Union Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD) Maneka Gandhi received suggestions on the draft anti-trafficking bill, reports The Indian Express.
The women who wrote to Gandhi belong to West Bengal, a state which has highest number of trafficked women. The letter reads:
The existing system has helped us, but in most ways, it has not attended to our needs. Our traffickers are still at large, and we are looking at (government of) India to give us justice.
The report claims that most of the 23 girls belong to the region in West Bengal, which is home to economically-backward Muslim families – North and South 24 Parganas. A psychologist named Uma Chatterjee helped the women, who understood only Bangla, to comprehend the draft Bill. Chatterjee also translated their letter from Bangla to English.
I’m relieved that the Bill puts stress on rehabilitation after rescue and has a provision for selling the trafficker’s property and giving its proceeds to survivors. I also want the bill to (incorporate) punishment for hostile policemen who discourage us from lodging complaint against our oppressors.Twenty-one-year old survivor
Source: The Indian Express
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