|
'Punish
clients, not sex trafficking victims'
Tuesday April 05, 2011 05:38:57 PM, IANS
|
|
 |
New Delhi: Fatima Nat Dhuniya was all of 9 years when she was "married off" and then
landed in the world of sex trade. More than a decade later, she
stands confident as a community mobiliser and said that the laws
in the country should change so that the client is punished and
not the victim.
"As long as there is a buyer, the prostitution system can never be
dismantled," Dhuniya said at a press meet here Tuesday.
Dhuniya and 60 other delegates, including survivors of sex
trafficking and prostitution and members of the civil society from
11 countries working on the issue, came together for a four-day
conference in the capital.
Some of the countries whose delegates participated in the
conference included the Phillipines, Taiwan, Nepal and Korea.
"It's like this - in a shop if there is no customer then the shop
will ultimately close. So, in the sex trade if the client is
punished, the trade will also come to an end. Most of the girls
are forced in the trade and exploited," said Dhuniya, who escaped
from the clutches of prostitution with the help of an NGO and now
helps other victims to do the same.
Ruchira Gupta of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an NGO which organised
the conference, said: "Most of the sex workers we meet tell us
that the police only victimises them. What's the point in
victimising the victims? The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act
should be changed to hold clients accountable."
Aurora J. De Dios, president of the Coalition Against Trafficking
in Women, Asia Pacific, said: "This is the first time our
survivors are coming together to talk about common issues and
challenges that they face and the ways of dealing with these
problems and trying to solve them".
Gupta said that the survivors of sex trafficking want their
perpetrators, who repeatedly raped them, to be punished, not
because of what they did to them but because it will serve as a
deterrent to the perpetuation of the sex industry.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Top
Stories |
|
 ‘Vibrant
Gujarat has left the state’s Muslims in an economic ghetto'
Exposing the myth behind the vibrant Gujarat, Outlook
magazine in its latest issue has come
»
Narendra Modi unapologetic on the Gujarat carnage: US Diplomat
Riot
victims in Gujarat still live in unbearable surroundings
In Modi's Gujarat, Muslims assume Hindu names to find work
|
|
|
|
Most
Read |
|
 2G
scam: Tata 'candid', Radia 'evasive' before PAC
Tata Group
chairman Ratan Tata and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia were Monday
questioned by parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in its
search of the
»
Raja, 11
others formally charged in 2G spectrum case |
|
Anna
Hazare reaches Rajghat, hundreds join in support
Veteran
social activist Anna Hazare, who has vowed to fast unto death,
Tuesday reached Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat to press for a
stronger anti-graft Lokpal Bill through greater involvement
»
PM
'deeply disappointed' at Hazare's decision to start fast
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
Media
ignored Senate hearing on civil rights of American Muslims
On March 29, Democratic Senator Dick
Durbin held the first-ever Congressional hearing on the civil
rights of American Muslims by saying a "backlash" which began
after the attacks
» |
|
Kashmiri
boy held under stringent law to be released
A long wait has
ended for Rafiq Hakeem, father of teenaged Kashmiri boy Faizan Rafiq
lodged in a jail in Jammu region under the stringent Public Safety
Act for stone pelting. The Jammu and Kashmir government Monday
» |
|
10
protesters shot dead in Yemen
Police shot
dead at least 10 anti-government protesters Monday in Yemen's
southern province of Taiz, Xinhua quoted local doctors as saying.
However, a police official said only two protesters
»
Yemen
opposition tells Saleh to quit, presents new plan |
|
Election
2011 begins peacefully with Assam, 66 percent turnout
Elections to five assemblies, the
biggest vote since the 2009 general polls, began Monday with the
first phase being held in Assam where more than 66 percent
»
Stage set
for Assam first phase elections
|
|
Seventeen
foetuses found in Bihar, probe ordered
Sixteen
foetuses, mostly female, were found in plastic jars in Bihar's Kishanganj district while another was recovered near a garbage heap
in Muzaffarpur town, police said Monday. The state government has
ordered a probe
»
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
A sand art
creation to congratulate Team India for winning the CWC 2011
final, in Puri.
(Photo: PTI) |
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links