Dr Matiur Rahman :
In the USA slavery was abolished by the US Congress in 1865 through the 13th Amendment. But has slavery completely ended up in the world? A UN report mentioned that around 30 million women and young people are still victims of slavery in the present-day world. This population is more than the total population of Australia. The form of slavery has changed only but it is remaining. Present-day slavery is called modern slavery.
A report title “Stacked Odd- How lifelong inequality shapes women and girl’s experience of modern slavery” published by Walk Free an Anti-Slavery Organization mentioned that “Modern slavery covers a set of specific legal concepts including human trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage, forced or servile marriage, slavery and slavery-like practices, and the sale and exploitation of children”.
The report shows that 1 in 130 women and girls globally is living in modern slavery.Women and girls account for nearly three quarters (71 per cent) of all victims of modern slavery. Although modern slavery affects everyone, there is no escaping the fact that it is a gendered issue. Females account for a staggering 99 per cent of all victims of forced sexual exploitation, 84 per cent of all victims of forced marriage, and 58 per cent of all victims of forced labour. In many countries, young girls are victims of discrimination and abuse. This report can be called an eye-opener.
Different reports mentioned that thousands of men, women and children are being trafficked abroad every year from Bangladesh. But there is no accurate data of how many people are trafficked each year. According to different NGO reports, on an average, about 15,000 women, girls and children are trafficked from Bangladesh each year. This figure is increasing day by day. These women and girls are being physically and mentally tortured, engaged in forced sex and forced labour and deprived of just wage. Sometimes many of them come back to Bangladesh by chance and describe their terrific situation in abroad which we came to know from media time to time.
Bangladesh is at the top of the list of international organizations in terms of human trafficking. Unemployment, limited income, gender imbalance, the uncertainty of livelihoods and the lure of prosperity create a situation that has increased the risk of human trafficking. The root causes of human trafficking are intensifying and it is feared that abuse and exploitation will be on the rise in the coming days.
There have been various brothels in different parts of the country for a long time. Beside brothel, there are floating and hotel based sex workers. According to various NGOs, there are about 100,000 (one lakh), female prostitutes, in Bangladesh. In reality, this number is more than 500,000 lakhs. Various reports mentioned that around 90 per cent of women and girls are somehow forced to engage in sex work asa profession. This is the outcome of gender imbalance and violence against women and girls.
The Government of Bangladesh is committed to the CEDAW charter to prevent these issues. The country also has laws to curb violence against women and children and trafficking in women. But the implementation of these laws is very weak and almost ineffective. Thus it’s time to stop this situation. It should not be forced a woman or girl to take sex work as a profession, it is not desirable to be just a consumable substance. It is anti-humanity. It is now regarded as modernslavery.
The government has taken a strict stand against the trafficking of women and children in the country. Special measures and programs have also been taken for the rehabilitation of rescued women and children. For the sake of social discipline, the provision of the maximum death penalty has been laid down in the existing law for the suppression of crimes like human trafficking. However, government should undertake such more programs which will strengthen gender balance in the society.
For the safety of the lives of women and girls, trafficking must be stopped and for this, the conscious sections of the society have to build a strong social movement. It is very important to build public awareness activities and social movements across the country to prevent trafficking. To organize meetings, rallies, seminars, discussions and exchange of views at national and village levels to prevent human trafficking. It will have the active participation of representatives of local government, local leaders, teachers and religious leaders. They will play an active role in creating awareness among the people in their respective areas.
The media can play a big role in creating public awareness to prevent women and girls trafficking. In the last few years, the media has been promoting various programs on this subject and the newspapers have been publishing objective news, features and investigative reports regularly to prevent trafficking in women and girls. By our combined efforts we can prevent modern slavery.
(Dr Matiur is Research Consultant, Human Development Research
Centre, Dhaka).
