National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India In Collaboration with International Justice Mission WEBINAR REPORT ON “Disaster and Human Trafficking - Dimensions, Challenges, Responses” 20thAugust 2020 - 12.00 Noon to 2.00 PM Disaster and Human Trafficking - Dimensions, Challenges, Responses Disaster, a serious disruption occurring over a short span or extended period of time that causes extensive loss in people, material possessions, economy and or environment which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources or strength. Disaster Management Teams over the years with their perfect mitigation strategies, plans and collaborative work with the locals had effectively tackled issues and situations, ensuring to bring back the normalcy with greater restoration. Natural disasters were said to be one of the main reasons for Human Trafficking. This pandemic situation of Covid-19 had brought to us a lot of uncertainties and ambiguity. Loss of jobs and the pressure to keep up the income to meet the basic needs of the family, many are now vulnerable for becoming prey for Human Trafficking. A broad topic, Human Trafficking is prevalent, and often works in shadows that none can easily identify. It is an illegal trade that fetches billions for the traffickers! Illegal trade of Human beings for the purpose of exploitation of their labour, exploitation for commercial sexual activities, organ trafficking, domestic servitude, and etc. are considered to be Human Trafficking. 1 Vulnerability had increased exponentially with the pandemic still around and posing a greater threat. Experts say, anyone can become a victim of Human Trafficking and groups that have little social and legal protection are highly vulnerable. Statistics show that 70% of the victims were women and 58% victims are said to be below 18 years of age and shows they are also equally vulnerable. According to Sec 370 of Indian Penal Code, defines Human Trafficking as a heinous crime and involves a range complex activity that includes Recruiting, Transporting, Harbouring, Transferring and Receiving of victims which were done by threats, coercion, intimidation, manipulation, deception and many more for the purpose of exploitation. The recent the amendment had significantly focused to increase effective prosecution of the perpetrators accompanied by harsh penalties, punishment of all forms of trafficking and to create serious deterrence. Knowing the reality of Human Trafficking and our role in prevention, it is the need of the hour to talk about it and create awareness among the participants, making them to stand as “whistle blowers” in their own community. This webinar will focus on “Disaster and Human Trafficking- Dimensions, Challenges and Responses. Eminent speakers with wealth of knowledge and experience at field level will be speaking on the topic and be giving practical, workable solutions for the participants. The learnings, recommendations will be compiled for future implementations. II. RESOURCE PERSON: 1 Mr. V. V. Lakshminarayana IPS, Former Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Maharashtra VasagiriVenkataLakshminarayana is a resigned Additional Director General of Police in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is known for leading the investigations like OMC Scandal, Emaar Properties, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy Case, Satyam Scandal and Disproportionate Assets. He had previously held the post of Joint Commissioner of Police of Thane, Maharashtra and before that as Inspector general of police Rank under Y-category security for dealing with high-profile corruption cases. He worked as a Superintendent of police for Nanded and then for the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad. He was posted as Deputy inspector general of police (DIG) at Hyderabad on 12 June 2006, as he was keen to work for the CBI agency. He was initially posted as the CBI unit head for a period of five years and then given extension for two years on his promotion as the Joint Director. He successfully investigated the Satyam Scandal as a Deputy inspector general of police Rank. As a Joint Director of CBI, he carried out Investigations of 2 ObulapuramMining Corporation (OMC) case and Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's Disproportionate Assets case among other 27 high-profile cases. Sri. V.V. Lakshmi Narayana has received the Indian police medal in 2006. He also has been awarded the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize by the Minority Commission of Maharashtra. Sri. V.V. Lakshmi Narayana has been conferred with the Presidents Police Medal for Distinguished Services on 26 January 2017. 2. MS. CHITRA IYER, FOUNDER PARTNER, SPACE2GROW I am a Social Entrepreneur, with 17 years of rich experience in theEducation, Child Protection, Livelihoods and Skill-development space inIndia. I am one of the founders & Partner of a consulting firm Space2GrowPartners, that aims to act as a Social Accelerator for Non-profits in Indiaand South Asia. I have also co-founded Mudita Foundation, a Trust thataims to work on Child Protection, Education and Livelihoods. Being a strong believer in empowering teams and in innovation, I havehandled livelihood programs of various sizes and capacities across geographies – successfully interacting withentire eco-systems comprising of Indian and International agencies, Corporates, CSR organizations, and variousCentral and State Government agencies, playing a crucial role right from project design and management,overseeing implementation, monitoring and evaluation as well as being actively involved in fund-raising. I feelprivileged to be recognized as a thought leader in the sector – with both a vision to incubate new ideas and akeen eye on operations to help turn those ideas into reality.I am an alumna of Tata Institute of Social Sciences with a specialization in Urban and Rural CommunityDevelopment (where I was named student of the year). I also hold an undergraduate degree in Economics(Hons) from Miranda House, Delhi University.I have been associated with the British High Commission (DFID), Care India, Dr Reddy’s Foundation and IL&FSbefore starting up and incubating LIFE (Livelihood Initiatives for Empowerment) – an organization in thelivelihood space, after which I joined Justice And Care as part of the senior management team, leading twodisciplines of After-care and Employment Creation, with a focus on providing end-to-end support to survivorsof trafficking, and Child protection – from the time of their rescue to the crucial time following it. The broadaim of these activities, was to rehabilitate and re-integrate survivors into the society so that they can rebuild their lives with a focus on systemic change. I have designed and pioneered a Skill Development program for survivors of Human trafficking that waslaunched by the Honorable President of India on 8th March 2018, and have also designed and executed ashort-term skills-training and entrepreneurship development model for rural and urban youth. I have helped several leading Corporates set up their skill development verticals and my work also included interactingextensively with the Ministry of Rural Development towards designing schemes, developing standardoperating procedures for execution and operationalization of livelihood and skill-development programs.An avid reader and a firm believer in the tenets of Buddhism, my other passions include baking, yoga and music. 3 3. Dr. M. Devasitham, Head, Strategic Development, International Justice Mission (IJM) Dr. M. Devasitham is the Associate Director, Strategic Development at International Justice Mission (IJM), Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has been working in International Justice Mission for over 10 years. Motivated by his passion to serve marginalized communities, he joined IJM in the year 2010 and started his fight against Human Trafficking. He supported District Administration and Law Enforcement Officials to investigate, identify and rescue the victims of human trafficking across the country. Him being a part of a team in IJM, rescued more than 3500 victims of labour trafficking in collaboration with local Government and Police department. His rich field experience led him to undertake a practical study on the status of bonded labourers (Victims of Labour Trafficking) during identification, release, rehabilitation, and prosecution for which he received the Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD). Passionate about protecting the vulnerable from violence in the context of human trafficking, he is committed to build the Will and Capacity of various government and non-government agencies through impactful trainings. He is instrumental in setting the Anti Human Trafficking Help Desk at Chennai Central Railway station along with Government Railway Police, in breaking down trafficker’s networks. He also supported the Government of Kerala in assessment and prevention of human trafficking during the devastating Kerala floods. He also successfully led Inter-State Human Trafficking rescue operations and is a member of police led Missing Children Investigation team in few states of India. III. WEBINAR SCHEDULE TIME KEY POINTS SPEAKERS/ PANELLIST 11.30am – Panelist Audio, Video 11. 45am Panelists, Moderators, tech support checks Commander. Ashok VM Kumar 12.00pm – Welcome Address and Former Indian Navy Officer, 12. 05pm Opening Remarks Regional Director, South Asia, (5min) Introduction International Justice Mission 12.05 pm – Mr. Saju Mathew, 12.10 pm Opening Remark Regional President, South Asia, (5min) International Justice Mission 4 Commander. Ashok