Let’s eradicate human trafficking
by Nilma Dole
You’re at a busy train station
and you see a scruffy-looking man herding children like buffaloes out of
a train and quickly into a vehicle on the road. He, the ‘middle-man’
quickly takes money from the carefully masked ‘pimp’ and scurries away.
The vehicle bundles off and you see the innocent children with their
faces out of the window sobbing bitterly.
Across
the street, an aunt and her nephew make their way to a saree factory
where he will face a terrible fate in the hands of unforgiving employers
depriving him of his childhood, his education and his basic rights. High
above, in a posh apartment overlooking the city, a teenage girl is
forced to ‘entertain’ a few thugs, the start of a haunting nightmare.
This is not a fairytale, this is reality, happening in our country. Why
do we continue to ignore their pleas? They could have been one of us.
Human trafficking is possibly the worst human disaster ever created
in the history of the human race. Worse than the drug trade and
interlinked with the weapon trade, human trafficking is a menace that we
continue to ignore under our very noses. We often are part of the
vicious cycle and more often than not, might be supporting it by
ignoring it, for it might be taking place in our very homes.
Human trafficking is the illegal trade in human beings for the
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labour which is a
modern-day form of slavery.
While our newspapers carry the terrible fate that befell Ariyawathie
where nails were driven into her body by her insane employer, thousands
suffer in silence unknown to us because we are not doing enough to stop
human trafficking. While we want the best for our country in terms of
foreign exchange and money to help out at home, don’t we realise that
seeking greener pastures isn’t so wonderful after all?
Criminals involved in human trafficking can earn up to US$ 10 billion
every year through buying and selling human beings. With it being a
lucrative trade, many overlook their human kindness to turn into
monsters, even going to the extent of selling their own children and
relatives for a few Rupees. What we don’t realise is that we are
sustaining by giving it a thriving environment.
While the government does its best to strengthen laws and implement
them, there are people at the ground level who can do more than just
ignore such things. Sri Lanka has a good Women and Children’s Bureau to
stop nefarious activities but simply, more has to be done by the public
to at least curb human trafficking at a grass roots level.
The UN’s International Labour Organisation estimates that worldwide
about 2.5 million people are victims of trafficking and over half of
these people are in Asia and the Pacific.
Launched in Sri Lanka for the first time, the Corporate Social
Responsibility arm of the world’s popular music channel, MTV (Music
Television) has not turned a blind eye to the pleas of these crying
victims of human trafficking.
Speaking
to the Sunday Observer about MTV EXIT was Campaign Manager Simon Goff
said that MTV EXIT was about freedom, about our rights as human beings
to choose where we live, where we work, who our friends are, and whom we
love. “Most of us take this freedom for granted, but hundreds of
thousands of people throughout the world have had these basic human
rights taken away.” It is poignant to know that they are victims of
trafficking, the so-called modern-day slaves where they have been
forced, defrauded, or coerced them into various forms of labour, or
prostitution which are done by their own family and friends.
Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children can take
many forms and include forcing a child into prostitution or other forms
of sexual activity or child pornography. Child exploitation can also
include forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to
slavery, servitude, the removal of organs, illicit international
adoption, trafficking for early marriage, recruitment as child soldiers,
for use in begging or as athletes (such as child camel jockeys or
football players), or for recruitment for cults.
With the help of celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Lara Dutta, Lucy
Liu and now Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara, MTV EXIT aims at
increasing awareness and prevention of human trafficking through
television programs, online content, live events, and partnerships with
anti-trafficking organisations.
MTV EXIT’s SOLD program hosted by Kumar Sangakkara will be telecast
on Rupavahini soon and free videos are available online for more
information. Speaking at a press conference Kumar said that he hoped
that people will realise that this problem can be solved if only people
report anything suspicious to the police. “We can stop human trafficking
and we better start now before it’s too late,” he said.
Pix: Rukmal Gamage
Protect Yourself
If you or someone you know
are looking to travel, work, or study abroad or even in your
own country make sure that the opportunity is real. Contact
an anti-trafficking organisation and seek advice. Keep
control of your future.
Check out some of the
specific information here of how to stay safe.
If you’ve been offered the
chance to travel/work/study abroad by a stranger, friend or
relative, ask yourself the following:
* Where are you going and
why?
* Who is paying for your
journey? - If someone is offering to pay for you, find out
why.
* Is the offer too good to
be true? If it sounds too good, it probably is!
* Talk about it with
friends, family and people whom you trust. If they have
doubts, find out why - maybe they are right. |
You Can Help
Every day people are being
exploited through trafficking.
Every day criminals profit
while their victims suffer.
If you’re outraged or have
been affected by trafficking, you can do something to help.
Join the fight to end
exploitation and trafficking!
Steps to take:
* If you know or see a
domestic worker that is being abused by their employer, then
it is your responsibility to act. Inform an anti-trafficking
organisation and the police.
* Get involved and find out
as much as you can about where the products you buy come
from so that your money doesn’t go to enslave people.
* Raise awareness and engage
others to see if there is suspicious activity taking place
in the neighbourhood.
* Get in touch with a local
organization and find out what your local and national
government is doing. See how you can help change the
situation in your country. |
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