sunderblogger.blogpost.130114b

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF INDIAN WOMEN, MEN AND TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WITHIN INDIA, BOTH ADULTS AND CHILDREN, IS WIDESPREAD Sexual exploitation of Indian women, men, transgender people and children within India, is widespread.12 Commercial sexual exploitation takes place in specific established areas but is also now much more dispersed into rural areas, transport hubs, roadside restaurants and houses in suburban areas, extensively using cell phones, making it harder to locate and tackle. Foreign women, largely from Nepal and Bangladesh, have been identified in situations of commercial sexual exploitation.13 In 2011, the ILO Committee of Experts “noted the Government [of India’s] indication in its 2008 Report that since the enactment of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 (BLSA), 287,555 bonded labourers had been identified, of whom 267,593 had been rehabilitated.”14 However, the ILO Committee of Experts also noted that “findings from research studies showed that bonded labour in agriculture and in industries like mining, brick kilns, silk and cotton production, and bidi making was likely to be affecting millions of workers across the country.”15 The ILO Committee of Experts has urged India to undertake national bonded labour surveys. Also, the identification and rehabilitation noted by the ILO Experts happened a long time ago, and in many Indian States local officials are not currently encouraged or supported to find bonded labourers.16 The 2012 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons noted a global dimension to trafficking flows originating in South Asia.17 Indian nationals who have migrated for work have found themselves in modern slavery – often involving recruitment intermediaries and debt bondage – around the world. They have been exploited in various industries including construction, mining, agriculture and hospitality, in manual labour and commercial sexual exploitation, as well as in private domestic work and as domestic staff at Indian diplomatic missions abroad. Kind Regards! Sunder T