Approaches to Combating Human Trafficking in Northeast India
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APPROACHES TO COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN NORTHEAST INDIA by KRISTEN J. AUGUSTINE A FINAL REPORT PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2012 © 2012 Kristen J. Augustine ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for all of the support and guidance I have received for which I would like to thank the MDP Faculty & Staff; Dr. Anita Anantharam; Hasina Kharbhih & Rosanna Lyndogh of Impulse NGO; and the MacArthur Foundation; with special thanks to my advisor, Dr. Marianne Schmink. Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 Human Trafficking on a Global Scale................................................................. 2 Human Trafficking in India and the Northeast ................................................... 5 Impulse NGO and the MDP Practicum ................................................................ 6 Grant Application for Impulse Case Information Centre .................................. 11 UN.GIFT Safe Tourism Initiative ....................................................................... 13 Symposium for Peace and the Prevention of Exploitation ................................ 18 Training of Trainers: Assamese Law Enforcement ........................................... 22 Frontline Defenders Grant ............................................................................... 24 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 26 Works Cited .................................................................................................... 28 Introduction As a Master’s student at the University of Florida, I am nearing the completion of my degree in the Sustainable Development for Practitioners (MDP) program with a concentration in Gender and Development. As a requirement of the degree program I identified human trafficking as a key development-related problem, and designed a Field Practicum to be carried out under the leadership of an organization located in Meghalaya, India. This practicum allowed me the opportunity to work for eleven weeks as a volunteer consultant with Impulse, an impressive non-governmental organization (NGO) whose counter-trafficking efforts extend throughout the northeast region of India and are recognized as a much needed innovation to fighting an increasingly pervasive human rights issue. This crime, also commonly referred to as modern-day slavery, is a highly complex and hidden problem that has a large number of driving influences which fuel the incredibly profitable trade in human beings. The complexity of the problem also creates a number of entry points for counter-trafficking initiatives that engage a broad and diverse range of stakeholders on a number of scales. Given my interest in gender and development, the issue of modern slavery had special appeal to me. While human trafficking is, by no means, solely confined to the global south, it does thrive in many less developed countries. This is due to a confluence of factors such as poverty, weak governance (at a state and local level), a large population, low levels of 1 education that cut off upward mobility and, when present, the low status of women and girls. This is the case in India where gender bias against women and girls is high, and the rate of trafficking in women and children is expanding at an alarming speed, largely for sexual purposes (A Report on Trafficking in Women and Children in India 2002-2003, 2003, p. 1). This paper begins by examining the scope of human trafficking on a global scale and quickly follows to examine the complexity of modern slavery within India broadly, and the northeast specifically. The next section will briefly describe the evolution of Impulse’s work in relation to human trafficking before moving on to an cursory examination of Impulse’s innovative approach to countering trafficking that is now known as the Meghalaya Model. I will follow this by discussing my contributions to various projects and directives undertaken in the arenas of Prevention, Rescue, Survivor Rehabilitation and Criminal Prosecution. This section will also highlight both my deliverables to the organization as well as the skills that I have honed during this experience. I will conclude with an assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the organization and its regional partnership. Human Trafficking on a Global Scale Slavery has been a feature of a number of civilizations throughout history, but many people would be surprised to know that there are currently more slaves alive today than were ever trafficked via the transatlantic slave 2 trade (Bales, 1999, p. 9). Trafficking in humans is estimated to garner thirty- two billion dollars annually, making it the third most profitable enterprise in the world behind the illicit trade of drugs and weapons (Sabyan, Tanneeru & Smith, 2011). The actual number of contemporary slaves is estimated to be between ten and thirty million, with some estimates ranging as high as two-hundred million (Bales, 1999, p. 8-9; Tanneeru, 2011). The reasons for the large range of these figures highlight some of the complexity involved in tracking human trafficking. The first difficulty in calculating an adequate estimate is fairly straightforward – traffickers hide their crimes, and slaves are typically isolated, and their mobility restricted, to prevent calling attention to their situation. The other major impediment to determining a fair estimate is that the definition of human trafficking varies widely and, depending on how narrow or broadly it is defined, the estimates quickly change. Slavery, broadly defined, is the exploitation of a human being against their will and for profit in a situation where the individual victim has no control to leave the situation. A legal definition put forward by the United Nations, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children defines human trafficking as, “The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a 3 minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs” (A Report on Trafficking of Women and Children in India, 2002-2003, 2003, p. 2-3). Despite the long history that humans have in enslaving each other, there are several differences between modern day slavery and the type of slavery that was utilized in the slave economy of the United States. The largest distinction is the cost of human life. It used to be that a slave was a major investment that cost the purchaser the equivalent of roughly $40,000 in today’s currency, whereas now, the average price of a human being is less than $100 (Sabyan, Tanneeru & Smith, 2011). The International Labor Office estimates that the average profit per forced laborer is thirteen-thousand dollars annually (A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour: Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declarationon Fundamental Principles and rights at Work 2005, p. 55). This figure varies widely depending on the type of exploitation; for example, a female sex slave purchased for one-hundred and fifty dollars and resold repeatedly each night can garner profits of ten-thousand dollars a month at very little cost (purchase price and daily food) (Bales, 2005, p. 4-5). Given the low cost and high profits of slavery it is no longer profitable to protect the life of the slave, since it is cheaper to buy a new one than it would be to pay for medical care and risk exposure of the slaveholder’s crime. Similarly, victims are often murdered or re-trafficked if they become an inconvenience to the slaveholder. 4 Human Trafficking in India and the Northeast India is one of the countries that is most plagued by human trafficking and is an excellent environment for criminals involved in profiting from slavery. As of 2005, India was home to an estimated eighteen-to-twenty million slaves (Bales, Understanding Global Slavery: A Reader, 2005, p. 184). In addition to being a source of slaves, the nation is also a destination site and transit hub for victims being transported from neighboring countries and from one Indian state to another (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner, Türker, & Yang, 2010, p. 11). The drivers of human trafficking in India are similar to those present elsewhere and include poverty; gender bias (resulting in low status, a diminished regard for women’s rights, and low levels of education for girls); natural disasters; caste discrimination; conflict; weak governance; and high demand for sex and cheap labor (Hameed, Hlatshwayo, Tanner, Map was created by utilizing MapMaker by National Geographic Türker, & Yang, 2010, p. 39). While the northeast of India does not have a strong caste system in place like the rest of India, it does share the other factors above which are 5 compounded by the growing road system and the demand for sex by truck drivers who are often involved in the transport of victims (Combating Trafficking