Blog 3: Human Trafficking Continues to Ravage Jharkhand

        Raksha Kumar from India Ink in The New York Times writes on the human trafficking industry in Jharkhand, India, and tells the story of eleven year old Suman Tutti from the Bhoot village. Living in extreme poverty with a large family, Tutti was approached by a seemingly harmless elderly woman offering her an opportunity for school and work in the big city. Tutti followed the woman and found herself being trafficked. Her family assumed she had been taken or killed by the Maoist rebels due to the violence occurring within and around their home. After meeting a young girl from her same village, Tutti and her friend were able to escape and return home. Kumar discusses how prevalent trafficking is in Jharkhand, reasons that people get pulled into the system, and the lack of police protection. He also introduces the interesting cultural issue paired with those rescued from trafficking: the girls are often thought impure and are unwelcome back in their homes and villages. Luckily, the girl featured in this story, Suman Tutti, was gladly welcomed back into her family.
          One of the major issues that Kumar discusses is the reason behind individuals getting pulled into the trafficking system. As with many countries right now, their economic situation force them to search for work in alternate places. In this case, many are forced to leave their villages and search for work in big cities. An interviewed individual for this article even claims that "more than 80 percent of the girls who are trafficked belong to the tribal communities." In addition to economic reasons, Tutti's village as well as many surrounding areas are in turmoil due to fighting between Indian forces and Maoist rebels. The chaos caused by the fighting opens many opportunities for traffickers to easily gain new targets. This is not helped by the police, as many of them have no knowledge regarding trafficking. It is vital that some type of training occur in order for any progress to be made. Many girls are still searching for opportunity and are naive to the possibility of being trafficked.

Caroline Califf
September 26th, 2013
1:01 pm

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/human-trafficking-continues-to-ravage-jharkhand/