some policemen are very bad? They 'use' the girls they rescue and that feels far worse than the rape a customer commits. We know what the customer is here for and in some way we are prepared, but a policeman is supposed to protect us isn't he? That makes it so much more painful.'
Stories like this spread around the brothels, encouraged by the madams, so that girls are increasingly reluctant to be 'rescued' by police during a raid.
Whilst there are cases of the police playing a positive role in sex trafficking, most girls haven’t seen it. Their first instinct is to fear the worst. One teenager said:
'We were told that if the police rescue you, it would be to bury you forever. So we used to run away whenever we heard that a raid was about to happen.'
'Do you know some policemen are very bad? They 'use' the girls they rescue and that feels far worse than the rape a customer commits. We know what the customer is here for and in some way we are prepared, but a policeman is supposed to protect us isn't he? That makes it so much more painful.'
Stories like this spread around the brothels, encouraged by the madams, so that girls are increasingly reluctant to be 'rescued' by police during a raid.
Whilst there are cases of the police playing a positive role in sex trafficking, most girls haven’t seen it. Their first instinct is to fear the worst. One teenager said:
'We were told that if the police rescue you, it would be to bury you forever. So we used to run away whenever we heard that a raid was about to happen.'
Who to believe
Even though stories like this are often made up by brothel owners, it's difficult for the girls to know what to believe when corruption in the police force is so rife.
This problem is exacerbated by the fact that police often do little to enforce the law against soliciting. According to one teenager, Resham, local police were well aware of the brothel she was being kept prisoner in and said the raids they carried out were a 'farce'. Resham was finally rescued eight months later thanks to a mission carried out by a specialist police force, which didn't involve any local officials.
Talking of local officers Resham said:
This problem is exacerbated by the fact that police often do little to enforce the law against soliciting. According to one teenager, Resham, local police were well aware of the brothel she was being kept prisoner in and said the raids they carried out were a 'farce'. Resham was finally rescued eight months later thanks to a mission carried out by a specialist police force, which didn't involve any local officials.
Talking of local officers Resham said:
'The brothel owner would let police officers sleep with me and the other girls for free so that they wouldn’t prosecute her. That’s why trafficking is so bad'
Research by Human Rights Watch supports the girls' reports, saying: 'In India, police and local officials patronise brothels and protect brothel owners and traffickers. Brothel owners pay protection money and bribes to the police to prevent raids and to bail out under-age girls who are arrested.'
Sanlaap endeavours to work alongside the police and social welfare departments and are informed when girls are rescued. Once they are at the shelter, Sanlaap works to reintegrate them with their families wherever possible.
Today, Resham works with Sanlaap in educating the police telling them that the girls they find at the brothels are just that – young girls who should be with their families.
Her main message? 'You have to do something – it could be your sister or daughter. Most of you are corrupt and you should be protecting us.'
Sanlaap endeavours to work alongside the police and social welfare departments and are informed when girls are rescued. Once they are at the shelter, Sanlaap works to reintegrate them with their families wherever possible.
Today, Resham works with Sanlaap in educating the police telling them that the girls they find at the brothels are just that – young girls who should be with their families.
Her main message? 'You have to do something – it could be your sister or daughter. Most of you are corrupt and you should be protecting us.'
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